Doctor Cole seemed lost in thought when Mayor Meanswell placed a second cup of cocoa in front of the man. He seemed to be looking at some far off place beyond what lay in front of him and every so often he would sigh, blink and scratch his head before settling back into stillness. He didn't notice the Mayor moving towards him and setting the cup down and seemed oblivious to the hot steam rising from it with the scent of chocolate. It seemed that something was troubling him but neither the Mayor nor Bessie could reach a conclusion as to what. They whispered amongst themselves, trying to find a probable cause for the Doctor's state of thought. As the steam from the new cup of cocoa began to wane Bessie decided the time for whispering was done and she had to breach Doctor Cole's reverie.
"Doctor, dear, your cocoa is getting cold." Bessie prompted gently so as not to make the Doctor jump.
Doctor Cole blinked and smiled at Bessie before looking down and noticing his cocoa. He picked it up before taking a sip and placing it back down, "Thank you Bessie. I apologise that I didn't notice it until now, I was miles away."
"What were you thinking about?" Mayor Meanswell enquired.
"I wouldn't say it's what I was thinking about so much as who. I think this is the first time I've experienced one of Robyn's 'episodes', they're very frightening."
"I think we've only seen the one and that was when Lily was hurting those men." Bessie spoke for herself and the Mayor. "It was very scary."
"Kit, Sportacus and Robbie have witnessed quite a few, haven't they? It makes me wonder if it's something you ever get used to." Doctor Cole pondered for a moment before continuing, "Although from a medical perspective when I first saw her I wondered if she was having some kind of complex focal seizure."
Mayor Meanswell and Bessie both started at the word seizure, as Bessie cupped a hand over her mouth Mayor Meanswell needed to speak. "Seizure? As in epilepsy? I thought Robyn's operation stopped all that."
"I'm pretty sure it has," Doctor Cole reassured, "Had I not known about Robyn's little quirk I would have thought that's what was going on. It does make me wonder though."
As Doctor Cole seemed to slip back into his state of deep thought, Bessie and the Mayor found themselves joining him.
After some degree of stress and numerous phone calls between his base in Lazytown and the unit in Greentown, Boris found the church and pulled up outside it. Blockades had been set up all around it as several men waved on curious onlookers and tried to placate those who demanded to enter their place of worship. As numbers grew, even as they sat watching from the car, Boris knew the men would be swamped and there would be no controlling the crowd.
They would need backup.
Pulling out his phone, Boris dialled a number and placed it to his ear. Robyn listened as he spoke into it, "Andryukhin, serial number 42259K8258. Network officers in situ, Lazytown subdivision. Request police assistance in Greentown, Church of Saint Andrews." Hanging up the phone he turned to Robyn and smiled slightly at her evident confusion at hearing his conversation, "Andryukhin is my surname. When we make any kind of communication with Headquarters we need to identify ourselves, usually our surname and serial number are enough. The unit here is a sub division of my team. They monitor things, keep an eye out for anything I should know about and blend in with the civilian population. They're only active in uniform when needed. At certain times we're able to utilise the local law enforcement and other necessary groups. When we're active in an area they are aware of our presence and their obligation to help when called upon. Our Headquarters speaks directly to designated contacts that respond and help us out."
"Like in a situation like this." Robyn replied, observing the crowd. Taking her eyes from them she looked back at Boris. "Are we going inside?"
Boris nodded and pushed his door open, sliding himself from the seat he closed it and walked round to open Robyn's door. Their movement attracted a lot of attention from the crowd gathered outside the church and as they approached it, crossing the barricades without being waved off, the crowd's clamour grew. Placing his hand on Robyn's back, Boris urged her to continue walking before he turned and tried to ease the situation.
"We are here to investigate a serious crime that was committed. Please remain calm and allow us to do what we need to do. We will be working in line with the police who will be arriving shortly to assist us with our investigation."
This didn't satisfy one person in the crowd that shouted, "What kind of serious crime?"
"I'm not at liberty to say right now. All I can say is it was a serious crime."
"That's rubbish!" Another in the crowd shouted, "It was a murder wasn't it! I saw them pull out the body bag and drive off with it! Where's Father Donahague? This is his church, he should be here! Where is he?"
Remaining perfectly calm on the outside, Boris swallowed the urge to tell them that part of the priest was in the boot of his car while the rest of him was being stored in the evidence fridge at the Network's Greentown base. He could see the crowd was growing more and more restless, casual onlookers becoming part of the numbers trying to test the strength of the barricades and see for themselves what was going on inside.
He had to tread carefully.
Before Boris could speak another in the crowd pointed at Robyn, "That's Lily's daughter! If someone's been murdered she's got something to do with it!"
"I saw her here before Christmas! She was here with her brother! They were conspiring about something! She's responsible for this! They've killed Father Donahague! Lily's twins have killed Father Donahague!" Someone at the back of the crowd accused, their words stirring the crowd and increasing their anger.
"Only Morgan was involved in this!" A voice behind Boris bellowed above the random shouts rising from the crowd, "He's confessed as much! Robyn had nothing to do it!"
Looking behind him, Boris smiled when he recognised Belikov. A broad figure and well known member of the community, his appearance outside the church wearing a uniform similar to Boris' caused many in the crowd to fall silent when they heard his words. His hazel eyes scanned the crowd as he gestured for Robyn to pass by him and enter the church. Though some people showed signs of protest no one made a move to interfere and remained silent. As Greentown police officers began to arrive, Boris and Belikov followed Robyn into the church, closing the door behind them.
"That was intense," Boris sighed, leaning back against the door before his eyes found Robyn.
She was stood in the doorway of the confessional, facing into it. Her hand seemed to tremor as it rested on the door surround. Something had arrested her attention, forcing her to study it. His brow marred with a frown, Boris crossed the short space of floor to her. Being taller than her he was able to peer over her head at what she was so intensely caught up in and heard Belikov whisper behind him, "That's what we brought you here to see."
Spatters of blood stained the floor of the confessional while myriad handprints appeared in a random pattern on the wall that seemed to border the words carved into it, 'Forgive me father for I have sinned it's been three days since my last confession. I killed you. Why when you lowered me into the water did I remember drowning? Why Robyn? Why did I remember looking up at the stars through the water and drowning?'