(Untitled)

[headline_maker]

Deep down beneath the quiet reserve and the sweet smile, Sacharissa was thrilled. True, it was terrible that people were having hallucinations (and she really didn't see the need for a post office on an island roughly ten miles square), but this was news. They were good stories, both of them, worth the writing. She missed the rush a daily paper

Comments

[sir_samuel]

Vimes had been informed by a polite note written in careful, feminine script that Miss Sacharissa Cripslock requests an interview on the subject of rumors of hallucinatory happenings on Tabula Rasa.

Miss Sacharissa Cripslock - polite and kind to a fault, and all the more deadly a reporter because of it. He sighed. Ever since Cam's disappearance, Vimes had gotten into the habit of taking the night shift, or at least the first half of it, a couple times a week. Now that the Council meeting was finished, he was there again, feet propped up on the desk and still sipping coffee.

And waiting for damned Miss Sacharissa Cripslock to make her appearance.

[headline_maker]

She did so with her usual quiet grace, slipping into the room with a gentle rap on the door frame. "Commander," she greeted him cheerfully. As much as she felt 'Your Grace' to be more appropriate,* there were times when she needed Vimes to be in a good mood or, at least, a decent mood.

Well. A decent mood for Vimes anyway.

"If you're not terribly busy, I have a few questions."

* Not to mention somewhat more fun.

[sir_samuel]

"Never too busy for you, Miss Cripslock," he deadpanned and gestured to the chair across from him. "Have a seat. Let's get this over with."

[headline_maker]

"Gallant as ever," Sacharissa said, smiling as she slid into the chair. Crossing her legs at the ankles, Sacharissa leaned forward, pencil poised and ready. "Commander, you've been receiving reports of hallucinations since early September. The IPD is currently investigating possible causes of these cases, is that correct?"

[sir_samuel]

Vimes nodded once, a pen held between his fingers tapping lightly on the desk.

"That's correct."

It was always good to keep answers short and to the point in cases like this.

[headline_maker]

"I'm told the IPD is running blood tests on those suffering the hallucinations," Sacharissa said. "Do you suspect an outside cause - drugs, perhaps?" The small smile was gone, and she was all focus now.

[sir_samuel]

Vimes blinked and tried not to look too surprised.

He had more or less left that angle in Tyler's hands, as he wouldn't have even known where to start, and the guy had obviously known what he was talking about when he had approached Vimes about it. Delegation didn't hurt, especially in a place like this where the commander felt out of his depth more often than he would admit.

"Mr. Tyler is looking at that angle, yes," he answered. "We're still in the middle of investigating it."

[headline_maker]

The slightest curve of Sacharissa's lips marked her triumph. Tyler had refused to say what the blood tests were for, though it wasn't hard to guess from the limited number of possibilities. Granted, she wasn't one of those squints, as they seemed to be called, and it had been likely she'd been overlooking quite a lot. To get it from Vimes helped a great deal.

"Any possibility at this juncture, I'm sure," she said. "How exactly do the IPD intend to protect the victims of these hallucinations from visions which -" Here she glanced down, consulting her notes. "- do not 'have a root in reality,' Commander?"

[sir_samuel]

Vimes slowly raised his brows. He caught the ring of quotation in the question, but what or who she might be quoting he couldn't imagine.

He was going to be finding out very soon, though. There was a game being played here, one that Miss Cripslock was really quite good at. Vimes did not like games.

"Anyone who feels they might be in danger can always come to the IPD, Miss Cripslock," he gave as answer - or lack thereof.

[headline_maker]

"I was told those hallucinating in particular could come to the IPD for protection," Sacharissa insisted calmly, "and that you could explain to me the manner in which the IPD expects to protect them."

[sir_samuel]

"As well as anyone else seeking protection," Vimes insisted. He studied her silently. "Can I ask who said so?"

[headline_maker]

"Sam Tyler," she said. After their interview, Sacharissa had no desire to protect the man, and Vimes would know the truth sooner or later anyway. "Commander, what progress does the IPD hope to make in this investigation when it's at best the work of the island -" Whatever that meant. "- at worst, a mental illness?"

[sir_samuel]

Vimes sigh. Oh, bloody damned... He was going to have a Talk with the squad about interviews someday soon, oh yes he was.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't know," he admitted slowly. Then he sat up straight and looked her in the eye. "This isn't a normal sort of investigation. We probably won't find a bad guy at the end that we get to throw in jail. But that doesn't mean it isn't important, got it? Our job is to keep the peace, an' something's disrupting the peace. So we do our job as best we can. That's all there is to it."

[headline_maker]

"Now you first began receiving reports in August," Sacharissa said, "is that correct?" Vimes could be stubborn and frustrating, but she could, at least, count on him to be competent - to make both good copy and good sense. Finding people like that to interview was hard. Of course, she wasn't always looking for the good sense part.

[sir_samuel]

Vimes nodded and raked a hand through his hair. Gods, he was tired. "That's when we got the first report, yeah."

[headline_maker]

"But they've increased in number. What made you first decide it was something that required investigation?" Sacharissa asked.