Amanda's hand rapped against the door. The window pane set in the white, plastic door was of swirled glass and proved hard to see through, but she could make out indistinct signs of movement from within after a moment. The shape - which resolved itself into a man after just a few moments - approached the door, before pulling it open as far as the chain latching it shut allowed. He peered out toward the girl, eyeing her coldly and with more than a little suspicion. "Yeh?"<br/><br/>She took a moment to rest her eyes onto what little of the man she was able to see. She wanted to remember his face, she might need it in the future if he'd show up anywhere. Amanda adjusted her black, wide-rimmed glasses with her fingertips and put a genuine-looking smile on her face. "Goodmorning, sir. Child's Protection Services. We received a call of some disturbance at this adress, could I take a look inside?"<br/><br/>From between the crack in the door, the mans eyes squinted, before running up and down her appraisingly. She was slightly glad to notice it was more that he was judging her than checking her out, and doubly glad that it seemed to stick. He nodded, pushed the door shut, and unchained it, before pulling the door open. "Yeh, I guess. I don't do nothin' to my kids though, Lady." He let her pass in, before shutting, bolting, and chaining the door shut again.<br/><br/>The man was of average height, and fairly average build - if slightly on the overweight side, though nothing too substantial. He had white skin, and short brown hair, which matched the pair of days worth of stubble adorning his chin and cheeks. He was wearing a white vest, and jogging bottoms; this was a man not overly keen on appearance, or at least not expecting guests. The trend continued with the nature of his house. There was junk everywhere... Needless, often ugly knickknacks took up much of the space, and there were dirty plates stacked into a small pile beside the couch in the lounge Amanda was lead to. It wasn't the filthiest place she'd seen by a long stretch, but it did at least reflect rather poorly on the man. "Siddown, say your piece."<br/><br/>Amanda looked over the couch, trying to search for the least horrible looking place to sit on. The couch itself was an environmental hazard on its own. Various stains of an unknown origin were present in the worn-out fabric and there were old magazines and pieces of cloth that she found hard to identify garbled up on the piece of furniture. She slid away some of the magazines with her clipboard before sitting down and taking yet another look around the room. Her eyes tried to take in as much as she could. Anything that could reveal something to be conspicuous, or perhaps a closed cupboard she could spot? She leafed through the notepad she had placed on the clipboard and took a pen from her inside jacket pocket. It looked like a simple metallic-coloured pen. Nothing too fancy, but yet around here, it suddenly seemed to be something more than it was. She adjusted her glasses once more and looked at the man. "How many children do you have, good sir? And what are their names and ages?"<br/><br/>There were several sets of drawers, one topped by a large television a few feet in front of where Amanda sat and the other topped by a docked music player, though both electronics were off. A small coffee table, with an ashtray - near overflowing with cigarette stubs and what could quite possibly be the stubs of something rather more illicit - sat alongside the couch... Though that alone wasn't enough to arrest him on, even if she could prove it. Besides which, the punishment for a few dud ends of something dodgy would be a fine, rather less than for the armed hijack of madical supplies... Apart from that there was clutter, though nothing that particularly stood out as anything other than mess, or a waste of space.<br/><br/>"Two, Liz is six, Steven's four... They dun' live here. Look ain't you supposed to know all this stuff anyway?" He dropped to sit alongside her on the sofa, eyeing her warily. His arms spread out along the back ridge of the couch, so that his hand was resting inches behind her neck. Amanda jotted down the names and ages of the children, together with the street adress she was visiting. That was the only thing he would be able to see though, if he bothered to look. Her handwriting was quite clear to read, the letters round and feminine. The hairs on the back of Amanda's neck started to rise up and she found herself to feel rather uncomfortable in the close proximity of this man. Going in here by herself may have been a mistake, she reflected upon herself, and she realised it may be rather difficult to escape if she had to, since the man bolted the door shut. She tried to get up to avoid the man's close proximity. She wanted to just walk through the room, appearing casual, yet inspecting things at the same time while she'd ask about the children and the last time they had visited this man's home.<br/><br/>He seemed both peeved when she stood up, but he stayed in his place and watched her warily, in case she peered too hard. Both drawers were shut, so their contents remained a mystery, though one also had a keyhole which might make it even harder to discover what was within. There was a note beneath the phone that caught Amanda's eye, and she lingered just long enough to read it - despite the scowls it earned her: "£2500 - Mr. Black - 02071273028" was all it said, written in handwriting scrawly enough that she had to guess at some of it, but that seemed right enough. Beyond that... Nothing stood out. He answered his questions guardedly, but responsively, and if she -had- been from child protection she'd probably be growing increasingly certain that - while his home was hardly fit for children - he did genuinely care for his own kids.<br/><br/>Amanda turned her back to him for a brief moment, in which she tried to write down the details of the note onto a page of her notepad that wouldn't directly be seen. It was hasty and scribbled, and she hoped she would be able to decipher it lateron. She knew, however, that if she did not do this as fast as possible, he would be onto her. Smiling politely, she turned around towards the man. If she got too suspicious of him now, he would realise that she was just here to hide something. Best to keep the focus on the children, she decided as she asked her next question. "Do the children have their own room upstairs, sir? And may I see it?"<br/><br/>"Like I said, they don't live here. There mum took 'em away soon after Stevie was born... Ran off with some dick. They only stay here once in a while, n' they have to make do with the spare room between 'em." He shrugged, as though to say 'needs must', or something equally resigned.<br/><br/>"I would still like to see it, sir. It would benefit my report if I could write that the children lack nothing whenever they stay here." It was, ofcourse, an excuse for her to be able to see the upper floor as well. She didn't expect she would find out a lot, but it was worth the gamble. To try and ease any suspicions the man could have towards her, she tried to say something that might make him drop his guard a slight bit. People in this neighbourhood were suspicious and she couldn't blame them for that. But anything she could do to make this seem like a genuine visit from the Child's Protection Services would benefit her coming out of this house without any damage. "I believe your children are cared for, sir. And I am sure that this disturbance is nothing but a misunderstanding.I would appreciate it if I could take a brief look at the room you mentioned, and I will be out of your hair in no time, promise."<br/><br/>The man put his fingers to his temples and, quite suddenly, changed tact. If he was distrustful before, now he was flat out defensive; angrily so. "No no, you can't see upstairs, okay? I treat my kids good, and I ain't going to show you around because of some bullshit complaint the wanker next door made, right?"<br/><br/>Amanda watched the man and realised she had to think quickly now. She was on her own and she had little to no backup. Any sudden move she'd make would most likely cause the man to attack her in order for him to be able to stop her. She had to up the stakes somehow, without letting her cover drop. The adrenaline started to build up inside her as she felt herself being put on the spot. She took a deep sigh and breathed it out, trying to remain calm. "Sir, I really believe it is in your best interests to cooperate. While I am sure you care about your children, I think it's important for me to see where the children sleep. If I report that you have something to hide, CSP might send out for a search warrant. I ask of you sir, let me take a brief look to ensure all is well and we can spare both of us a lot of unnecessary trouble..."<br/><br/>The man looked like he was trapped; backed into a corner and flailing wildly to find a way out. His head shook before he'd even worked out the words to say; he was determined not to let her up there. "No! CSP can send the fucking search warrant, they won't find anything, but I ain't having you nosing around based on the hunch of some pillock neighbour! Who raised it? I'll fucking have 'em."<br/><br/>"I'm afraid I cannot disclose that information to you sir, to prevent the person that reported you from receiving any harm." She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose underneath her glasses. Would it be wiser for her to press on now? Or should she call for a search warrant and get backup on this? She was on her own, she knew; the man was very much on edge, which led her to question her own safety. She nodded and closed her notepad, looking towards the man again. "Allright sir. I will not invade upon your privacy any further. I did not intend to make you feel uncomfortable in any way whatsoever. Just doing my job." She tried to show him a friendly smile and made her way to the front door, waiting patiently for him to open it.<br/><br/>He was as close to breaking as she'd seen anyone, hurrying to the door, dragging it open and even using one hand to usher her quickly out. He shut up the door again even faster than that, and through the glass she could see him trotting for the stairs. That was more than nerves; that was someone with something to hide. It lead to Amanda staying in the front yard and taking her phone from her pocket. She dialed the number of the office and spoke only a few words. "Get me a search warrant and a search team. Stat."<br/><br/>"Lieutenant Williams... Alright, yes ma'am..." Came the curt response, followed by the clicking of a keyboard. Most of this was automated; the person on the far end could do it all from their desk, and all the necessary information was at their fingertips already. "Alright... deployed to your current location? Okay... Yeah, they're on their way, the warrant should be signed off by the time they get there. I'll message you an update when it's approved. That everything?"<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>