Poison City

“So, what do you think?” While the other community collective members, including Tyler Khan were trying to put all kinds of spiritual and spirit-repellent decorations around the holding cells, Captain Ko pulled both Marcus and Kevin to the side and asked.

Kevin gently nudged Marcus with his shoulder. And Marcus answered after a short sigh: “I saw a spirit - of sorts fleeing from this scene. So - I don’t know.”

“You saw this thing before?” Captain Ko stared into Marcus’ eyes for a brief moment then asked.

“Well… yeah.” Marcus hesitated: “I can’t quite explain, but…”

“But - you don’t think I am going to understand what happened to Bai Gu, or relate this to him.” Captain Ko nodded: “Good, be cautious. But trust from now on that I know more than you think. So don’t hesitate to let me know, okay? And that includes you as well, Kevin.”

“Wait, sir, does this mean you know a thing or two about Carl Benson’s death?” Kevin nodded, but was instantly reminded of something.

“I did not, but thanks for confirming my suspicion.” Captain Ko smiled, then raised his eyebrows at the space behind Marcus and Kevin: “Okay, you guys handle the communication with him. I’ll need to head back. I didn’t tell my wife I needed to stay overnight out, so if I don’t make it back before morning she’ll freak the fuck out and I’ll never hear the end of it. And - come to the precinct early tomorrow. I may have something to show you.”

“Okay, take care, captain.” Marcus nodded. At this point, he and Kevin were already quite familiar with how Captain Ko complained about his home life.

“My apologies Captain Ko.” Tyler Khan made it back just when the captain was about to head off: “We were - we were definitely not expecting this. But I think it’s a good time to establish some common understanding: that this case, as we in the South-Eastern District call it, is ominous and haunted. Therefore it will be good that we find a time to contact some of our local clergymen and ask for their help - by help I mean items and artifacts like beads or talismans that could protect everyone involved from their influences.”

“Very well, Marcus, Kevin, you take care of it.” Captain Ko yawned and lit up another cigarette: “Sorry Mr. Khan, but I’ve gotta head home to deal with some home business. Detective Cai would be in charge of our side of the investigation and will serve as your point of contact. ”

“Understood.” Tyler Khan seemed rather displeased with Captain Ko’s decision to leave right now, though he also seemed intending to hide it: “But before you go, I do want to share this information with everyone. We just got word from the collective’s permit office, the auditor and issuer of the renting permit for that platform is missing. We will send out men to locate him and bring him back. If anything, this would be the definitive proof that he betrayed the trust of the people and deliberately neglected his duty and his oath.”

“Okay.” Captain Ko shrugged and sighed: “Marcus, like I said, you’ll be in charge of this case. And I will try to send some help your way. But I hope you can understand - that we are still short-handed.”

“Apologies captain, but I don’t think I can hold on for too long.” Marcus shook his head and coughed: “My injuries are… a bit taxing for me.”

“Understandable. ” Captain Ko took a look at Marcus’ shoulder and sighed, then he turned to Tyler Khan: “Mr. Khan, as you can tell, Detective Cai might need some rest. I’ll send some officers over and try to help you with the investigation. But before we go, Marcus, can you go and check out that auditor’s office? And collect all of the relevant files?”

“I’d be happy to, sir.” Marcus nodded. This could just be the better solution. The whole situation screamed a cover up. Yet with their limited influence and autonomy in the district, there was only so much they could do. The good thing was that they had the good will to collaborate on the investigation, and they could take advantage of the situation and gather as much information as possible. The bad thing was that he and Kevin were nowhere near in good condition to continue with the investigation tonight.

“Aight - let’s head to the office of the auditor and maybe his residence later.” Tyler Khan did not even hesitate: “Our folks have sealed the scenes, let’s go.”

The auditor of the rental of the platform was a single man named Putnam Von, who had been working for the community collective almost all his life. His office was just in a building not too far from the community watch station, and he lived in a collective-owned building on the side of the road.

Putnam Von’s office was not empty when they got there - aside from two members of the community watch and patrol team guarding the entrance, there was one man and one woman inside, wearing dark tight clothes that covered their whole bodies, hair nets and had forensic tool kits on their side. It took Marcus a few seconds but he still recognized their attires - these were the forensic technician uniforms for those who were under the employment of the South-Eastern District community collective. And from the looks of the material used on these uniforms, the tools used by them and in their kits, these were certainly more senior members of their teams.

“Ms. Hernandez, Mr. Shaw.” Tyler Khan greeted the two individuals inside: “How’s it going?”

“Clean. Too clean.” The woman in tight clothes came over and shook her head: “We tried to find any traces of hidden substances, suspicious documents and any other signs of para -  I mean uncleanliness. But nothing for now.”

“How about the auditing records?” Marcus asked, which earned him some weird and suspecting looks from the two forensic scientists in the room.

“Hernandez, Shaw, these are Detective Cai and Mr. Loo, from the 17th Precinct.” Tyler Khan extended his hand at Marcus and Kevin: “And, detective, Mr. Loo, these two are Carla Hernandez and Garry Shaw, two of our best forensic technicians. Hernandez, Shaw, the city would be collaborating with us on this investigation per our agreement. And their points of contact are sufficiently briefed on the details, including the paranormal matters.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Kevin nodded at them, while carefully choosing his position to stand.

“What do you want?” Garry Shaw was still scrubbing the dirty marks on the wall and did not even look back at anyone that just came into the room.

“We’re here to take a look at Putnam Von’s office, and we need to bring in all the related documents so we can scan them for their content.” Marcus nodded: “And we’d really appreciate it if everything can be wrapped up, categorized and logged in time.”

“I’m afraid we can’t do that, detective.” Carla Hernandez shook her head: “We still need to collect everything, including the fingerprints on the documents.”

“Then how about prioritizing the ones from the time of the platform, so we can log the information earlier? ” Kevin shrugged from the side: “Essentially this is what we’re looking for, right?”

Hernandez turned and looked at Tyler Khan, and even Garry Shaw paused what he was doing, turned his head and waited for a response.

“That’s a good idea.” Tyler Khan nodded: “We deal with the most relevant documents first. Then we clean up the rest and check out Putnam Von’s residence.”

“Understood.” Carla Hernandze thought for a while, then exchanged looks with Garry Shaw and sighed: “We’ll try our best to be quick and thorough.”

“Much appreciated, thank you very, very much.” Marcus gently bowed.