Poison City

 

Marcus woke up to his earlier than usual alarms. He grabbed a quick bite before hopping onto a taxi, and ended up arriving at the precinct around forty minutes prior to his usual time. Kevin was there already, as he usually would be, and Captain Ko was also in the precinct, waiting for him.

 

“I thought I told you to come early.” Captain Ko shook his head at Marcus before pointing to an interrogation room to his side: “In there, now!”

 

“My apologies, captain, I didn’t know how early you meant.” Marcus scratched his head and entered the room with Kevin.

 

“We don’t have much time, so here’s something I’d like you to know. ” Captain Ko threw a small USB drive on the table: “In here is some confidential information, and everything in there stays between us and should never be revealed to others without my prior okay, you understand me?”

 

“Yes captain.” Marcus and Kevin nodded at the same time.

 

“Now, don’t expect any detailed or concrete answer from me. I found everything I could and put it in the drive for you. ” Captain Ko sighed: “Now, think of me as a person who knows a lot of strange cases but had never tried to piece anything together, for various different reasons. And I for one am not super curious about what the ‘big picture’ is like. So, tell me concrete information you find, but save your theories and speculations to yourself, capeesh?”

 

“Yes.” Marcus sat down by the table and let Kevin pick up the drive.

 

“What’s in it?” Kevin asked?

 

“Case files, recent cases.” Captain Ko turned around and looked at the door, with his back facing both Marcus and Kevin: “I guess both of you already know that the city is going through a surge in violent crimes, especially homicides and murder?”

 

“Yes.” Marcus and Kevin answered simultaneously.

 

“But, captain, just so we’re on the same page. You are indeed aware of the supernatural elements of this kidnapping case, and willing to let us investigate it from supernatural angles?” Kevin thought for a brief moment before he raised this apparently well thought out question.

 

“I am saying that for cases as bizarre, complicated and difficult as this, you are free to explore all angles you deem fit, even some unconventional ones.” Captain Ko shook his head.

 

“And the information you are sharing with us, is it related to our case at hand?” Marcus asked.

 

“The surge in homicides and murder is appearing all over the city, even in some of the areas where crime rates are so low you can practically leave your front doors open over night. In this drive, I included some of the cases that caught my eye. Some others, well, are quite sensitive and I could not pull them out without raising some suspicion.” Captain Ko sighed and turned to them once again: “And there is also one case, I just could not put it in a drive, because of - various reasons. So I’d suggest you do it on your own. That case is Blue Envelope 1149.”

 

“Can I ask a question, Captain?” Kevin raised his hand.

 

“Go ahead Mr. Loo.”

 

“How long have you known? About the supernatural entities that are in our city?” Kevin asked with a frown on his face.

 

“Longer than I’d hope.” Captain Ko sighed and looked up at the ceiling: “But still - you need to understand this. Knowledge about them is never supposed to be shared with civilians or even law enforcement offices that are not involved in dealing with them. And I am sharing this with you still in accordance with this tacit rule.

 

“And another thing you need to know. Let me be clear.” Captain Ko continued: “I am not sharing this with you just because the case at hand has proven to involve the supernatural and I want to shut you up. I am sharing this with you because there is a worrisome trend with the rise in supernatural related cases, and I fear that something else is going on. And with the unique position our precinct is in, things will get trickier, as you could imagine. Which is why I want to talk with you before the team from the South-Eastern community collective gets here. I want you to be more prepared. ”

 

“We understand, captain.” Marcus also raised his hand: “But - I also have a question.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Carl Benson, and the girls - ”

 

“Yes, just put a full report on my desk. I assume it would be good enough to show that we did make an effort to look into the case. And I will handle it, including the communication with the Bensons and the city - ”

 

“No, that’s not what I meant.” Marcus shook his head: “I am asking, if you could help stall them instead and give us more time to investigate it. I have a gut feeling that things are connected here.”

 

“Okay. Put your reasons in the report. Remember, concrete proofs only.”

 

“And before we finish, I have a question.” Marcus raised his hand once again.

 

“No need to raise your hand, just ask.” Captain Ko rubbed his nose bridge.

 

“I think we should get everyone involved, at least all the detectives.” Marcus said: “Since you gave me and Keryn a chance to cover up - I mean deal with the missing ammo situation in that Ling family house, I assume you know that Keryn is on the know as well. The only one we still keep in the dark is Shervas. And the case regarding the substation - ”

 

“And Mick.” Kevin added from the side.

 

“Yeah, but - he is still new here. We should wait and see.” Captain Ko waved his hand and said: “Yeah. Let me think about it. Some things of late definitely got the attention of the city. And there's plenty of good reasons to build a task force to investigate everything.”

 

“Great. So we could get on the same page.” Kevin laughed and took a look at Marcus. But Marcus still appeared to be worried.

 

“But - how are we going to present the findings?” Marcus sighed: “Yes we can get on the same page, there are reasons why cases go into Blue Envelopes right? And even if we found out everything, how are we going to tell the city about them?”

 

“First, there are actually people in the city that will know about the truth and help us figure out how to document our findings. So no worries.” Captain Ko nodded in approval: “There are people who know, and some of them are in the city.”

 

“Yet they did nothing to stop everything.” Marcus sighed.

 

“Not everyone is free to act.” Captain Ko looked Marcus right in his eyes: “We all have our bindings and our circumstances.”

 

“What is Blue Envelope 1149?” Kevin looked up from his phone: “Looks like I cannot request a digital copy of the files, and I have to go to the city archives in the Northern District to find it? That’s awfully odd even for a Blue Envelope case.”

 

“It’s because it was ordered by the city to be sealed and not be digitized.” Captain Ko shrugged: “And you looking into the case is actually good timing. People already knew that you have a habit of looking into Blue Envelope cases. So hopefully less suspicion will be raised.”

 

“Wait - how - ” Kevin was stumped for a moment: “Oh man, Captain you could’ve told me - ”

 

“I was actually just about to tell you. But you went ahead and checked on the digital archives before I could mention it.” Captain Ko shrugged, but his smile indicated that he was rather pleased and amused with what Kevin did: “But I guess it’s okay if I tell you now - and I’d figure you probably know by now, that your accesses to Blue Envelope cases will be tracked and logged. Normally it’d be fine, because they are still considered cold cases where people may occasionally look into.”

 

“Okay, okay. So I need a cover story.” Kevin stood up and started pacing: “What is the case about, captain?”

 

“It’s about a case dating - maybe 17 years ago. I can’t remember the exactly” Captain sighed: “A family of four. Both parents were dead, only the two children lived.”