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In the Wind

Posted on Thu Oct 24th, 2024 @ 4:10pm by Commissioner Nomis Tropwen & Chief Inspector Ji-eun Moon & Inspector Yelgrun & Senior Constable Kiki Marmalade

1,805 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Boys of Summer
Location: TR HQ, Chief Inspector's office
Timeline: Mission Day 2, late morning

ON:

Inspector Moon sat in disbelief, still staring through the report on her desk as if it wasn't there.

Despite medical efforts, Paulie Beldam had slipped into a drug-induced coma; he was expected to recover but there was no telling when. Beldam's lawyer and the prime suspect in his intoxication, Bill Kunsler, had sworn blue until he was nearly in tears that he was innocent. They had no other suspects, no other leads, except this recurring name, 'McNeal'.

Ji-eun had run a check on the name of course, three in fact, but there were dozens of McNeal's on the planet, without ruling out false identities or someone off-world. This slimy lawyer Kunsler was the only lead she had, so why had a report come down from no less than the Commissioner to release him?

"I would have delivered it in person," came a stern but friendly voice in the doorway, "but I knew you'd want it in writing."

JI-eun glanced up. She knew the voice, but hadn't looked for Comissioner Tropwen to appear without warning. "Commissioner. I was about to call, actually."

"Saves us both a call, then," Commissioner Nomis Tropwen smiled. "Mind if I sit?"

"Sir," Moon, a little flustered, stood out of respect as the Commissioner entered her office. She gave a nervous smile. "Excuse the mess."

This is why you always keep your desk in order, Ji-eun...

"I know this must seem like an unusual directive," Nomis cut straight to the point as he pulled up a chair, "but I assure you I have my reasons."

"Commissioner, can I speak plainly?" Ji-eun adjusted the loose strands of fringe that hadn't been tied back to a ponytail.

"Always."

"How are we releasing this guy?" Moon asked, exasperated. "He was the only one in the room with us, he had access to Beldam, all the evidence points to him."

"It's circumstantial," Nomis took off his hat and rubbed his head. "We don't have any evidence against him, we only have him. We'd have to release him tomorrow anyway."

"What about his payroll?" Ji-eun handed Commissioner Tropwen a padd, showing Paulie's latest accounts. "I checked Kunsler's background and who's been bankrolling Beldam. The lawfirm of 'Kunsler, Koobie and Partners', and Paulie Beldam, both received sums from business entities I've never heard of."

"Well, that's good work," Nomis perused the findings. "That definitely sounds worth pursuing."

Moon was a little surprised. "Commissioner?"

"You didn't think I was throwing the case completely?" Nomis handed the padd back, then glanced back over his shoulder at the door. "Kunsler is being released, but that doesn't mean we have to stop watching him."

Ji-eun smiled, nodding. She thumped the table with her fist and pointed at the Commissioner. "Bait."

"Precisely."

"Why not say this in the report?"

Nomis cleared his throat. "Speaking plainly... I don't believe Kunsler could have drugged Beldam. That amount of illicit substance, it had been in his system before Kunsler even got the call. And I don't think you believe he did it either."

The prospect Moon had been hoping so much to avoid, she had barely even considered it as a possibility.

"Someone inside," Inspector Moon sighed.

"I've reviewed the check-ins, there was no-one unusual," Tropwen replied gravely. "It was either a false ID, or..."

"Or we have a double agent," Moon frowned, rubbing her brow. "Aish. I was hoping that wouldn't be the case."

"I trust you, of course," Nomis assured her. "And I'll trust you with who you clue in on this, but keep it small. Keep it quiet. If this McNeal group is anything like what I've heard, they're insidious."

"What have you heard?" Ji-eun gestured to the chaos across her desk. "I've tried but I can't find anything useful."

"Nothing concrete," Nomis mused. "I have a new confidential source who could be of help, possibly. This 'McNeal group' cover their tracks well, which means they must be dug in pretty deep. Especially if they have people in this building."

Moon shuddered at the thought. "I'll begin screening a team right away."

"Good," Tropwen slapped his knees and stood from his chair. "I'll, uh, send you what I have so far, such as it is. It sounds like you have a good lead or two, but I don't envy your position. If you need anything, let me know. I have to be across town to meet DC Esten in an hour but there's a few more people I can involve in this, including Colonel Fletcher if necessary. This business with the McNeal's is top priority, it'll need discretion and speed."

"I understand sir," Ji-eun nodded, standing as well to show the Commissioner the door. "And thank you, for trusting me with this."

"Of course," Tropwen nodded, fixing his hat back on his head as he turned at the door to leave. "Good luck, Chief Inspector. I'm counting on you."


||TR HQ, Chief Inspector's Office, 2 hrs later||

Since the Commissioner had taken his leave, Ji-eun had been poring over credit reports relating to the two business entities who had sent large sums to Beldam and his lawyer Kunsler. Shortly after, she had to stop and peruse the reports sent from the Commissioner's office on her private channel, pertaining to what information Tropwen had been able to gether about potential ties to the 'McNeal Group'. When she wasn't doing that, Inspector Moon was double-checking backgrounds and personnel files to see if any anomalies leapt out at her.

By the time she realised it was past lunch, Ji-eun couldn't see clearly for tiredness. She wiped her eyes, stretched in her seat, and tried to muster the motivation to get an iced tea and some green curry noodles from the replicator.

"Inspector?" Kiki called, knocking on the door of Moon's office, seeing that it was slightly ajar.

Moon looked up suddenly, snapped from her trance. "Oh, Constable. Please, come in."

Ji-eun reflexively went to start tidying her desk to obscure the sensitive information, then thought better. Aniyo... you've worked with her for years, Ji-eun, if there's anyone here who you can trust, it's her.

"Any progress in your investigations?" Kiki asked, stepping inside. The young officer leant against a filing cabinet and folded her arms.

"Uh... some," the Inspector shrugged, and surveyed her work. "The Commissioner was here this morning. I have some news."

"This went straight to the top?" Kiki enquired, stunned and suddenly watching the door to make sure no one was listening in, Kiki stepped toward Moon. She was well aware of the sudden pressure this case was going to put on the team, nevertheless, she grinned and put her hands on her hips, "Where do we start?"

"Grab yourself something from the replicator and pull up a chair," Moon offered, her tone concerned. "We've got a lot of work to do."

||Erikston Street, Brooksdale, later||

"This feels familiar," Yelgrun mumbled as he sat in the back seat of the patrol car with the Inspector and Senior Constable Marmalade.

The trio had been keeping a tentative watch on Kunsler's house in Erikston Street ever since they had released the suspect lawyer. He had stayed low for a little while, doing nothing suspicious, hadn't made any calls or tried to leave again. Which was itself, very suspicious.

"We're out of bear claws," Moon told him, never taking her eyes off the house.

"It's fine," Yelgrun sipped his coffee. "I have to watch my diet."

"He still hasn't made any calls?" The Inspector asked Marmalade, who was in charge of monitoring his technical activities.

"Nothing." Kiki replied, watching a PADD tapped into the local communications network like a hawk. Then she spotted something interesting. "Wait... I'm getting something interesting, coming from Kunsler's address but... I don't know if its him."

"Something interesting?" Moon repeated, looking over. "Interesting how? A call, a digital trace?"

"It looks like a call," Kiki muttered, still working on the PADD, "But its not coming from his assigned contact line. I'm just working on the encryption now. It's low-grade, like the type you'd get on an unregistered comm account. It may take a minute to see where the signal is being broadcast, but it appears the signal is repeating... if I had to guess, I'd say that someone is trying to call repeatedly and isn't getting an answer."

"Sneaky little weasel," Yelgrun said, looking over at Kunsler's house.

"Why use a burner if he isn't trying to keep something off the record?" Moon watched Marmalade work intently. "And I doubt it's the usual vices like a no-questions-asked massage from the personal ads, or getting low-mileage pit woofies from your dealer. Whoever he's trying to reach, he's extremely desperate."

"The little bird calling for his mother," Yelgrun mused, never having outgrown his Vorta sense of humour. "We should move in; whoever he's calling he must think can help him, this situation could get out of hand fast."

"Marmalade, have you traced the signal?" Ji-eun asked, looking between the PADD and the house. "We don't have probable cause, and we could risk busting our biggest lead."

"Hang on... hang on," Kiki whispered, working at the PADD to break the encryption layers, working the device harder than a Martian android on human labour day, "Got it! The signal is going to a device in Briant... I'm checking the satellite now... whoever he's contacting, they're on a construction site on Research Road. Eesh. Kunsler's got friends in high places, that's a nasty part of town."

"A construction site?" Moon repeated, half to herself. She tried to recall the list her investigations had overturned that morning. "I think I know who he's calling. One of the wealthiest clients for Kunsler's firm is 'Kingdom Construction'."

Kiki continued her research, diving into the records. "I've lifted the encryption, it seems like he's contacting a line owned by, wouldn't you know it, Kingdom Construction."

"It looks like the bird is flying the coop," Yelgrun drew their attention to the house. Kunsler's car was reversing out onto the street. "Right to the fat cats, I'll bet."

"Pabo-ya." Ji-eun muttered; the "fool" was doing exactly as they needed. Now was the time to act. They had to be fast and precise. Moon had assembled the best team she could, given the risk of a mole in the station, now it was time to put them to work. "Yelgrun, stay here and call for Nguyen, check the house with his team. Marmalade, we're going after Kunsler, but we don't have to tail him to know where he's going. Good work."

"You bet," Kiki grinned. "Sauce for the goose, as they say."

"Our first catch of the day," Yelgrun smiled.

Kunsler sped up the street, heedless of their presence. Moon could finally feel it, the freeze of this case was heating up. "Let's get to work."

OFF

 

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