Tags: Psychological Thriller, Urban Noir, Vigilante, Mature Themes, Serial Killer, Crime Drama
⚠️Authors Note - Mature Content
"This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, nations, corporations and events are products of the author's imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real events or persons is coincidental."
Date - 15th December 2019
Character Name - Detective Brady
Location - Promise City, Ct
District - Bridgerton Bay District
Time - 0745 (7:45 AM)
He was Detective Brady, a veteran of the force, ten years he had given the public, and before then, four years to the nation in the Marines. The last few weeks haven't been kind to Brady, in fact most wouldn't blame him if he chose to resign Law enforcement, as well as the CIty he called home; Promise City wasn't the same as it used to be.
The Mafia are still present. But not nearly as powerful as they once were. Supervillains ruled the city now.
With a gangster, a simple bullet would suffice.
Against a super human? Don't bother.
Brady walked past his apartment's window, he brushed his teeth, his tired, dull eyes scanning the skyline, he did something he hasn't been able to do in a while-
Watch the sun rise.
It was beautiful, well it would have been-
if he didn't see the scaffolding, and wider construction site which repaired the BlueJet International Building and Central District.
The result of Near's earlier escapades.
The sun's orange hue glistened off the glass skyscrapers, the light, blinding to most, looked almost pure to the defeated Brady. He felt the warmth, it was welcoming.
He could see the city swiftly preparing for the holiday season's festivities. Banners. Tinsel. Brightly lit trees. The giant inflatable santa across the bay, bouncing in the distance almost as if it was waving.
Brady exhaled, taking the last swig of his coffee.
Bridgerton Precinct…
Side Enterance…
Of course Brady took the side entrance; one of the fire doors that somehow had left permanently open for the smokers. He didn't want the worried eyes of his colleagues on him. Word had already spread fast of the 'imposter incident'.
Nobody gets the drop on Detective Brady, but someone did, and that, well that's reputational damage.
A couple smoking cops stood outside the precinct.
Wearing thick furred coats they shivered.
'Is that damn storm coming yet?...'
'Should've been here a few weeks ago'
'Guess the weather people f*cked up this time.'
'The storm is coming by the looks of it, up north is reporting 5.6 inches, black ice is definite.'
Then one noticed Brady-
His head down. The trenchcoat is nice and tight. His floppy brown hat had a nice thin layer of snow.
'Hey Ethan!'
'How you doin man?'
'We heard you weren't doing too good.'
Brady stopped dead in his tracks-
his feet crunched on the snow when he abruptly stopped.
'I have not been the best.'
He kept it short. No overexplanation.
'Look man, if you need help, just come to us.'
'Yeah, we're all cops, brother, and are fellow marines.'
They nodded at him.
'Why don't you enjoy your leave? And rest?'
'I know what I would do… a few weeks paid rest? Fishing.'
'Ooooh yeh, a nice cold beer, fishing in the wilderness..'
(Well, I can't boys, not after that freak did that to me!)
He thought, wanting to snap-
'I wish.' He muttered.
Brady slipped through the fire exit. And he's immediately met by the aroma of cigar smoke and stale coffee.
Tap Tap Tap
He swiped his feet on a matt, saying "Happy Holidays, Welcome"
The damp office gray walls were covered in posters, event adverts, some past, some future and some cancelled.
'They never did do the Annual Festive Parade.' Brady quickly glanced at the festive poster.
He passed a few more officers who nodded at Brady while maintaining their conversation.
'Man, and I was looking forward to the parade!'
'Apparently Kanon Maruoka was gonna be there.'
'Mannnn~ don't. Just don't.'
'Is it permanently cancelled?...'
'Apparently so.'
'Cr*p.'
Brady walked past a partially open door. Leading to the evidence room.
Brady knew what was happening, some cops were busy with their side job.
'Hey Jon, put that away, the Detective is coming.'
'I have to find it! The Owl f*cking told me she'd cut my balls if-'
Frantically the cop filed away a folder of evidence.
'H-Hey Detective, good to see ya-'
'Likewise.'
He pushed past, towards the open, busy main hall.
This wasn't his priority right now.
Corruption in the force was wide and deep, there was little he could do at this time. But one day.
Eventually he'd reach the brightly lit main hall, the giant chandelier above illuminated the desks below. The newer cops hauled giant space heaters, wheeling them with loud hums into the many corners of the office, with of course one specifically for the Captain, Lieutenant and Detectives office.
Some cops, who had nothing to do, drank coffee and watched the Television above.
[Live from California, San Diego
I CANT BELIEVE WERE SEEING THIS FOLKS! MAXXSPEEED JUST CARRIED ONE THOUSAND PEOPLE FROM A COLLAPSING BRIDGE!]
The on scene news anchor screamed-
'Geez, thank god we have-'
'I'll say-'
Then silence..
A pin could be dropped and the whole room would hear and feel it..
Brady emerged from the decrepit corridor-
'Don't all stare.' He quipped, and then there was a ripple of laughter.
Then, a voice, authoritative but unusually warm chirps-
'Ethan? You're not expected to be at work for another couple weeks… why are you back so soon?'
It was Mary-Anne Bell, the HR admin.
Currently she has Edward by his collar, probably for being late again.
Edward on the other hand? Had a grin more akin to a goblin king than hero.
She released Edward who fell backwards into his desk chair.
Brady walked slowly to his desk, which characteristically sat in the trenches with the lower ranked officers and sergeants.
It was a long desk, covered in stacked papers, a single desk lamp and an old coffee mug.
He clicked his tongue-
'Should've made coffee…'
'I'll make you some detective!' A voice offered. It was a new lad, a younger officer.
'Nah I got it.' Edward said, grabbing the mug.
'What do you want?' he asked, his British accent thick.
'Black. Two sugars.'
Brady answered, casually flipping his trenchcoat hat onto the desk's wooden rough surface, scattering a few of the papers which a junior officer scrambled to retrieve.
He slumped onto his chair-
'So, what do we have?'
'Detective Brady-...Ethan.. You shouldn't be here… not only are you not ready, but it's a HR disaster waiting to happen.'
Mary-Anne spluttered practically lunging to the desk, her pale hand gently impacting it.
Brady looked at her, his tired, black ringed eyes staring. She, for once, a rare occurrence couldn't rebuttal his gaze. Even her special training responding to Edwards antics couldn't prepare her.
'That bastard ambushed me.'
One finger.
'He used my appearance.'
Two fingers.
'He more than likely murdered someone, while looking like me.'
Three fingers.
Brady exhaled, and when he did the hall held its breath-
'Now, I am a patient guy, but THAT is taking the piss.'
'Ethan-'
'NO.'
Brady opened the case files, and with that Mary knew it was time to back off, she wasn't going to win. The crowd of onlookers now awkwardly returned to their work stations.
While Eddie conveniently returned with the cup of coffee.
'Here, old timer. Just as you wanted it.'
'Finally.' he blew the steam.
'A simple "thank you" would have been sufficient.'
Brady stopped mid sip-
'Congrats kid, you just volunteered yourself to help me.'
'With what?'
And immediately followed up with - 'Do I have to?'
'Your going to help me look through the case files relating to the Wedding Ring Slayer.'
Edward rolled his eyes. But nonetheless stood up.
Brady carried his mug of coffee, the pair then walked over to the evidence lock up and filing room.
They passed officers who themselves had their own conversations-
'Look I'm just sayin, Near is friggin awesome but vigilantism is rightfully illegal.'
'So what are you sayin?'
'I am saying although we gotta pursue him, Near does make himself look fly as f*ck.'
'That is true I guess.'
'Ey! Mike help me carry the Christmas decorations outside!'
'But its coldddd'
'Hurry up, I ain't carrying it alone.'
'Dude, did you see the news?'
'Who watches the news nowadays?'
'Well, BlueJet apparently invaded a small country in Africa, it took them three hours.'
They eventually entered the filing room, there were piles of folders some thicker than others. Brady shuffled through them-
[Kanon Maruoka disappearance - Active]
[Speedster Loose - Inactive]
[BlueJet International - Active]
'Eddie, check one of those draws for the Wedding Ring Slayer case file.'
He immediately opened the filing cabinet and shifted through each shelf.
Dust exhumed from the sudden movement of the gears and metallic sheets.
'Ooof… Cough… when was the last time you opened this!'
'Since I was assigned to the case… so… I think it was 2016…'
Brady pondered for a moment-
'Almost four years now…'
There was a moment, a slight moment of realisation.
These were testimonies. Eye witness statements. Interviews. Images from local surveillance.
'This case is WAY bigger than what we thought.'
Edwards blue eyes blew wide open.
Brady walked over to the folder, as he did he opened each smaller segregated file.
'I was the lead officer for the case at the time.'
'But… how was it not solved sooner?...'
'Corruption kid.'
Brady looked down, his eyes strained? Or was it regret?
He continued his voice hoarse from the emotion.
'The department at the time was more focused on curbing civil resentment for the government.'
He exhaled, exhausted.
'They didn't have time for, I quote; "useless drugged up wh*res"... it never sat well with me even now.'
He leaned back on the filing cabinets-
'I tried following up on my own, but there was little I could do, especially when the department's then Captain ordered me to stop.'
'Who was your Captain?'
'His name was Leonard Stagg.
A useless sack of human waste.'
Edward continued to look over the images, again, one thing stood out-
The same grey cadillac.
It was in every surveillance image.. Not always obvious but it WAS always there-
A small corner of its bumper? Its numberplate? A reflection? It conveniently vanishes and reappears on another feed nearby?
'You know what?' Edward says, his palms resting upon the table.
'What?'
Brady muttered, sipping his coffee, his tired eyes watching Edward like a hawk.
'This car is the connection.'
'Hmm?'
'Let me rephrase-
Everything relates to this car.'
Brady thought to himself for a moment, he stood straight and paced for a moment.
He thought how the hell couldn't he have not noticed? How could he have failed so miserably?
'I need to step out for a moment.'
As he did, Edward swiftly snapped some images on his smartphone. The images would be perfect for later on, especially for establishing a perp. Even though he already had a strong suspicion.
With a ding, the images were uploaded to his database.
'Alright kid, let's get to work, I will enlist some outside help.'
Of course Edward knew who he was enlisting but couldn't let on.
Edward leaned closer, then he saw it.
'Brady, look here.'
He tapped the surveillance image.
The detective leaned in-
His eyes widened in horror.
The image was of Emily Haines on the phone. In the background-
'In this image, a police officer approached Emily-
It is dated 2nd December 2016-
The officer emerged from the grey Cadillac.'
Brady's hand began to shake, the emotional repeated strikes had finally begun to wear him down. He gritted his teeth.
Edward spoke up-
'It says… YOU… were the officer she spoke to…'
'How? I was still under probation under a Detective.'
'Whoever he is, he had your badge.'
Brady wanted to vomit.
His face?
His name?
His reputation?
And now-
His badge…?
'The bastard tried to set me up even back then!'
Brady roared slamming his fist upon the metallic cabinet, shaking it violently with an echoing thud.
Strong enough for Mary-Anne to peer inside the room-
'What's the commotion?'
She asked lazily, believing more work had just appeared on her hypothetical desk.
'Brady discovered the potential Wedding Ring Slayer had access to his badge.'
Edward answered as Ethan rested his head on the edge of the metal furniture. Defeated.
'We should have a record of who signed it out.'
'Really?' Edward asked, curiously.
'Yes, back in the 2010s the Department policy on badges, was new guys would be under probation with a senior member of the department. Their badges would be stored in a safe.'
Mary-Anne strutted over to one of the many drawers.
'Not here… or here… maybe here?' she muttered to herself tossing random books aside-
'Ah, got it!' she announced triumphantly.
It was a thick red book. A record book from 2010 to 2018.
'2016… AH HERE!... It says the signatory was…
-LEONARD STAGG'
'Not a chameleon now, you PR*CK!'
Brady raged, leaving his mug, storming over to his desk for his jacket and hat.
'I have a score to settle.'