Lizard Man (part II)

Not to my surprise, the place was another hidden, precariously looking, iron-framed, windowless filthy place, which looked more like a newly sold shop casing. I had entered so many similar establishments in the recent days.

And to think that horror was in High Cheawuld Garden. What was the mayor of Sproustown doing?

Inside, in the middle of literally nothing - there was nothing inside the establishment - were in a circle: Sarah, Chapman, Ewalyn, Joey and the long-haired guy I saw on Friday of the past past week, who ran away from us at the Johnson's event: Eliott Solis. He looked less like a medieval hero in a flying cape this time. He had his hair tied up and was wearing a shirt and jeans.

"When they heard me approaching, they stopped the subject. Sarah was the first to say anything:"

"This is lieutenant Dotson, also from SAD. Lieutenant Dotson, this is...

"Solis, I believe"

"You got here quick." Joey said.

"I was already heading here. Solis gave me that same address by message before the explosion."

There was a moment of silence.

"So? Anyone gonna tell me what the heck's going on here?"

"For starters, Lieutenant Dotson... Why don't 'you' tell us what you were doing for the past two hours?"

I scratched my chop.

"Oh, come on. You gonna blame this on me now? Okay, um... I assume I must be guilty of something, but whatever it is was caused by an inopportune call. Whatever. I'll satisfy your curiosity first then, Captain:"

"This morning – Chapman will confirm – I got a call from none other than Sarah Harmon. The number was the same and the voice was identical. She called me about two and a half hours ago when she gave me the orders to go to Dalilah's old headquarters to aprehend this" I extended Cooper's invitation in her direction, "additionally this Sarah who called me said she was still in Silverbay and commented on a guy named Verde, who was supposedly the culprit in last Monday's case. According to the testimony of the criminals arrested by the department the other day, he should be a suspected Deluxes drug lord who would be bringing a delivery of the drugs in boxes, and that invitation you hold now would be the contents of one of them. What was my surprise when you called me a few minutes ago demanding that I returned. I deduced that someone imitated your voice with some kind of finesse and set you up. The trap was probably aimed at two things: one, to get me away from where I was before, that is, literally in front of the valuable source of information Alexander Sprohic; and two: to get close to Dalilah, where I assumed they would have set up some kind of trap."

"I don't know if I've mentioned before, but I took this invitation" I gave it to Sarah "from the hands of the black bandit of Friday, the one who knocked you down with a stick" I nodded at Joey with my head. He got umconfortable "such a stick was made of silisolite, and this and a number of other factors lead me to believe that he was a lizard man. As he struggled more as to keep me in place rather than stopping me, I figured they could have put explosives in the Deluxes boxes, which is what Howard's people were moving to and fro."

"After that I unset their trap and left. The end. Mind if I smoke in here?"

I took a cigarette out of my shirt pocket and lit it. Sarah, with the invitation in hand, stretched it out and ripped the paper without notice.

I dropped my cigarrette.

"Sarah!?"

"That invitation is one more fake one, Lieutenant Dotson."

" 'one more...?' You mean there was a fake one before? Then I was right! You did fake the last one!"

Sarah looked at me playing innocent.

"The one I left the weekend behind at the office? Yes, Lieutenant Dotson. That was a fake."

"How? How could you!? And I bet giving everybody a day off and leaving Crane alone there was part of your plan too!?"

" Henry..." Ewalyn interspersed.

I pointed to Sarah.

"She used Crane as bait so she could lure the criminals who wanted to get their hands on the invitation!"

Everybody looked at me like I was being inconvenient.

"What's that!? You gonna tell me that's acceptable!?"

"Lieutenant Dotson," she pointed at Solis, "The invitation Solis dropped was already a fake to begin with. I didn't make any copy. I just made the copy I gave you; the one you decided to use in your fight today."

I turned to the young man with long hair. He was silent and had a depressive aura, staring at something between the ground and the group.

"It's time for you to open your mouth."

For the first time I heard his voice. It sounded low and swallowed. It was a boy's voice. Like a boy in a nervous state who's trying to find the right words to express himself in front of a large crowd. Solis was apparently much younger than he looked.

"I, uh... I have to start at the beginning. More precisely two weeks ago: I didn't kill the old couple. I don't even know them. I was hired by someone I don't know. He avoided direct contact, it was all done via letters written with magazine clippings."

"Did you..."

" Shh!" Sarah said, "let him speak."

"...He told me about that illegal tournament which tortures paranormal beings in the Arena and that the invitation was somewhere here in town. He gave me the invitation by putting it in my mailbox... Said he got it from a drug dealer. He told me to give the invitation to the SAD so they could take care of it. He told me he'd arranged a meeting with a supervisor at the head office in Little Quarry so I could go there and carry the invitation. Everything else would be negotiated directly with the police because he wanted to remain anonymous. He left the assignment to me...

...I thought it was very weird at first. Why didn't he just deliver the invitation himself? Still... I don't know if it's because I've been trying to fight the three Deluxes teams in this town for a while, but... Knowing the existence of that tournament, I felt compelled to help...

...I ended up going to that address on Thursday to learn that they had killed two people inside the house. I quickly knew it was a trap, so I cleaned my prints and went to my house. I was so nervous that... I couldn't call the police. I was afraid the police would think I was involved...

...In the end I regretted it and came back the next day. Not only to make the delivery, but to tell about the trap. However after I saw the three of you and the other detective that day I got scared again and ended up hiding instead of trying to explain myself...

...When you and the other detectives came after me I had the idea of luring you with my ductu to drop the paper, because at least the police would know about the tournament, but that made it even harder to defend my story... Now I was sure you were thinking I was involved with the trafficking...

...but that's ok, I'm paranormal... I can stand for myself. I can hide perfectly. What matters is that you were investigating the case. So I hid, hoping that when things started to get right I could go back to my normal life and continue my saga against trafficking, maybe with the help of the police...

...It was when I found out about Sanford's death that I finally pondered the idea of making an appearance and telling my story. Using my knowledge, I learned that in parallel to Sanford's murder, the stooge trafficker, the police had also unsuccessfully tried to defend Alexander Sprohic, brother of Jeffrey Sprohic, who had been convicted of a murder similar to that of the Sanford ter stooge. I added two plus two and concluded that Jeffrey must have been set up by the drug trafficker, so his brother would probably have been able to tell me who was setting them up that way. Therefore before I showed up to the police I started trying to find Alexander Sprohic, using my skills...

...After a careful inspection from where I learned that Sprohic had been abducted, in that wooden house in East Elmsley, I ended up finding the place where he was then. I was surprised he was inside a refrigerator in a secret compartment of a hotel. There was no one inside the hotel. Whoever put his body inside the freezer was off-site at the time. So I pulled him out and took him to one of the abandoned stores downtown. That's when I contacted the SAD. I wanted Sprohic to be able to confirm my story, and he probably knew about at least one of the bite-like violent attacks that had occurred in the last few weeks..."

The boy stopped for a breath. I took the opportunity to light another cigarette. He finished:

"...And that's when I got a call from a censored voice saying they kidnapped someone close to me, telling me to show up at the scene. I got angry... I knew it wasn't a coincidence. They were planning to sabotage the meeting between me, the police and Sprohic, but I had no choice but to go to the agreed location. I thought it was going to be a trap, but it wasn't anything... It was just a hazing. And then I learned that the same had happened to you when I returned here."

"And that's your version of the story..." I smoked, "It's some story. What do you think?" I asked Sarah.

Sarah made a 'ahem' and then she started:

"There are several points to consider in Solis' version. Assuming everything he said is true, and we will consider the alternative when he is not present out of respect," Sarah directed a look at the long-haired boy "I would like to start by pointing out the following: you mentioned you were fighting the Deluxes traffic in Sproustown in an indie way, detached from the police and any other investigative organization. You also commented on the existence of three drug distribution teams. I can point out that this is what I learned about Phillip in Silverbay, after analyzing Jeffrey Sprohic's report after his capture the day after the jewelry store robbery. Phillip told me that you know the nicknames of the three big distributors: Dragon, Wilkinson and Verde."

She pronounced Green pausingly while looking at me. That was the name I heard on the phone earlier. She continued:

"The information Phillip passed on is reliable. And we have evidence that all three of them are involved with mercenaries and rental of services of killers of paranormal nature."

Joey let out a whistle:

"Not one, but three groups using paranormals in Sproustown? This'll turn into a civil war!"

"I thought you already knew the names of the dealers..." Solis declared expressing mild indignation.

"Our division generally leaves the trafficking issues to the drug department." I responded by leaving my cigarette butt on the floor, "I confess the name 'Dragon' is not strange to me. I must have heard Howard's people talk about it some time ago, but I didn't imagine it was someone involved with paranormal activity. I assumed it was just another midnight corner dealer."

Sarah resumed:

"And as for your statement... ...That you were vehemently combating the practices of the three groups mentioned... Can you provide us further explanation?"

"Like I said, I've been following the Dragon, Verde and Wilkinson for some time now. I never really got to the source. Using my skills I follow part of the departmental activities," he wandered his eye at us with slightly guilty expression, "all of them: murder, robbery, drugs... the SAD... And I collect information that can help me get to the three bosses, but it's very hard. No department could get to them. Investigations always end when they reach a subordinate of Sprohic's caliber."

"And you never considered allying yourself with the police? Share your information? Expand the scope of the investigation by working together as a good citizen?" Sarah asked.

Solis turned up the nose.

"You must understand... I have reason to suspect that the police, or at least some departments, are involved in drug trafficking. Even Officer Jim Sanford, as I said..."

"Yes. You even claimed he was a criminal. A 'stooge trafficker' was your term selection. That's another point to be considered."

"But he was! He used to make it easy for lots of 'candies' to enter the harbor! He was the one responsible for the inspection!"

I just watched the expression of the members of the circle. Ewalyn, Joey, even Mark... They just looked at each other curiously, expecting reaction from the others.

"We'll have to look into that more carefully. What about your fear of sharing information with the police?"

"It's this: Every time there's a crime, be it jewelry theft, murder... Something to do with drugs... Anything to do with paranormal, the case is passed on to your department. And then the crime changes type and turns into a paranormal crime. But then your department gets involved and finds a culprit, like Jeffrey Sprohic, and so on. But you don't realize there's more to it than that! The crime of jewelry theft did not end with Jeffrey Sprohic! Quite the opposite! That was the beginning!"

There was a moment of silence.

"Well... With this degree of direct involvement with the open cases of the past few weeks, you understand, citizen Solis, that you are going to have to be brought to the SAD police station for... Information exchange. Detective Meyers... Detective Chapman, please guide Solis to the vehicle. The first thing we need to do is get out of this place." Sarah looked around.

Solis didn't resist. And so that part of the conversation ended there. The circle dispersed and everyone started looking for their place in the cars.

" Henry... Are you okay?" Ewalyn asked as she got close to me, "I got worried..."

"What's that about? It was just an attempted mass murder by a terrorist organization."

"That's not funny."

We started walking towards the blue Guerra, the car I came in.

I started poking my pocket. Ewalyn held my arm lightly.

"Didn't you say it wasn't healthy to smoke so much?"

"Ha! Are you gonna start monitoring me now? Come in." I made mention of opening the door.

The others were still inside the building, having separated into small groups and started parallel conversation, just like the two of us.

"What about you? You ok?"

Ewalyn sighed. She got on the front passenger seat, and I walked around the car and got into the driver's seat.

"Ah you know... Same rush. You weren't told... But while you were dealing with Friday's bandit, some things happened around here."

"That's something I needed to ask. I imagine it has to do with Sprohic, huh? I didn't see him lying around and neither saw the medical staff, so I guess we have some bad news."

"While Chapman waited for the medical team he received a phone call... From 'Sarah'. He had to leave Sprohic alone for a minute..."

Ewalyn stared at me, leaning against the seat, which was leaned back at the maximum.

"Crap."

"Isn't it?"

The same 'Sarah' who had contacted me ordering me to go to Dalilah's building. We wouldn't be fooled so easily by voice mimicking software. It was an alien finesse, of course. And a very annoying finesse to deal with.

"This whole situation asks for a cig."

Ewalyn reached out her hand.

"If it's to kill oneself, let's do it together."

We both lit a Tar Light each.

"You know... You should stop with that."

"You too."

The light taste of the Red Tar Cherry was all my throat needed after that traumatic sequence of events.

"Who's making all these calls huh, Ewalyn? How did they get our number?"

Ewalyn looked out briefly, then pressed to close the window.

"You said whoever contacted you mentioned Verde on the phone, right?"

She lowered her voice.

"We didn't exactly know about this Verde guy until we heard from Pierre and Bad Boy. So whoever called... It's someone who knew we knew. Someone who's been on par with the SAD's inside activities the last few days."

"Which means... It's either someone inside the SAD, someone who's working with the traffic... Or there's a finesse expert who monitors our movements. Yeah... I've thought about that. But those possibilities unfortunately don't bring us much of a conclusion."

"Yes they do, detective."

"Detective?"

Ewalyn came closer and leaned on my shoulder.

"Have you been in the lieutenant position so long you've forgotten how to act as a detective, Henry?"

"You... You mean to tell me something?"

"Check this out: whoever called you and Chapman; connected to the SAD or not, is well informed as to what the SAD is doing, at least to some extent, correct?

"..."

"So the fact that he mentioned Verde so casually indicates he must have felt that the SAD was informed that it was the criminal group subordinate to Verde that was connected with the events of the past few days."

"Which means the culprit is probably related to Verde?"

"Exactly! And not only that: the fact that the name was pronounced casually indicates we should have known that it was with Verde that we were dealing with from some information that was given to us previously, which the one who monitors our activities got to know anyway. And it was we who could not infer that information from the events."

"Some information passed in a small detail that went unnoticed?"

"Exactly! And who would have known about information passed via minor details? Who would have realized before ourselves that we could infer something we didn't?"

"He whoever is monitoring us!"

"Exact! This little slip of the tongue over the phone not only indicates that the culprit for the crimes of the past few weeks is Verde, but it also indicates that he himself is monitoring SAD's activities in some way."

Verde that bastard! I wonder how he's doing that. Is it an undercover agent? Is it Chapman? No. Impossible... The events of that morning made it clear that Chapman could have wrecked the Sprohic investigation as soon as he wanted. And he could also have blown me away, me who went to find him alone on North Avenue, if that was the case. Then could it have been... Richard Galloway? Speaking of which, did Joey finish searching that restaurant Galloway mentioned in Helmsley?

"Woah, Ewalyn. That's a lot..."

"See? Sometimes you have to leave the job to the detectives..."

'Toc toc toc.'

Joey knocked on the car door.

Ewalyn disengaged from my shoulder and returned to her seat. I pressed to open the door.

"Lieutenant? Mind if I go with you? Sarah is returning with Chapman and the others."

"Are you going back to the office as well?"

"I have to, rioght? I already finished my assignment in Helmsley..." He responded slowly by looking at Ewalyn as he held the top of the car from the outside "...And Sarah asked us to all get back there."

" Sarah?"

"Yes... Out of nowhere it seems she had a revelation and was excited to share some idea."

Ewalyn smiled.

"I guess she's got something in mind."