EMPIRE: Imperial Detective

by Stephanie Osborn

  “And Chief Carter – the guy who’s married to Maia Peterson, my boss, and who used to be Nick’s boss, the guy who got him outta the IPD and over to us – well, he wanted Nick there to help him rebuild the Investigations division, and do it right, this time,” Cally finished.

  “So this Carter came out of his early retirement to do it?” Laura Ames wondered. “To take over the Imperial Police Headquarters and clean it up?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Nick confirmed. “It’s really more of a rebuilding than a cleaning house, though; there’s not really a ‘house’ left, by the time Emperor Trajan finished with ‘em. There’s a few of the people from before still around, but most of those are the ones like me and Lee Carter, who were walking the straight and narrow and trying not to get killed in the process.”

  “Did they get all of the crooked ones?” Alexandre asked.

  “No, we’re pretty sure not,” Nick sighed. “But that’s one of the reasons Lee wanted me there. There were only two other detectives that survived, one because he was on vacation, the other because he was in the custody of the Imperial Guard for trying to usurp the investigation on the palace staffer’s murder – I understand he did voluntarily cooperate with the investigation, so that’s something, but Lee busted him down from inspector, almost all the way back to beginning investigator.”

  “Ouch,” Alexandre commented.

  “Uh-huh. Lee’s looking to me, I think, to try to help scope out who’s on the up and up, and who’s crooked as a shipping container full of springs.” He sighed again.

  “What about the detective who was on vacation?” Alexandre asked.

  “Oh, he was old guard,” Nick noted. “But he was also near retirement, so Lee basically told him he was retiring…”

  “And I don’t think he put up much of a fuss,” Cally added.

  “He didn’t,” Nick confirmed.

  “Which takes care of him,” Laura concluded.

  “Yes, ma’am.” Nick drew a deep breath and let it out. “And right now, that just leaves me. So… yes, I started out working at Imperial Police Headquarters, and I’m back working at rebuilding Imperial Police Headquarters – though I spent most of the time at ICPD, happy as an oyster in a sea bed. So I guess I can see why you aren’t happy with Cally choosing me. But I swear to you on my parents’ graves, I am not like that viper pit. And I love Cally as much as I think I can love someone.”

  Laura glanced at Alexandre, a world of meaning in her gaze.

  “Alex, this sounds a lot different than we thought,” she said, voice quiet.

  “You’re right, Laura,” Alexandre agreed. “And that also means that this must be the young man Cally’s been telling us about all along, the one who’s kept her safe, and that she’s helped keep safe, who’s been working with her and her colleagues, teaching them and bringing in people to teach them…”

  “That’s him,” Cally said, nodding vigorously. She patted Nick’s thigh. “And he’s a full detective now, and he’s gonna be rebuilding the Investigations division over at IPD HQ from scratch, and maybe even head it up when he’s done rebuilding.”

  “Oh, I dunno about that, honey,” Nick said modestly, flushing in embarrassment. “I think maybe Lee just knew I was somebody he could trust to help him do that. I’m sure he’ll pick somebody with more experience when it’s all said and done.”

  “We’ll see,” Cally said proudly, beaming.

  “I think we owe you an apology, Detective Ashton,” Alexandre said, standing and coming to Nick and offering his hand. Laura followed suit. “We were thoroughly confused, and thought that somehow you had managed to oust this ‘other’ young man from Cally’s life, and replace him…”

  “When it turns out you were him, all along,” Laura finished for her husband.

  Nick stood and shook their hands in turn.

  “It’s fine,” he told them. “As soon as I realized you only knew of me from the IPD, I knew what the problem was. And frankly, I couldn’t blame you at all. I… do hope you’ll give me a chance now, though?”

  “Most definitely!” Laura said with a smile, and it reminded Nick of Cally’s. “Now, how many bedrooms do you two need? Just one?”

  “Um, no,” Nick murmured, flushing again. “We’re doing this the old-fashioned way, at least so far.”

  “Nick had a bad experience with the niece of the old HQ head trying to seduce him, in order to try to control him for her uncle,” Cally explained. “He didn’t know she was related to the bastard, and it almost worked, ‘cause he trusted her an’ cared about her. So… he’s a little gun-shy. We’ve gone nice and slow.”

  “That bi–! Well, I can certainly see why,” Laura said, incensed on Nick’s behalf. “Well, to start things off, let’s see about getting you two settled in, and then we can begin getting to know Nick well enough to stop jumping to bad conclusions.”

  “What she said,” Alexandre agreed.

  The rest of the weekend went swimmingly. Cally’s parents accepted Nick and found they liked him a lot. They also discovered that their daughter and her intended were very devoted to each other, respectful, gentle and affectionate.

  By the time Laura Ames made Nick his favorite crepes for Sunday brunch, Cally knew he’d been accepted as part of the family.

  Busted

  When Winston Peabody responded to the summons, he found a young man was sitting at the desk where normally the Chief of Investigations would sit – where Peabody had expected to sit – in the building that had been leased as the temporary headquarters of the IPD. As it had turned out, the designs on the new building were still being finalized and the site cleared and prepared for fresh construction, so there was no help for it.

  Peabody was startled to see how young the man was; he estimated he was perhaps ten or even fifteen years younger than Peabody himself. So he reached a conclusion and acted upon it.

  “Hey there, son,” he said quietly. “I’m looking for Chief Ashton. I assume you’re his assistant?”

  The young man looked up.

  “Lieutenant Colonel Winston Lewis Peabody?”

  “That’s me.”

  “Sit down, Mr. Peabody. And please close the door. I’ll be with you in a moment.”

  “Son, the correct protocol is Colonel Peabody.”

  “I know the correct protocol, sir. Please sit down.” The younger man gestured to the visitor’s chair across the desk from where he sat.

  That didn’t bode well. Nor did it look promising when the young man turned back to the screen he’d been studying on one side of the desk.

  “Well?” Peabody wondered, impatient and a bit insistent.

  “Mm?” The other man looked up.

  “Aren’t you going to go fetch Chief Ashton?”

  “I’m afraid there’s been a little misunderstanding, Mr. Peabody. I am Chief Ashton.”

  Peabody rocked back in the chair. This young man was in charge of Investigations? Well, maybe he was older than he looked.

  “No,” Ashton said with a slight smile, apparently reading Peabody’s features, “you were correct the first time, Mr. Peabody. According to your personnel files, I’m about ten years younger than you are, though I do look a bit younger than my actual age. Nevertheless, I assure you, I am Chief of Investigations, at least for the time being.”

  “But – how?! You’re not nearly old enough to be...”

  “No, I’m not,” Ashton admitted, “and once Headquarters is properly rebuilt and restructured, I fully expect – even hope – to go back to being a detective and let someone with more qualifications run it, because believe me, it isn’t as much fun as you’d think, especially these days. But for now, Chief Carter trusts me to do the things that need doing to get the Investigations division up and running. Properly, this time.”

  Peabody knew what that codicil meant: without corruption. Without determining the conclusion of the case before even seeing the crime scene. Without taking bribes and payments to reach a given conclusion on a case. Peabod
y hadn’t ever besmirched himself so much as to accept bribes, but he had had to stand by on numerous occasions and offer up the conclusion that higher-ups had desired, or else die for his stubbornness. It was one reason why he had chosen not to marry, years ago when he had had the chance, to keep the woman he loved safe from potential blackmail or other such repercussions.

  But that, he realized with some pain, meant that he was now untrustworthy in the eyes of the new leadership of the Imperial Police, otherwise it would have been him sitting in Ashton’s seat. And that spelled bad news for him.

  “Yes,” Ashton said quietly, as if in response to his thoughts. “I’m afraid so, Mr. Peabody.”

  “I’ll say it again, Detective Ashton – it’s Colonel Peabody.”

  “No, it’s not,” Ashton said, keeping his voice low and calm. “Not now. And that’s per Chief Carter. It’s not my call. You are now a sergeant investigator.”

  “But I was an inspector!”

  “I know, and I’m sorry,” Ashton said, and his face did depict what looked like sincere sympathy. “But you cooperated with the old police regime, and thus have some trust issues, if you understand me.”

  “But it was cooperate, or be killed!”

  “Which is why I transferred over to ICPD for the duration,” Ashton pointed out. “And they still tried to kill me. I do understand, but you had options; you simply chose not to avail yourself of them. However, please hear me out.”

  “Do I have a choice?” Peabody asked, bitter.

  “That’s what I want to present to you. Your choices.”

  At that, Peabody’s startled gaze focused on Ashton’s face.

  “I really am sympathetic,” Ashton told the older man, and meant every word. “And while I had no real call in the reduction in rank, I did do a couple of things there.”

  “Like what?” The tone was mildly surly, but Ashton chalked that up to disappointment.

  “I talked Carter out of firing you outright, for one thing. And I also talked him out of breaking you down to the level of a new inductee. You’d have been the equivalent of a rookie beat cop otherwise.”

  “…Damn.”

  “Yes. You see, I worked the Medved murder case, and saw the perps’ interrogations… and subsequent executions,” Ashton explained. “As well as rounding up a few of their ‘enforcers’… one of whom, I might add, resisted arrest… rather to his permanent detriment. And since the Guard knew and trusted me from that case, it was no trouble asking for additional records. So I have been provided the Imperial Guard’s files and recordings on your involvement, including your interview showing how, when the full nature of the case was laid out for you, you decided to cooperate, and did so completely and to the best of your ability. And how you – in distinct contrast to the perps, I might add – showed all due respect and allegiance to the Empress.”

  “Well, yes,” Peabody noted, shrugging and seeming mildly confused. “It was a case of treason against the Throne. I’d never been involved in something like that before, thank God… and I hope I never am, again. And sure, I was scared for my own skin – the Throne would execute me if I didn’t cooperate, and my old supervisors would have had me killed if I did – but there are some things that are more important than one’s skin. And when they’re presented to you, frank and up front, you just… know. And that was one of ‘em. So… I cooperated.”

  “And you didn’t know the nature or importance of the case when you were sent to ‘investigate’ it for your superiors?” Ashton pressed.

  “No,” Peabody said, firm. “I’d swear to you on the Throne itself, right this instant – I had no idea. And probably wouldn’t have done, even at the scene, because I doubt there was anything there to tell me the importance of what Medved was working on. I didn’t realize that until the Empress herself told me. The more I’ve thought about that, the madder it makes me, to tell you the truth. And once I realized this was in the High Court, I kind of said, ‘Shit with what the bosses want. The Empress is The Boss,’ capital letters, you know?”

  “I do indeed. What do you make of Emperor Trajan?”

  “I think he’s cut from an even sterner mold than his sister was, if what I saw of him was anything to go by. And she wasn’t anybody to be trifled with, for that matter.” Peabody paused, and his shoulders slumped. “For whatever it’s worth… and I’m realizing now that it might not be worth much… I swear I had no idea there was anything like an assassination in the works.”

  “Would you lay your life on the line for that?”

  Peabody blinked. He knew there were sensor systems for determining if a person being interrogated were telling the truth or lying, but IPD Headquarters had never had one; it was too dangerous to the powers-that-had-been.

  But other organizations had them, such as the ICPD. And Ashton had just admitted that he had transferred to the ICPD to get away from the corruption; it stood to reason he still had connections there. If he wanted to test Peabody on the other department’s equipment, he probably could. Peabody looked up, to see Ashton watching him.

  “Yes, sir,” Peabody said, using an honorific to Ashton for the first time… and meaning it. “I would.”

  Peabody was telling the truth, if his subtle facial expressions were to be believed, Ashton adjudged. More, Peabody had just subordinated himself to Ashton, apparently sincerely. He had one more test to pass.

  “Mr. Peabody, I want your reaction to one name.”

  “What is it?”

  “‘Stash’ Gorecki.”

  “Feh.” Peabody only restrained the urge to spit in Ashton’s office with an effort; his face instantly twisted in disgust at the name. “Sorry, sir. I came close to defiling your office.” He paused, then added, “I couldn’t stand that lout. He was an egotistical psycho who got off on hurting people, on having power over them.”

  “Did you ever have occasion to work with him?”

  “Once. That’s when I got a good idea of who and what he was. After that, I tried hard never to have him on a case of mine again. I hope I never have to deal with that maniac again.”

  Ashton stifled a chuckle.

  “You have good taste, Mr. Peabody,” he said, neglecting to mention that Gorecki had been the enforcer that resisted arrest. “Now, as for the options I have for you. I cannot increase your rank unless and until you earn an increase; as I said, that’s not in my hands. However, if you have any sort of medical condition, I can arrange an early, medical retirement for you, with full benefits. Do you?”

  Peabody’s face fell. “No, the doctor said I’m healthy as a horse, not a month before the attempted coup went down.”

  “All right. On to another option, then. If you wish to resign, I can see about helping you to find another job. However, be aware that even were I the sort of man to fake items in a recommendation – something I would not do – the fact that you would be a former inspector at Imperial Police Headquarters would probably tell against you. Never mind Head of Investigations.”

  “Yeah,” Peabody agreed, morose. “No other police jurisdiction would have me, would they?”

  “Most likely not. And certainly not at your previous rank. Security guard, or even head of security for some corporation might be an option, but even then, you might have difficulty locating a position.”

  “Given my background, education, and training, I’m not really sure I have any other job options, Detective Ashton – er, do you prefer Chief Ashton?”

  “Detective is fine,” Ashton averred. “I don’t crave the power that comes with titles, though I’m proud of the ones I’ve earned. Are you therefore choosing to stay here, Mr. Peabody, and accept the reduced rank?”

  “That...looks to be my best option, I guess.” He shrugged. “At least Chief Carter didn’t bust me all the way down to rookie beat cop, or oust me altogether. Thanks for that.”

  “You’re welcome,” Ashton said with a slight smile. “All right. Then let me tell you that I’m going to take a leap of faith and trust you. More
, I’m going to work hard with you, and with Chief Carter, and see what we can do about making this as easy on you as possible, maybe even fast-track you for promotions, provided you show good faith to the division and the Department in return. You have experience, Mr. Peabody, good experience in addition to the bad, and a good head on your shoulders. You made it all the way to head of the division, and that without bribing anyone, according to what I’ve determined, so you’re smart and have a definite talent for investigation. Your record says you can be a very good investigator – when temptation is out of reach, and especially when unscrupulous orders don’t come down…”

  “It was mostly unscrupulous orders,” Peabody commented. “I never ever took a bribe, and there really wasn’t a lot that could tempt me to go south with an investigation. Just… staying alive.”

  “And I had noted that in your personnel files, as well,” Ashton said. “We need good investigators if we’re going to rebuild Headquarters the way it should be. We want you to regain your status, and do it honestly and successfully. Which means we’re going to do everything we can to give you a second chance and maximize it, to give you the opportunity to rebuild your career the way it ought to be, up to and including being able to come to me and discuss matters with me. Because there are those out there who aren’t going to understand, who are going to expect you to be one of the ‘old guard,’ for want of a better term, and continue to work with them in that fashion.”

  “Which I don’t want to do,” Peabody said.

  “That is, of course, your call. Certainly neither I, Chief Carter, nor Emperor Trajan want you to.”

  “I don’t want to,” Peabody averred. “I’m sick of that way of doing things, and have been ever since I talked to the Empress, if not before.” He shook his head. “I got a glimpse of… another way of things… when I spoke to her, when I looked into her eyes.”