Shroud of Doom

by William Manchee

  Chapter 13

  Investigation

   

  Armillo hung up the GC and stood up. He looked over at his assistant manager, Mira, and said, “I’m going over to the precinct office to file a missing person’s report on Eyeball.”

  “A lot a good that will do,” Mira replied. “The enforcers don’t much like the lot of us.”

  “True, but they have a duty to treat us all alike. We are human after all.”

  “Not in their eyes.”

  “Well, it’s what Threebeard wants, so I guess I better do it.”

  Mira nodded and went back to her work as Armillo strolled out of the office. Twenty loons later he was stepping out of the tram station and looking at a precinct office of the Public Enforcers.

  Since the adoption of the Supreme Mandate justice on Tarizon was supposed to be truly blind. Every accused was provided a citizen defender at no cost. The rich weren’t supposed to have any advantage over the poor nor were healthy humans supposed to be favored over the mutant. This was possible because on Tarizon a citizen did not have the right to obtain and pay for their own counsel. They had to accept the representation assigned to them. This insured that everyone would be on an equal footing in the prosecution of a criminal matter. Under this system the prosecution and defense each had the same budget, time constraints, and access to the investigative arm of the judiciary, the inquisitors.

  The inquisitors performed all criminal investigations and they do so in the interest of justice and not for the benefit of the prosecution or defense. This eliminated the common problem on Earth of tainted evidence being ruled inadmissible. It was rare for any evidence uncovered by the inquisitors to be thrown out. The use of inquisitors also eliminated the necessity of imposing a heavy burden of proof on the prosecution. There was still a presumption of innocence but the standard for conviction was simply the greater weight of the evidence rather than beyond all reasonable doubt. The careful use by the inquisitors of truth serums and sophisticated lie detection devices further insured that the truth would be elicited from every witness.

  Assignment of prosecutors and defenders was supposed to be made after a comprehensive computer analysis of each prosecutor or defender’s background, experience, education, track record, the nature of the offense; the circumstances surrounding the crime; and the harm inflicted on the victim. This was supposed to insure that each accused got a fair trial and a fair punishment if convicted.

  Professional juries decided each case. These jurists were selected by computer from a professional jury panel to insure each jury was fair and unbiased. Jurors were well paid for their services so they would have a positive attitude about their work and would not be susceptible to bribery. On Tarizon jury security was considered fundamental to the integrity of the judicial system and therefore jury tampering was a capital offense.

  Armillo looked almost normal to the casual eye. His mutations were more subtle than most—a few extra fingers and an eye in the back of his head. When he went out amongst the Purists he kept a hat on his head and his hands in his pockets to avoid uncomfortable frowns and stares. As he walked into the PE’s office he did the same. An intake clerk looked up at him expectantly.

  “What can I help you with?” she asked.

  “I need to file a couple of missing person reports,” Armillo said meekly.

  “A couple,” she said laughing. “Did they run off together?”

  “I don’t know. Nobody saw them leave and it’s not likely they went off together—one of them is a rhutz.”

  “A rhutz? You want to file a missing person’s report on a rhutz?”

  “Yes, they’ve been recognized in Tributon as a sentient life-form and protected by the Supreme Mandate.”

  She laughed. “Yes, well this isn’t Tributon. I’m not taking a missing persons report for a beast. As far as I’m concerned they never should have been allowed under the dome.”

  “I’ll need to talk to your supervising officer then,” Armillo replied.

  “Sure, but a lot of good it will do you.”

  “Nevertheless.”

  “Alright. Wait here and I’ll go get him.”

  Armillo waited anxiously at the intake desk noticing that many officers and personnel were staring at him with amused looks on their faces. A few loons later a somber looking officer strolled up.”

  “Hello. I’m Inquisitor Griggs Wentz. What’s this about wanting to file a missing persons report on a rhutz.”

  “A rhutz and a man named Eyeball.”

  “Eyeball? What kind of a name is that?”

  “Actually that’s his nickname. His real name is Connell Riki. We call him eyeball as, on account of him having just one big eye.”

  “So, you want to file missing person’s reports for a mutant and a rhutz?”

  “Exactly,” Armillo said hopefully.

  The inquisitor studied Armillo for a moment then shook his head. “Alright, we’ll take the report on the mutant but not the rhutz. The rhutz isn’t within our jurisdiction despite what the authorities in Tributon might think about it. When is the last time you saw this Eyeball fellow?”

  “He walked out of the tavern in the middle of his shift two days ago for no apparent reason and hasn’t been seen since.”

  “What Tavern?”

  “The Mighty Jolly.”

  The officer looked up. “You work for Threebeard?”

  “Yes. He’s the owner.”

  The inquisitor took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “So, what about the rhutz?”

  “You’re going to look into his disappearance too?”

  “No, but there may be a relationship between the two since they disappeared at about the same time.”

  “Right,” Armillo agreed. “Misty told Eyeball something that upset him. That might have been why he left in a hurry.”

  “Misty,” Wentz repeated. “Does he have a last name?”

  Armillo shook his head. “No. Rhutz only have one name. Their names are chosen based on what element of nature is most prominent at their birth.”

  “Really? Then there must be a slew of them named Toxic.”

  There was laughter in the squad room.

  “No. Haven’t heard one, but I know one named Thunder and another called Stormy.

  “So, how are Misty and Eyeball connected in this case?”

  “Well, a man named Rupra Bruda came to the Tavern. Misty lives in the alley behind the Tavern and Eyeball feeds her the scraps from the kitchen. In exchange for the food Misty keep rats and other rodents away from tavern and provides backup security if Eyeball needs it. Over the cycles they’ve become good friends. So, a week or so ago Bruda came to the tavern and Misty was patrolling the neighborhood and recognized him as the man who killed a rhutz in Tributon and was responsible for the Flat Meadow Massacre.”

   Wentz grimaced. “Was he sure? I mean, how could a rhutz know what this Bruda fellow looked like.”

  “The rhutz can communicate over long distances. Apparently the image of the man made it over here through the rhutz network.”

  “Hmm,” Wentz muttered skeptically. “Well, I guess it doesn’t matter. They’re both still missing. I’ve got your report now, so I’ll get an investigation going as soon as possible.”

  Armillo smiled. He wasn’t sure if he believed Inquisitor Wentz, but he’d done what Threebeard had asked. “Thank you,” he said respectfully, nodded and turned to leave.

  “That’s quite an establishment—the Mighty Jolly,” Wentz added. “The men in the precinct have had some good times there and, of course, they appreciate the half price discount given to us, so we don’t want anyone messing around with the place.”

  Armillo looked back grinning.

  Wentz smiled wryly. “So, don’t worry, we’ll give this matter serious attention.”

  Armillo nodded and left.

  Wentz went back to his office and pulled up everything he could on the Flat Creek Massacre and Rupra Bruda. He didn’t care al
l that much for the rhutz or the mutants who lived in the city, but he detested anyone who believed they were above the law and, from what he had read, Rupra Bruda fit that category perfectly. His gut told him Bruda was involved in Eyeball’s and Misty’s disappearance and had probably killed them, but before he could go after him he’d have to find the bodies and some incriminating evidence to take to the prosecutors. It wouldn’t be an easy task, but Wentz already disliked Bruda and was anxious to get started.

  The next morning he got another inquisitor on the task of finding Rupra Bruda. If he found the evidence he was looking for he didn’t want there to be any delay in picking Bruda up. While they were looking for him, Wentz and an inquisitor named Luzzy Mollis paid a visit to the Mighty Jolly and interviewed everyone who had been there on the day of the disappearance. Only one employee had seen Eyeball take off, a kitchen boy named Garot.

  “Bruda and some of his buddies came by the Tavern like they were looking for something or somebody,” Garot recalled. “They passed by and kept moving up the street. Eyeball saw them and became suspicious. He had told Bruda not to come back to the Mighty Jolly so he was concerned that Bruda was up to no good.”

  “I see. So, what did he do?” Wentz asked.

  “It turned out they were looking for Misty because they had been wandering around aimlessly but as soon as she appeared they split up like it had all been prearranged.”

  “You don’t know that for sure?” Wentz questioned. “You didn’t overhear them?”

  “No.”

  “So, what happened then?”

  “ Bruda and one of his friends went back the way they’d come, going by the Mighty Jolly again and Misty followed them at a distance. Like I said, Eyeball knew they were up to no good so he followed Misty to make sure she’d be okay. They went toward the warehouse district and I haven’t seen either one of them since.”

  “Alright. I think I’ll go over to the warehouse district and have a look. Why don’t you come along with me in case we find anything.”

  Garot swallowed hard and then nodded. Wentz, along with Garot and several other officers drove over in their transport cruisers to the warehouse district and began searching the area and canvassing the occupants of the warehouses. He asked one of the maintenance workers where they disposed of their waste.

  “There are two disposal units, one at each end of the warehouses,” the man advised.

  Wentz nodded and sent his men to search both disposal sites.

  “Was there anyone working around here two days ago?” he asked.

  “No. It was an off day. Nobody was working.”

  “That figures. They probably knew that would be the case.”

  They continued to talk until Wentz got a call on his communicator. “We found a couple bodies, sir. One is a rhutz and the other one is a human matching the description of Eyeball—except he no longer has one.”

  “Oh, God. Where are you?”

  “At the south disposal unit of the second warehouse block.”

  “Alright. I’ll be right there.”

  Wentz sighed. “Well, let’s go see if it’s your bouncer.”

  They drove the short distance to the disposal unit where the officers had found the bodies. Wentz and Garot got out and peered into the unit. Garot gagged and backed off quickly.

  “Is that Eyeball?” Wentz asked.

  Garot nodded.

  “And Misty?”

  “Right.”

  “It looks like they were carried here and dumped inside,” Inspector Mollis said. “Luckily the disposal unit hasn’t been processed yet. It was scheduled for 1400 today.”

  “Looks like they killed them with lasers,” Wentz noted.

  “It appears that way, although there is some bruising on Eyeball indicating some physical contact as well.”

  “Did you locate the crime scene?” Wentz asked.

  “Yes. There are some burned spots in the grass up near the front of the landscaped area between the two buildings. We found blood splatter as well.”

  “Well, if there was physical contact we should find some trace evidence to link the murderers to the crime scene.”

  “So, what do you think happened?” Inspector Mollis asked.

   “It looks like it was an ambush. Apparently Rupra Bruda is obsessed with killing rhutz,” Wentz replied.

  “Why?”

  “His father and one of his friends were killed by rhutz and his grandfather had to resign from the Tributon General Assembly in disgrace over the Flat Meadow Massacre. I’m sure Mr. Bruda blames all his family misfortunes on the rhutz.”

  “Sounds like a motive to me,” Inspector Mollis observed.

  “Yes. When the lab results come back we’ll have to pay a visit to Mr. Bruda and see what he has to say about all of this.”

  “That should be interesting.”

  “Indeed it should.”