John Action walked into the 13th Precinct headquarters and straight past the desk sergeant without stopping.
"Hey, Action! What ya doin'? You're supposed to be on the case!" said the Sergeant.
"I've got a case of my own that needs dealing with" said Action, coolly.
After that, Action went to the briefing room where he saw Officer Datta going over the city crime map.
"Any follow up on that robbery from Tuesday?" said Action.
"We've got a suspect description...male, adult, wearing a jacket and jeans" replied Datta.
"What? That's it? Is he a Brother or a Snowdrop...c'mon, I need something more to go on. What about that description that the perps were skinny?"
"That's all, Action."
He looked at the crime map and made a guess. "This team's been hitting quiet, moderately well off suburbs. Those joints don't have burglar alarms like the rich homes. My guess is they'll hit here..." he said, jabbing his finger at a point in Willow Creek. "If anyone wants me, that's where I'll be" he added before walking out.
Courtyard Lane, Willow Creek, 10:04am
Action began his patrol of the area, checking out the local houses to see which had decent security systems and which hadn't. It was pretty busy for a normally quiet suburb and that level of activity made him suspicious. Anything out of the ordinary made him feel suspicious. He checked his .38 service revolver to see it was fully loaded.
He saw, out of the corner of his eye, an angry looking young man who had just left the local park and seemed to be fuming. Action looked him over: Adult male, jacket....but wearing leather pants, not jeans. Nevertheless Action was curious about what had made this man angry.
"Anything the matter, Sir?" said Action.
"Officer...yes. This crazy lady thinks I'm some kind of hustler and that I've got 'stash' on me! She won't quit bothering me."
"And have you got this 'stash'?" asked Action.
"Of course not! I don't do that sort of junk!" said the man, angry to be asked that question.
"She's that local activist and pop singer...I can't remember her name but....look! There she is!"
A gaudily dressed young woman; Japanese-American by the look of her, was staggering down the street towards the young man. "Hey!" she cried out. "You sold me some bad junk! I want my money back!" her voice slurred. She hadn't noticed Action either.
"I keep telling you, lady, I didn't sell you anything! You've got the wrong man!"
The lady shoved the man and raised her fists to clobber him but Action intervened to stop her.
"Hey, hey, hey little lady" said Action, holding one of her arms. "You've got the wrong cat here...now how's about you tell me about this junk you got sold?"
"I...I....I could have sworn this was the guy!" she slurred. "Dark hair, white guy...funky jacket...." she said before she slumped and passed out.
Action radioed in for an ambulance and after they arrived to take her to hospital he went back to the precinct house to file his report. The call came through that the girl, Miko Ojo, was OK and had her stomach pumped. She was able to say that she bought the "stuff" from a dealer who operated around the back of Willow Creek Archive. Action wasted no time; he had a suspect description and a location...he wasn't going to wait for official clearance, he was going to bust the perp!
Willow Creek Archive, 3:20pm
Action had cased the joint...front and back. There were lots of alleyways, hidden places and trees anyone could hide in. He set up an observation post in an unmarked police car across the way and observed who entered and exited. Three men matching the description went in to the library. Action got out the car and walked across the road. He peered in through one of the windows to see what activity was going down. One man was searching the card catalogue, one was pondering a move at the chess table and one was searching the bookshelves. Action went in an pulled the librarian aside. "Any of those cats regulars here?" he asked.
"Two of them are...that guy with the beard sitting at the card catalogue and the man looking at the shelves." the librarian replied.
"Any seem suspicious to you?"
"Yeah, the guy at the bookshelves. He comes in here every day, pulls out the same book from the same shelf, looks at it briefly, then puts it back. And then, minutes later, someone comes around and gets the same book. Every time."
"Did the last person to check that book look like this woman in the photo?" said Action, showing the librarian a photo of Miko Ojo.
"Yeah! She was in here yesterday"
"Thanks man, you've been very helpful" said Action. "Hey, is there a way around the back to that part of the library?" he added.
"Sure, to the right there"
Action nodded, pulled out his .38 service revolver and snuck around the side to get to the suspect. He saw the man, who matched the description, put something in the bookshelf before putting the book in question back. Action approached him.
"Now what would I find if I took that book out, eh?" he said. The man panicked and tried to run out the library but Action flying tackled him to the ground.
"Your days of fleecing the young and beautiful of Sim City with your junk are over, pal!" he said. He pulled the suspect to his feet before slapping the cuffs on him.
"I want to speak to my lawyer!" the man protested.
"You have the right to remain silent....bucko!" said Action, taking the bag of junk from the bookshelf and then marching the suspect off to the precinct house.
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