Zam the Hybrid

19. On the Case

It was yet another scorching hot day in Goldenrod; a perfect day for murder, apparently. Zam made a mental note, thanking his always pristine white suit for keeping him cool in the unusual weather conditions before beginning a much longer mental note about his impeccable sense of fashion. He truly was a genius in all realms.

He shook his head as he walked down the street, trying to focus himself. He could compliment himself later, or maybe Taylor could compliment him. Yes, that would be excellent. Eventually, he got his somewhat narcissistic thoughts out of his head and began thinking about what lay ahead of him on this fine day.

Later in the day, he was supposed to attend a preliminary hearing in court as a certain committee were trying to sue him. It was an obvious move, one that had been part of Zam's plan from the start but he had no doubt that it was a calculated move from the MPC. After threatening Melvin, it had been all too obvious that the poker cheat would go running off to his big brother to sort the mess out before he was exposed as the fraud he was. So naturally, the MPC had tried to dig up some dirt on Zam when they'd probably come to the realisation that the money he used in the poker event had been Lord Salt's business investment which could have been seen as a breach of their contract. Maybe they had a point and maybe their allegedly brilliant lawyer Crawford could make a good enough case against him but it wouldn't be enough. He was Zam the Hybrid, he couldn't lose to some bloke in a battle of wits, it was simply impossible. And even if by some miracle he lost, he could only lose two hundred and fifty thousand Poképounds and thanks to his poker winnings, he could easily afford to pay that.

He tried not to think about the court case for the time being; Taylor had been worrying about it enough already. For now, he had to remain focused on the task at hand, and that was helping out his friend in the police force, Emily Jenkinson. She'd phoned him up this morning and told him that he was wanted down at the scene of a crime, a murder in apparently unusual circumstances. Zam loved an interesting case and had been all too eager to jump on board.

He wondered what odd way someone had been killed today as he walked down the street towards the location Emily had told him. He was so absorbed in his own excitement that he hardly even noticed the usual hustle and bustle of this magnificent city that he loved so much. People frantically barged their way through slow moving crowds in a desperate attempt to get to work on time, angry drivers honked their horns at reckless pedestrians who tried darting across the street even after the green man had gone and of course there were scheming Pidgey who laid in wait, just hoping for some idiot to drop their lunch for them to feast upon.

It wasn't too long before Zam made it to some white and blue tape with the bold words 'POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS' written across it. Naturally, Zam crossed it, ducking under the tape and stepping forwards where he was met by several angry looking policemen.

"Can't you read son?" one of the men said in a gruff voice.

"On the contrary, my reading abilities surpass that of most, probably including your own."

"Well then why did you cross the line?"

"Don't worry boys, I called him here." All of the men who had been harassing Zam quickly turned around to see a young woman in a white shirt and a grey suit striding towards them. "He's helping with the case."

"Detective Inspector Emily Jenkinson," Zam grinned once the policemen had begrudgingly allowed him to pass. "You're doing well."

"Mostly thanks to you," she admitted. "It's not difficult to make your way up the ranks when you have a genius who's willing to help you out."

"It is when the system is corrupt and sexist," Zam pointed out. She nodded. "Anyways, what've we got today?"

"A woman named Amelia Humphries, aged thirty-two was murdered last night," Emily started, reading from a small notepad. "She was staying late at her workplace, Lawyers4U, when she was killed. We're still trying to get more information but it looks like a robbery gone wrong."