Criminal Case: Pacific Bay

Chapter 22: Of Rats and Men-Part 1

A few days later after Marie solved the murder of Theo Mercier, she left home early and got to work as quick as she could to avoid the riots and looting. Before she left, Marie told Scott to stay behind with Julian and Oliver in case the looters broke into their home. Scott agreed to do that and he told Marie that he'll join up with her later in case she needed his help. On this day, Marie took the night shift with Frank so the two of them will be on standby in case any murder investigations happen.

As soon as she settled in, Chief Marquez approached Marie's desk and she said, "Thank god you're here Marie! It seems that no one is gonna get any sleep tonight! The good thing is, I think we evacuated Jazz Town's residents just in Time because the storm is almost on us! But the flood defenses are weakening and we're getting a lot of reports that looters are taking over the streets. And if that's not bad enough, I just got word that a prisoner has taken advantage of the chaos to escape from the penitentiary!"

When she heard that a prisoner escaped, Marie's eyes went wide with shock and she asked, "Was it anyone I caught recently?"

Chief Marquez shrugged and told her that she doesn't know. Frank's eyes also went wide and he said, "It almost sounds like we're losing control of Jazz Town!"

Chief Marquez then looked at him and said, "That's exactly why I need Marie out there to patrol the streets for trouble and you're going with her Frank. There's bound to be trouble out there tonight and I need both of you to help!"

Marie nodded and told the chief, "On it ma'am!"

Frank nodded along with her and added in, "Don't worry about a thing Andrea. If there's trouble, I'll be staying out of it!" And soon, the two officers left to patrol the streets.

Later on the streets of Jazz Town, Frank and Marie were walking around one part of the town that didn't get hit by the looters yet. Frank then looked at Marie with a confident grin and he said, "Those looters better not mess with us, huh darlin'? If we see any, we'll show them who's the boss around here!"

Just then, Marie and Frank heard what sounded like a womanly scream and they got curious because the scream also sounded a bit masculine too. Getting a bit nervous, Frank asked, "What the hell was that?! More importantly, who's there?!"

It was then that the two officers saw a man dressed in women's clothes run towards them. The man then ran past the officers and said while running, "Get out of my way honeys! Even in these heels, I'm getting far away from that place!"

Frank told the man to stop and he said with a surprised look, "What happened ma'am. I mean sir! I mean...forget it! What just happened?!"

The man then pointed them in the direction towards the theater and he said, "There's a...I can't say because it's disgusting! It's even more disgusting than wearing clogs to a wedding!"

When she heard that, Marie gave Frank her look and he rolled his eyes with a huff and said, "I what you're thinking Marie and I know that look. You're trying to tell me to come with you to the theater and investigate it, aren't you?"

Marie smirked at him and Frank rolled his eyes again and thought, so much for staying out of trouble! Marie then looked at the man and asked for his names and he introduced himself as Kitty LaBombe. After she got Kitty's name, Marie and Frank headed towards the theater to check it out. As soon as they got to the theater, the two officers looked at the stage and also felt like puking their guts when they saw a dead body tied to a chair and a swarm of rats was scurrying around it's feet.

Frank let out a sigh of frustration and he said, "All the alcohol in the world isn't gonna get this image out of my head! Who would be sick enough to tie someone to a chair and leave them to the rats?!"