The Cases of George Alpha #3 - Stolen Spirits

Teri

'Tough crowd out there?'

Detective Teri Sanders looked at me as I let out a breath of relief just beyond the doorway.

'You know, they ask me the weirdest questions!'

'Well, it's your case they're interested in.'

'My case... sure, no thanks to Peter,' I sighed. Peter Joyful had been the original detective on the case, until he got killed trying to arrest the robber.

'How is he anyway?'

I shrugged. 'Last I heard he started using full words again, the shrink calls it progress. But I believe he's still at Central, no clue when he'll be back. I hope it's soon, so he can take over the boring bits again... like talking to reporters.'

'I hear what you're saying,' she laughed.

I liked Teri, she was friendly, outspoken and above all a damn good detective. I had asked her to help me on the case with the investigation of Leroy Barker, who was more inclined to talk to a pretty woman like Teri than to someone like... me. Leroy was in one of the holding cells in the sub-basement, as he had been for the three days since his arrest. He'd be released to prison eventually, but only after we were done with the interrogations.

'What about Leroy,' I asked her, 'anything new there?'

'Yes, Central gave me his implant information. Apparently it was paid for by Westbrook Construction, five years ago. He used to work there.'

'Really? That's interesting, they also own the warehouse.'

Leroy had used an abandoned warehouse as hideout during the robberies, it was were he stored the stolen strongboxes.

'Even more interesting is the fact that his apartment is owned by the Rebirth Foundation, some form of social housing, funded by... Westbrook Construction.'

'Enough reason to pay Westbrook a visit then,' I said. 'I'll get us an appointment.'

Teri nodded, 'I'll keep working Leroy himself, I'm questioning him again later this afternoon.'

'Right, try spinning a story that Travis Barker confessed and claimed they were in it together.'

'Did he?'

'Nah, but he did get nervous when I mentioned Leroy. They are definitely connected somehow.'

'Okay, I'll see if I can squeeze anything out of him.'

'I'm sure he won't be able to resist your feminine wiles.'

She laughed out loud and slapped me on the arm as she opened the door. 'I'll let you know if I find out anything, George, but first... time for lunch!'

I couldn't agree more. While most officers, like Teri, preferred to have lunch away from the precinct, I enjoyed eating alone behind my desk just as much, as long as people left me that way, alone. After grabbing a coffee I unwrapped my sandwich and had the first bite, enjoying the crunch of the bacon alongside the succulent sausage juices permeating my veal schnitzel, all of it combined with the sweetness of the ketchup cutting through the savory mayonnaise topping. Nothing could come between me and my schnitzel sandwich. It was my personal slice of heavenly quiet inside the chaos that made up most of my days, the required energy boost to face it all head-on. I slowly took bite after bite, had foodgasm after foodgasm, caught all the pieces that tried to escape until there was not a single crumb left.

Perhaps I was a bit too fond of that sandwich.