Chicago Crook

Three years ago, Detective Richmonds put away a drug trafficking ring in Chicago. The man in charge swore revenge before he was sent away, and now he's out. Richmonds is thrown his way without a solid case, and with the whole department waiting, he prepares himself to use new and familiar leads to uncover the truth about Decklan Weston

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

The story explores how a standard noir crime story would change if the criminal element was removed. The narrative is written as if it were a sequel, with relationships built up between the protagonist and other characters as a consequence of a past case. The antagonist is mostly discussed as a sinister criminal, which is established in the opening. However, he has actually reformed, and doesn't act on his promise to return to crime. Due to external factors, such as a failing budget for the police station, the protagonist acts on unreliable information and 'hunches' in vain attempts to bring down a criminal conspiracy which everyone is convinced exists. The narrative differs from a standard noir story in that instead of a menacing criminal conspiracy, and a corrupt police force against him, the protagonist instead has the full support of a police force blissfully ignorant of the criminals they imprison being capable of reform. They inadvertently pile pressure on the protagonist for results on a case which doesn't exist. Because of this, the protagonist becomes deluded into seeing a conspiracy to the point where he pursues the case even when the police department realizes their mistake.