Detective's Duty

14 April

Night falls upon the city of Augustus. Silence fills the air, with the occasional cars passing by and the lights flickering, falling into disrepair.

Suddenly, gunfire broke the silence.

The man stood there, watching on what he had done, and knew that this was only the beginning.

On the other side of the street, a detective, Stanley was wandering about hears the shots.

Gang fights ? Probably. Augustus isn't a peaceful city. Gangs rule the streets. The detective thinks to himself. He has been searching for an assassin for quite some time now, and dedicated endless amount of time to track him or her down. An archive filled with evidence of his appearance. A map to see the assassin's link with the victims and theories to make sense of his murders. His sanity was slowly losing, and time was running out.

The assassin is skilled and tactical one. He knows where the police were operating, and knew how to avoid them.Hiding in the day and operating under the cowl of night. Killing heads of major corporation, and most importantly the assassination of President Julius. This wasn't a hired gun, this was an elaborate plan to take out the city's government from the inside. 

Following the gunshot, Stanley finds himself in a dark alleyway. He sees a man, lying stone dead on the floor. Bystanders merely watched from a distance as Stanley approached the corpse. A gun can be seen next to the corpse. The body reeks of alcohol.

A suicide ? Perhaps. 

Stanley searched the body for clues. A slit throat, and a poker chip. The murder weapon could not be seen anywhere. 

A poker chip and a slit throat. This matches all the description of  the assassin.

The signature of the assassin. How odd. 

He continue to searched the body for more clues. Maybe something that'll hint this man's death. This wasn't a suicide, no. It was a murder. Then, turning over the body, he recognizes the face of the dead man. It was the Head of the Police Department.

Poking his head up, he notices a shadowy figure, in the distance, staring at the dead body. Upon getting spotted, the figure started running. Blood drips out from a wound on the figure's body. Stanley was sure of it, that's the assassin he's been looking for. And he himself will lock him up.

"Hey you ! By the order of the police, cease !"

Stanley, filled with rage, starts chasing after the figure as they run through alleyways and roofs. Soon enough, they find themselves in a dead end.

"Well, well, detective. It looks like you got me."

"So much for talking. You're coming with me and you can talk all you want in front of our interrogators. And you're going to the jail, where you will spent your life for an eternity for all the suffering you've caused."

"I'm afraid I'm not following you, detective."

The figure vanished in a puff of black smoke, leaving behind a poker chip. Stanley has it. 

Day and night goes by.

Still sad about the death of the Head of P.D, Stanley digs through the archives of evidence, trying to link more information and characters to the assassin. Why was the head of the P.D killed ? Questions flooded his mind. Hours go by, as the detective scour the archives to look for a link.

The clock struck 12 A.M.

A figure appears outside of the dead silence office. It enters his room.

"I'm sorry sir, but we'r-, wait, who are you ?"

"My identity is not important. All I know is I don't have much time. You have to make things right !" He then hands the detective a watch and a note, then vanishes into thin air without a trace.

Exhausted, Stanley thought that it was an hallucination. He fell asleep on his desk.

The morning after, Stanley continued to scour the archives for information. That is until he stumbled upon old records.

Money laundering, bribery and forging wars with other nations by the President and the aforementioned heads of major corporations. They were in a network, coordinating with criminals and involved in the black market. The police force turned a blind eye due to numerous threats by the government. The entire city was corrupted.

Shocked by this, Stanley trembled, wanted to take action. But, there's nothing he could do. He couldn't fight the entire government, let alone the corrupted police force.

Then, he sees the watch, siting on his desk.

That wasn't a hallucination ? Did a person really stumbled his way into my office just to give me a watch ?"

Underneath, was a note.

Go to the dark alleyway in 17th street. A war will break out, unless a person there, around 9 PM is killed.

Filled with curiosity and slightly insane after a night of scouring information, Stanley puts on the watch. And after messing with a few button, he find himself in a dark alleyway. He takes a look at his new watch.

April 14, 8.50 PM

A drunk man stumbles into the alleyway, drinking and eventually fainted. Upon seeing the detective, the man panics, took out his gun and aimed it at the detective.

Stanley kept calm and and checked his belt pocket. His pistol was not there. Instead, a knife can be found.

Sorry. Stanley whispered.

Shaking, he charged towards the man and slit his throat. The man takes a shot and it hits the detective. The man dies swiftly due to blood loss.

Checking the dead man's wallet, he realized that it's the corrupt Head of the Police Department.

Stanley realizes what he has done, and immediately searched his pockets. Poker chips.

He leaves one on the body. Now, he's not the detective. A wanted criminal.

Stanley found his solution to the city's problem. Assassination plots. His phone rings from an unknown number, congratulating and telling him to meetup on a rooftops on one of the nearby buildings. He was not the only one in on the plots.

Stanley stood there, watching on what he had done, and knew that this was only the beginning.

To himself, he whispered,

Requiescat in Pace