| From: | Paul J. Adam Shadowtk@********.demon.co.uk |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Corruption |
| Date: | Sun, 5 Dec 1999 00:02:27 +0000 |
>>>>>[Andy, this is file copy. Archive it somewhere safe. Just in case.
+++++begin video
"Alderman Kelso." Hart clearly reserves her delight at seeing the portly
gentleman as he guides his superbly-suited girth into the office.
"Lieutenant Hart, a pleasure as always. I have some private business to
discuss with Special Agent Elliott...?" Kelso removes his hat, mops his
balding pate with a silk kerchief.
"Lieutenant Hart is part of my investigation and I prefer she remain
present." Elliott replies, calm but implacable.
"The matter is... delicate, Agent."
"Then it's even more important it be properly overseen by sworn law
enforcers, don't you think, Alderman?" The FBI officer might look nothing
special, but he's also clearly not yielding. "There must be not the slightest
hint of... impropriety." The last word is double- and triple-shotted with
possible meanings: it seems to relax Kelso.
"As you wish, Agent Elliott. I wished to congratulate you on your success,
in tackling criminality and vice in this our fair Metroplex. So impressed are
we all with your skill, that we believed we should inform you of other,
even worse, nests of wickedness."
"Really?" Elliott raises his eyebrows. "And those might be...?"
"I have the information here." Hart tenses as Kelso reaches into his
pocket, but he comes out with nothing more deadly than a datachip in its
protective pack. Elliot slots it into a reader, skims it.
"The Ho Fung syndicate. Yes, a most appaling crew." Elliot's gesture to
Hart is almost imperceptible, but the Lieutenant relaxes as the FBI agent
continues. "Once I've dealt with Don Malone I'll turn my attention to them,
if Washington approves. Thank you, Alderman."
Kelso mops again at his perspiring brow, though his complexion is
unhealthily pale. "Agent Elliott, the information there is extremely
perishable. His, ah, bank data, for instance. The... the offshore account.
Dangerously accesible."
"Yes, I observed. Quite a small sum, for such an apparently fearsome
criminal. Petty, even. And so poorly guarded! Perhaps you overrate his
powers? He can't be too dangerous if he leaves money around so foolishly.
Why, _anyone_ could help themselves to it, with the codes in this file."
There is a pregnant pause.
Keldo's fingers flutter, then he grimaces as sweat trickles into one eye.
"You're not a stupid man, Agent Elliott!"
"Then stop treating me like one, Alderman."
"It would be to your benefit to go after Ho Fung, at once. It would be to
your detriment if you did not." The Alderman wipes his forehead, turns
the kerchief in search of a dry spot, wipes again. His hands are beginning
to tremble badly. "You are causing dismay to... established powers. You
could achieve your mission more easily, and at considerable personal
profit, elsewhere."
Elliott lays the datachip on the table, turns to Hart. "Lieutenant Hart, are
you recording this?"
"Damn right." Hart nods.
"Good. Place the Alderman under arrest. Have your recording copied and
notarised, we'll want it for evidence."
"You'll never make it stick!" the fat politician shouts.
"Kelso, the Romans believed that corrupt civic officials should be placed in
a sack, which they would share with a rabid dog and a starving wildcat.
The sack would be sewn shut and then thrown in the Tiber. If my
needlework was better I'd be stitching you in right now. Instead, we'll stick
with due process. Cuff him, Lieutenant." Hart obliges, overcoming Kelso's
struggles easily. The Alderman's pallor is being replaced by angry redness.
"You think you can do this? You know who you're messing with?" Kelso
raves, as trickles of perspiration run down his cheeks. "You had your
chance! I got you this chance to live and you blew it! I tried to save your
_lives!_"
"He that sups with the Devil needs a long spoon, they say." Hart replies.
"Your boss talks big. Does he walk the walk?"
"You'll find out. Oh, God, will you find out!" Kelso snarls.
"And we'll bleed him while we do. See you in twenty-five to life,
Alderman."
+++++end video
Elliott might be scared, he might be an overpromoted bureaucrat, and I
still wouldn't trust him to back me up in a gunfight.
But he's got a backbone buried in there , if you dig deep enough. A flawed
man, but the core is honest.]<<<<<
-- Lt. Julianne Hart-Kryzdanovich <00:01:34/12-05-60>
Homicide Division
Lone Star (Tacoma)
