Killerizr: Back In the Game


Columbus
Sosa squinted at the new LCD HD 25″ monitor. After solving the iMurder case, his boss had invested in a new computer setup. Flat screen monitor, a Blackberry, and a “wiki.” Sosa didn’t know what the purpose of a wiki was- he ended up forwarding emails to Beth. He liked the “crack” berry though. He could get emails from his wife at work. Before, he only sat at his desk at the end of the shift, and then he’d get all of her joke emails and logistical emails then, when he was going to see her in a half hour anyway.

Mikey walked up to his desk. “You wanna get schwerma with me?”

Sosa nodded and they headed out of the Vallejo station.

“You’d think they’d offer Beth a job. I mean, she actually likes being online 24×7.” Mikey said.

“Got me. Maybe she doesn’t wanna be a cop? Do the training, all that.” Sosa replied.

They walked three blocks down Columbus to a Middle Eastern joint at the base of the twisty bit of Lombard.

“Heya George.” Sosa said and George wrote down Sosa and Mike’s orders.

“No beer today, eh gentlemen?” George was a really young looking restaurant proprietor. Sosa put him at 25, maybe 26 years old.

“Right. On duty.” Mikey said, begrudgingly. Mikey ordered an espresso, and as George jerked it, they found a table out on the sidewalk. An old Asian man, hunched over and walking with his hands clasped behind his back, walked by twice.

“Is that guy circling the block?” Mike asked.

“Just another wacko homeless.”

Mikey wiped his face. “Hey listen, I know Capt. Romley wanted me to go it alone, but I’d really like your input on this.”

Sosa said, “Sure.”

“It’s that homeless vic outside Trieste. I have a feeling he’s not homeless, and I can’t figure it out. Can you come by the coroner’s with me after this?”

“Sure.” Sosa said, great timing, he thought. “You have the report?” Mikey handed it over to him. It described a middle-aged, dark-haired man, 5’10. He was killed by multiple stab wounds to the torso. He was discovered by a regular at the popular cafe, a guy on his way to work. The body had been dead for 4 hours, dated approximately 4:30 AM. Nobody else had reported the body, so it had been there all morning. A military issue wool blanket had covered the body, and it was soaked in blood. The man was clothed in two jeans, a t-shirt, a long-sleeve shirt, and a parka.

“Bugs. Find out if there was lice, scabies, anything like that. Scabs that didn’t heal or healed badly.” Sosa said. He’d suggest skipping the visit but he knew that Mikey needed a second person to check this guy out, as a second opinion of his own gut feeling if nothing else. Sosa emailed Beth on the Blackberry. “Any missing persons last few days- men, 5’10? Downtown or North SF Districts 8.”

One of George’s employees, maybe even younger than George, finally came out with two plates of hot grilled lavash bread rolled around spicy chicken, yoghurt, humus, and hot tomatoes. Sosa thought that he may love schwermas more than his blackberry.

Next chapter: On A Roll