Basin City
Detective Denzel Bishop burst out of the police station and quickly made his way to his car. Bishop darted in and out of the evening commute, traveling 20 MPH over the speed limit. A jogger on the sidewalk looked at the car as if the driver were a drunken teenager. Eventually, he crookedly slid into the parking lot adjacent to Basin City Apartments. The apartment sign had been vandalized, the “Ba” in Basin had been crossed out, leaving sin City Apartments. Bishop exited the car, in a state of delirium. He scrambled through the entrance and frantically pressed the elevator button to open. While waiting, he swerved his head behind him, watching his back, making it appear he was watching for something. At last, the elevator opened and Bishop entered. Again, he frantically pushed the number 6. The detective waited impatiently, unable to stand still. When the doors opened, he sped out and ran down the hall to his apartment, 612. He roughly shoved the key in and flung open the door. The modest room consisted mainly of the essentials, a kitchen, a couch and a tv. Lining the walls were certificates for Denzel M. Bishop. Many were from the Basin City police academy, however one appeared to be for a Morgan Bishop, a Medal of Valor awarded by the Mayor. Bishop quickly made his way to the bathroom, and turned on the sink faucet. He cupped the water and splashed his face, over and over again until his unstable breathing slowed. The intense pounding in his head faded away, and Bishop calmed down. He began to recount recent events.
Detective Bishop was investigating the murder of 6 of the Nuestra Familia gang members. The Nuestra Familia was a notorious drug cartel, a branch of the infamous cartel in Mexico. They dealt all levels of drugs and enjoyed themselves while doing it. After arriving at the docks to investigate the crime scene, Bishop was faced with dead end after dead end. Eventually, he found something that could reveal at least a clue of who the killer(s) were. A small, hidden, old security camera found high above the docks, surveying the whole area. After examining the tape of the camera for hours, Bishop found the break he was looking for. It appeared that 4 men had been waiting for the Familia members for a short time. At last, 6 men exited a black SUV holding a package. The 4 men who had been waiting each took out a pistol and fired, quickly eliminating the drug dealers. The 4 killers were all wearing dark jackets, but when they rose their arms to fire, their sleeves pulled back, revealing a clue to the identity of the killers. One of the men had a tatoo on his hand. After much examination, Bishop saw the outline of an angel. The angel matched the one of Officer Davids, who had been one of the first responders to the crime scene. Bishop thought about it, Davids was close friends with 3 others on the force. Burke, Morrows, and Tate were also first responders to the crime scene, and they matched the basic physical outline of the killers on the tape. Panic begin to set in for Detective Bishop, he stuffed the tape into his jacket and quickly left the station, speeding up and becoming more paranoid with every step until it was a full blown sprint. Now, Bishop slowly rose to his feet and started to think, “What am I going to do?” First, he could notify Captain Miles Archer about his findings, who is known to be a good and honest man. Next, he could confront Davids and his group, but that could have dire consequences. Lastly, he could nothing, he could simply destroy the tape and determine the case unsolvable. Bishop decided to sleep on it, and before he knew it he had left his apartment and entered his car. He drove in the direction of the Basin City Police Department. On his way, Bishop passed abandoned construction projects, steel skeletons of skyscrapers that would never scrape the sky. An attempt at a simple fountain had been decimated by graffiti and poor structure, the cement was cracking in multiple places. Once there, he entered, but came face to face with Officer Davids, who looked very fatigued, his forehead was glistening with sweat.
“How you doing Bishop? Any news on the case by the docks?” grimaced Davids.
Bishop swallowed, his eyes drifted towards the angel on Davids wrist, her eyes appeared to be taunting Bishop, “No, not yet, whoever the killer or killers were did a good job of covering their tracks.”
A glint of satisfaction gleamed in Davids’ eye, “That’s too bad...I'll see you around Bishop.”
Detective Bishop hurriedly made his way to the back of the department, “Captain, I need to have a word.”
What is it Bishop?”, replied Captain Miles Archer. Archer sat down, propping his cane up against his desk. The Captain was an experienced officer, he had been with the force for 25 years. He had lost feeling in his right leg years ago, he was trapped under a beam of a collapsing building. He was saved by Morgan Bishop, Denzel Bishop’s father. Morgan Bishop pulled him out of the rubble and into safety, and then ran right back into the building to save lives. The building eventually gave out with Morgan Bishop in it. Detective Bishop explained his findings on the case and showed Archer the security tape, whose scowl deepened further as the story went on.
“Bishop, thousands of people have a tattoo of an angel. I need more concrete evidence, especially if it involves arresting 4 of Basin City’s policemen.”
“But sir, it all fits together, just 10 minutes ago Davids was sweating excessively and looked fatigued, these are symptoms of withdrawal. You have to trust me.”
The Captain thought silently for a minute, but then proposed an idea to Bishop.
“Born and raised right here in the Basin. 5’11, 163 pounds, known member of Nuestra Familia. Arrested for drug possession and drug trafficking, are you sure about this Bishop?”asked Officer Wood.
“Yes, release him.”
Cinco arrogantly strolled out of the holding cell and approached Bishop, “What the deal Gumshoe? What I gotta do to walk away?”
“Cinco, in exchange for your immunity, you will contact Officers Davids, Burke, Morrows, and Tate. Arrange a meeting, make it appear you and the Familia want to renew your dealing relationship. Once it has been arranged, immediately contact the department or I, we will be surrounding the meeting spot, ready to swoop in as soon as we have clear evidence that those cops are dirty.”
Bishop anxiously awaited Cinco, he kept himself busy by observing the suspected officers behavior. All of them looked sickly, especially Officer Tate, who visited the bathroom countless times each day. The group seldom talked to anyone but themselves, and the discussions were quickly followed with fits of yelling and anger, with an officer storming away. Officer Burke appeared to be talking to himself at times, he angrily shook his head repeatedly over the course of a hour. Bishop wondered, “how could no one else on the force recognize these clear symptoms of withdrawal?” At last, Captain Archer limped over to Bishop, and grimly pulled him aside, “It’s time.”
The bitter chill of winter had frozen every pool of water in Basin City, even the rectangular pond in front of the Town Hall. Town Hall was once a shining, proud building, but now it was home to a sagging roof and inept city officials. The pond was filled with dirty water, the frozen surface was an unhealthy color of grey. Speeding past the pond was Officer Davids, who skidded over a pothole, there were thousands throughout the city. His fellow officers accompanied him, there was a sense of excitement within the car. They had all been suffering through a terrible few weeks, the withdrawal was brutal and sudden. Hopefully, tonight it would come to an end. Morrows gingerly held a ziplock bag, inside were dollar bills of ranging worth. Benjamin Franklin smiled up at the men from the corner of the bag, his gaze was unwavering. All 4 of the men also were slightly uneasy. Doing business with Nuestra Familia was dangerous as it is, but after murdering 6 of their members, most would call it plain stupid. Although, these men saw no point in living in this physical pain, so they agreed to Cinco’s offer. The thing was, Cinco had been in BCPD custody and was recently released, he was expected to keep a low profile for the upcoming weeks. Then again, Cinco was known as someone who didn't do things by the book. Davids’ destination was Basin City Pier, they would meet the Familia there in 20 minutes. The car Davids was driving looked right at home, it was surrounded by deteriorating buildings, trash can fires, and unsavory graffiti. The homeless huddled around the fire all looked up as the car flew past them, it struck another pothole in the process. The group arrived at the pier and exited the car cautiously. The vicious wind slapped their faces, momentarily cooling off the fevered men. The rusty wooden pier stretched out over the ocean, its original purpose was to give fisherman an easier location to reel in fish. Although, in the winter it is seldom used as the temperature can cause a freeze. The 4 officers treaded lightly, making sure to avoid discarded fishhooks scattered throughout the pier. When they reached the end, the usual sound of the waves crashing against the old wooden supports was missing, it was replaced by an eerie silence. They stood there, anxiously awaiting the Familia. The only noise was the chattering of the men’s teeth and the flapping of a tattered flag at the end of the pier, which was fully elongated due to the frigid wind. When they arrived, the men tensed, Morrows clenched the money bag as if he were holding on for dear life. 3 men exited the black SUV at the end of the pier, holding a package. The officers slowly walked forward until they reached the entrance of the pier, where the men awaited them. These were members the men did not recognize and had never dealt with before. No small talk was exchanged, a Familia member merely stated, “Money first.”
“Right he-here” stammered Morrows, who handed over the bag. In exchange, the man handed over the package and the Familia walked away and back into the SUV and drove away. The thing was, there was now another car resting at the front of the pier. The men stole looks at each other and mentally agreed on what to do. They appeared to calmly walk to the car, but they were gaining speed. Soon it was a sprint, with the deluded thought of outrunning the car. The car door sprung open, and out stepped Detective Denzel Bishop. The men stopped in their tracks, unsure if he was friend or foe. “You are under arrest. On your knees” answered that question. The men cowered under Bishop, who appeared to tower over them. The men began to anticipate their grim future of living behind bars, but they were mistaken. Bishop reached into his pocket, but instead of handcuffs he pulled out a gun. The Detective coldly looked into each of the trembling men’s eyes, and fired. The men were killed in an instant and their bodies sprawled out on the cold, hard pier. The unforgiving wind picked up as the temperature seemingly dropped another 10 degrees. Bishop took out his cellphone, “Cinco they are at the Pier, come pick them up. Leave my money where we discussed.” With that, Bishop walked back into his car, and sped away.