30 December 2012
'Where?' 'Just through there, sir.' As I put my badge back into my coat I looked up and could see where the young patrolman was pointing. I nodded my acknowledgement and walked on. It was raining as usual but I ignored it and soon I was standing at the crime scene. 'Anyone get a good look?' I ventured, knowing the answer would be no. Sure enough a rapid succession of no's came back at me and I had to raise my hand to get them to be quiet. God, yet another petty robbery. A few dollars from the register, some magazines and some candy bars. No real damage this time, except maybe to the Korean's pride. I knew him, he'd been turned over before, but the trusty Louisville slugger he kept close had served him well in the past. Only this time that had been stolen too, so he'd called it in. I lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply, letting the thick smoke fill me up and briefly take me somewhere else, before I blew it back out and reality came tumbling back into focus. The scene in front of me was just too busy. Both patrolmen were speaking quickly and importantly into their radios and not getting very far, and the detective that had been assigned didn't really seem to know what to do. I suddenly realised I was still stood out in the rain, so I took a last draw on the cigarette, stepped it out, and strode into the shop. 'Ok people, clear the scene.' With this everything went quiet. The patrolmen stopped talking and went back to their squad cars. The detective just walked off, to where I didn't know. The shopkeeper started to remonstrate, but I gave him the look. Always worked. Looking around, I could see the scene was now all mine. I sighed gently, wishing that sometimes a big juicy murder or a real highline burglary or an old fashioned bank raid would come my way. But they didn't. I'd been responsible for that. The crime rate had fallen by ninety percent on two years, and I held the reason for that in my hand.
It was a small flat disc, highly polished, made of some kind of metal, but I didn't know what. It had a smaller piece of metal on one side and when I held it in my right hand and covered the small piece with my left thumb, something strange happened. Making sure I was alone, I 'pressed the switch', as I call it, and a light emitted from the disc. Not bright, but visible, and it started to stretch out until it reached the corners of the shop. Once it had filled the space, things started to happen. Images started to appear in front of me, as if I was in a hologrammatic home movie. What the thing was showing me was the 30 seconds before the incident. People who were in the shop were moving backwards, like a replay, until the point was reached when time would go to 'play'. Then I could see customers going about their normal day, coming in and going out of the shop, and when the place was fairly empty I could see the perp shouting at the Korean, taking the slugger and the money and running from the store. I'd seen enough. I took my thumb off the switch and the images turned to freeze frame. Then the light gently receded back into the disc. I returned it to the pouch I kept it in, and put it deep into my coats inside pocket. It was done. I knew the perp, so I wrote his name on a piece of paper and as I walked out of the store, I handed it to one of the patrolmen. 'That's your man. Know him?' 'Yes sir, I do.' 'Ok, away you go.' He looked at me with a 'how the fuck?' kind of expression. I looked at him with a 'you don't want to know'. But he was smiling too, clearly happy at the impending collar he was going to get.
I had to get home. I was working past the clock, and my wife would be furious. We were due out for a meal with friends tonight, but a case is a case, and if I can wrap it up I will. So we'd be a little late. It'd be fine. The other patrolman was finishing up with the Korean so I made for my car. Getting in I exhaled deeply. As I turned the ignition, I felt for the disc, and thought about how many crimes would have gone unsolved if I didn't have it. Of course there's a story to it. But that's for another time. I gunned the engine and started off for home. Luckily, I only lived about ten blocks from here, so the drive home wouldn't take long, even in the evening rush hour. Home was an apartment in one of the city's 'vertical villages' as I called them. Overpopulation was a big problem, so up was the only way these days. As I approached the building I was aware of how tired I was. It had been a long day, and I was glad we lived on the first floor. I swung left and entered the subterranean car park that came with each village. Now I just wanted to get home, so I practically ran up the flight of stairs that led to our front door. And promptly came to a halt when I could see that door laying on the floor in the hallway. Beyond and into the hall there were signs of a struggle. The lounge door was wide open and the TV was on and blaring. I pulled out my gun, and thumbed off the safety. Moving slowly forward, I could see it had been a forced entry. In the hall now, sweeping left and right with the gun leading the way. No movement. No sound, except the TV. In the lounge now. It was a mess. Drawers pulled out, papers scattered everywhere. What the hell? From here I could see into the kitchen on my left and down to the bedrooms on my right. I decided that whatever had happened here was over, so I quickly scanned the remaining rooms. I was right, there was no-one here. Every room was as messy as the lounge. I felt relieved when I realised there was no sign of blood. But there was no sign of my wife either. As a million thoughts ran through my head, I managed to call for immediate back up on my radio. I calmed down and with all this mess in front of me I reached for the disc. I somehow knew this wasn't a normal B & E, and I knew I just had time before they arrived in a hail of noise and blue and red flashing lights. I pulled out the pouch, and slipped the disc into my right hand. I hadn't a clue what I might see. I pressed the switch with my left thumb. The light began to emanate. It filled the room, and the images started to appear and rewind. Then, the replay. Thirty seconds later, the light and the images had gone, transmission broken because I'd dropped the disc on the floor. I hadn't been ready for what I'd seen...
Replay • Opuss № I