MVUTO

chapter 64 - the net closes in

"how do you know for sure without seeing him?"

"I used the name tag left on at the graffiti wall and reversed the translator. The result was Mvuto".

"but that could mean he's just a tagger!"

"I know, it's all good, darl'. We have a name to work with now..."

"there's a lot you're not telling me".

To his credit, Chief appeared contrite at least, "just till we get this sorted".

"is it that big?" referring to the case file.

"mm"

"mm?"

"wuf!"

____________________________

After plenty of forethought, Chief determined he needed substantial and/or forensic evidence before obtaining a warrant for the arrest of a suspect. Especially if the suspect is a juvenile for a case that involves mass homicide. All witnesses believed the perp was black and definitely not as pale as their precincts POI on any scale.

"I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place!" he moaned.

Chief shifted his focus to checking his emails at his work desk, getting them out of the way first before ....

"wtf is this?!" to add insult to injury, the BOS was threatening to audit the precinct in 6mths if he continued to produce below-average stats and unfulfilled quotas. "what do they want me to do? Arrest jaywalkers and loiterers?" Screwing underprivileged people with fines for minor civic offences was not on in his book. The poorer a person is, the temptation to commit a crime incrementally increases. Becoming even more troublesome down the line when minor confrontations with police pique the interest of the entitled. Who, in turn, plague the emergency lines for indiscretions normally unworthy of interest or waste of tax-payer funding. Then on to the possibility of endangering other citizens needing emergency assistance because of the blatant misuse of emergency services. Not to say the POI was more trouble than he was worth. Societal discrimination of this nature was the norm in any community.

"an auditor in 6mths!"

The Chief laughed at this next train of thought 'if I could just get our POI to have a quiet chat with the auditor to clear all this up...'

Chief peered out his office window to see sarge and Frank chatting outside while the other smoked, and wondered what would happen if they knew that he knew. Corrupted police was a problem he was familiar with but not on this level. Not typical of the spectrum, these two officers have no prior warnings or known criminal gang affiliations. Chief checked their files and found nothing untoward. Their personal lives were a little messy, regardless of that though their files were gathering dust from lack of interest.

'I wonder if the POI is on their phone's contact list?' Chief tapped his chin.

______________________________

"papa need your spawn."

'what the hell..?!' Mvuto asked his phone for clarification, not forthcoming without first dialling Zuri, who sent the text.

Zuri updated Mvuto on her parent's status and were willing to speak with him face to face alone. Mvuto explained he wouldn't see his uncle without first notifying mum and dad.

Mvuto sat opposite his father at the table for breakfast, finally showing face after recovering from the 'flu'.

"you're alive!" dad feigned excitement.

Mvuto smiled, "if it's okay with you, may I visit Zuri today?"

"What?" both parents queried.

"aren't her parents home?" mum asked.

"They are home."

"why just you and now?" dad asked.

"Zuri insists I visit."

"what does Zuri want from you?"

"input on a mobile app she is creating".

"your brother probably won't let anyone else ..." mum considered.

"you think?" dad rolled his eyes.

Mum kept quiet for the duration of the touchy subject.

"you can go ... just... just don't talk about us ....much. If my brother wants to know something, he can bloody-well ask us himself!"

"deal!"