Chapter 2 The Man in CCTV

"Turn right, here," I said as we turned onto the street that the Galaxy Illusion was on.

"So, Kid, you patrolled 'round here when you were an officer?" Jones asked.

"Yeah, I did a lot of overtime to get this promotion," I said. "I worked sixteen hour shifts, five days a week. I got to know a lot of the nightclubs and bars around this area. There was a lot of action here on the weekends so I thought it would be good to be around here, in the middle of all the action."

"And so you got to know a lot of the security in the area?" Jones asked.

"Yup. That's what happens when a pretty and nice cop works around here," I said.

"Did you just call yourself 'pretty'?" Jones asked.

"That's only what others have said," I shrugged. "I'm just saying what they have. I don't actually believe any of that."

"Why not? You're a good-looking girl. Have ya ever thought about dating?" Jones asked.

"I was so focused on becoming a detective, I guess I never really thought of dating," I said. "What about you, Jones? Do you have a family?"

"Got a wife, two daughters, and three young grandkids," Jones said. "That's all you're going to hear about my family though."

"It's up on the left," I said pointing to the club.

The purple neon sign reading The Galaxy Illusion was turned off and the ropes for the line weren't outside. It was strange to see the nightclub like this. But I could see Nate, the head security man, standing outside the entrance as he smoked a cigarette.

"That's him," I said as I noticed Nate. "Pull into the alley next to the club."

Jones did as I said, pulling up next to the nightclub. We got out and walked around to the front. Nate was finishing up his cigarette as we walked up to him.

"Nate!" I called out stretching my arms out for a hug.

"Look who it is! I thought you weren't going to be coming around here anymore, Tiny Cop!" Nate called out. He stepped on the finished cigarette and walked up to me. He wrapped me in a hug.

"Unfortunately this isn't a social visit. Jones do you have a picture?" I asked.

"Yeah, one of the officers sent it to me when we left," Jones muttered. He pulled out his phone and showed Nate a picture of Jessica.

"Ever seen her before?" Jones asked.

Nate looked at the picture for a second then shrugged. "Not that I can recall," he said.

"Come on, Nate. I know your type. And she's exactly your type," I said as I raised an eyebrow. "She was here last night, right?"

"Yeah she was," Nate sighed. "She always flirts with me and my guys to get in. She comes every weekend. Starts off here and then starts going around to other nightclubs. Came in around eleven last night, if I can remember correctly. She left like around 12:30 with a guy."

"What did this guy look like?" Jones asked. He wrote down everything Nate was saying in his notepad.

"Over six foot. Kinda scrawny looking. He was Asian," Nate listed off with a shrug.

"Asian?" Jones asked as he looked up, suddenly more interested. "What kind of Asian? Chinese? Korean? Filipino?"

"I don't know. I can't tell the difference. He just looked Asian," Nate said.

"Any defining marks?" I asked.

"He had tattoos on his neck," Nate said. "Couldn't tell what they were, though."

"You got cameras that we can look at?" Jones asked. "See if we can get an ID on this guy."

"Yeah, inside," Nate said. "You guys can come in and see the footage from last night."

Nate jerked a thumb over his shoulder towards the entrance of the nightclub.

"Thanks, Nate. I really appreciate this," I thanked him.

"No problem," Nate said. He went to the door and unlocked it. He held the door open for Jones and I to walk through. Once we were inside, he led us through the empty nightclub.

"You didn't recognize the man who left with the woman?" Jones asked.

"I don't remember letting him in the club and I was working the front until one in the morning," Nate said. "So he could have gotten through the VIP entrance in the back."

"You have a VIP entrance?" Jones asked in disbelief.

"For our more important guests," Nate said. "Like the owner and his business partners."

"Who owns this nightclub, do you know?" I asked.

"Don't know his name," Nate shrugged. "I only know his face. He's a tall black dude with a gold tooth. I can get his contact info from the office if you want to talk to him."

"We might as well get it, in case we need to contact him to ask him any questions," Jones said.

The nightclub's office was in the same hallway as the bathrooms, just in the very back. It was a very basic office with a desk with some papers and a computer. He sat in the office chair and pulled up the security footage from last night and fast forwarded it when Jessica was leaving the club.

The footage was surprisingly clear. It was obvious to tell who each person was. We noticed Jessica as soon as she exited the nightclub. Right as she exited the door she turned around to look back inside. The man walked out as Jessica said something to him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and the both of them walked out of view of the camera. I was surprised by how well we could see the man's face.

"We're going to need you to send this footage to us," I told Nate.

"Sure thing, Tiny Cop," Nate said. "But can I ask, what happened to the girl?"

"She was murdered in her home last night," Jones said.

"Oh God. So this guy might be her murderer?" Nate asked. "I'll going to keep my eyes out for him. And tell my guys to as well."

"That'll be great, Nate. If he comes back here, let us know immediately," I said. "We need to question him as soon as possible."

"Course, anything for my favorite cop. Or I guess Detective now," Nate said.

"Just call me Ana from now on, Nate," I said.

"Sure thing, Ana."

///

Jones and I returned to the station. I was more than excited to start on solving this case.

"So what's our next move?" I asked Jones as we got back to our desks. "Send out the picture of the guy to all the nightclubs in the area? Run his face through the system to try to get a match?"

"No," Jones said. "I have someone I need to talk to."

"Who?" I asked. "Is it another detective?"

"We'll talk more about it when we go meet him later tonight," Jones said.

"Say what?"

"No questions. Especially not here," Jones muttered. "I just need to get in contact with him and we'll meet later tonight."

"What time do you usually meet this guy?" I asked.

"Around midnight," Jones whispered. "I'll meet you here at eleven."

///

As I waited for our meetup time, I couldn't help but wonder who we were going to meet. Maybe it was a Private Investigator, a really good one. Someone who the station didn't approve of. Or maybe a consultant of some sort, someone who Jones wasn't suppose to talk to.

It was about time to leave my apartment to go back to the station. I dressed in a pair of dark wash jeans, a silky red button up blouse, and my usual black trench coat. I was tying up my all black converse on the couch when Murphy stumbled up to me.

He wasn't used to me going out after our evening walks in the park. Murphy stared at me with confused eyes. He let out a small yip, as if he was wondering where I was going.

"I'm sorry, Murphy. I have to go do some work. I'll be back soon," I said rubbing underneath his chin. He licked the palm of my hand before he jump on his doggy bed on the sofa and going back to sleep.

I smiled at my cute pup before grabbing my things to leave my apartment. I lived only two blocks from the station, so I walked to work everyday. When I was a cop, I walked to the station and got my police car before going on patrol. It was a healthy habit that I got into. And I enjoyed the peaceful walks and I also don't own a car.

I walked to the back of the station where all the parking was. I saw Jones leaning against the hood of his car with cup of coffee in his hand.

"There you are, Kid," Jones sighed. "Need some coffee?"

"No thanks. I'm used to having late nights and early mornings. Besides coffee stains my teeth really bad," I declined.

"Whatever you say, Kid," Jones said with a roll of his eyes. He stood up from the hood and walked over to the driver's side. "Get in the car. We have somewhere to get to. And we have to be early."

"Where are we headed?" I asked. I walked to the passenger side of his car and began opening the door.

"The Eastside," Jones said. I stopped moving when I heard his answer.

Ever since I was young, I was told to never go to the Eastside of Towson. The Eastside was very different compared to Downtown and the Suburbs. The Eastside was where the most violent and frequent crimes happened. They had their own police force because of how dangerous it was, the East Towson Police Department - ETPD.

The ETPD was very different from the department I worked for. They were much more brutal and corrupt than us. No one actually applied to work there, instead they transferred in people from other departments.

And because they're their own department, we don't have any power over there.

"The Eastside? We don't have jurisdiction over there," I said. "What could possibly be over there that we need to meet someone over there."

"That's where we have to meet him. He won't meet anywhere else," Jones said. I could feel his glare on my face as he looked at me from over the car. "Get in the car, Kid."

I did as he said, taking my seat on the passenger side of the car. He then started the car, and began driving East. It was obvious when we reached the Eastside. The buildings became run down and dirty. There weren't as many streetlights. We drove in silence through the Eastside for a while before I couldn't hold my curiosity in any longer.

"So who are we meeting?" I asked unable to hold it in.

"His name is RM. He helps with these kinds of investigations," Jones said vaguely.

"What kind of investigations?" I wondered. "Ones that involve the rich white people in the suburbs?"

"No," Jones said, seriously. "Ones that involve the mafia."

"The mafia?" I asked in disbelief. I didn't know that Towson had a mafia. "How do you know the mafia is involved?"

"How long have you lived in Towson, Kid?" Jones asked.

"My entire life," I answered. "Why do you ask? What does it matter?"

"The underground mafia of this city is run largely by an Asian community," Jones said. "RM is the head of the most powerful mafia. He helps us with cases that involve either his or other mafias or gangs."

"And he just does this out of the good of his heart?" I asked. "Why does he help?"

"Many of the things his work does gets overlooked by the department," Jones said. "He's a big help to get the smaller gangs and the most dangerous criminals behind bars."

"That's the only reason he helps? So that he can continue running his mafia?" I asked. "That is so wrong. If we know that he's done so many crimes, why don't we take him into custody?"

"Because nothing he's done can be proven. He may be the head of the mafia, but nothing that he's been done can be traced back to him, only the lower ranked members. And they won't give up their boss," Jones said. "Listen, Kid. I know this is wrong. But sometimes doing some wrongs can make a right. If we want to catch the guy who did this, that's one less bad guy on the street."

"What if it's one of the people he works for?" I asked.

"Then he'll tell us straight up. All his people tell him who they've killed in case of instances like this. He'll tell us whether we can continue with the investigation or if we just drop it," Jones said.

"Drop it? If he knows who killed Miss Cullson, he has to tell us," I said. "He can't just with-hold information from an on-going investigation. We can put him away for obstruction of justice."

"If we arrest him, we'll be in danger of his men," Jones said. "He has men that are on the same level as him. And they are just as dangerous as he is. The only reason they don't stray from him, is because RM is more dangerous as an enemy. And no one wants him as an enemy, except the ones who want to try to surpass him."

We pulled into an empty warehouse parking lot. Jones parked the car in the darkness. He turned off all the car's lights, leaving us in complete darkness. The only light was from the full moon above our heads.

I couldn't help but glare out into the darkness, thinking; Is this worth it? Going to a mafia leader in order to catch a killer? This man is no better than the guy who killed Jessica. Just because I have to turn to this guy to get some help, doesn't mean I have to like him.