The Runners: Chapter 2
“My name is David Chan. I have just been assigned to this case to assist you with your investigation in any way I can, sir. And, it is my honor to be working under your mentorship.” David introduced himself chasing after Det. Woodson in to a narrow hallway towards the apartment unit at the Regency Complex.
“Chan…” replied Woodson, turning his head half way towards David.
“Yes sir, David Chan,” almost shouting his name again from behind, he followed Woodson thru the hallway towards the crime scene
Detective Victor Woodson entered the apartment unit 210 with the rookie investigator trailing behind him. The uniformed local Chicago law officers were already present and busy securing the crime scene at the door and inside the apartment. The place has been blockaded with the crime scene tapes. A team of CSI investigators have already taken extensive scans and visuals of the crime scene. They were busily moving about collecting pertinent evidences from the small one bedroom apartment, in the north side of Chicago neighborhood.
Detective Woodson had joined United Nations Security Agency or UNSA with exceptional academic background from University of Wisconsin and Berkeley. With degrees in criminal law and forensic science, he had his eyes set for a successful career in law enforcement as an administrator. He started his career as an intelligence officer in 2169. Initially, assigned to an elite undercover infiltration unit, he served in Europe, Asia and Latin Americas. He had successfully penetrated the Order of the Anarchists or the OOA, an extremely well organized and potent group that undermined the global control of the United Nations as the UN actively worked to maintain the one world government.
After five years into the assignment, Woodson had successfully gathered secret information of the group’s inner workings and even identified key members within the UN who were either secret OOA members or sympathetic supporters of their cause.
Twenty five years ago, this anarchist group had detonated a series of explosives that decimated the city of Washington’s communications and transportations infrastructures. This had effectively shut down the city for nearly eight months. Three years after that, they carried out terroristic bombing attacks at the UN office in Paris, which had killed over 300 of the world’s key government officials during a global summit meeting to address the direction of the one world government. The OOA had carried out many deadly attacks of terror in those past two decades, which targeted and killed over 10,000 global and local government officials, as well as unsuspecting civilians, as they attempted to thwart the progression towards the solidification of the UN’s one world entity.
Many had claimed that a number of these large scale attacks were designed, funded, and carried out by the secret UN task forces, such as the one that Woodson was part of, although, they have never been substantiated. However, the rumor was that under the guise of the OOA, the UN carried out terroristic operations to raise public fear and to influence the general opinion against the OOA. Eventually, Woodson’s involvement and intelligence gathering had led to delivering crippling blows to the OOA, allowing the UN to practically eliminate the last organization that stood in its way. Their removal paved a clear path to prolonging the UN’s agenda of one world government. For his valor and accomplishments, Woodson soon assumed the directorship at the UN Intelligence for Global Stability under the UN Security Office, in France.
Five years after assuming this position, the UN had succeeded at, what many had tried and failed, creating a total Unitarian world government. The UN had created and unified political, economic, and educational systems around the globe. They had also set up regional offices in Europe, Asia, North America, Africa, and Latin America that provided regional support while reporting back to the UN headquarters. This form of the world order brought about peace, stability and prosperity under the absolute control of the UN.
The UN had passed a key UN Citizen Identification legislature into law that gave the UN Security Office unlimited man power and technological resources to maintain security and order. It also helped eliminate much of the fraudulent and illegal activities by its citizens as it took the UN’s surveillance capability to new levels. This in turn, had eliminated the existence of the centralized UN Intelligence for Global Stability Agency while strengthening its parent department, the UN Security Office. Soon, to his dismay, Victor Woodson would be assigned to the Chicago office as the chief homicide detective.
The OOA eventually broke away and what were left over became a series of crime syndicates that posed lesser security concerns to the UN in the new world. Many of these threats were negligible since with limited resources, their effects were localized to small areas. For the most part, they were inconsequential as opposed to the UN’s other pressing matters. One Chicago group in particular, however, evolved into a secretive and well structured criminal syndicate that was reminiscent of the organized crime groups, dating back to the 20th century. Most of these remnant groups were driven by greed and hunger for money, which were farfetched from their original, noble political agendas.
“Yuck…, what the heck is that odor?” David quickly covered his mouth and nose with one hand as he held his breath. Disgusted at the permeating stench of rotten dead fish, David quickly negotiated a mask, over his face. He had also put on a pair of latex gloves.
“How long has the victim been dead?” Unfazed by it all, Det. Woodson inquired still walking towards the body in the living room. The victim was leaning back, sliding off from the back support in a half way sitting position, in a worn out sofa.
“Sir, according to the victim’s bio readings, it may have been approximately 48 hours.” Sgt. Eugene Seville, who was a member of the local CSI team, responded as he looked down into his tablet monitor.
“Two days, huh…, no one missed him for that long?” Det. Woodson murmured a question.
“In this part of town, it is not so rare that people go missing and not get reported at all. Who knows how many people may have met this poor guy’s fate and no one gives a fu—,”
Eugene was cut short as Det. Woodson gave a sharp glance in his direction and he asked approaching the sofa.
“How were you boys alerted to this?”
“We got a call from the UE911 dispatcher forty minutes ago. Apparently, the landlord called the police emergency number after discovering the body,” Sgt. Seville continued, “the victim had told the landlord, a week ago, that his rent money was ready and he could come to his apartment to pick up at his convenience. The landlord knocked on the door several times. But, there was no response. He decided to use his master key to unlock the door, entered and guess what he had found?”
“Did he touch anything?” Woodson asked emotionlessly.
“According to him, he was too shaken up after finding the body and he was in shock to do anything coherent. He said he turned around then hurriedly got out as quickly as he had walked into the apartment, after slamming the door behind him,” Seville replied.
“Chan, we would want to talk to the landlord!” Det. Woodson instructed David, all the while keeping his attention to the body.
Looking still dazed by the stench and the site of the decaying body, he gave a quick glance over to Sgt. Seville and said, “Uh, sure, I’m on it, sir. Do you want to see him here now, or at the station?”
“I had a brief conversation with him and I asked him to stick around since we could have more questions for him. He is in his apartment in the next building.” Sgt. Seville answered, taking David’s glance in his direction as a cue.
“Good! We’ll walk over to chat after we are finished here.” Woodson replied without taking his eyes off from the sofa area. Then, Det. Woodson and Chan took close examination of the crime scene and the apartment complex.
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There wasn’t any sign of forced entry. No visible cuts or bruises on the body or arms, indicating absence of any physical altercation with the assailant. It appears to have been a surprise attack. One single shot straight to the heart from the front. No prints or any other DNA traces of another person. On the coffee table were two cups containing cheap, rotting coffee. One cup appeared to have been drunk out of as it was only half filled while the other one seemed untouched. There were four cabinets in the kitchen. All doors were either fully swung open or half way open. All of their contents were emptied, one pot, two bowls, some cereal and crackers were thrown loosely all over the kitchen floor.
The bedroom door was open as well. There was a full size bed, which took up 80% of the bedroom space, located by the window at the far wall of the room. The bed was not made, actually, had no bed sheets to speak of. Just an old pillow and thin worn out sleeping bag were littered on the bed. It did not look like the victim even used the bed to sleep in. There was a wooden dresser with a lamp on top. The lamp was in good working order as were the two lamps next to the sofa in the living room. Again the drawers were left open with contents spread out all over the bed and on the floor.
The medicine cabinet with a mirrored door in the small bathroom off to the side of the bedroom was also left open. There was not a separate door leading to the bathroom. The in room A/C unit was turned off and thick curtains on the window of the living room and bedroom had been drawn closed when the initial responders arrived at the scene, according to Sgt. Seville. It appeared to have been a robbery, but rob what in this part of the city?
It was a 1-bedroom apartment on the 2nd floor of an old traditional, pre 2010, five story brick building on the North side of Chicago, by the old Halsted Street. There was one main secured front entrance leading to the small lobby of the building. Visitors had to be let in from inside unless you were a resident. As they would enter the building, they were immediately met by a wall full of small tin mailboxes, which were no longer used.
To the left of the wall, was a narrow five feet wide hall way leading to another locked door which provided the only access to the residential units. The halls were narrow and there was an extremely slow working elevator and one emergency stairs to access different floors. None of the internal building features were updated with the modern amenities required by the UN defined building codes that went into effect several decades ago. The only thing that was visible was the usual Universal Payment Scanner or UPS that had been mounted on the inside wall, next to the apartment door. For the benefit of the banks, the commerce transactions must occur even in the absence of other modern amenities, it seemed.
Based on the local UN records database, the neighborhood was a well to do part of Chicago in the hay days. Young professionals used to call this part of the city a hip and happening area. But, as financial jobs were shipped overseas and to other areas of the country, the vibrant life style and the attraction of the city dwelling slowly disappeared as the local economy took a nose dive. The unemployment rate in the city hit 35% and the life became extremely hard for many. Those who were able to get out and relocate had all left and gone long ago. Even after the unification of the world, certain areas just did not recover from its wounds and miseries. Unfortunately, this part of the city was one of them.
The town lacked the political clout with the regional UN office and the UN headquarters that could help the local residents. The town’s quality of life deteriorated quickly and attracted many who couldn’t afford higher living standards. Due to extreme heat, the 3rd floors and higher sat nearly empty during summer seasons as even the people in the lower floors barely got by at best. If it wasn’t for the city of Chicago with the support of the regional UN Health and Human Services providing much needed resources for air cooling system, the entire town would simply be deserted throughout the year. Even with that, the higher floors could not be sufficiently cooled for comfortable living.
It was at this crime scene where Det. Woodson and the bright 28 year old rookie investigator, David Chan, crossed their paths for the first time.