The detective’s flagging career was noticed by his fellow officers.
He was beginning to wonder if he should have stayed in uniform. It wasn’t a bad life and generally speaking he received a lot more respect out on the street. He was considering requesting a transfer back to uniform when the golden opportunity to turn it all around fell into his lap. The station had been buzzing with a case for a number of months. Four serial killings and a task force of detectives put together to solve it. Of course, he hadn’t been asked. Meanwhile, he’d been given a robbery to investigate. The break-in took place only a couple of blocks from his apartment. He was there, questioning neighbours when he met the man that would boost his career.
At first, he didn’t want to answer the door, but the detective heard noises coming from inside so he persevered. Eventually, a very nervous man opened up and the detective went in and began asking his questions regarding the robbery. He answered all these, but he was obviously hiding something. The detective looked around and figured the man was an illegal immigrant. When confronted with questions about his nationality and status the man broke down. The detective said he had no choice, he would have to report it. It was then that the man asked if he could do a deal. If the policeman let him stay under the radar he could provide him with valuable information about the killer. So, after negotiations and assurances were given the man came up with a full report on the man committing the murders.
It turned out that he knew the killer quite well, he thought he was a bad man. He went on to provide the killer’s name and address, some of his movements on the nights the crimes were committed and the location of at least one of the bodies. The detective said he was grateful for the information, saying that he’d keep his name out of his report. He also said that he would see if permanent residency could be arranged and that he’d be in touch in the next few days. The man was delighted with the idea and would wait for his call.
Back at the station, over a couple of days the detective became something of a celebrity. The reports he handed in were written to show that he had done a lot of digging and following up of clues. With the information he gave to the task force the criminal was charged and being held in custody. The detective let a couple of days go by before he contacted his informer. He arranged to meet him on the following evening on a local building site where they could meet privately. He told him that he’d kept his name out of the reports and had made some progress with arranging his permanent residency. He would bring papers for him to sign.
The detective knew only too well that should his witness ever talk about the part he played in the affair, his newfound status would soon vanish. However, this would never happen. The fact that the man was about to have a city skyscraper built on top of him would put paid to that.
