There is corruption in the police - Fiction and Digital Art

There was a knock on the door. I looked up from my desk and saw the familiar face of Frank Pappas, one of the detectives assigned to the case. He smiled as he entered.

— I've got something for you.

— Something? I asked.

He nodded. — A breakthrough in the case. We just picked up an arrest.

— Who?

— It's a guy named Thomas McAllister who also works for the police department.

I closed my eyes and tried to clear my head. It had been over twenty years since I'd seen him. Back then, he was a young man who worked with me in Boston. He was a detective and had been assigned to cover the murder of a young girl who'd disappeared from her home on Christmas Eve.

She'd been found murdered two days later, but it hadn't taken long for the police to suspect that she'd been killed by a serial killer. Her death had become known as the "Christmas Eve Murder" and Thomas McAllister had become the lead detective in the case.

He'd done everything right: he'd interviewed all the suspects, followed up on every lead, and worked hard to track down the killer. But his dogged determination led him to make a mistake, or so I thought. The killer had slipped through his fingers and the murderer went free. Many people were frustrated that no killer was ever found, and as far as I knew, McAllister was very frustrated about it as well.

The next year, he was assigned to another murder case, but I moved to New York and lost track of him. As far as I knew, Thomas McAllister was considered a competitive and honest detective. The last I heard is that he'd been reassigned to another homicide unit and was now working on the case of a serial killer who had struck in Florida.

— How did he get involved? I asked.

— It's a long story. Pappas handed me a manila folder. — We've got him in custody.

I opened the folder and took out a photograph showing Thomas McAllister with a grumpy face. He looked like the type of guy who could be very charming when he wanted to be, but who was also prone to fits of anger.

— This is him? he looks so different nowadays. I asked.

— That's him, Pappas said. — We're looking at him as a suspect in the Christmas Eve murder.

— But that's insane, I said. — He was the detective covering that case!

— We suspect he was the real murderer, or at least his partner, that's why he never caught anyone, Pappas said. — We think he was working with the killer and didn't want to be exposed. That's what we're trying to prove.

I nodded and placed the photograph back in the folder. I closed it and stood up. — Let's go downstairs and have a cup of coffee so we can continue to discuss this.

When we returned to the kitchen, I poured a cup of coffee and handed one to Pappas. He sipped it and nodded. — Thanks mate.

— What's going to happen now? I asked. — This would be an embarrassment for the police.

I had the feeling there were forces within the police deparments that prevented any of its members from being accused of crimes. I knew first hand many members of the police used their jobs as a cover for crimes.

— Yeah, Pappas said. — I think they're going to let him go to protect the reputation of the department, but I'm going to take some time to look into this and see if there's anything else we can dig up.

— Well, thanks for informing me, I said. — Let me know if I can help you with anything, we shouldn't let that bastard get away with it.

Pappas smiled. — I'll call you.

A few days later, I received a call from Pappas. — We are letting him go, he said. — Thomas McAllister's isn't a suspect anymore, we were mistaken. The case will remain unsolved.

— You're sure? I asked. — What about the other leads? I thought you'd follow them up.

— We did, Pappas said. — But there is not enough evidence to keep McAllister imprisoned, there's no way we could keep him in prison without enough proof. You understand that, right? He sounded very nervous, as if he was being pressured into telling me this, I suspected he was lying.

— Yes, I said feeling frustrated. — I understand.

I thought the police department was being so extremely corrupt, they were willing to allow a murderer to get away with it simply because he was a member of the police. If the public discovered there were murderers in the police, then all hell would break loose and there would be massive chaos in the streets. It was infuriating to see this level of corruption playing out in front of my eyes with me being unable to do anything about it.

— But you've got to understand, Pappas said. — The department has its reputation to consider. There's no way we can admit we made a mistake, even if we suspect he's guilty.

I hung up the phone and shook my head. Thomas McAllister had been released, and he'd probably never be brought to justice. I felt completely lost and not sure what I could do. Was it worth it to be a detective if you knew there was a national network of corruption that prevented members of the law to pay for their crimes? If they operate outside the law, the only way to stop them is by doing the same, ignoring the law and playing dirty.

As soon as this realization came to my head, I quit my job. Nowadays, I act in the shadows, I steal from and murder corrupt police officers and will continue doing so until the day I die.