Friday, September 26, 2008

Robot Killings part 1 by Humphrey Erm

Roy Griswold took a puff from his cigarette and blew a smoke ring. Sitting in the backseat of the car he thought what he was doing out and about at his age. He had retired from the force with full pension and no regrets, or so he keeps on telling himself.

He knelt forward to get a look at the driver. It was a young woman, a rookie by the looks of it, adorned with short red hair and a police cap. The police uniform had changed since Roy was in the force, now consisting of a red and black buttoned shirt and a similar looking jacket. The pants however were purely black except for one long red strip on the side. The belts were far more ingenious than his ever was, now adorned with special compartments for all matter of electronic devices not to mention the new stun gun.

"Were here Mr Griswold," the police officer said as the car came to a stop.

Roy was startled by the sudden stop as well as the fact that he noticed he was staring a bit too much at the woman. Saying nothing he opened the door and stepped out.

He shielded his eyes from the bright sunlight, adjusting them until he could see that he was by the St. Boniface river in the outskirts of the city. Amongst the bank there were several police officers that were observing some object that had washed up. The entire area was surrounded by police tape and several police vehicles were parked all around. The old man that was Roy started walking down from the road down the slanted ground towards the river, his legs aching all the way. When he was about halfway there another officer ran up to him.

"Excuse me, do you have permission to be here sir?"
"I would hope so, seeing that I was called here from my house" Roy replied with a snap.
"Oh, you are Detective Griswold are you?" the young policeman said with a shine to his eyes.
"So I have been told occasionally"
"Please sir, go right ahead, I'm sure you will be able to shed some light on the matter"

Roy walked past the young man and pushed himself through the crowd of police and pathologists. He took a look at what all the commotion was about.

There lay a un-functional robot.

Roy Griswold just stared at the hunk of metal and plastic. This brought back memories.

"I'm sorry for dragging you out here like this Griswold. I'm Detective Curry, and I'm in charge of this investigation" said a tall middle aged man amongst the crowd, walking around the robot to Roy, his hand held out to him.
"If you're so sorry for dragging me out here then why did you Mr Curry? You should know that I have been happily retired for 15 years now," Roy responded as coldly as he thought possible, ignoring Curry's hand.
"Yes I know Griswold," Curry said taking back his hand,"You don't remember me, but I used to work with you when you were still in the force"
"Were you now?"
"Yes, and I marveled at your amazing analytical skills and detective work. Most notably the last case you worked on before your retirement Griswold..."
The former detective turned silent after hearing that. He looked away from Curry and traced his old weary eyes over the tangled mess of a robot.

"You see Griswold, I don't think that case is truly over. If you observe the body you should notice something that you are all to familiar with" Curry continued, looking at his former mentor the same way he looked at him 15 years ago.

Roy bent down in front of the deceased, looking at the joints and wires of the individual, and then without warning kicked it so it turned around.

Protests were made and pictures were taken at this moment, but Curry tried to silence them "Calm down, its not what it looks like, he's just examining the body. Trust me, this man is a professional."

Roy pulled up the sleeve of his right arm with his left hand and plunged his hand into the center of the robot. After some struggling he pulled out what appeared to be a bullet, and on closer inspection it was specified to be a EMP projectile capsule. The photographers present immediately started taking more pictures.

"I was right wasn't I?" asked Curry, a genuine look of sorrow graced his face.
"Sadly you were, Detective Curry..."
"Would you please consider working with the investigation team once more, to try to close the case indefinitely?"

Roy Griswold took a long hard look at the capsule. He later closed his eyes for a few seconds and gave the evidence to the nearest pathologist who immediately placed it in an evidence folder.

"I will need access to all information regarding this case, as well as the old files from the ones I worked on, a car with chauffer, a new office," Roy took out a pack of cigarettes and pulled one out with his teeth,"and a light"
"Good to have you back Detective Griswold," Curry said with an exceptional smile and took out a lighter and ignited Roy's cigarette.

To Be Continued

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