by BananaZebra » Sun Mar 17, 2024 11:18 pm
DOCTOR’S ORDERS
Cetatea Albă, September, 5450
Detective István Márton of the New Endralon Vice and Narcotics Division
Márton pulled the car up to the curb outside Vasile’s apartment.
The building was in shambles, with broken windows and cracking foundations.
Márton knocked on the door to apartment three.
“We don’t have all day,” Pavlenco said, taking a step back.
He threw himself at the door, busting it off the hinges and forcing it open.
Inside, the apartment was a mess. It had been ransacked, drawers pulled out and turned over, papers and clothes strewn on the floor.
Laying on a pile of bills, letters, and laundry was the corpse of Vasile Mihai.
“Damn it, too late.” Pavlenco said.
Scattered behind the body were shards of glass from the window behind it, which had been broken to open it.
Márton went to the body, kneeling over it.
He pulled back Vasile’s collar.
“The same injection mark as Hutopila.” he said.
“And no pills… they didn’t even bother to cover it up this time.”
“You should go call the coroner, and technical services.”
Pavlenco nodded.
A crash rang out from the bedroom of the apartment.
Márton ran to the room, getting knocked back as a man ran out of it at the same time.
“VND! Stop, right now!” Márton shouted.
The man kept running, going out the open window and onto the fire escape.
The detective followed, sliding down the fire escape ladders as his palms burned and tore.
The man ran into the crowded sidewalk, knocking over a food cart owner as he reckless hurried away. Márton stayed close behind, doing his best to avoid the pedestrians on the sidewalk with him.
“Out of the way!” Márton shouted.
The man ran out into the intersection diagonally, where a car swerved to avoid hitting him and crashed into a delivery van in the middle of the intersection. Crates of bottled soda crashed onto the street, bottles bursting and flooding the street with sugary water.
Márton’s shoes squelched beneath him, sticking to the pavement, and slogging through the rising puddle of soda.
The man slipped in the puddle, and the driver of the van got out.
The driver laid into the man on the ground, kick after kick.
“Hey! VND, stop right now. This man is under arrest.”
The driver grunted.
“He’d better be, look at my damn van!”
Pavlenco pulled up in the car, getting out as back up cars arrived to surround the intersection.
“Holy Hell, Márton.” he said.
“What?”
“That poor sap is Rudolf Apród.”
“What were you doing in the apartment, Rudolf?” Márton asked.
The interview room was bright, the fluorescent light drowning the whole room in unforgiving, hostile brightness.
“Suppose I do talk, what’s in it for me?” Rudolf asked, arms crossed.
Pavlenco leaned forward.
“How about –” he began.
“Pavlenco,” Márton said.
His partner sighed and sat back in his chair.
“We can speak to the judge, arrange for a lighter sentence. Conspiracy and second-degree homicide, instead of first-degree homicide.”
Rudolf looked down.
“Alright. Vasile was talking to Hutopila. He was giving information to avoid jail time over a drug charge.” Rudolf said. “The doctor hoped to keep him silent with a steady stream of ‘Euphorenol,’ but he still went and squeled.”
“Dr. Barta, you mean?”
“Yeah, him. The doctor told me to go to Vasile’s apartment and... give him his medicine.” Rudolf said.
“Cut the shit, this isn’t a joke.” Pavlenco said.
Rudolf shrugged.
“Vasile was a low life, a junkie. Those are the people the doctor usually targets, like that broad he was in love with. Except for Németh, but that was because the ambassador got in with her and she found out about the experiments. She was threatening to go the cops and report Dr. Barta, so he and the ambassador…”
“Got you to deal with it, like Hutopila and Vasile.” said Márton.
“What broad? Clara Gilca?” Pavlenco asked.
“That’s the one.”
Pavlenco leaned in.
“Trust me, kid. Ms. Gilca did not love the doctor. So, he wanted to bang the broad, but she was just using him for the pills?” he asked.
“She was? I didn’t know that. Dr. Barta said they were in love.” Rudolf said. “Though I guess that makes sense. The doctor was angry with her towards the end. Especially that night.”
“What night?”
“The night he shot her.”
Accompanied by two officers, with another five surrounding the other exits, Márton and Pavlenco kicked in front of Dr. Barta’s practice.
The secretary stood.
“What is the meaning of this?”
“Sit down, darling.” Pavlenco said, as he and Márton marched to the office.
One more gratuitous door kick later, Pavlenco stood in Dr. Barta’s office with a smirk.
“There was no reason for the aggression, detectives.” Dr. Barta said, sitting at his desk. “Surely I could have been of help without the threats.”
“Of help?” Márton asked. “You’re under arrest, Dr. Barta.”
“For what?”
“The murders of Clara Gilca and Vasile Mihai.”
“That’s ridiculous! Me, a murderer?”
“Well, not you. Rudolf’s the muscle, isn’t he?” Pavlenco asked.
The doctor went white.
“Rudolf? I fired that man long ago, detectives.”
“That’s not what he says, doc.”
“The barbiturates used to kill Ms. Gilca and Mr. Mihai were both prescribed by you, Dr. It’s not absolute, but it’s enough to bring you in.”
The doctor sighed.
“I suppose it is. But if you are thinking you’ve found your mastermind, I hate to tell you, but you will be sorely disappointed.” Dr. Barta said. “Do you think I could move millions of Francs worth of cocaine into this country undectected?”
“No. I think you had help from Ambassador Beudeker.”
Dr. Barta smiled.
“Very good, detective. A worth opponent, truly.”
“Do you ever get sick of yourself?” Pavlenco asked.
“The ambassador provides the cocaine; I prescribe it and test new formulas on some of my more… forgettable patients. I have nothing to do with the production, that is Rudolf and Hendrikzen.” Dr. Barta said.
“Alright, we’ve heard enough for now.” Márton said. “Let’s take the doctor back to central and book him and go pay the ambassador a visit.”
“Detectives,” the secretary said as they walked into the station. “Ambassador Beudeker is here to see you, in room three.”
“The ambassador?” Márton asked.
“He came in about fifteen minutes ago, of his own volition. Says he wants to give an interview and ‘clear the bad air’ surrounding him and his office.”
Márton and Pavlenco went to room three, where a tall and muscular man in a neatly tailored tan suit waited for them. His brown hair was trimmed short, and his demeanor oozed charisma.
Sitting across from his magnetic energy, Márton understood what Németh and so many other ladies saw in this guy, and how he had managed to get so far in politics and get away with so much.
“Detective,” Ambassador Beudeker said in a warm voice.
“Ambassador?” Pavlenco asked. “You’re awful young, aren’t you?”
“Thirty-seven, detective.”
“What is it, rich father? Uncle?”
The ambassador grinned.
“My father was the ambassador to New Endralon decades ago, yes. But I’d like to think I earned it, detective…?”
“Pavlenco,” he replied. “And I’d like to think a lot of things, that I’m not balding, that I don’t owe the government back taxes from the last two years – like I said, a lot of things. They’re still not true, though, buddy.”
The ambassador’s smile faltered somewhat, a slight downward twitch as its edges. He turned his eyes to Márton.
“Detective Márton,” he said, as he sat down next to Pavlenco. “Do you know a Dr. Barta, ambassador?”
“Dr. Barta? I know of him, of course. His interview in Nemzet was quite sensational, wasn’t it? Really launched Euphorenol into its current popularity.” Ambassador Beudeker said.
“Funny you should mention Euphorenol, ambassador. Are you aware of a criminal conspiracy to pass cocaine products off a prescription Euphorenol?”
The ambassador laughed.
“I apologize, Detective Márton. It’s just, that’s – it’s ridiculous, is what it is.”
“How close were you with Lili Németh?”
“Lili? She came to my parties; we had some drinks together. Not much else.”
“Really? Her maid, Ms. Albu, recalls a sexual affair the two of you had.”
The ambassador smiled.
“Old women love to gossip, don’t they? No, we did not have a sexual relationship, detectives.” the ambassador said.
“So was Mrs. Albu also lying when she said you gave Ms. Németh the ‘party favor’ that killed her?” Pavlenco asked.
“Party favor?” asked Ambassador Beudeker.
“Cocaine-laced Euphorenol, ambassador. It was the additives that killed her.” said Márton.
“God, that’s terrible. I had nothing to do with that, detectives.”
“I’m sure you didn’t.” Pavlenco said.
“Now, I think we’re about done here, detectives.” the ambassador said. “If not, I’m sure my lawyer would love to hear that you kept me here against me will, without a warrant.”
Pavlenco rolled his eyes.
The ambassador left, getting into a sleek black sedan, decorated with flags of Narikaton and Darnussia.
“Let’s go talk to the doctor again, Pavlenco. I think he’s holding back.”
The two walked to room six, where the doctor was being interviewed by another VND detective. After Detective Jakab finished, they entered the room.
“Ah, detectives. Good to see you again.” Dr. Barta said.
“Do you have anything that could link this to the ambassador? Anything else to go on?” asked Márton.
“On my part in the affair? No. I killed them, yes. But the ambassador? He set up the pharmacies. Only he had the capital available to do it. The shares of the corporation are split between him and I as majority holders, and then minority fractions to the rest of those involved.”
“What is the pharmacy called?”
“I’m sure you’ve heard of them, detective.” Dr. Barta said, pointing to the bottle of acetaminophen they had brought at his request, a generic label from RejuveNow pharmacy.
“RejuveNow? Holy Hell.” Pavlenco said.
Dr. Barta nodded and folded his hands on his lap.
“Which locations? There must be hundreds by now, surely not all of them.” asked Márton.
The doctor smiled.
“All of them, detective.”
Hizb al-Ishtiraki al-Dimuqrati (Badara)
Uniós Párt | Partidul Unirii (New Endralon and Kizenia)