The Vigilantes (Badge of Honor 10)

Harris snorted.

Radcliffe looked at him as if wondering if he was being mocked, then judging by Payne’s expression realized that wasn’t the case. He returned his attention to his laptop, fingers tapping the keyboard as he stared thoughtfully at the screen.

Rapier did something at the control panel, and when he went to the Notes section of Reggie Jones’s case file and clicked on FINGERPRINTS, the gunfire and smoke effects were gone.

He turned it off again, Payne thought. But he doesn’t look like he’s pissed or anything.

“Here’s this new guy James, Matt,” Rapier said as two boxes popped up with digitized images of fingerprints. One was headlined “Suspect Name Unknown #2010-56-9327.” The second had the new live link: MARC JAMES Case No.: 2002-41-093631.

Harris said, “The prints on the still-unknown doer are being run again. Forensics got a hit with James’s only because they reran his, too. They said they didn’t find a match the first time because his prints on record from a previous arrest didn’t have sufficient ridge detail for comparison. But the second go-round, they lit up just enough.”

Payne looked at Rapier. “Punch up James, Kerry.”

Reggie Jones’s fat baby face was now replaced with that of a shiny-skinned black male with a round face and male-pattern baldness.

Toilet seat hair, Payne remembered hearing someone describe it. Its shape was similar to those seats found on public commodes.

And the upper part of his garment looks like a hospital gown—or Roman-like robe.

“Who does this Cicero guy think he is?” Payne said. “Looks like he’s in a toga, too.”

“All kinds of crackpots in this city try to stand out from the crowd,” Andy Radcliffe said.

“There’s that voice of reason again,” Payne said.

This time Radcliffe didn’t at all feel like he was bring mocked.

Payne read off the screen: “‘Marc James aka Marcus Cicero, age twenty-eight. ’ Looks like a nice guy, if you can just overlook all those unfortunate priors for running meth and roofies. And, for good measure, he racked up a conviction on involuntary deviant sexual intercourse. Guess he wanted to test his product.”

Harris snorted. “Yeah. Really nice guy.”

“Who’s sitting on him now?”

“Charley Bell, in that old PECO van.”

Payne nodded. The Philadelphia Electric Company van was always a good choice, its paint shot but the faded PECO logotype on it easily recognizable.

“Okay,” Payne then said, “it’s no doubt way too soon to have much on this new one that’s got Hizzonor spitting mad. But punch up number twelve on the main bank, please.”

Rapier worked the keyboard and the case sheet for Jossiah Miffin appeared. It showed both his mug shot, in which he had close-cropped hair, and his Medical Examiner’s Office photo, where he had long black hair. Both showed the nasty J-shaped scar on his left cheek.

Name: Jossiah A. MIFFIN

Description: Black Male, age 30, 5'7", 180 lbs.

L.K.A.: 1822 W. Ontario St, Phila.

Prior Arrests: 8 total: possession of marijuana (6); possession of Methamphetamine (1); convicted of Indecent assault & corruption of a minor (1) and sentenced to probation of intense sex offender treatments & no unsupervised contact with minors.

Call Received: 02 Nov, 0730 hours.

Cause of Death: Gunshots (2) to head (99 percent probability).

Case No.: 2010-81-039617-POP-N-DROP

Notes: Fugitive. Warrants issued for multiple probation violations. Has prominent J-shape scar on left cheek. Takeeta Smith, 14-year-old female witness who claims to be niece of deceased, stated in interview that she saw him killed 01 Nov 2130 hrs by SNU in street at L.K.A. & described SNU as a skinny white male approximately 40 years of age wearing delivery uniform. Assailant left Wanted sheet at scene in FedEx envelope that was discarded. Body transported to Lex Talionis, Old City.

“Check out the Notes, Matt,” Harris was saying, looking at the main monitor.