Fillmore!

Today's Episode: De Oppresso Liber

"Freeze. X Middle School Safety Patrol." The voice of safety patrol officer Ingrid Third rang out across the deserted hallways of X. Before her stood a hooded figure. Dressed in various shades of grey, which blended almost perfectly with the colours of the hall, the perpetrator stood, face hidden in shadows, one hand wrapped tightly around the handles of a backpack. As Ingrid moved forward, the suspect, threw his arms through the straps on the bag and turned, bolting down the corridor. Ingrid reached quickly for her radio as she took off after the suspect.

"Fillmore. Our suspect is headed toward to the school fields, you can head him off at the south entrance of D Block." Ingrid picked up her pace, gaining on the perpetrator, trusting her partner would be there in time. She rounded the corner in time to see fellow safety patrol officer Cornelius Fillmore, skid into the suspect's path.

As Fillmore moved to apprehend the suspect, the crook delivered a quick sharp punch to Fillmore's midsection, before hooking a leg behind his knees and yanking. Fillmore grabbed for the suspect as he fell, attempting to stop any attempt at escape, but with no luck. As Ingrid closed in on the pair, the thief executed a series of manoeuvres with expert precision, causing Fillmore to fall heavily onto his back. Seeing Ingrid nearly upon them, the suspect grabbed a canister from his bag, yanked the pin and threw it onto the floor. The hallway was soon swamped in a cloud of smoke, which left Ingrid gasping for air and reaching blindly around her. Out of pure chance, her hand made contact with Fillmore's. She latched onto, staying that way until the smoke cleared enough for her to see clearly again.

"Dawg Ingrid, I thought we had them." Fillmore's voice sounded slightly rough from the smoke fumes. Gingerly he got to his feet, favouring his left side.

"We'll get them next time." Ingrid's voice belied the confidence of her words. This was the fourth time the same thief had given them the slip and Folsom was beginning to increase her threats of turning the Safety Patrol Headquarters into a massage parlour. Crime at X had steadily been rising over the past few months. Word was, that there was a new player on the underground crime rings – one who had a finger into every pie. Gambling, the dealing of contraband substances and the small arms trade – which flourished in the lower circles of X's society – had all seen a spike in activity. Someone was making a name for themselves, and they were making it fast. Rumour had it, that this new comer was smarter, quicker, and more ruthless than any criminal X had seen before. Bending down, Ingrid snapped on a pair of gloves, and picked up the now empty smoke canister. "We'd better get this to Tehama. Maybe she can tell us more about it."

Fillmore nodded, and followed his partner towards Safety Patrol HQ. The hallways were quiet as the pair wound their way through the school. By this time, most of the student body had either gone home or were involved in their after-school activities. Thinking over what had just happened, Fillmore sighed to himself. This robbery had been the latest in a string of crimes, which had the Safety Patrol baffled. Though each crime had, on the surface seemed unrelated, the MO had been the same, as had the description of the thief. Each time, the perpetrator had acted with exacting precision, dodging the safety patrol and making a clean get-away. The crimes always occurred after the final bell had run, and the thefts were always petty things. It was almost as though the evasion of arrest was more important to the perp, than the actual theft.

Feeling slightly dejected, the crime-fighting duo entered the Safety Patrol HQ. Tehama, Anza and O'Farrell were all seated at their desks, Vallejo was visible in his office, pouring over a file and drinking down coco. Seeing the looks on their faces, Tehama started up from her desk, "What happened?"

"He got away." Fillmore said, moving over to his desk, and sitting down slightly more heavily than usual. He was still favouring his injured side. The punch he had received had been hard and efficient, designed to disable an opponent with the minimum contact but with the fastest speed. Ingrid brought the evidence over to Tehama's desk. Seeing it, the young forensics expert pulled on a pair of gloves and began examining the canister. Not looking up from her work, she spoke over her shoulder to Fillmore.

"So you're sure it's a guy now?" There had been some debate amongst the Safety Patrol as to the gender of their suspect. Based on height, most had reasoned on the suspect being male, but Tehama had argued that it could be a tall girl. The speed and agility demonstrated indicated someone with a lighter build as well, pushing Anza to also vote female.

Fillmore nodded, wincing as his ribs and torso reminded him they were bruised. "I wasn't sure until he hit me. No offence Tehama, but I don't think a girl could punch that hard, not without some serious weight training at any rate."

Tehama nodded, as she continued to peer at the evidence, her highlighted bangs falling into her eyes. "None taken. Female criminals are less likely to resort to physical violence, when cornered by an authority figure, than male suspects are anyway. Women in general, are more likely to employ passive methods of evasion, such as visual or auditory distractions, or persuasive reasoning. The fact that you got hit alone, points towards a male perpetrator, regardless of the strength of the blow."

Fillmore stared at her, "Please tell me you and Ingrid haven't been attending those high school psychology lectures again?"

Tehama shrugged, as Ingrid glanced over at her partner, a small smirk tracing her lips. There was a vaguely pained expression on his face, though whether that was from the punch or the mention of voluntary extra school, Ingrid couldn't tell. "What? We have to do something on our days off." She knew Fillmore, couldn't understand why she and Tehama spent their free time studying something new, but it was a subject that fascinated both of them, so they attended the lectures whenever they could.

Leaving Tehama to work, Ingrid strolled back to her desk to begin typing up her report. She managed to write the entire report and add it the case file, without hearing anything else from Tehama. Frowning slightly, she moved back to where her friend was working. The force's main CSI was normally much faster on results than this, but seeing her scowl, Ingrid guessed that this evidence had her stumped. She felt Fillmore come up behind her as she gazed down at Tehama's work. The Asian scientist was currently peering at a series of test-tube results and frowning.

"You got any news for us Tehama?" Fillmore asked, leaning against a spare desk as he watched her work. He was moving without nearly any stiffness now, having sat for the last half hour with an ice-pack pressed to his ribs. Anza and O'Farrell, noticing Tehama's lack of usual quick-fire response walked over to join them.

Karen sighed, and placed the test tube back in the rack on her desk. Normally, she would have gone to the lab to do such work, but due to an escape attempt made by the pet locusts, the labs were shut for the day. Slumping down in her chair, she snapped off her gloves, before rubbing a hand tiredly over her eyes.

"Yes and no, Fillmore. I can tell you the chemical composition of the smoke screen the suspect used, but I can't tell you where they got it from, or even what brand it was. It's like nothing I've ever seen before."

Ingrid frowned, puzzled, "What do you mean?" She settled on the unused desk next to Fillmore, resting most of her weight against her arms.

"Normally, when kids use a smoke screen, they'll use the type they can easily get their hands on, the type sold at joke shops or stores selling theatrical props. There are several mainstream brands, each readily available in any high street shop. Those screens are often coloured (red, yellow, purple, green etc) and are composed of potassium chlorate, sodium bicarbonate, lactose and a dye. This canister however, has residue of hexachloroethane and zinc. I've never seen a screen which uses that mixture of chemicals before. I don't even know where you'd buy something like this."

"You don't." Anza's voice filled the silence which had followed Tehama's words. He was scowling down at the canister on Tehama's desk, and worrying his lower lip

between his teeth.

"What do you know man?" Fillmore asked, looking over at his fellow Safety Patrol Officer.

Anza shrugged, "Only this. That, that combination of chemicals in a smoke screen, is not available on the street. It's high grade stuff – the ingredients alone are hard to come by, and its never been manufactured into a product before – at least not one you can buy."

Ingrid crossed her arms over her chest, "What are you getting at Anza?"

The young man pushed his hands further into his pockets. "It's only a rumour, but word on the street is, that one of X's clubs has been working on producing that kind of technology, for their own private enterprise. I heard about when I was pulling that undercover beat last week. They're not planning on sharing with the general public, but people say that they've produced a heck of a lot of it, along with a lot of other stuff. All sanctioned as well. Word is, Folsum knows about it and has given the go-ahead – all very hush hush, no one supposed to know. But it's just a rumour, so don't quote me on it."

Fillmore, sighed pushing off of the desk, "Thanks Anza."

"No problem." Joseph said, heading back towards his desk. Ingrid's voice stopped him.

"Which club was rumoured to be doing this?"

Anza looked over his shoulder surprised – he hadn't realised he hadn't said, "Oh. The M.S.C.C."