Page 95 of Booked for Murder

“Yes, he was,” my boss agreed. “That was one of the first things to catch my attention about the case. He was known to attend various rallies and campaign events. What makes him unusual is that he would attend rallies and events of all major parties. He’d even go to the events hosted by independents if he felt they had a good chance of winning the presidency.”

“Since when has any independent realistically had a good chance of winning the presidency?” I asked.

My question earned me a chuckle from my boss. “One day, the entirety of America will say that and be shocked when an independent wins the election. It will completely throw off the entire system.”

“Which could be a motive behind these killings. To throw off the entire system.”

Everyone shrugged, and for a long time, we stared at the papers littering the table in silence.

Most days, I ignored politics. I’d learned early on the fastest way to lose friends and add stress to my life was to engage in political discourse. Half the time, I wanted to chuck both primary parties out the window so they’d never bother me again. With less than a year until a new president would be elected, not a day went by without some form of rally or protest going on in the city. While everyone else argued over the number of people required to pull off a killing in public without anyone hearing the gunfire, witnessing the bullet’s entry, and even going as far as fooling news cameras, I checked the political schedules of the four surviving bill sponsors.

Senator Samantha Maybelle had presidential aspirations, and while she held a Democratic seat in the senate, she’d gone in as an independent with support from a small party. I’d never heard of the Social Reform and Abolitionist Party before, which I blamed on my tendency to keep to myself, avoid the politicians coming and going from the library, and otherwise pretend the campaign season didn’t exist. “Do any of you know much about the Social Reform and Abolitionist Party?”

“They’re one of the groups who wants to do an overhaul of the government, starting with the abolishment of the for life contract system. Senator Maybelle’s platform includes jail time and fines for all participants of for life contracts, with the controllers of the contracts paying the government anywhere between a hundred thousand to a million dollars per contract, dependent on the nature of the contract and the general terms. Those who enter into for life contracts will get a minimum of six months plus community service,” Bradley replied, his attention fixed on the papers in front of him. He flipped a sheet over, made a note, and passed it over to Meridian. “Since that wasn’t bad enough, she’s doubling down on religious constrictions, seeking reform there as well. She wants to tax all churches and charitable organizations that do not provide substantial proof of making a difference within the community. Of course, the government gets to decide which charities are making a difference, which likely means churches will start being taxed heavily. The rest of her campaign promises boil down to changes on how the government operates, tax cuts to certain classes, and so on. Her platform is basically a disaster in the making. She has limited backing among adepts, her backing among the middle ranks isn’t all that great, and she has support among the lower rankings only because they believe she’ll reduce their taxes to almost nothing. In reality, once she’s removed the tax benefits they currently receive, they’ll ultimately pay more in taxes.”

I grimaced, well aware of how much work I’d put into playing the system so I’d get ahead, taking advantage of the various tax breaks the government offered people in my situation. “So, she’s managed to alienate a high percentage of the country through attacking their churches? And she thinks she’s a viable candidate?” Shaking my head, I questioned everything about the case, finding it a lot easier to sympathize with the killers than the victims. “That’s going to ruin a lot of lives. While not all churches are necessarily shining beacons of morality, there are many that do a lot of good in their local communities. Hell, half of our soup kitchens are run by churches.”

“Right, so are a high number of our homeless shelters and other social programs in the city. Church volunteers run and maintain those services with minimal assistance from the government. It’s one of those stealthy attacks on the lower classes, presented in such a way where they don’t even realize they’re being attacked—and because she has enough attacks on the adept class, the lower classes are listening, either ignoring or not caring they’ll be victimized if her campaign promises are kept.” Bradley wrinkled his nose and shoved one of the tablets in my direction. “She has a rally tomorrow at Canarsie Park. Apparently, there will be live music, a cricket demonstration to go with her speech, and a general crafts fundraiser campaign. The webpage I showed you has a list of artisans who will be in attendance for the event, admission prices, and so on.”

I checked the tablet, and my brows hiked up at the $350.75 required to go to a public park to attend a rally. “I had no idea you could charge for events held at a public park.”

“Apparently, you can attend without paying, but you can’t purchase any of the goods from the artisan tables, take advantage of the food stalls, or speak with Senator Maybelle unless you have a wristband. She wanted to sell alcohol, but it’s barred in public here. That made quite the stir in the news, which she tried to use as part of her campaign.”

“Is it just me, or is selling alcohol at a controversial political rally a bad idea in general?”

“That’s what I thought.”

Bradley’s mother snorted. “It would turn into a violent mess within an hour. There’s already going to be protests, as they didn’t get authorization to block the general public from making use of the park during the rally. She wanted to take over the park for a week, with only her staff and paying guests having access to the park, but Brooklyn refused their request, gave them a warning, and threatened to revoke their approval to use the park at all. It might be worth sending someone to attend the rally.”

Everyone stared at me.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Bradley’s smile unnerved me. “You’re perfect for the job, that’s why we’re staring at you. She has a reputation of showcasing people who can build her reputation positively. You’ll be using your wheelchair. You’re her perfect target for some political gain, as she is one of those.”

“One of those?”

“Politicians who can’t figure out how to treat someone with an apparent disability like a human being.”

Ah. Right. One of those. “Where it’s pretty obvious I’m rocking a cast, which implies there’s nothing else wrong with me.”

“You otherwise look healthy,” he confirmed. “Everything we’ve read about her implies she’s very bad about only looking skin deep.”

I muttered curses and did a search for the park I’d be roped into visiting despite my misgivings, blinking at the New York City Parks logo. “See, even the city agrees with me. I’d have to be high to want to go to this rally.”

“It’s not a marijuana leaf,” Bradley’s mother scolded.

“Are you sure? It looks like one.” Unable to help it, I giggled and showed off the logo. “Doesn’t it?”

“It really does,” Meridian agreed. “I’d rather go get high than deal with a political rally, too. I’m out. I might become the next murderer if I have to go to one of those. My weapon of choice would be a toothpick.”

I could see my friend putting in good effort to murder someone with a toothpick. “Please don’t kill any immoral politicians with a toothpick.”

“That implies I can kill them with something else.”

“We’re trying to prevent murders, not cause them.” I slumped my shoulders and sighed. “Is it bad I can understand why the cops might want to pin this on anyone they can? It bothers me how well I understand their possible motivation for throwing the investigation.”

Bradley’s mother stood, came around the table, and patted my back. “And that’s precisely why we have to do the right thing, even though we might understand why others would look the other way. While I understand the argument for the better good, there are other ways to get rid of problematic people with questionable morals—in an ethical fashion. For politicians like this, we expose the skeletons in their closet in as irrefutable a way possible, making sure even their most rabid supporters are forced to stop and think about it. Of course, the most rabid of them simply won’t stop or think, but as long as the majority do and vote for someone else, the damage they can cause is limited. The problem is finding the proof. That’s where we’re different. Everyone else will look the other way. We won’t. And make no mistake. None of these men or women are knights in shining armor, and they aren’t undermining our society for any desire to do good. The way it’s rigged, they will become richer, get rid of threats to them, and rebuild society in their vision—and their vision isn’t necessarily what’s good for everyone else. It will be good for them. That’s the golden rule of politics. There is always some benefit for them, even in the kindest of acts.”