Oliver Benjamin
the big house for years to come.”
Partment sobbed. License plates. For cars.
His charges didn’t know how to feel. Partment had been kinder
and more generous than anyone they had ever met. It was the
detective and his officer who seemed like assholes. They stood
helplessly and watched as Partment and his homeless army were
bundled into a waiting police van. Spada pulled a few Let It All Hang
Outfitsfrom a coat rack in the corner and held them up for all to see.
“Pervert,” he spat, and threw them on the ground.
The police loaded the bags of pot seeds into the van along with
the suspects. Niles too was taken in for questioning.
The van sped off towards a nearby station. Niles sat in the
passenger seat, next to the detective and his officer, who was driving.
“You’d have thought the old man would’ve laid lower,” the officer
said.
“He’s too righteous,” Spada replied, packing some grassy herb
into a silver goblet. “Never thought he did anything wrong. The
prison psychologist said he no longer believed in law. This allowed
him the freedom to molest minors, give out fake parking tickets and
poison the coffee of hundreds of innocent people.”
“What an sociopath,” the officer shook his head, “How’d you
finally track him?”
“An old friend tipped me off.” He poured hot water into the silver
goblet from a thermos and added a spoonful of sugar. Traditionally,
the preparer of the goblet never took the first sip, so he offered the
silver chalice to Niles.
“Maté?” Spada offered gallantly.
But of course Partment would not give up so easily. Pulling himself
together in the van, he hatched a scheme.
He knew where the nearest police station was located and so
quickly constructed a mental street map. Briefing his lackeys ahead
of time, he waited for the inevitable left turn, the sinister deviation.
They were driving very fast and so when the mass of them
simultaneously threw their combined weight onto the right wall of
the van, the vehicle had no choice but to capitulate to their demand.
It toppled over onto its side and skidded madly, scraping and
sparking brilliantly over the asphalt before plowing into a building.
The impact forced the back door wide open.
Partment and his homeless fellows had already stumbled
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