Full Description: Fraser and Ray arrest a suspect for a petty crime. Simple? Not so. Soon they discover more to the story as the suspect's action is related to more serious events. The two find they can no longer rely on the facts and must continually trail place after place, person after person. Fraser's preciseness and Ray's impatience clash humourously, while right and wrong bring the question of being in a grey area.
Chapter 1: Possibly Negligible
"Fraser, you're always about doing the right thing. I'm not saying you should go out and do the wrong thing more often, but what I'm saying is…uh." Kowalski stopped in a lost trail of thought.
The two men were quickly walking down a busy downtown area of Chicago, dodging some pedestrians as they went.
"Ray," Fraser said with emphasis, "What if no one ever did the right thing?" He tugged at his Stetson with his left hand to secure it more tightly.
The partners kept pursuing the suspect in question, rounding a corner.
Constable Benton Fraser gave a quick glance to see if fellow friend and detective Stanley Ray Kowalski was even going to attempt to answer that last comment.
Ray noticed and tried to suppress a face. "How about I'll get back to you on that when I talk to my shrink."
With a quick nod, and ignoring the sarcasm, the Mountie's eyes went back to scanning the scene up ahead. They seemed to have lost their man for the moment. He almost frowned, but kept pacing as thinking of their next move.
Confirming Fraser's thoughts, Ray noticed and sped up his pace as well. "He couldn't have gone that far. What do ya think, should we split up?"
The Mountie considered. "Well, that all depends if he's working with someone. But what I can tell from the sloppiness of the transgression, he's probably working alone." He turned to the detective. I'll take west, you take east. Meet at your car afterwards."
"Okay, Fraser," Ray replied nonchalantly with a bit of his Chicago accent, jogging and turning right onto the next street.
Fraser almost corrected Ray, because the detective was actually heading west instead of east. Instead, he resisted the urge and went to cover east himself.
Before he could get much farther, Fraser instantly ceased as he heard the faint but clear sound of Ray's voice arguing from the street that the detective had just turned onto.
Maneuvering himself around, the Mountie briskly moved straight to the scene. He came to find the area cleared away of pedestrians as Kowalski had a gun on the man that had vandalized a civilian's car – the man that they were after.
What happened earlier was that the offender was in the middle of breaking windows and attempting to steal a purse that was inside a vehicle when Fraser came along, catching the perpetrator in the act. The Mountie went in pursuit of the wrongdoer, much to the annoyance but overall tolerant Ray.
The thief was just a notch taller than the two, Caucasian, athletically built and with dark hair. His back was to the Mountie and the detective, with hands stretched up (as at gunpoint). He was about six metres away from the two police.
"Okay, punk. Turn around slowly. I don't have to tell you what can happen if ya don't."
The lawbreaker did as was told.
Never taking his eyes off the thief, and keeping a steady hand on his gun, Kowalski reached into his pocket with his other hand and held out a pair of handcuffs. "Could you cuff him, Fraser?"
"Of course." The Mountie retrieved the cuffs and locked up the suspect's hands. They headed back to Ray's car, the detective keeping the cuffed man at gunpoint while Fraser lead them.
On the way to District 27, Fraser asked how Ray could have caught the "culprit" so quickly.
"It was easy," Ray grinned. "It confused him when I yelled at people to clear the street because a crook has just got loose. When the guy hesitated for a moment, I took advantage."
"Very clever, Ray," the Mountie commended.
"Yeah, well, it's the best trick in the book. Just confuse 'em and they're beat!"
Fraser seemed to remember something and was about to spark up in conversation when Kowalski stopped him.
"Look, if that little saying reminds you about what your father used to say, or what the Igloo People believed, I don't think I wanna…"
"Actually," the Mountie cut in, "I was just going to say that your precept there could be quite useful."
There was quiet for a few seconds.
"Oh," Ray finally replied. "Well, uh, thanks Fraser buddy." He didn't fully understand, but guessed that 'precept' meant some sort of 'concept'.
Kowalski cleared his throat. "There is just one thing that I don't get. This guy commits a petty crime, right when we were hot on the trail of the F.B.I.'s most wanted man in Illinois. Don't you think one takes precedence over the other?"
"Well, Ray. If individuals got away with even the smallest things, what makes you think they won't tackle the larger next?"
Ray sighed and turned on the radio, observing the criminal seated in the backseat through the rearview mirror. Fraser could just possibly be right.
Side note: Any comments are much appreciated!