PART 201

In less than a minute the Benz pulled out of the kerb and equally sped off. Zain promptly reached for the phone to call the police to report the shooting; it is not every day that one gets such incidence in one's neighbourhood.

PART 200

Zain instinctively ducked behind the wall in fear. There was a skid and a screech. The red truck sped off in the opposite direction. The truck passed the house just in time for Zain to look at it's driver but she could not make out the face of or even the skin complexion of the driver.

PART 199

From her vantage point she could see that there was a young man behind the steering wheel of the Benz car but the top of the car was not down; it was still drizzling slightly.

The streets were quiet and calm, but this was until another car drove by the Benz. This car was an old truck painted red. The driver of the car held out a gun; a revolver and shot in the air delibrately missing the young man in the Benz convertible.

PART 198

I suppose it was these thoughts and fears that caused her to look out of her living room windows, half expecting to see a Benz Convertible parked outside. And lo and behold there it was; the parked Benz car.

She went upstairs to her bedroom and returned with a pair of binoculars with which she surveyed the streets.

PART 197

She recalls a certain party she had, where she had certain undesirable elements in attendance. Of-course the usual affluent persons amongst her circle of friends were there. The party had almost gotten out of hand that she had had to call in the police to remove the undesirable elements whom had taken it upon themselves to be out-right asses in the party.

Her fears could be that one of those elements could be stalking her, for what reasons she knows nothing of. One always have such kinds of characters in one's profession. I suppose one could label it occupational hazard.

PART 196

For a while now; for some days running into some weeks she had noticed a dark blue Benz Convertible car trailing the side kerbs of her streets bringing her to suspicion of certain elements amongst her acquaintances and persons she may know.

PART 195

The Weekend showers had subsided and Zain Goodfallen was all alone lounging within the confines of her living room. She was contemplating going out for a spell but decided against it.

PART 194

''So what do we do my friend - talk to Fred Mark ?''

''No - we search for an home made lab.''

''We call in Percy,''Wesley added.

''That disgruntled college student passing for a paparazzi ?''

''I hear he is trailing Zain Goodfallen...so we could kill two chickens with a blow...one would die from the blow, the other the fright of the blow.''

PART 193

''There! My friend - that bullet was soaked in molten sulphur before applying it to it's gun - a revolver no doubt.''

''And what's more that revolver is a pre- 70's revolver.''

''How do you know that ?'', Uli asked.

''I know that because their bullets are not much use, they fragment poorly, and easily too.''

PART 192

But going by what he had already suspected; given the possibilities of what may be feasible in a simple lab as in an home made one; going by what may be easy to achieve in one, he decided to test for sulphurated acids first.

He brought out a tincture of the ''testing'' liquid and put in 3 drops in a test tube of the boiled mixture.

The mixture gave a clear red hue which indicated an acid of the H2SO4 genre.

PART 191

When he had achieved this he brought to an aggressive boil, what was left of the the first test tube and then with a tong, he gingerly poured little bits of what was left of the boil mixture into 5 other test tubes.

His intention was to test for acidity or basicity of whatever the boil may be.

PART 190

He took a rack of test tubes.

''From it's indication it seems the fragment has a thin film of some thing slightly oily on it.''

He applied pure water to two of the test tubes and with a pair of twizzers dropped the fragment into the first test tube and brought the mixture to a full boil for about eight minutes.

Then with the twizzers removed the fragment and dropped it in the second test tube to cool off.

PART 189

M.G. Wesley and Uli Yang did not at first attempt, discover any slugs.

But Dr Uli Yang later discovered a small particle; part of a fragmented bullet that had hit the side panels of the bus.

He had hid it with the initial intent to surprise Wesley the next day.....perhaps.

As he said, ''You are not the only one with eyes like that of a falcon.''

M.G. replied pleasantly and then immediately set to work.

PART 188

The search for the laboratory (which is easier than the search for the gun) begins.

PART 187

Theory Of Ballistics


Bullet from shot gun was soaked in ''molten sulphur''.

Implication:the wounds Drago Vittelli sustained from the gun shot would be lacerated within 48 hours.

Tests on such lacerated wounds would or could be misleading as to the type of bullet used and perhaps the type of gun used.


But an enquiring mind could deduce that a bullet soaked in ''molten'' sulphur could only mean that the gun used was a revolver in which a bullet of such kind could be easily be applied.

This leads to further enquiry that there was a laboratory or at least a make shift one to produce such a calibre.

PART 186

The papers he wrote on his tests and discoveries he titled it the Theory of Ballistics.

PART 185

It was a few minutes after the 22nd hour, they left the cafe.

They took Uli's sports Saab to M.G.'s place where he proposed Uli spends the night.

''That would be most appropriate old fellow, given the odds that I have a little surprise for you.''

Uli produced the ''fired'' ballistic which he was most fortunate to have picked up from the inner steps to the bus much to Wesley's unawareness.

With a cry of appraisal and thanks and Uli saying something to the effect that he is not the only one with sensitive eyes, Uli's host set to work immediately on the piece of evidence, in his ante-room. A room of-course Uli had often asked him to move permanently to the cellars below.

PART 184

''Now, now my friend don't try to scare us, a ring is just a ring.......ok ?''

''Ok''

''So what do you think Uli?'', Wesley said as he left them.

''Oh, from his voice tone and inflexions, I believe he was telling the truth.''

''Or it's just that you simply like the chap.''

''Oh that and the one about the truth too.''

PART 183

''A black man with a caucasian nose''

''What ?''

''Like a half- caste you mean ?,'' Uli asked.

''Not really, his skin was too dark for an half caste.

''How tall was he ?''

''Just about my height - 6 feet and an inch tall.''

''What else did you notice about him?''

''He had a heavily studded ring on his left hand - my guess is that it was the index finger - I noticed and felt it when he shoved me aside.''

Uli stared hard at him, '' if you were to hazard a guess, what kind of ring would you say it is Aaron ?''


Aaron stared down at his coffee, smiled out of the left side of his mouth and said, ''I would say it was a ring of the brotherhood.''

PART 182

The man simply wanted to be knowned as Aaron.

''So Aaron, what exactly have you got for me ?,'' that was Wesley.

''Well I can say I saw the shooter on the evening of that matchup.''

''You can - can you ?''

''Yes, I was in front of him as he made to escape - I was dead cert he was going to shoot me - but he instead pushed me aside and took off.''

''So what did he look like ?''

PART 181

M.G. Wesley on the other hand was his usual calculated self. On some after thought Uli began to think of me and my warning that they should stick to the flare-gun incidence, citing that the bad publicity may not be good for the Drones teams at the tail end of it all.

Wesley ordered tea, Uli ordered juice. This was of-course after introducing themselves and had exchanged pleasantries. Like Uli said he was at ease.

PART 180

For some strange reason Uli liked him on the spot. He wasn't drawn to his unshavened chin nor his shifty eyes. He was simply drawn to his like-ability or his ability, inspite of his shifty eyes to put one at ease.

PART 179

At first in the shadows of the poorly lit cafe, Dr Uli Yang could not see the person supposedly their prime witness, in the face. But after a few minutes getting accustomed to the discreet lighting he saw that their witness was a poorly kempt caucasian in his mid - 30's trying to pass for a college-grad, by the looks of his dressing: a confraternity blazer on tight blue jeans.

PART 178

''What are you doing Norbert?''

That was his mother's curiosity.

''Nothing really ma......just trying to get back to the XC8ing scene again.''

''Well you are no longer the young man you used to be, you should be married now......how old are you Norbert?''

Norbert chuckled, ''If you can't remember mum......I sure as smokes that's got no fire can't remember either.

PART 177

He weighed the revolver in his hands - it was a pre - 70's revolver; one his father used to own which he had taken away on the night of the stand off with him.

His intent was not to kill the Percy kid - just enough fire power to scare him off. He bets that kid is a real sissy at heart. It would be fun to see him fly by the seat of his pants .

PART 176

Norbert Townsend was in his hotel room pacing it's floors like he ran out of space to kick a ball shaped like an egg.

His obsession could be concerns for medical attention. Ever since his mother ended up in a home for the mentally ''impaired'' he just could not bring him self to drive past their former home anytime he was in the neighbourhood.

Now that Percy kid is making things pretty hard for him. He was pretty sure Barnaby has sent him to keep an eye on Zain.

PART 175

Spending another 20 minutes studying the bus scene they eventually left to meet with the witness they were scheduled to meet.

PART 174

Let me take you back to the period when Uli Yang and M.G. Wesley were to meet a witness and had a scene to investigate. This was before the brief encounter with me....

The entry points to the Arena had been condoned off to passer-bys. But Uli and Wesley had access. The point of investigation was the bus. The bus wasn't locked, and they could see through it's broken windows; there were bullet holes on two of the seats in the bus and on the side panels of the said bus.

Studying their sizes carefully, Wesley took a drawing of one of the holes by placing a paper over it to trace it. From it's indication it showed that the gun used was a handgun. There were no slug casings on the site grounds. But the police may possibly have taken those away, if there were any.

PART 173

If M.G. Wesley was to clarify why he refused to take my advice about avoiding investigating the gunshot on Drago Vitelli, he would be breaking one of his principles of operating as a private investigator.

So instead of concentrating on investigating the flare-gunshot, he decided to combine that investigation with the investigation of Drago Vitelli's near death.

PART 172

After a very focused enquiry of what 3 team men combined in collaboration with the 2 asides.....aft a couple of phone calls, Jamie opened his laptop to send me a detailed email.

PART 171

The facts he needed the most was what 3 combined as a group and what 2 combined as an aside group.

Jamie decided to go through a list of the players that were available during the matchup.

PLAYER RATING(1-5)

Gennie Stuart 4

Tommy Delaney 4

Damien Weston 2

Gary Drench 3

Steven Combuds 2

Allen P. Kaye 3

Uma Yoki 5

Drago Vittelli 4

Hussien Alami 3

Buba Gubdu 5

Vincent Yokonami 4

Petrus Carpeni 3

There were of-course other substitutes.

PART 170

But which 3 and 2 was the question. Jamie decided to call me again but not after doing some investigations himself, first. If there is any sense to this he would need some facts before he can even tell me anything.

Small wonder people call the game - a game of chaos.

PART 169

But the real mystery is what 3 players combined or collaborated with what 2 players in the total of 12 players and 4 teams in the round.

''Well'' Jamie thought out aloud '' if 3 men combine in effort with 2 other men from the total of 12 players, we could say 3 separate possible teams excluding the remaining 7 players making up the total 12 players, collaborated.

PART 168

Jamie thought out first, what exact 3-combination-2, situation would be the cause of the end result.

There is a little probability involved and the 3-combination-2, would cause a serious leeway in the way the game progresses.

PART 167

Let's go back a little.

On the previous; aforementioned, matchup day.....

Jamie had his fist cuffed in his mouth, he was almost in tears. His former and trusted betting pundit had just informed him that there was a 3-combination-2 situation in the matchup between the Boomers, the Trenchmen the Redhooks and the Rootugs.

It was still match day even though the news on Tv was showing the incidence about the shooting outside the Arena.

''No this bet is too silly to tell even Fred Mark about it,'' he thought out aloud

''But the 3-combination-2 situation may be interesting to Fred after all he does have a certain percentage ownership of the franchise of one of the teams.

PART 166

What's the point getting a go between to knock off a guy when the go between can't even be trusted for time.

He was beginning to seriously think about doing the job himself. It has it's risk factors but it also has it's safety catch.

PART 165

Norbert Townsend had established the needed contact with the young fellow he had been craving to meet at the appointed rendezvous. The first question he asked the young man was if he was fond of missing appointments.

''Sorry Boss'', was the response.

Instantly Norbert realized he had picked the wrong guy for the job. He quickly excused himself, paid the bill and left in a hurry.

PART 164

''Or perhaps,'' he suddenly woke up,''Magna Moonstone was trying to give him a clue - some sort of decoy perhaps.''

PART 163

Creole Cigarettes are imported expensive stuff. But if he had scheduled correctly, he knew on no account did Magna travel out of the country since he had been on her trail.

''Did Zain Goodfallen?'' - She used to smoke at one time. Or did Peace Conneri?

It dawned on Percy. Those are of-course not the only friends they keep. He knows next to nothing but to keep his eyes on Magna, for as long as forever.

''How much is this worth any way,'' he sighed.

PART 162

Percy had little or no time, he knew he had been following Magna Moonstone for days now and she has been as close as a clock works.

He had nothing on her except for a pack of Creole Cigarettes she tossed out of her car while driving.

And he knows the chic hasn't touched a cigarette in her whole life or so he thinks.

PART 161

Percy Paul Jakes has just 2 friends that think like him. They do all they can to get a smear campaign going against anyone even after elections - for the right fee of-course.

So what is the psycho-logos of the issues at stake?

1. Regrets at losing.

2. Anger that a crooked candidate stole the ticket.

3. Angry that you made too many mistakes to try again.

4. Or your opponent suckered you for a smear campaign to win the election's ticket.

PART 160

Percy can campaign all he wants for his favourite candidate and even get an honourary mention on college's grad - day.

But Percy, though he can do all that with ease, he prefers the more covert operations of a political campaign.

Now Percy takes whatever he does very seriously, the election year is over but the covert campaigning is most certainly not over.

PART 159

Percy Paul Jakes is just turned 17 and he thinks he is his own man already. No more orders from Dad and Mum, unhibited access to the Convertible Benz, no more breathing down one's ear to say things like.....

''What do you want to do in college?''

''Oh for gosh sakes I want to funk up the whole world now I am all grown up.''

So what do you think? Does the age of seventeen make you a grown up - vote worthy citizen of the Blah Blah country?

Sadly so - it does.

PART 158

''He wasn't fatally incapacitated, I take it,'' that was Dr Uli Yang

A man like Drago does not go about unprotected, that's where the interest in him arose - he was like he was actually expecting to be hit.

PART 157

Investigating the shot made on Drago Vittelli was even bigger than the LPD. Jon added that the presence of very important guests on the said date was huge.

Wesley suggested we work together....at least to some extent.

I cut in immediately, ''that Wesley should concentrate on vectors and flare guns at least for the time being - I had a few men trailing Drago Vittelli and I would not be needing any distractions.''

PART 156

They looked up towards our general direction.......the stairways to the Arena seats.

''I believe they are the ones over there, they have been expecting us.''

There were two of us at the stairways to the Arena seats......Jon Richmond and I.

The exchange of pleasantries was raw.... I went straight to the point.

PART 155

''Hey Uli how long does it take to reload a flare gun and take a second shot?''

''What are the implications - he was firing the flare gun for someone else's benefit?''

''Kind of - I believe, but that would be for another matter.....another time.''

PART 154

''Yes, yes Wesley the vector may throw some light onto the bullet's projectile.....but''

''Who said I was talking about the gunshot, I am talking about the goshtickling flare gun that was fired right in the Arena during the matchup last month.''

''But I believe we should be very concerned for Drago Vitelli's life and safety.''

''Oh he has long been discharged from the hospital and I'm sure he is safe where ever he is.''

PART 153

Dr Uli Yang walked briskly along side M.G. Wesley who had a stop-watch in his right hand and kept punching it's tiny knob every ever few seconds as if he wanted the seconds hand of the watch to point in a particular direction.

''Vectors, Dr Yang, it's all about vectors''

PART 152

He did eventually caught the enormous fish, though he almost gave up on it. He made a mental note to tick me off about catching a troat of such size singlehandedly.