Raymond Mills - An Inquiry

Raymond Mills, a gaunt detective just shy of forty, felt the urge of his addiction well up inside. The detective stopped and he took a piece of nicotine gum from his coat-pocket and stuffed it in his mouth. He started his trek through the snow again, forced every few minutes to clear his throat of the heavy mucus clogging it, another remnant of his smoking habit as a police detective made worse by the cold of winter.

More snow piled up as he walked the white streets of Augustine, emptier now than decades past because of Augustine's senescent population slowly descending into death along with the town itself. A booming suburb during the war more than fifty years before, it had transformed into a crypt for the aging generation while their children left for better fortunes elsewhere.

His first stop was a small coffee shop on Main Street, the letters on the sign long faded and its display windows boarded up, owned by Albert Knead, once a major personality in Augustine but now retired and confined to a wheelchair due to the stroke he had four years ago. The detective brushed off the layer of snow covering the door and knocked.

"Who is it?" a muffled voice asked from inside.

"Detective Mills," Raymond responded.

The detective heard locks unfasten and the door opened slightly with the sound of creaking metal. "Come in," the voice said.

Raymond Mills pushed the door ajar and closed it once again. "Cold today, isn't it?" Raymond said, taking off his gloves. Sitting in a wheelchair, the plump man in front of the detective rested his back on a pillow placed between himself and the leather of the seat.

"It's cold every winter here," the man said. "Sometimes I think that's why the town's called Winters. I'm Albert Knead by the way."

"Raymond Mills," the detective said, shaking hands with the man. "It's good to meet you in person this time."

"Good to finally meet you as well. You want any coffee? Finished brewing only ten minutes ago."

"No, I'm fine," Raymond said. "I'll just get straight to the point. Would you mind telling me what you know about the murder of Leonardo Nazir last October?"