The Dark Files of Lazarus: Case Number 13

Lazarus, the city built upon the ashes of Los Angeles, has irony in mounds as high as the carbon-steel coins piling up in the newly formed vaults. Theo Baxton was the thirteenth child born into this city after its establishment. Blessed at birth, cursed at life - again, the irony piles on.

Superstitions aside, young Theo had the average childhood of those in the city; a busy father, a mother who stayed at home making a side business for her personal hobbies, schools located on the outskirts as a means to accommodate all from different walks of life, rival gangs that start between said schools and end up either inside of the city or inside the ground. Theo was no exception; he was branded to the Cater Kings, a gang that sought to make money between other gangs as an intermediate and peace-keeping "family". Fees were issued to them to end turf wars before they started, a fair sum of carbon-steel coins and fruit seeds that could also be traded in for food and weaponry.

Young Theo was trained as the accountant of the group, having excelled in his classes of mathematics. In fact, given his devotion to the numbers, he was also allowed to freelance between the gangs. Word would spread throughout Lazarus of the "boy genius with a fist in fights and a hand in banks", and he had his own office/flat, amongst the perks of a local celebrity. This climb would continue for three years, until the peace was finally shattered.

A third world war was an ongoing rumor even in this decade, but the threat of such was a temptation that could no longer be ignored. The federal government, trying to keep its iron hand upon the nation's throat. At the same time, groups of States were seceding from the Union, starting with Texas and Florida; California was arguing its points to secede despite being government-central for years. Tensions were high everywhere, and all it would take was one little push.

According to an associate of Theo, who wished to remain anonymous, a letter with no return address and a waxed seal pressed with an emblem of a serpent eating its own tail; inside, Theo told his associate that it was from someone named Enso, asking for help to what was described as a "complicated accounting error"; despite Theo's policy to only work with people within the city, the letter promised a large reward: fifty million in carbon-steel, with an extra five million sent to him as an incentive. All he had to do was leave his answer outside of his door by the second day of receiving the letter.

The answer was "yes".

On the fourth day, the associate stated that a large sum of carbon-steel was made to Theo's personal vault; the bankers, however, refused to divulge information at the time according to their privacy policies, and insisted that since no amount of money was stolen or missing, that this was just another paycheck for Mr. Baxton.

Come the afternoon, a large box was delivered to Theo's office, containing paperwork and USBs pertaining to the error mentioned in the letter from Enso. Theo did examinations and cross-examinations, contacted different businesses, and even got in touch with several tax collectors. Apparently, several different accounts belonging to key figures within the city gangs were seized and the paperwork of each were sent to the wrong people in authority, all of which were dismissed under negligence. Now, no longer needing any trials, the figures could get their money back, but the public servants refused to be involved with the returns. Instead, Theo was contacted as a representative of the Cater Kings to oversee the return of the physical funds.

The associate then told of what happened over the next few weeks; delivery trucks containing wooden boxes of the promised funds were driven to the outskirts of Lazarus, where the gangs of the prominent figureheads awaited to take to the vaults, personally. The associate noted two things that were strange; all the truck drivers wore masks, and all the boxes were locked with their designated keys back at the vaults, awaiting in the hands and granted access only by the bank personnel. Still, the gangs were happy to have their money back, and they praised Theo and the Cater Kings as heroes.

The associate refused to answer any more questions, as he had pled the fifth with great tremoring. He was excused and escorted back to his home. The rest of the case was a jigsaw of events relayed by the media that left Lazarus with blood in the streets, controversies and conspiracies, and many unanswered questions.

Several stores and storage facilities of fruit seeds were set ablaze over a course of nine days; a week later, large crowds were running at large around the streets whilst throwing glass bottles and broken pieces of concrete at vehicles and buildings. Citizens were set in a panic as droves of gang members washed upon them like a furious flood. The local police had to team up with the city's firefighters to stem the flow of violence, but they were outnumbered and could only give way yard by yard. The hospitals were soon filled to capacity with victims of the assaults, several of which were fatal.

What caused this outburst? It turned out that it had to do with a bounty of ten million carbon-steel coins for the capture of Theo Baxton, with double if caught alive. Apparently, one of the heads of the gangs issued the order not long after the delivery of the boxes to the banks. A call was made from the bank once the packages were opened, citing fraud via forgery and non-delivery of goods, followed by a plea for help against an all-out mob assault. The police noted that none of the perpetrators used any weapons outside of the banks own supplies, from chairs to pens and even magazines, with hysterical employees reporting threats against "the traitor, the embezzling rat-", with maledictions attached.

Theo himself was unable to be reached, for he was no longer in Lazarus. Another of his associates, before dying of his wounds in one of the hospitals mentioned earlier, only uttered this:

"...had to...get him out. He...not in...the wrong. Framed. Got him...out to a...friend...gotta find...find Enso..."

The assessment by the cities detectives were as followed: Theo was made aware of the goods inside of the containers, which turned out to be lead bars. He was made to lay low, as the Cater Kings tried once more to keep the peace. The turmoil was spiraling off the rails, and the Kings were placed in the spotlight. The head of the Cater Kings, who also remains anonymous, promised the others that he would provide them with the guilty party members; i.e, he was going to offer Theo up as a sacrifice. Theo was made aware of this by one or more of his associates, official or on the outside yet on his payroll, and had to arrange for departure. Then came the arson, and that pushed everyone over the edge in desperation, especially with the bounty issued and made public despite the denial of the gang leaders giving such an outcry. Theo and company had to fight their way out of his flat and office to the getaway vehicle, which had to blow through pockets of people (as obtained from the records of different doctors overseeing patients who were all victims to the same speeding car that bowled them onto the streets.

All good things must come to an end, and for a young man with a talent for numbers, it was almost curtains. About nine hundred people were admitted to the hospitals, with eighty-eight losing their lives. Amongst the lost were thirteen cops, fifteen firefighters, nine store-owners, and a mixture of citizens and gang members. In the aftermath of one of the darkest moments of Lazarus, the questions still rebound about the roads and haunts; who was Enso? Who really sent the bounty, if not any of the gang leaders? Where was the money? Where is Theo Baxton? Until the young accountant is apprehended, no one knows; there is doubt that even he will know. Authorities are looking as far as the coastlines, but so are many a gang member, with the Cater Kings, intent on making good of their promise.

Once, a city of angels was promised. Now, a den of devils has been erected, and it calls out for nothing less than vengeance.