“Nobody sees the crimes that aren’t committed. We can reduce the crime rate 98%, and the ‘innocent citizens’ blame US for that last 2% . . . as if we were the ones committing the crimes! Nobody wants to cooperate with the police or approve the tax allocations necessary to keep up with inflation, so we can’t even keep abreast of where we are, much less expand to keep up with the population growth.”
He paused and leveled an accusing finger at J.R. “Then there are ‘innocent citizens’ like your buddy here, who admits he’s running an illegal, unlicensed business. What that means, incidentally, is that he doesn’t have to pay any taxes, even the existing ones, although he expects the same protection from us as the storekeepers who do, even though most of them cheat on their taxes as well.”
“So we’re supposed to keep the peace and apprehend criminals while we’re understaffed and using equipment that’s outdated and falling apart. About all we have to work with is our instincts . . . and then we get hassled for using that!”
He came to a halt in front of me, and pushed his face close to mine, treating me to another blast of his breath. I didn’t point it out to him.
“Well this time we’re going to see just how good my instincts are. I’m letting you go for now, but it occurs to me it might be a good idea to run a check on you on other dimensions. If you’re just an innocent businessman like you claim, we won’t find anything . . . but if I’m right,” he gave me a toothy grin, “you’ve probably tangled with the law before, and we’ll find that too. I’m betting you’ve left a trail of trouble behind you, a trail that leads right to here. If so, we’ll be talking again . . . real soon. I don’t want you to switch hotels or try to leave the dimension without letting me know, understand? I want to be able to find you again, MISTER Skeeve!”