Snitchery

The proffer agreement laid on the desk.

“You sign that,” Detective Steve Persimmons mentioned, “and you’re on your way to being cleared.” Boyd Sturridge became slightly hesitant.

“You mean I will be free from blame?“

“More or less. You can’t be found guilty in a court of law if you give us the right amount of information.”

“What’s ‘the right amount’?” Sturridge asked.

“That’s up to you. The more you tell, the better off you are,” Persimmons explained.

Sturridge took the pen and rolled it in his fingers. He signed.

Persimmons grinned. “Now, you should be able to tell us what your gang’s next move was going to be. We know you were in the car. We know you didn’t have the gun. You were a lookout. We can drop the accessory charge. We can let go of the conspiracy charge. You’re looking at a fine $250 and some community service. Tell me…what were your boys gonna do?”

“They…were going to rob the church. They knew the Bishop. They got on well with him. They got saved, baptized, and went to new members’ classes. They went to Bible study on Wednesdays. All of it was to collect information on where the tithes and offerings were.”

“Okay. What else?”

Sturridge sighed. “They then learned that the money was collected via the Internet with Web donations. The followed Bishop Wall to his house in Wilmington. They tied him up and stole his jewelry and forced him at gunpoint to open the safe.”

“Safe?”

“Yeah, they let him tell them where he stashed money. He was stealing from the church.”

“So the victim was actually a predator?”

“Whatever you want to call it. He had taken the offerings and converted them to dollar bills at a currency exchange place.”

“You sure know a lot. How’d you find out about all this?”

“I just know. I can tell you more.”

“Please proceed,” Persimmons instructed.

“So, I was rolling with them. The Atlas Thugged gang. I didn’t initiate. I didn’t have to ice anyone or anything like that. But I did have to look for the cops as the other guys did dirt.”

“Atlas Thugged?”

“What can I say? The gang was literate. At least they wanted to show the pretense.”

“Alright. Back to the bishop. Did he intertwine with the gang?”

“Yes. In exchange for the money, they provided a false statement for him to say that a rival gang had stolen from him. That’s how they let him live.”

“The guns…where are they.”

“They threw them in the can and ran. They have others at the stashhouse on Fifth Street.”

Persimmons walked around the room and noted every word the Sturridge divulged.

“Here’s the thing. Because you cooperated, we can make sure the judge knows everything you just said.”

“That’s cool because I am preserving myself and taking down a bunch of lowlifes who don't care about my welfare. It’s something I’ve been holding in and I’m spilling my guts like a Garcia Y Vega. Thank you for being lenient in my favor.”

“We knew that you ran with the wrong crowd but were a good kid. With what you told us, you can be in the clear with all of your charges. Needless to say, they’re dropped.”

Sturridge looked up, grinning.

“That’s what I’ve been saying, but will my family be protected?”

“We can have police uniforms where you live and your loved ones, where they work.”

Sturridge exhaled. “That’s good because I wanted to—”

Persimmons ripped up the proffer agreement. and cuffed Sturridge.

“We got what we need and you’re going to prison. Thanks!”