037. Bribe


Nothing much went on in Hill Valley that was for sure.

His wife though had insisted that they move to a nice small town, that it would be good for the kids and so on and so on.

So here he was, once a beat cop in San Francisco, walking around the nearly deserted Main Street of Hill Valley on a Saturday night.

He thought he'd be used to it after ten years, but the quietness of this town never ceased to amaze him.

Of course there had been quite the scene a few days ago, with that Tannen punk running into D. Jones's manure truck... but Eddie hadn't been there, he'd been working behind the desk. The way it had turned out with him missing it all was the story of his life.

He strolled down the street past Lou’s, which was all but empty, Eddie didn’t know why Lou bothered to stay open 'til 8:30...although he was often grateful that he did, where else would Eddie get his coffee otherwise?

The wind was picking up, there had been some pretty bad storms in the mountains and on the coast, but as early as this evening the weatherman didn't think they'd be heading Hill Valley's way.

"Wouldn't be the first time they were wrong," he muttered to himself, in fact if he had a nickel for every time...

Of course, that didn't mean he hadn't forgotten to bring his umbrella along.

Right then he noticed something odd just up the street, a ladder had been set up near a lamp post up and on it securing a wire with a spanner was Dr Brown, otherwise known as the 'Town Crackpot'.

Oh God, not him again... Eddie had had a number of run-ins with Brown over the years. He conceded that the man was probably not insane, but he certainly seemed to have trouble preventing explosions, fire and fumes for God knows what sort of experiments.

On the street next to the ladder was a bulky shape covered by a tarpaulin.

"Evening, Dr. Brown," Eddie called once he was in earshot. "What's with the wire?"

Brown gave him a quick and what Eddie thought was a nervous look. "Oh...just a little...weather experiment..."

"Hmmm," pulling out his truncheon Eddie started lifting the corner of the tarp. "What's under here?"

Brown gasped and almost fell off the ladder. "D-don’t touch that! It's specialised weather sensing equipment!"

Eddie furrowed his brow, that didn’t sound particularly...legal...he considered continuing to lift the tarp, but then...

Brown had to be the wealthiest man in town...hard as it was to believe from looking at his clothes...and well...Eddie had been a good cop for a long time on very little pay.

"You got a permit for that?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Brown got his meaning immediately, just as Eddie figured.

"'Course I do," Brown drawled as he climbed down the ladder and reached into his pocket, withdrawing his wallet. "Hold on a second, let me see if I can find it..." "You know, you've gotta have permits for this sort of thing," Eddie continued, noticing a kid hanging around, better be convincing. "You can't just set up this stuff anywhere you feel like."

Brown nodded as he pulled out a number of bills. "Of course, of course..." He commented.

"That thing's not a fire hazard, is it?" Eddie asked, pausing before taking the money...After all he did have his scruples.

"Certainly not," Brown assured him, looking him squarely in the eye.

"All right then," Eddie took the bills. "Just make sure you clear all this stuff by tomorrow."

Brown nodded as he retuned his wallet to his pocket.

Eddie looked up quickly, black clouds were beginning to roll in. "Damn, I hope it doesn't storm tonight..."

"I wouldn't make a bet on that," he thought he heard Brown comment, he looked back at him, but Brown had all ready turned back to the ladder.

Shrugging he decided the man was just living up to the 'Town Crackpot' image.

That was no skin off Eddie's nose though, and now he had fifty bucks to play with.

Life in Hill Valley did had its benefits.


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