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looking for potential areas to set up shops.”
    “That is definitely a possibility, Detective.   But not quite what I was looking for.”
    Aldrich was waiting for me.
    His stare was burning into me.   I slowly raised my hand.   “Jon Rupret , Parking Enforcement, no division.   A black guy is missing.”
    My answer was not very popular with Sergeant Aldrich.   “Not even close, Officer Rupert.”
    Rupert?   I exploded, “It’s Rupret . R before the E.”
    “Yes, that’s what I said.” Aldrich’s features remained calm.   “And the next time address me with sir.”
    He waited.   My beautiful black skin was turning an ugly red.
    “Yes, sir,” I said between clenched teeth.
    “Good.”
    My middle finger was itching to introduce itself to Aldrich.   Such an introduction at this stage would be damaging to my career.   So I controlled myself, and my finger.
    Aldrich smiled at the last person, who was sitting behind me.   I turned to have a look at him.   The man was wearing a brown three-piece suit, had dark, neatly combed hair and a trimmed beard.   He looked snobbish to me.   Come to think of it, everyone who wears a suit looks snobbish to me, so what do I know.
    He responded in an accent I couldn’t figure out.   “Detective Phillip Beadsworth , Plainclothes and Drugs, 23 division.   The three individuals come from different ethnic affiliated gangs and are now members of this new group.”
    “Very good, Detective.” Aldrich smiled.
    Jeez.   I could have thought of that.      
    Aldrich said, “At first glance you wouldn’t think they are associated.   But they are.” He paused.   “We are used to dealing with the Colombian Cartels, the Chinese Triads, the Italian Mafia, or the Jamaican Posse—with individuals who associated themselves with a group, most of the time race being the main factor.    You were only allowed to join if you were of certain class, certain colour , certain religion, or from a certain country.”   Aldrich turned to the picture.   “This group does not discriminate.   We have been able to gather some information on these individuals—but nothing too conclusive, I’m afraid.   The gentleman on the far left goes by the name of Hause .” Aldrich was referring to the white guy.   “He used to belong to a group of skinheads, who, a few years ago, were involved in massive robberies of retail stores along Yonge Street.   The second individual.” Aldrich was now onto the brown guy. “Goes by several names, some of which are Mandeep , Suraj , and Brown Sugar.” Aldrich raised his eyebrows.   “Mr. Sugar belonged to a group called Desi Thugz . They primarily sold drugs to high school students in Scarborough.   The third individual…”   Now we were at the Asian guy….“Goes by the name of Kong, but we do not have any relevant information on him.”   Aldrich turned back to us.   “My guess would be he worked with the Chinese Triad, but that would only be a guess.”     
    Aldrich nodded to Garnett.   Garnett placed another sheet of paper on the board.   The paper contained four letters: RACE.   
    “Radical Association of Criminal Ethnicities,” Aldrich said.   “Hence, welcome to this new task force: Operation Anti-RACE.”
    Aldrich paused and let everyone digest this new wave of information.  
    “We believe this group was started right here in Toronto.   The organizers are from this city— your city.   We believe this organization will expand within weeks, even months.    It will move to other major cities in Canada.   Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, all over.    It could even expand to the United States.   Our mandate is to quickly search, locate, and shut down this group.   The pressure is on us.   If this group expands there’s no telling where it’ll go.   Right now, this group is small.”  
    A hand shot up. Carlos Herrera.    “What does this group deal in?”
    “A very good question and I’m glad you asked