Date: January 26^th, 2011

I start off my day like any other, sipping on coffee while admiring the view of Newark out of my office on the 14^th floor of the Robert Treat Center.As I watch the birds flying by, a black crow happens to land on my windowsill.I watch in amusement as the crow sits there resting his wings, although I can’t help but think that the crow is actually staring at me.I sit motionless, the steam from my coffee fogging up my glasses.The bird is indeed looking at me intently, craning its neck from side to side.

I jump out of my chair at the sudden noise of the dark bird cawing and franticly flying away.At the same time there comes a knock on the door.“C… coming!”I meekly stutter as I adjust my coat.I have read in books that crows can be seen as a sign that evil is on the horizon or that death is near, yet I do not find myself to be a superstitious man so I try to forget the strange happenings.Yet I pause as I simply cannot get the image of the crow staring at me with those dark beady eyes out of my head, almost like he was trying to warn me about what was coming.I shake the thoughts from my mind again as I approach the door.

Answering the door, I think to myself it is strange that there was no call from my secretary telling me I had any guests.It must be my secretary Jenny then, I assure myself as I turn the knob and find two men standing at the entrance.Dressed in black suits with wide-brimmed fedora hats, the tall figures stare at me with dark concealed eyes.The sound of the crow cawing again reverberates in my mind as I try to regain my composure.

“Ye… yes, can I help you sirs?” I say as I motion for the gentlemen to enter my office.

“Good afternoon Mr. Nizinski, we are here to offer you some very rewarding work today.That is, hopefully we can convince you to lend us your skills in a matter of grave importance,” the larger and older (he must be pushing 80) of the two men speaks as he makes his way to the leather chairs in front of my desk.

I clear my throat and retort, “I am sorry gentlemen, you have me at a disadvantage.I am not sure what could possibly be of such grave importance in these quiet times.”I was not trying to be rude but work has been few and far between as of late, with nothing more than jobs about spying on adulterous spouses and finding long lost relatives.None of which can be considered gravely urgent or important in my opinion.

“I apologize for my friend; he does not know his manners.My name is John Rodriguez, perhaps you have heard of me?And this is my friend, Mr. Jennings; he is an officer with the C.I.A.”The shorter of the two says as he shakes my hand.

John Rodriguez, indeed that name did sound familiar to me yet I could not place it at first.Also, the C.I.A. – what could they possibly have to do with me?I am a private investigator but the majority of my work has always been checking up on spouses or the occasional unsolved murder file which I enjoyed passing my time with.Granted, I have been able to solve a couple cold cases that the other authorities had given up on, but I did not think that it warranted any kind of merit or recognition from anyone from the C.I.A.Then it comes to mind.

“John Rodriguez, the Commissioner of the Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance?” I ask quizzically.

“Correct.We are here because recently we allowed a new General Manager to take the helm of one of our teams here in New Jersey, the Hitmen.”As he explains this to me, he produces an envelope from his jacket pocket and hands it to me.

He continues, “Despite our rigorous screening process, this man was able to be get through the background checks and he is situated to begin his first year this coming season as the acting general manager for the Hitmen.This would not be a problem, although recently I was approached by Mr. Jennings here telling me that the man I had approved was actually being investigated for having mob ties.Needless to say, I was very disappointed with the revelation; however, as the C.I.A. has not been able to find sufficient enough evidence to convict him of anything, there is nothing we can do about this.Now I am worried that my whole precious baseball league might be in jeopardy if the mob can get a foothold in my league and try to run it behind the scenes with illegal betting and point fixing.”

Indeed, scandals of point fixing and cheating could truly become a problem with the potential to bring the league down.This was not something that was needed in baseball, let alone any sport with all the recent controversies of refs cheating and gambling in basketball and football.But I guess with baseball being the national pastime, there was no reason that it would be left untouched from this sort of treachery and personal gain.I briefly glanced at the contents of the envelope to find some preliminary information about the man, Michael Czosnyka.

“Target: Michael Czosnyka.Background Information:

• Newly appointed General Manager of the New Jersey Hitmen
• Possible mob ties
• Blackmailing
• Racketeering

“So I take it you want me to investigate this man, Michael, from a distance and to try and find anything of use for you to get him kicked out of the league and brought to jail?” I question as the C.I.A. agent Mr. Jennings stands up again from his chair.

“That is correct.We need to bring him down as quickly as possible.We can’t have him helping the mob get into the sport of baseball.Anything you find, you will need to contact me about right away.”He puts his arm around my shoulder and begins to whisper in my ear as he hands me a business card, “I don’t care about the Hitmen or whatever happens to the PEBA; your job is to keep your distance and get as much information about the Pruszkow mafia, which we believe he is a part of.They are a notoriously dangerous criminal organization originally from Poland, so I would advise you to be very careful with this.We have bigger fish to fry than just one man and his interest in a game.Mention nothing to John here and make sure to contact me first with any news”

Strange demands, seeing as he is not the one who would be paying me.I already don’t like where this is going; it’s leaving a bad taste in my mouth.But do I really have much of a choice?Do I want the C.I.A. breathing down my neck if I try to go behind their backs and help the Commissioner instead of them?

After that, Mr. Jennings exits first as I go over the payment plans and details with the Commissioner, and I reassure him that I will do everything in my power to make sure that his league is not being tampered with.I am a baseball fan at heart, of course, so I tell myself that I need to stop anything from happening to keep the integrity of the game safe.

As I send John out, I sigh to myself and think, “What have I gotten myself into this time… and why me?”Well, I guess it makes sense since the Hitmen are aNew Jersey team, so I should have an easy time being so close to the team at all times.I can attend as many games as possible as I investigate the general manager.I guess it’s a winning situation for me.I start to put my plan of attack together and give my secretary Jenny the details so she can begin writing up the reports.

But it’s been bugging me. “Jenny, why did you not phone me letting me know that those two gentlemen were coming up?”

“Huh?Two men?I am sure I phoned you letting you know that a Mr. Rodriguez was on his way up, but I do not remember there being anyone else with him…” she surprises me with this information as she types up the case details.

How could she not have noticed Mr. Jennings?I pull his card out of my pocket and it’s real enough.Mr. Rodriguez spoke of him as well, so I know he was there.This is getting stranger by the minute, and I get an uneasy feeling growing in my stomach.I know I am not a superstitious man but that damn crow is really starting to bug me now, too.Maybe it was really trying to warn me about this?Oh man, what have I gotten myself into… at least I know the 2011 season is going to a lot more interesting.