Green ooze.  That's what we found at the crime scene.  I extended my arm to the ground and touched it.  I pulled back my hand to examine it closely.  My index finger looked like it was coated in Aloe.  But the stuff was thick, like a string of bubble gum you step in on the way to your car in the parking lot.
Squad cars lit up the back alley with their blue and red lights.  The point of entry was obvious.  It was the back door, covered in this slime.  The crime was obvious.  The cash register was ripped off of the counter and an occasional cluster of various coins led out into the alley.
Al Jordan, the owner of Jordan Dry Cleaning, arrived on the scene.  I looked over at him and he was clearly distressed.  I watched him reach both hands up into his crown of dark hair and hold them there, then he shook his head in disapproval.  He reached down into his front pocket and pulled out a cell phone and  I went back to my investigation.
I stepped through the back alley doorway.  My dark brown khakis touched the bottom edge of the tan trenchcoat as I stepped forward.  
I scanned the lobby area.  The carousel rack was jammed full of suits, dresses, and pants covered in the thin plastic garment bags you typically see at dry cleaners.  
A uniformed officer stepped up to me.
"Hey, Bernie.  It looks like a cut-and-dry robbery.  Perp breaks in through alley.  Steals loot, then runs."
"Yeah.  Probably so." I replied. "Have you been in the back?"
"Ya.  No activity.  Looks normal if you ask me."
"Ok, Joe.  I'm gonna check it out."
I walked through the push door into the back.  The room was partitioned off into sections.  Large washing machines lines the back wall.  In the back right corner and right side was a huge covered vat with a fill-level window .  A label was painted on in red on the metal.  COOKED MUCK.  I walked closer to scan the area.  Large yellow barrels stood in front of a loading bay door.  Apparently this is where they truck out the waste.  The hazard symbol was on each yellow barrel.  
The push door squeaked open.  Al Jordan came through.  He was headed to his office on the left side.  He stopped.
"Hey, Pall-y.  Whatcha doin?"
"Mr. Jordan, I'm Detective Bernard Dresler."
"Oh, detective.  Be my guest.  Take a look around.  Just don't get a whiff of anything on the back right wall.  It's waste."
"Gotcha." I said back.
"I'll be in my office if you need me."  He said and continued into his office on the left side of the room.
From the middle of the room the carousel started and cut through the front wall so that clothes could be hung in the back on the moving rack, and rotated into the front lobby area.  I found the controls for the carousel.  I flipped the switch to power  it on.  The light beamed green.  I hit the right arrow button on the handset.  The clothes began to move around counter-clockwise into the front room.  I heard a slight commotion out front.  
"Hey, who's back there?"  An officer poked his head through the door.  "We are tryin to investigate a crime scene out here.  Can you not mess with the rack, pal?"  
I set the controls down while he was watching.  
"Thanks." He said, and pulled his head back.  I stared at the garments directly in front of me.  A green residue was on the garment back.  I pulled out an evidence bag from a pocket in my trench coat.  Using my metal pen, I scraped the ooze off the plastic garment back into my evidence bag.  I then pulled the coat down off the rack.  
"Mr. Jordan!"  I hollered.
He stepped out of his office.  "Yeah, yeah, what is it?"
"I'm gonna have to take this with me as evidence."
"Ok, Pall-y.  Just as long as you catch that guy.  Take what you need."
"Thanks," I nodded and walked out front.  
"Hey Joe." I called out.  
Joe looked up.
"Get this evidence bag to the lab right away.  We need to check out the composition of this."
"I'm on it."  He confirmed.
I took the garment bag out into the alley and tossed it in the trunk of my unmarked car.  I slammed the trunk closed and got into the driver's seat.  I had to be at the Daily Reporter at 10 a.m. for an interview, and it was 9:56 a.m.