A veteran Crime Scene Investigator with the Illinois State Police, Tom Merchie has 34 years of experience, having processed 3700 scenes, including over 500 death investigation cases.

A career that began with the Rock Island Police Department in 1977, Tom was an Identification Technician before being hired by the Illinois State Police in their Division of Forensic Services in 1987, retiring in 2011. Tom Merchie has seen a lot in his 34 years and he has plenty of stories to tell.

Torri Smith, a Quad Cities native is the CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of the Mississippi Valley. Torri is a graduate from Western Illinois University for undergraduate and graduate studies. My professional experience is child welfare and youth development, worked 17 years at Lutheran Social Services, 5 years at Family Resources and 5 years in current CEO role.

Torri sits down and talks with us about how the Boys and Girls Club makes a difference in Moline and the Quad Cities.

In the streets of Moline circa 2006, where shadows linger and whispers of a drug dealer fill the air, a tale as old as time itself. It was the eternal dance between order and chaos, justice and defiance. A young patrol officer, a figure sworn to uphold the law. The criminal, a force of rebellion, operating in the shadows and inevitably their paths cross as they are bound by an unspoken connection, each defining the other in a game of cat and mouse.

This is not your typical story of a police pursuit of justice. It is a story about how two lives intertwined by their individual destinies almost 20 years ago. A story of tragedy and triumph, an inspirational story of battling addiction and ultimately winning.