GUILTY 7

AFTER Detective Gerald Sullivan Friday May 19,2016 The child had been missing for sixteen hours. So far we have no tangible leads or any idea where the baby may be. I’ve dealt with a few abduction cases in my time, but not many. The crime rates are fairly low here in Davenmore, which is nice considering we’re only two and a half hours out from Jhburg, my home and birthplace. I grew up in Hyde Park, raised by two headstrong parents, accompanied by a little sister. I think I was inspired to become a cop due to the fact that I was immersed in a city filled with crime and deviance. My mother was a nurse and my father was a tailor, so I didn’t inherit my aspirations for justice from them. I can recall being ten - years - old and playing with the kids on the street. We’d play games like Cops and Robbers. I’d insist on being the Cop so that I could chase my friends and arrest them. On all of my school assignments, when questions would arise regarding my future career, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ I’d always write police officer. I had a knack for justice. For wanting to catch bad guys and put them away so that they couldn’t hurt people anymore. As I got older, my admiration for crime grew. I read a lot of Patterson and Doyle. It taught me about crime and mysteries. That’s what I loved the most, mysteries. I enjoyed the perplexity of it all, scenarios that made me question everything, look at every angle, examine each suspect with a new mindset, see things from every perspective. As a teenager, I was dedicated to solving crime. I’d take notes, writing down things that I found odd or conspicuous. I became obsessed with clues, following leads, and solving mysteries. I’d try to figure out which of my high school teachers were secretly dating. I’d search the neighbourhood for missing dogs and cats. I became invested in putting other people’s lives before my own. And that’s when I knew that I had to be a detective. I wanted to solve crime and save people. Bring justice to the people who needed it. Most crimes here in Davenmore are petty things, arson and theft at most. A few times a year we get the occasional homicide or suicide, but it’s not common. I’ve dealt with a few abductions over the years, ranging from ransom to custody disputes. Those ones piss me off the most. The fathers who don’t win custody battles and the court takes their kid away from them. Then, being the geniuses they are, kidnap their own kid, have the mother worried sick, and have us putting out Pink Alerts, running around looking at them. I just don’t understand how they think that will work, That everything will be okay and that everyone will just accept them as the sole guardian. It never works out that way. The father is charged or goes to prison, and the mother is reunited with her child. Men need to stop doing that. I’ve seen many things in my years, but this is the first case I’ve worked dealing with an infant abduction. Six - months - old. I’ve been on the force for twenty years, as soon as I got out of college. I stayed in Jhburg for a little while. There was always work needed there. But after eight tedious years of that, I needed a change, something new to occupy my time. I transferred to Davenmore in 2004. The last twelve years here have been great. No wife or kids, yet, but I’m not worried. My main focus is my job. My priorities involve bringing kids’ home to their families, and making sure the citizens are safe. I think a family would have gotten in the way of that. I wouldn’t have been able to fulfil my full potential of being the best dad or husband. But I’ve never put it out of the picture for good. Who knows, maybe I’ll meet a lady sooner than later, and maybe we’ll start up a family. I turn thirty - six this year, which could be seen as both old and young, depending on how you look at it. Thirty - six isn’t too old to have children. I guess I’ll just have to find a lady who can put up with me, as well as my second marriage - my job. I knock twice and take a step back, examining once more the photo that Danniella Waters gave me. Wide brown eyes stare up at me from the photo, pleading for me to find her, She wears a pink polka dotted dress and has a tiny bow in her full head of hair. She’s smiling, mid - laugh, revealing empty gums, no teeth. I try not to get attached to my cases, but it’s hard not to. Staring down at this infant, my stomach twists, knowing what kind of sick people are out there. The most common reasons for child abductions are paedophilia, sadism and extortion. Over fifty percent of the time, the perpetrator is someone known by the victim, either a family member or relative. After that, we look to anyone close to the family - neighbours, teachers, babysitters. Rarely in these cases is it a complete stranger who abducts the child, but that does happen as well. In that case, it’s usually for sexual purpose, or financial gain. Looking at the Waters’ situation, my initial thoughts were that it has to be someone close to the family. The abduction was executed too concisely for a stranger to come up with. They would have to know a lot of information about the Waters’, such as Danny’s work schedule, which is peculiar considering she was working from home yesterday. People don’t usually come into homes and abduct children in broad daylight. No, this was planned. Whoever took Emerald knows the family, knows that they have money, knows the schedule of their work and day - to - day lives. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was motivated by financial gain and the perp is looking to hold the baby for ransom, perhaps get some money out of them. However, it’s been sixteen hours since the abduction, so if the perp is going to make a ransom call, it’s going to be soon. Then there’s the other scenario, that it could be someone close to the family who is delusional or suffers from mental illness. Perhaps they saw what kind of state Danny had been in over the past few months and wanted the child for themselves. People like that believe that they deserve someone else’s child. There is, of course, the incontestable third scenario, that the perp is right under our noses as we speak. The possibility that Danny did something to that child. And in that case, we’re just running around chasing false leads. Am I foolish for believing her when she says that she’s innocent? Of course not, I’ve been doing this far too long to be that naïve, I’m a good detective. I check out all possibilities and narrow down what I find. I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt, and quite frankly. I don’t think she did it. If she was planning on getting rid of her child, why not do it months ago when she was going through the postpartum psychosis? Why wait until now? Going with my instinct - that it is someone close to the family - I have to start with anyone and everyone who has stepped foot in that house over the past six months. And the woman I’m starting with happens to step foot in that house quite often. Three times a week, to be exact. The door swings open to reveal a short woman, dark hair, olive skin, staring at me. ‘Mrs Mendoza?’ I ask. She looks taken back, like she wasn’t expecting me. ‘Yes…?’ ‘Good morning ma’am, I’m Detective Sullivan, from the Davenmore Police Station.’ I flash my badge. ‘Would you mind if I come in for a moment to ask you a few questions?’ She stands there for a moment, staring at my badge, studying it. ‘What is this regarding?’ ‘The disappearance of Emerald Waters.’ Her expression drops and she meets my eyes. ‘Emerald is missing?’ Danniella hasn’t told her. ‘I’m afraid so. Would you mind if I come in?’ She nods her head silently, opening the door and allowing me to enter her home. She leads me to the living room. It’s a quaint little place, not much too it. Already I can ball - park their income, by the size of the house and the condition of their front lawn. The sofa is a dark red/brownish colour, and the coffee table that sits in front looks like its falling apart. She offers me a seat on the couch, then sits down on the chair that is beside it. ‘I didn’t even know Emerald was missing.’ she says quickly. She looks flushed. ‘When did this happen?’ ‘She was abducted yesterday, somewhere between the hours of three and five in the evening. Do you mind if I ask you some questions?’ ‘You think I had something to do with this? Because I can assure you…’ ‘Ma’am,’ I say slowly. ‘You are the child’s secondary caretaker - I am not accusing you of anything. I just need you to answer some questions for me. Standard protocol. Can you do that for me?’ She nods, the look of concern growing on her face. I remove the notepad from my pocket. ‘Let’s just get this out of the way first, so we can cross you off.’ I start. ‘Where were you yesterday afternoon? Between three and five p.m?’ I hold the pen steady in my hand. ‘Um,’ she thinks for a moment. ‘I was at the Laundromat with Steven. He can confirm this with you.’ ‘Steven is your husband?’ ‘Yes.’ I write this down, then look back up at her. ‘Can anybody else account for you being there? Any customers come in?’ ‘Most likely. It’s always busy on Thursdays.’ ‘Alright, I’m just going to need to confirm this. Security footage or customer alibi will do.’ ‘Alibi? So you do think I’m involved!’ ‘Mrs Mendoza, I just need to eliminate you so that we can find the person who did this. It is crucial that we confirm everyone’s whereabouts at the time of the disappearance. You understand this, don’t you? Having children of your own?’ She nods her head. ‘Yes. You’re right, I’m sorry. I can get something to you as soon as possible. Although we don’t currently have surveillance cameras at the shop. They broke a couple months ago.’ I write this down as well. I don’t think the nanny is our abductor. But its always good to ensure an alibi, which she will need. ‘So tell me what it’s like working for the Waters’. Do you have a good relationship?’ ‘Yes. Yes of course. I adore Danny and Winston. They’re like family to me. And so is Emerald. Oh that poor precious baby. You’ve got me worried sick.’ Her face scrunches up and she look like she might cry. She takes in a gust of air, then continues. ‘I’ve only been employed by them for the past few months. It was shortly after, um, Danny’s illness that they hired me to come in part time. I would come in on days when Danny’s doctor would be there, trying to work with her and get her better. I would stay with baby Emerald. We’d play games, watch TV, sing songs. She’s a beautiful child. Looks just like her mother. It was about a month or so later that Danny was stable enough to return to work. But she only does three days in the office, and the rest at home.’ ‘Which is where she was yesterday, yes?’ ‘Yes. Which means I don’t go over on Tuesday and Thursdays.’ ‘What time do you usually go over?’ ‘Eight - forty - five.’ 'Is that the time Danniella leave for work?’ ‘Yes, I always make it there a bit early, just to give her some extra time.’ I write this down. ‘Do you know if the Waters’ have any enemies? Anyone who may want to hurt Emerald or the family in any way?’ She shakes her head quickly. ‘No, no. Nobody. Danny and Winston are lovely people, really. They have always treated me like family. They don’t have too many friends, well, at least many that I’m aware of. The last few months have been an adjustment period for their family. So I guess seeing friends and having company hasn’t been one of their main priorities.’ I write this down as well. ‘So no one you can think of? No one suspicious hanging around the house or anything?’ ‘No. I’ve only answered the door a handful of times while there. Usually it’s the delivery man or one of Danny’s friends or doctors dropping something off.’ She pauses for a moment, seeming to get lost in a thought. ‘Oh, now that I think of it,’ she pipes up. ‘This Is probably irrelevant, but about two weeks ago a woman came to the house looking for Winston, I think her name was … Rose or Rosie? Something like that.’ ‘A woman? Did she say what she wanted?’ ‘She seemed a bit surprised to see me, actually. Peeked her little head in and said she was looking for Winston. I told her he was at work, She laughed modestly, as though she’d forgotten. She thanked me then left. That was it. I never thought anything of it. I assumed she was a friend of the Waters’.

TO BE CONTINUED....