Reserved For Murder Page 21

  ‘You’re welcome. I’m just sorry we couldn’t be of more help. Did you want a copy of the file?’

  ‘No, thanks,’ Penner said, walking towards the door. ‘I’ll come pick up the drive tomorrow—bring it to evidence lock-up until we return it.’

  ‘I’ll put it aside for you.’

  Grant followed Penner and Millar into the hallway. ‘I guess I’ll call Barry, let him know. I can’t believe Ravenclaw’s going to get away with this. It just doesn’t seem right.’

  ‘Don’t take it personally,’ Millar said, patting him on the shoulder. ‘The best thing you can do is put it behind you and move on. But don’t ever forget about it. Use what you’ve learned for your future cases.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Grant said. ‘I just don’t like the idea that he got the better of us.’

  ‘No one likes it, but it happens,’ said Millar. ‘Not often, thankfully. But it does.’

  ‘Well, I’m going to head out. I’ll call Barry when I get home,’ Grant said. ‘Not sure I can handle working in major crimes if people like the Chief can end up walking away free.’

  ‘Just remember, more often than not, we get the arrest—we close the case,’ Penner said, trying as much to make herself feel better as Grant. ‘And it doesn’t matter what department you’re in, you won’t always make the arrest. Petty crime, major crime or guns and gangs—sometimes, the bad guy wins.’

  ‘I guess,’ said Grant. ‘This is just a first for me.’

  ‘I’d say it gets easier, but that would be a lie,’ Penner said. ‘It sucks each and every time, but it makes you work harder for the next one. Go home, have a glass of scotch and a good night’s sleep. We’ll see you tomorrow at your ceremony. And if you need more time to decide where you want to take the next steps in your career, I’m sure the Captain will understand.’

  ‘Thanks. See you guys tomorrow,’ Grant said, shoulders still slumped as he walked to the elevator .

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  By the next morning, the heatwave had broken and Millar had enjoyed a full night’s sleep back in his own bed. He dressed carefully, thinking that Grant’s promotion ceremony might require something a little more formal than jeans and a t-shirt. Back at the station, he decided he would stop in and see the Captain before the ceremony. It was still only eight-thirty. He had plenty of time. He walked up to the Captain’s office and looked through the open door. The office was empty. ‘Guess I could have slept in after all,’ Millar said to himself. He walked down the hall to the kitchen to grab a coffee—he was still pretty tired. After being off of work for so long, the last three days had worn him out. But, truth be told, it was a good type of tired. The kind of physical and mental exhaustion that he’d been missing. Sitting around the house all day was tiring, too, but that was different. Being tired from boredom was very different than being tired from adrenaline. The last year had taught him that he needed to work, and the thrill of the last couple of days really drove it home. Oh, he was looking forward to retiring alright, but not just yet. For now, he wanted to work. He walked into the kitchen and saw that someone had made a fresh pot of coffee. He grabbed a mug from the cupboard and poured himself a cup.

  ‘Don’t take it all—I just made that,’ the Captain said from behind Millar, making him jump and spill his coffee.

  ‘Morning, Captain. Still lots left.’ Millar recovered quickly, grabbing another mug and pouring a cup for the Captain.

  ‘Thanks,’ the Captain said, taking the mug. ‘You’re here early.’

  ‘Wanted to talk to you before things got too hectic today,’ said Millar. ‘Do you have a minute?’

  ‘Sure,’ the Captain said. He sat down at one of the tables in the lounge and motioned for Millar to do the same. ‘What’s on your mind?’

  ‘Well, sir, I think I’d like to come back to work,’ Millar said, sitting across from the Captain. ‘I know we were going to re-evaluate my situation after a couple weeks of working with Grant, but, well, obviously things kind of changed.’

  ‘You could say that,’ the Captain said. ‘Back for just three days and you’ve got a restraining order against you and Grant’s been fired from his job.’

  ‘When you say it like that, sir, it really doesn’t sound too good,’ Millar said with a grimace. ‘But, whether I was there or not, I think Grant still would have lost his job. Chief Ravenclaw wasn’t going to let anyone snoop around, so he would have gotten rid of him either way.’

  ‘It’s possible. Maybe probable,’ the Captain said, sipping his coffee. ‘But still doesn’t look too good, does it?’

  ‘No, sir,’ said Millar, looking down at the tabletop. This wasn’t going quite how he had envisioned.

  ‘When are you supposed to go back out to the reserve to collect your stuff?’ the Captain asked. Millar was surprised that he knew about that.

  ‘Next Wednesday, I think,’ Millar said. ‘I’ll have to check with Grant—see when Barry’s going to meet us there.’

  ‘Right. Okay, if you think you’re ready to come back, then why don’t you start back next Thursday. Take a couple more days—make sure your head’s in it. If things are feeling good, come back. If not, you still have the six months like I mentioned before.’

  ‘Thank you, sir,’ Millar said, relieved. ‘I appreciate it.’

  ‘Just make sure you’re ready, alright?’ the Captain said. ‘There’s no need to rush.’

  ‘Sounds good.’

  ‘Did you talk to Grant last night? Do you know what team he’s leaning towards?’

  ‘Couldn’t say, sir,’ said Millar, remembering the events of the previous evening. ‘He seemed pretty unsure when he left last night. The fact the Chief is going to get away with murder really hit him hard. I’m not sure if he’ll want major crimes after that or not.’

  ‘Do you think he’d be good in major crimes?’ the Captain asked, finishing his coffee.

  ‘I think he’d be good wherever he decides to go, sir.’

  ‘Good to hear.’ The Captain stood up. ‘If there’s nothing else, I have to get ready for the ceremony. I assume you’ll be there?’

  ‘Yes sir. And thanks. I’m looking forward to getting back in the saddle.’

  ‘Good. It’ll be good to have you back,’ the Captain said, putting his mug in the sink and walking out of the kitchen.

  Millar checked his watch. ‘Still time for another coffee,’ he said, pouring himself a second cup. He sat back down at the table and pulled out his phone. He saw he had a text message from Penner.

  ‘Hey! Just got to the station. Saw your car in the garage. Where are you? Coffee?’

  He started typing a message back, but only got halfway through before Penner walked into the kitchen. ‘I was just sending you a message,’ he said. ‘Coffee’s on.’

  ‘Let me guess—had the volume down on your phone again?’ Penner asked, grabbing a mug out of the cupboard. ‘I don’t know why you bother having a phone if you’ve never got the volume loud enough to hear messages or calls.’

  ‘I always end up getting them,’ Millar said. ‘Just, sometimes, not right away. But I get them eventually—that’s what matters.’

  ‘Yeah, that’s what matters,’ Penner said, sitting down. ‘How was your night?’

  ‘Not bad. Took a while to fall asleep,’ Millar said. ‘Just kept thinking of that stupid video.’

  ‘Me, too,’ said Penner. ‘I can’t believe he would taunt us so blatantly like that. Friggin’ sociopath. And you know what the worst part is?’

  ‘What’s that?’ Millar asked, sipping his coffee.

  ‘I forgot my coffee beans back on the reserve!’ Penner said. ‘All those lovely, lovely beans and I totally forgot to grab them from my room before we left.’

  ‘You think that’s the worst part about all this?’ asked Millar. ‘Who’s the sociopath, now?’

  ‘Shut up. You know what I mean,’ Penner said, taking a drink from her mug and then looking at it sadly. ‘Hopefully it’s still there when we go back next w
eek to grab our stuff.’

  ‘You and your coffee. Did you hear from Grant at all this morning? Wonder how he’s doing.’

  ‘I don’t know. He sure seemed to take it hard last night.’

  ‘Yeah, he did,’ Millar said. ‘I remember the first time I knew someone was guilty but we couldn’t prove it. Owner of a construction company here in town ended up dead one day. Shot in the head, buried in concrete at one of the job sites.’

  ‘If he was buried in concrete, how’d you find him?’ Penner asked.

  ‘We got an anonymous tip that he was there, so we got a company out that uses ground penetrating radar. Ran this machine over the concrete and they saw an anomaly in the pad. Got a backhoe and dug it up. Sure enough, there he was.’

  ‘Lucky you got the tip,’ Penner said, finishing her coffee.

  ‘No kidding,’ Millar said. ‘Without that, I don’t think we ever would have found him. Not like we could just start digging up every construction site in hopes of finding him. So, based on all the information we had about the company, we were sure his business partner was responsible. But, no matter how hard we tried, we just couldn’t find that one all important clue. He had never owned a gun, but his brother did.’

  ‘Did you get that tested?’

  ‘Couldn’t,’ Millar said. ‘It was actually reported stolen the week before the murder. His house was broken into when he and his wife were out for dinner. Only thing stolen was the gun, so whoever took it must have known it was there.’

  ‘Let me guess, no fingerprints?’

  ‘No prints, no nothing,’ Millar said. ‘Person gained access through an open window, so they didn’t even have to really break in.’

  ‘Did the cops think it was an inside job?’ Penner asked.

  ‘What, the theft?’ Millar asked. ‘At the time, they had no reason to think it might be. The murder didn’t happen until a week later.’

  ‘Makes sense. What else did you have?’

  ‘Well, the company was in trouble, financially. They had lost a lot of money. They had worked on a bridge and the concrete that they used wasn’t up to par. City engineers wouldn’t sign off on the work and they had to tear it down and start again. Ended up losing almost a million and a half. Lots of money for a small company.’

  ‘So, why did that point to the partner?’

  ‘They each had a large life insurance policy on each other, so if one of them died, the other would get two million, which would help the company stay afloat.’ Millar narrowed his eyes as he looked at Penner. ‘Don’t think I would ever enter a deal like that with my partner. I could just see it now—you’d have me poisoned so fast, no one would see it coming.’

  ‘Trust me—I’ve already thought about how I’d do it, too.’

  ‘I’d like to think you’re joking, but…’ Millar said. ‘Anyway, there were a lot of rumours of infighting between the two. Lots of stuff was telling us that this guy did it, but we couldn’t convince the Crown Attorney’s office to give us the arrest warrant. They didn’t think they could make the charges stick. That case is still technically open, but there hasn’t been any movement on it in years.’

  ‘I know we all end up with cases like this, but man they sting,’ Penner said. ‘I try not to keep track of the cases I couldn’t close, but there’s been a few. Each one hurts.’

  ‘Hopefully Grant realizes that there’s no point in dwelling on this one,’ Millar said. ‘And hopefully, with all the attention we’ve put on the Chief, he’ll think real hard before he commits another crime in the future.’

  ‘We’ll have to make sure Barry keeps an eye on him,’ Penner said. She looked at her watch. ‘I guess we should start thinking about heading to the ceremony—make sure we get a seat.’

  ‘So, what team do you think Grant’s going to choose?’ Millar stood and carried both mugs to the sink. ‘If you were him, which way would you go?’

  ‘If I was him?’ Penner thought for a minute. ‘New in my career, I might lean towards the guns and gangs. The idea of actually leading my own team—that would be pretty appealing.’

  ‘Yeah, I’m sure it would be,’ Millar said.

  ‘But, I know he wants to end up as a detective, eventually,’ Penner said, standing and stretching her lower back. ‘So, I would think working major crimes might be a better path to take. You’re not going to get to supervise anyone, and you’d probably end up doing a lot of grunt work. But, having the opportunity to work with a group of detectives every day? I think that would be a quicker way to get to the end goal.’

  ‘Definitely curious to see what he decides,’ Millar said. ‘Either way, I think he’ll do alright. Grant’s got a good head on his shoulders.’

  ‘You’re going to make me blush,’ said Grant, walking into the kitchen.

  ‘Well, well, well. Look at our little Constable, all dressed up in his dress uniform,’ Penner said, straightening his tie. ‘Looks like you may have pulled a Millar.’

  ‘Pulled a Millar?’ Grant said, looking at Millar. Millar shrugged.

  ‘Put on a bit of weight since you got your uniform,’ Penner said, tapping Grant’s stomach. ‘Looks like that button’s holding on for dear life.’

  ‘Geez, thanks for that,’ Grant said, trying, unsuccessfully, to suck in his stomach. ‘Now all I’m going to be able to think about when the Captain’s giving me my stripe is bursting the button and taking someone’s eye out.’

  ‘Now that would be funny,’ Millar said. ‘Well, not if someone actually lost their eye, of course, but if the button went flying across the room.’

  ‘Glad I invited you two,’ Grant said.

  ‘So, how’re you doing?’ asked Penner. ‘Come to terms with the fact we’re not going to get Ravenclaw?’

  ‘Not really, but I know we did everything we could,’ Grant said as they walked out in the hall to head to the ceremony. ‘I just really hope he doesn’t try anything like this again. I don’t know if I could live with myself if he ended up killing someone else.’

  ‘You can’t take it personally,’ Millar said. ‘But you never know—he may slip up at some point and say something to the wrong person.’

  ‘Or he and Sooleawa may break up,’ Penner said.

  Grant looked at her, a bit confused. ‘I don’t see how that would help.’

  ‘When couples break up, they tend to talk. Especially if one of them has dirt on the other—they’ll tell anyone who will listen,’ Penner said. ‘I’ve had a few cases where I was able to make an arrest years after a crime was committed because a husband cheated on his wife. The wife is pissed and wants to get back at him. She feels the best way to do that is to tell the cops about her husband’s dirty little secret and she gives you the little piece of evidence that you were missing. Doesn’t happen often, but it does happen.’

  ‘Well, let’s hope they break up then,’ Grant said as they walked up to the conference room where the ceremony was going to be held. ‘Here we are. Last day as a Constable.’

  ‘Congrats again,’ said Penner, patting him on the shoulder. ‘You deserve it.’

  ‘Thanks, ma-am,’ Grant said. ‘It’s been fun working with you. The two of you. Right,’ he straightened his shoulders and took a deep breath, ‘I’ll see you after the ceremony,’ he added, walking into the room and sitting down in the front row.

  ‘Did that sound like he wasn’t going to be working with us anymore to you?’ Penner asked Millar.

  ‘Kind of did, didn’t it?’ Millar said, looking into the room. ‘I gotta say, I was kind of thinking he was going to choose major crimes.’

  ‘Me, too,’ Penner said. ‘Huh. Well, guns and gangs is a good unit, too. He’ll be an asset for them. Should we grab a seat?’

  ‘After you,’ Millar said, letting Penner enter the room first. They chose two seats towards the back of the room and sat down.

  After only a few minutes, the Captain walked into the conference room, buttoning his jacket with one hand and smoothing his hair with the other. He greeted
a few people and shook a few hands as he made his way up to the podium. A respectful silence settled over the room as everyone sat down and stopped talking.

  ‘Thanks, everyone,’ the Captain said. ‘Constable Grant? Would you join me up here?’ Grant got up and walked to the front of the room, standing beside the Captain.

  ‘Is he still sucking in his gut?’ Penner whispered into Millar’s ear.

  ‘I think you got into his head,’ Millar whispered back, trying not to laugh. He kept an eye on that second brass button doing all the work—secretly hoping it would fly off.

  ‘Constable Grant, it’s been my pleasure to watch your progress over the past couple of years. I would like to be the first to officially congratulate you on your promotion to Sergeant,’ the Captain said, handing Grant a new rank stripe for his uniform with his left hand, shaking his right hand. They both turned slightly to face the official department photographer. Penner pulled out her phone and took a picture as well. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, please help me congratulate…Sergeant Grant.’

  ‘Woohoo!’ Penner yelled out, as everyone started clapping. Grant turned red, but couldn’t keep the beaming smile from his face as he thanked the Captain and returned to his seat.

  ‘Right. There will be coffee and cake available shortly, so please stick around,’ the Captain announced to the small gathering.

  Millar and Penner stood and walked over to where Grant was talking to a few of his beat cop buddies. They overheard one say, ‘It’s not detective, but it’s a step in the right direction.’

  ‘Thanks, Spicy,’ Grant said to his friend, Constable Curry. ‘Any idea when you’re going to try the exam?’

  ‘Probably next month. I kind of missed the ball with the last one. I ended up booking my vacation without realizing it overlapped with the exam date.’

  ‘My advice—study up. Some of the questions were harder than I thought they would be,’ Grant said. He looked over Constable Curry’s shoulder, smiling. ‘Excuse me, guys,’ he said, walking over to an older Black couple standing off to the side. ‘Mom. Dad. So glad you made it!’