Human Frailty, a Detective Mike Bridger novel (19 page)

"Bridger, I need you to attend the crime
meeting as discussed. We need to disseminate the information on
this, the more eyes we have out looking the better."

Bridger's eyes glanced quickly from Matthews
to the computer monitor and back. It was hardly likely they would
find Marion walking about the streets of Dunedin if the video
stream was live. However, who was he to argue. It would give him
some thinking time. He needed to formulate a reasonable plan of
action and his hangover was not helping in the thought process.

Matthews spoke up as he was leaving the
room. "Right everybody, this is pretty serious, Marion is in
trouble, we need to find her, and I know that you will all work
hard to ensure that we do".

As far as pep talks went, Bridger thought,
that one would not even inspire a starving man to eat a free
meal.

"One thing we do know", Bridger added
to Matthews
’
s speech once he had left the room, "Is that
whoever has Marion wants to get even with her for something. That
usually means a spurned admirer or ex boyfriend. We need to revisit
the people she knew and see if they can shed some light on anyone
she may have had a falling out with, or if she was having trouble
with anyone".

Looking at the clock he realised that the
meeting was about to start down on the first floor.

"Grant, can you hand out the information on
her friends and her boyfriend Mat", he said quickly.

Grabbing a picture of Marion and the name of
the web site she currently had a starring role in, he made his way
out the door and into the corridor.

He saw Matthews standing along the corridor
beside the lift. He was talking to a smartly dressed man with his
back to him. Matthews looked back at Bridger and said something
quietly to the man, and then they both looked at Bridger. Then the
inspector and his companion started to walk towards him.

Great, that is all I need, thought
Bridger.

"Sergeant Bridger, I trust you know Glenn
Gallagher, CEO of one of the biggest firms in this fine city of
ours, and very influential with our city council".

"I know of you, but we have never met",
Bridger said, giving him weak smile.

Gallagher put out his hand and Bridger took
it. He noted the weak and sweaty shake, along with the smarmy
smile.

"The Inspector tells me you are
working on the missing girl, you know I used to be in the job to,
so I know a bit about how these things work. Tell me do you have
any leads yet, do you know who's taken her?
”

"I'm not at liberty to discuss that yet,"
Bridger said, looking at Matthews. "We have only just found out
ourselves that she has been taken and not just gone off on her own
somewhere for a while".

"Quite right Sergeant", Gallagher said.
"Please don't hesitate to ask for my help should you require it, I
used to be quite good in a crisis when I was a copper. I have had
my fair share of adventures. The Inspector knows how to get in
touch".

Not likely, you tosser, Bridger thought.
"I'll keep that in mind Mr. Gallagher, but if you will excuse me I
need to get to the crime meeting".

Funny whom you see sometimes, Bridger
thought as he walked into the briefing room on the first floor. He
was most likely the face in the car outside Mrs. Watson's house the
other day. Was Gallagher the person putting pressure on Matthews?
He made a mental note to find it if Gallagher was connected to Mrs.
Watson.

Looking about the briefing room, he saw the
same old faces in attendance, seated more towards the rear of the
room, avoiding the front seats like a bunch of teenagers at a
school assembly, the more senior officers lining one wall, mostly
Senior Sergeants and above. Bridger often wondered how many job
descriptions were stretched a bit to accommodate so many senior
staff. He saw John Maine sitting towards the rear of the room so
made his way over and sat next to him

"How's things Mike? I hear you have sort of
found your missing girl".

"Well we can see her; we just don't know
where she is".

A loud cough from the front turned
their heads, "Right, let
’
s get started".

The meeting followed the same format as
always, the intelligence officer reading out any occurrences
overnight and listing those currently cooling their heels in the
cells downstairs. There was just the one this morning, an unknown
female arrested on drugs possession overnight. She had not
communicated anything to them since her arrest so consequently they
did not know who she was.

People never learnt, Bridger thought, the
police were not likely to let you go if they did not know who you
were.

They gave Bridger centre stage next due to
the urgency of the Job. He hated public speaking but he thought he
gave as eloquent an account as possible of what they knew and what
they needed to know. He looked about the room at a lot of nodding
heads, but did not see anyone who looked like they could assist in
anyway. No one spoke up to offer anything.

They were probably thinking, rather you than
me, he thought sourly, he had no idea how he would pull this one
off either.

So much for the whole of policing approach,
he thought.

He would normally have a chat to Brian when
he had issues, Brian's experience and level head always made a good
sounding board, between them they would normally work out a decent
plan of action. He thought about calling him now, but knew he would
have his hands full down at the court. It looked like it was up to
him.

"Did you see who came in to see
Matthews?
”

The question bought Bridger out of his
inward thinking.

"I did," Bridger said. "I also had the
pleasure of an introduction. He told me he was in the job, seemed
arrogant to me. How long has he been out of the job now"?

"About Fifteen years I think", Maine,
said, "Long enough to get to be the right hand man of the Mayor,
he's done well for himself. I did not think he was that close to
Matthews back in the day, but thinking about it, they have similar
personalities so I guess they could be friends. I cannot think of
any other reason he would be visiting Matthews personally. Do you
know what it was about?
”

"I
have
no idea, but he did ask me about how the
missing girl".

"Did he? Did he say anything
else?
”

"I didn't give him a chance really; I was
already running late for this meeting".

"Have you met him before? I can't remember
if you arrived before or after he left the job".

"That was before my time here. What
was he when he left?
”

"He made inspector before giving everyone a
break and leaving. I didn't have much time for him to be honest,"
Maine said. "He was a bit of a player with the ladies. Even other
cops wives weren’t off limits".

Bridger saw a look of bitterness in
Maine
’
s
eyes.

"He was not my type of policeman at all. But
then people can change can't they, I was certainly no saint in
those days".

"It's funny but I saw him driving away from
the side of the road where Mrs. Watson lives the other day",
Bridger said, "She is our missing girl's mother".

"Dunedin's a small place", Maine said,
looking straight ahead.

Not that small, Bridger was thinking.

The meeting was ending and people were
shuffling for the door, jokes and insults traded on the way out.
Life goes on as normal in the police station whatever jobs you had
on the go.

"I forgot to say Mike; I took a look
at the note left by your suicide the other day. She was one
troubled girl. Her parents are coming down from Auckland in the
next couple of days; they mentioned that they would like to talk to
the officer that found her. I do not think they meant Jo and Steve.
Would you be able to have a chat with them when they
arrive?
”

"I'll see," Bridger said, not wanting to
commit. "I'm not very good at that sort of thing, my minds not
compassionate enough I think. I never know what to say".

Maine pulled the white envelope out of his
pocket and handed it to Bridger. "Take a look; it might help you
understand a little about her".

"I'll see," Bridger said, putting it in the
inner pocket of his jacket and heading for the door. The last thing
he wanted was to read about someone's inner demons and troubled
life. He had enough of them himself.

Out in the corridor Steve Kirkland
stopped him with his trademark fake punch. "Nearly got you there
sergeant, you will have to attend remedial tactical and safety
training if that happens again". He grinned, flexing his pectoral
muscles absently. "Actually have you got time for a quick chat,
Mike?
”

Bridger looked at his watch, more out
of habit than anything else, not really, he thought to himself. "I
can spare a couple of minutes Steve, what's it
about?
”

"Gillian and I stopped a car last night near
Fryatt Street, he was fair moving as he came round the corner. Some
ponce from the university, he had a young female student with him,
quite a cute wee thing. The dirty little lucky bastard… Anyway,
while I was talking to him I smelt a bit of Cannabis, when I
started with the search the girl with him sort of freaked out and
handed Gillian a big bag of Cannabis. She is down stairs still now.
We could not get anything out of her; she looked like she was on
something. She completely freaked out. Live scan fingerprints
didn't come up with an identity for her either".

"Why didn't you ask the driver of the
car?
”
Bridger queried.

"I sort of thought Gillian had got her
details, I was busy dealing with the driver and when I let him on
his way....., well that's when Gillian told me she had not been
able to get details from her girl. I haven't seen the driver since
to speak to him".

Bridger could imagine what Gillian Holler
had to say about that little stuff up, as he remembered she was not
one to hold back on the junior staff if they made simple
errors.

"What's all this got to do with
me?
”
Bridger asked.

"Well that's the thing, after he finished
telling me he knew nothing about the Cannabis the girl was holding,
he told me he had already spoken to you that night. His name was
Jonas something..., just thought you would like to know".

A flash of recognition sparked in Bridger's
mind.

"Thanks Steve, I think I may know who
your mystery female is, it
’
s possibly a girl named Beth. I will go down
to the watch house and confirm it".

"Cheers Mike".

The grateful look on Steve 'the
muscle' Kirkland
’
s face was priceless, and Bridger, despite
the circumstances both personal and professional, could not
suppress the grin on his face as he headed downstairs to the
cellblock in the basement.

There was no love lost between those two
then, Bridger thought as he descended the stairs, Jonas practically
leaving her to carry the can for what he knew would have been a
joint enterprise. Bridger smiled again at the pun. His mood lifted
slightly.

Bridger found the Jailor with his feet up
reading a book; he did not know the face.

"Not a lot on this morning,
Constable?
”

Jumping up the Constable looked
embarrassed, "Sorry mate I didn't see you
there....
”
A look of recognition crossed his face and he corrected
himself. "Sorry Sergeant, I've only got one in the cells and she's
not saying much so we can't process her yet".

"Well I think I can help you with that",
Bridger said, glancing at the book he had been reading. It looked
like a police manual or university textbook. It would have been a
men's magazine in his day he thought. "Let me take a look at her
and I will confirm it".

The officer showed Bridger through to the
female cell area; he opened the heavy door and saw Beth curled up
in a ball on the concrete floor beside the bed. She looked awful,
tears and snot on her face, her dark hair all over the place. She
was whimpering slightly like a sleeping puppy. She just stared
through glassy eyes at the two men in the doorway, not saying a
word.

"That's Beth Johansen she lives in Castle
Street North".

He looked at the charge written on the board
just outside the door, 'Possession for Supply'. So it must have
been a little more than enough for the two of them, he thought.
Although he did not know her at all, Beth did not strike Bridger as
the type to be a major drug dealer. If anything her reaction to
being arrested attested to that. Tough on the outside but went to
pieces when confronted with anything out of the ordinary.

Jonas has to be the supplier. Maybe that is
what they were doing when he saw them getting into the car
together. Even with the urgency of finding Marion, Bridger did not
like the idea of Jonas leaving Beth on the hook.

"I'll get one of my detectives to come down
and have a talk to her, she spoke with her yesterday on an
unrelated matter, so may be able to use that to her advantage and
get her to talk. I will clear it with Gillian Holler the arresting
officer".

He knew Becky would not be too happy about
moving off the team to deal with it, but they needed to follow it
up before they released Beth. He went back upstairs to break the
news to Becky.