Chapter 13
Chief Superintendent Innocent notice DI Lewis was no longer behind her. She scanned the crowded hall and saw Lewis as he turned the corner. "Robbie," she called for Lewis, but he did not stop. She tried to follow but was stopped by DI MacGim.
"Ma'am we need to hurry before Chief Constable Glasgow ….." DI Wyndham MacGim said with his thick Scottish accent.
Innocent looked at the short Scotsman. She was annoyed but she also knew he was right, "Thank you, MacGim." Innocent continued her way to the front of the room.
The conference room was full, standing room only. Off-duty officers, on-duty officers, retired officers, community volunteers, volunteer search teams and more fill the room. They stood along the walls, in the isle and crowded at the back of the room.
When Chief Superintendent Innocent entered, the crowd parted so she could walk to the front of without delay. The anxiously waiting crowd quietened. No one whispered, no one moved, everyone waited.
An incident board had been placed at the front of the room next to the podium. The board had several pictures of James' house, inside his house, his car, the woods behind the house, the river and one of Mrs. O'Malley. Attached to each picture was a small note. The note attached to Mrs. O'Malley's picture was written in bold red ink.
Chief Superintendent Innocent approached the podium, shuffled a stack of papers, adjusted the microphone and cleared her throat. "Detective Sargent James Hathaway was last seen..." she paused, a large lump started to form in her throat. Once again she cleared her throat and silently scolded herself, 'Be professional, Jean. No emotions. Just state the facts.'
"DS Hathaway was last seen yesterday afternoon. A search of his house showed Hathaway had been drinking heavily and had taken some sleeping tablets. A witness places him leaving the house between two and three in the morning with no shoes and no shirt. We think he was only wearing boxer shorts." Innocent paused to collect her thoughts, "Hathaway was in no condition to be on his own. For the past..."
"Chief Superintendent Innocent?" a deep voice bellowed from the back of the room. The crowd quickly parted and a large tall man slowly made his way to the front of the room. He scanned the crowd intimidating everyone who dared to look at him.
"Oh shit!" DI MacGim cursed in his native tongue.
"Easy my Scottish friend," soothed the tall man. "Chief Innocent, I must have missed the memo of this meeting."
Chief Constable Glasgow slowly made his way to Innocent. His tall frame towered over her as he stood by her at the podium. Innocent's jaw tightened, she clinched the papers in her hand tightly.
"I had to..." Innocent stammered to her superior officer. She watch Glasgow glance at the pictures on the incident board.
"This lady looks like one of my old teachers," he tapping his long slender finger at the picture of Mrs. O'Malley. "She was a mean old bat. I remember her always hitting the students and giving demeaning nicknames to everyone. Too long ago for me to remember the name she baptized me with. Anyways, down to business"
Chief Constable Liam Glasgow leaned on the podium and lowered his head to the microphone. "The whereabouts of DS Hathaway is not officially a police matter," he paused to glare at the people in the room. "There is not enough evidence to prove otherwise. Right now all we know is another boozing, pill popping police officer has gone over the edge and flown the coup."
Angry whispers stirred the room. Innocent could not keep quiet any longer. "Chief Glasgow, I must pro..."
"UN-officially," he interrupted. "We don't have much to go on. Forensic have found evidence James was injured when he left his Cherwll Street house. He took a large amount of sleeping tablets, however James got sick and most of the pills were not digested."
Chief Glasgow continued to give all the information the forensic teams gathered. The report was detailed and complete. "The tracking team was able to follow James' trail until the River Cherwell. Dive teams are searching the river at this time." Chief Glasgow paused to let everyone process the information and catch up on their notes.
Innocent could hardly believe what she was hearing. She expected Glasgow to go by the book. She expected him to ignore everything and let James suffer by himself once again.
"I can not have one of my best detectives missing. A missing detective does not look good for the department," He teased. "What are you guys doing sitting here? Work together. Exchange every bit of information you find no matter have insignificant the information may seem. Get out there and find James. He needs us!"
The room emptied quickly as the officers, search teams and volunteers left to coordinate their efforts. Glasgow turned his back to the departing crowd and leaned down to speak privately to Innocent.
"We need to talk," he ordered. "Finish here and meet me in your office."
Innocent regretted hearing those words. She knew nothing good would come from their talk. A large knot balled up in the pit of her stomach.
"Yes sir," she quietly replied. Barely able to speak. She feared this might be the end of her career. She feared the past has finally came back to haunt her.