Jemma sifts through the collection, among the myriad of bands playing and hand-me–down furniture sales. While not sure exactly what she is after, it is something she won’t find in the paperwork she holds. She has already had a brief look at it. The fire department say it’s an electrical fault, very run-of-the-mill. There is some other stuff that warrants further attention as well but that’s for back in the office. For some reason she feels there is something missing, staring her in the face right now, but what?
Besides she doesn’t want to rush back to the office. It is so dull there, often there is nothing for her to do. Either that or she gets stuck with the copying or other lowest denominator-type chores.
Her thoughts are interrupted as a crowd comes towards her. They are treading a path she knows well, from the train station to the University. Not a care in the world, well apart from assignments, exams, cute guys and what to do on a Thursday night. She never realized just how much she loved that life. ‘That’ life- very past tense? What of her future? Is it really going to be here with the police?
She moves into a shopfront window as they walk past, she can’t help but stare a little sadly, longingly. And they turn a corner and are gone. She looks at the store, indie-chic clothes, no room for that in the force. Hang on…
‘Nikki? Nikki, is that you?’
‘Omigod- Jemma- look at you? Wow, in the police. You look great. I’ve heard about women in uniform but I never realized. God, I feel so shabby’
‘Don’t be silly. You look great, always have. You still at Uni? Oh, I miss it so much..’
‘YEAH? I’d swap with you in a second. That uniform, you’re the long arm of the law and all that, not to mention a proper salary!’
‘Oh no, don’t be fooled. Stay as long as you can. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be out here in the real world’
They share a smile…
‘So, can you grab a coffee?’
‘Aww, I’d love to but I’m on the job at the moment’
‘Some other time then?’
‘Definitely, gimme a call?’
‘Wait, here’s my number’
‘ I’ll call you soon, so great to see you’
…Jemma looks at her file. What is she doing. She hasn’t gone through it thoroughly. She thinks of Coops at the lunch, booze-up is more like it. It’s his second this week, probably doesn’t even know whoever is being promoted. No doubt he is already drunk. And she’s here, working. The file can wait an hour…she runs after her friend.
‘Nikki, WAIT…Where are you going?’
‘Glebe, wanna grab that coffee?’
‘Sure, D’you still go to Badde Manors?’
‘Of course, if you think things have changed even slightly you’re in for a rude shock. Despite all the hoopla we’re a conservative lot, us students’
‘Oh, great, I wanna know all about it’
They spoke of the past. ‘How long’s it been?’
‘I know, scary isn’t it? Almost two years’
Nikki is eager to hear of her journey out into the real world. ‘How did you come to be in the force?’ ‘Have you used your gun?’ ‘Do you have your own handcuffs?’
While Jemma regrets what she has left behind. ‘How’s your lovelife?’ ‘Are there still plenty of hot guys at Uni?’
Jemma describes the void of desirable men at work and the subject soon comes to her partner as she describes Coops she becomes animated and bumps her file and several papers scatter. Nikki helps her gather them.
‘Wow, Chippendale. This is all from around here. I didn’t realize there was so much going on?’
‘Ahh yeah well’ Jemma hurriedly squashes the loose papers into her otherwise neat and orderly folder.
‘A lot of this is minor stuff’ she says tucking the folder out of sight ’I’m not really supposed to talk about it’
‘Oh sorry! Last thing I want to do is get you into trouble. But I’m sure I could help, she continues ‘I’ve lived here for ages and with my filming I’m always looking out for the unusual. I have an eye for the underground’
Jemma isn’t sure what to say, it seems, however that the look upon her face gets the message across as Nikki changes her tact.
‘Look it was just an idea. Just think about it and if I can help, I’d be more than happy to’
‘I’d better go, I’m still on the job and everything…’
‘Sure, sorry about that I get over-excited sometimes but look here’s my number. Give me a call. I’ll let you know of any parties or anything coming up’
‘Yeah, that’d be good. Great to see you again. Bye’
Jemma is still in a panic as she leaves the café. What had come over her? God Nikki’s full-on, I don’t remember her being that over the top at Uni. But she had been paranoid too. It wasn’t anything that interesting; just a forensic report on a fire, it could be on the news tonight or more likely left off through lack of interest.
‘I’ll have to stay in touch, she must think I’m a weirdo... She was quite over the top too, have to be cautious though. Still she’s really nice I just can’t be too forward. She’s so eager it could get us both in trouble…but that’s what I want, she’s still so carefree. God, I need to stay in touch with that. I’ll go mental with this lifestyle just working, sleeping- No way! Besides she’s bound to know a few cute guys.
She dwells on these thoughts all the way back to the office. The screen flickers on, her database search is there, welcoming her back from the outside world. 2 ½ pages scroll down before her, each line a file created or added to in the past month for the area. There are 289.
Lots of petty crime, there are no other major fires, on a lesser scale there are unconfirmed reports of a suspected cult recruiting in the area and there are dozens of missing persons.
So why has she done all this? It is part boredom, part desire to show up Coops. Everything else they’ve done has been so uninteresting; drunken behaviour, homeless, junkies, kids with nothing better to do. The fire opened up a world of intrigue and possibility. Deliberately lit? Was it murder, a disgruntled employee, organized crime or an insurance scam?
So when the report said it seemed unsuspicious her heart sank, she had already done all this preliminary work. She couldn’t relent so easily, anyway what was her alternative? Boredom.
There’s a noise from across the partition, someone fumbling about on the desk, it seems to come from Coops’ desk. He has returned from his booze-up, 3:15, pretty early by his standards.
What about the report? She wants to look a little closer yet and he won’t be too useful today… I know, an e-mail, so if he forgets it will be there tomorrow. For now she keeps quiet to avoid a slurred lunch update, it will only make them both uncomfortable. He will go home soon and she can e-mail then- modern technology, it’s wonderful. Bringing people together is one thing but maintaining a healthy distance now that is an achievement. The noises move to the corridor and away while she returns to the report.
She thinks of those short-haired, multi-pierced ‘sistas’ at uni. She used to laugh at them, their scrappy banners and hapless chants. A good shag would set them straight she once thought but how she’d love to see a few of them now. She reminisces for a while smirking at the scenario of Coops clashing with the sistahood. As her head sways with laughter, her focus shifts for a moment from imagination to sight. From the microscopic jumble of words and letters comes clarity. Stavos Giokos, a missing persons report- where has she seen that name before?
She scuttles through the papers upon her desk until she finds the forensics report- scanning through the pages, probable cause, course of action and there it is, the body from the fire. She reads on, forensic testing indicates the body has been prone for hours previous, possibly unconscious. The fire occurred around 2pm on a Tuesday in commercial premises. And the victim is named Stavos Giokos. One and the same.
It’s very unlikely he was sleeping at least not intentionally. Looks back at the database;
Re-checking t
he dates she can see the missing persons report was submitted only a day before she received the police report on the fire, or the night of the incident. It’s still pending the 48 hour clearance period, standard for all new police records. Now surely that is more than just coincidence, the same Stavos.
Turning to the missing persons report, she can see he is an only child, son of Peter & Maria Giokos. She worries for the family, ‘What should I do?’ she thinks to herself, ‘Pass it on or should I call the family myself, there were procedures for these scenarios but it could be days before someone else gets around to it?’
Do they know? They must, she looks further down the file and yes they’ve been notified but what would be the harm in her paying them a brief visit...