Drucker leaned forward with a fresh boost of vigour and attentiveness. “OK, continue.” he pressed.
“Well, in the last hour or so we got a phone call from a Mr. Daniel Evans. He lives about five miles uptown and owns one of those large high rises. Anyways, at some point late last night, his car was broken into and somebody took off with it. It was a certain blue Ford station wagon.” He slapped the report lightly upon the palm of his hand. “The same as the one in that video. The plates and everything match up perfectly.”
“Right.” said Drucker still frowning after hearing the good news. “But what about matching up any ID’s on whoever stole it. I mean, who in the hell is that big pile of greased metal perusing around in that store like he’s doing his weekly grocery shopping or something.” He raised one eyebrow in the direction of the paused television set.
“It gets better, don’t worry.” Poor choice of words, Drucker thought but allowed him to continue. “It just so happens that our carjacker didn’t have to break into the vehicle after all. Mr. Evans noticed some time later that his keys were missing. Somebody took them and slipped off into the night.” Doug held up a pudgy wagging thumb over his shoulder behind him. “That thing back there on the feed is Marv Grecor. Somewhat of a caretaker and tenant to Mr. Evans. He was staying there as a resident for the best part of last year. Before you ask, we’re running a thorough background check on him now but from what I’ve heard so far, he had some kind of affiliations with the military before that.”
Drucker liked what he was hearing. Finally, the pieces were all fitting together and his respect within the department may have still been salvageable. A glimmer of a grin escaped from his lips. “That's just what we need. Good work, Doug. Thank you for everything. You got the photo’s I asked for too?” Doug motioned his hands in the air. “All been taken care of. We got Bob passing them by here any minute now. This is a big push for us, Druck. As long as we got their identities on lockdown, it’s just a case of rounding them up and bringing them in.” A content and beaming Doug fell back into the chair gripping the edges of the report.
“So, this is what we can ascertain for sure as of now. There are three of them on the run with an abducted child. We know who they are and are soon to find out exactly what they look like. One of them being a humongous synthetic military ape with a bald head. You tell me, Doug. How hard can this actually be?”
“I’m not done yet.” Doug persevered now leaning forwarding again with a stifled groan but brimming with excitement. “You’re really gonna love this next one.” Again, an inappropriate selection of words, Drucker thought. “Our souped-up iron queen on the loose, Dee. Before her notorious assault on the city that morning, she’d been quite busy making some kind of preparations it seems. A large amount of cash had left her bank account just a day or so prior to the abduction.”
“Oh really? Do you know where it went?” asked Drucker with an urgent expectancy.
“To an account registered in the name of none other than Mr. Rik Haime.” Doug said with a satisfied grin on his face.
Drucker’s eyes widened with disbelief. “You mean THE Rik Haime? As in the actor? The movie star? That walking talking synthetic muppet?”
“The one and only.” Doug replied pursing his lips. “Seems our friend Mr. Dullet did him a favour once at the insurance agency he was working for. They had a few social engagements after that but nothing too serious came of it. From what I can see, it was more an associate-based friendship than anything else.”
This bombardment of critical new information for the case could not have come any sooner. He needed a few moments to process it all. “What in the world would Rik be doing receiving money from her? How much was it?”
“One hundred thousand smackers.” He bellowed.
Drucker tapped his fingers with anxiousness upon his desk. “I can’t believe it. What's the connection? We need to talk to him ASAP.” Again, Doug raised both palms in the air. “Done and dusted. He got picked up not too long ago and should be here any minute now. And the best part? We personally get to interrogate that arrogant piece of shit.” He found it hard to tell if Doug was actually starting to enjoy his role in this investigation a little too much for his own good.
“That’s the best round of news I think I’ve ever received in all my years working here.” he said with a broad smile. “Can you add the cherry on top and tell me you got something back from the car?”
“Sorry Druck, but that was a no go. I mean, there were a few specks of blood that are being analysed as we speak, but I’m sure it’ll just confirm what we already know. The identity of little Nathan.”
“No problem at all. We’ve managed to get plenty of blood outta this stone already today. Excuse the pun." Drucker said, very pleased with the astonishing progress made within the last few minutes. “What a rollercoaster rider this is turning out to be for us, Doug. One minute we got the fugitives cornered just to let them slip from our fingers with pretty much nothing to show for it and the next, all the information we could have hoped to collect for their apprehension being neatly laid out in front of us. And all due to their utter negligence. We ought to pass them a medal each on their way out to the firing squad.”
Another soft knock at the door grabbed the two men’s attention. “Come in.” Drucker called loudly as a young looking officer opened the door and poked his head around the corner. “Detective Drucker, I’d like to inform you that we have Mr. Rik Haime in interrogation ready for questioning, sir.” His high pitched voice gave away the youth hiding behind his external manly demeanour.
“No problem. I’ll be there shortly.” said Drucker in a casual manner.
“Very good, sir.” was the last thing they heard before the door closed with noticeable due care.
“OK, Doug.” he said, rising up from the warmth of his office chair. “And so the show unfolds…”
@ezzy)