McConnell House

1939 Part 3

I left for the police station early next morning, before I had to open the bar. My new and improved plan was to give my notice to the mysterious owner that I would be leaving by the end of the week. It wouldn’t be hard to replace me, but since I was the only one who worked there, he would need some time to look for a replacement. I would be eternally gratefully to whoever was my mysterious benefactor. The Police Officer manning the front desk looked annoyed to be bothered so early in the morning. I could hear a pin drop in the whole place, as if they closed down for the night. For all I know it did. His nametag informed me he was known as Cst. Greeves.

“What do you want?” Cst. Greeves said, showing true Calgarian friendliness.

“I’d like to report a crime.”

“What sort of crime?” Now that was the question, wasn’t it? I didn’t exactly see a crime happen, just something very very suspicious. I don’t know what Foley did with the boy, for all I knew he could have gone down there to give his grandson a bath. But it just felt wrong.

“Kidnapping.”

“Who’s been kidnapped?” Cst. Greeves said, sitting up in his chair. He looked like an eager puppy ready to play.

 “I don’t know.” I said, feeling smart.

Cst. Greeves slumped back, perhaps realizing he was dealing with a crazy person instead of a kidnapping case. It looked like he was getting ready to sulk, mad that I had gotten his hopes so high. It was my job to reassure him, “But I know who the kidnapper is.”

Cst. Greeves sat up again, and gave me a look that was part disbelief, part hope that I wasn’t shitting him after all, “Well then. Let’s have it.”

“Last night, just after two in the morning I came across two people on Inglewood Bridge. One was a man, the other a child. They walked off and headed down a path to under the bridge. I followed them, and when I got down there, the child was gone, leaving on the guy there by himself.”

 “Okay. I’m going to get you to talk to Detective Manetti about this. You say you know the kidnapper, what’s his name?”

Well here it was, this was going to make or break me, “Patrick Foley.”

“Okay. Patrick Foley. I’ll get the...not Sgt. Patrick Foley?” Cst. Greeves stopped in his tracks and turned around, suspicion on his face that I was indeed a crazy person.

“Yes. Sgt. Foley of the Calgary Police Service.” I could see Cst. Greeves trying not to roll his eyes in front of me. He sat down with a thump, disappointed in what he heard after all.

“Listen buddy. We’re pretty busy here, if you have any real proof, come back and I’ll have someone talk to you.” I knew I should leave it alone; they were never going to investigate one of their own under ordinary circumstances. The smart move would be just that, move on. Let them sort it out for themselves. Nevertheless, I felt guilty for the night before, I left the kid to his fate with Foley. What harm could be there if I tried just a little harder to see justice done?

“Proof? I saw him with my own eyes, in the middle of the night, leading a boy underneath Inglewood Bridge; the top murder site in Calgary. What more do you want?”

“Really? Well I saw King George take a crap on the mayor’s lawn last week. Saw it with my own two eyes. What more proof do you want?”

“Harry, I’ll see to this gentleman about what he thought he saw at the bridge.” A man said, standing at the door of an office behind Cst. Greeves.

“Yes sir.” Cst. Greeves straightened his shoulders and sat up, “You heard the Inspector, he’ll see you in his office. Cst. Greeves opened to half door to let me through to the back. I walked by him to the office, pretending not to see his withering gaze. I figured the Inspector wanting to see me personally was a good thing. Perhaps they suspected Foley was up to no good, and were just looking for a lead. The Inspector himself interviewing me so they could keep things hush hush until they were ready to arrest the paddy bastard. I knew I couldn’t be more wrong the moment I stepped into the Inspector-Detective’s office.

“Shut the door behind you, Ty.” Inspector Deane said, with a friendly smile on his face. Inspector Deane was the same policeman who interviewed me the day I came to Calgary. He had made it clear that day he was going to go after me, why I can’t remember. I fooled myself into believing it was all just talk, as I never saw him again. Until today that is.

I shut the door, and then took a seat in front of the Inspector’s desk. This wasn’t going to be pretty.

“I couldn’t help but overhear you spreading vicious rumors about one of my police officer’s, Ty. Care to explain yourself?” “I was just reporting what I saw.” Even now, I hoped maybe I could convince someone of what I saw, even Inspector Deane. “So you saw Sgt. Foley with some kid, who you don’t know, go under a bridge?”

“That’s pretty much it.”

“I suppose you could have been out that late, why I do not know, and saw Sgt. Foley on his patrol. You might have mistakenly assumed you saw him with a child, who for some reason was outside his house that late at night. Or, you may have been reading the newspapers lately, about the missing child turning up dead. Having a beef against Sgt. Foley, you came here with a made up story to get him in trouble. This would be the perfect time to do it too. For one you would discredit an outstanding officer like Sgt. Foley, and you would discredit this department on the whole, right when the King and Queen were coming to visit.”

“Are you kidding me? Of course not! I saw what I saw.” I couldn’t believe this. I didn’t even know the King was in Canada, let alone coming to Calgary. Where was this guy getting this stuff from?

“Now that I think about it, it could be even deeper than that. Maybe you do know something about a missing kid, because you are the one going around kidnapping and killing them.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I was sure they would protect their own, but to turn the tables and blame me? Ridiculous.

“You’re crazy! I don’t know anything about any missing kids.”

 “Then how do you know there is more than one?”

 “What-?”

“There’s an easy way to get to the bottom of this. We’ll ask Sgt. Foley what he was up to last night.” Inspector Deane waved to someone behind me, motioning for them to enter. I turned around to see Sgt. Foley enter the room. He had an evil smile on his face, his eye’s not leaving mine as he sat down.

“Hello Inspector. Hello Ty.” He said.

This I did not expect. I slouched in my chair, wishing I was anywhere else but here.

“Pat. This gentleman seems to think you might know about a missing child from this morning. What do you have to say for yourself?”

 “I was on patrol on night sir, just got back to the clubhouse now. Didn’t see no kids out and about, in fact it was a pretty quiet night.” Inspector Deane turned and looked at me, waiting for my response to Foley’s lie. What could I really say? They were going to take his word over mine. “If I may Inspector,” Foley continued, “This is the fellow I told you about. He knows I’m keeping an eye on him. I wouldn’t put it past him to make up a story to try to shake me.”

“My thoughts exactly Sgt. Foley. I remember you warning me about him. Now if you know what is good for you Ty, you’ll drop all this nonsense about Sgt. Foley. I have known him personally for years now, and he is no child murderer.” There was nothing to say. I stood up, and walked to the door, both policeman’s eyes on me the whole time. I opened the door to leave when Deane stopped me, “Oh, and Ty. Don’t think about leaving town anytime soon. I might have some questions for you concerning certain missing children. I don’t want you to look guilty by running off now, would I?”