The Genesis Chamber

by Beighton Devlin

  “You have a deal. I just want to go to CACU and let them know the situation.” Maria was disheartened by the whole thing. “I’ll meet you upstairs.”

  ***

  As she entered the CACU, Maria was a bit overwhelmed as to how quiet the office was. She considered under the circumstances of the past twenty-four hours that the place would be buzzing with activity. Instead, there was only one officer, who had his head down, trudging through an extensive pile of paperwork stacked on his desk in front of him.

  “Hey. What the fuck is going on here?” Her voice shattered the sedate environment. “Where is everyone?”

  “Excuse me?” The officer snapped his head up to see the female detective closing in on him.

  “Where are all the other investigators?” she pressed.

  “If you mean my colleagues,” he twiddled with his pen between his index fingers and thumbs, “They are out on visits to various hostels and safe houses, checking the new arrivals so they can be crossed off our ever-increasing lists of missing children.” His matter-of-fact attitude took Maria by surprise. “Can I help you, again?”

  “Yes,” she retorted. “Don’t you know what happened last night in the holding cell?”

  He looked blankly at her. “I’m sorry, I must have missed that memo.”

  “Yesterday we caught a perp in the act of abducting a kid,” she informed him. “Last night he took his own life in the cell.”

  “Oh, that?” The sarcasm in his voice annoyed her. “Yes, I heard about it.”

  “So what the fuck? Why aren’t you all over this?” Her agitation made him smile.

  The officer raised his hands in a calming manner. “Look.” He stood up. “Detective Hernandez, isn’t it?” He held his hand out for her to shake it.

  She was taken a bit by surprise with his attitude, but reluctantly shook his hand.

  “I’m Detective Travis.” He smiled as they shook hands. “Pleased to meet you, again.”

  “Likewise,” she replied.

  “Now.” He signaled with his hand for her to sit. “Take a seat, and I’ll let you know how we do things down here.”

  Maria took a moment to calm down, and slowly lowered herself into the seat beside her.

  “Sorry, it’s been a shitty morning.” She sighed. “I was all set to bury that fucker this morning.”

  “It’s a shame you couldn’t have got some more information out of him.” He tried to console her. “You never know, he may have helped clear some of our backlog.”

  “Didn’t even get his name; he wouldn’t say anything.” She looked at the floor and sighed again.

  “Well, feel free to check out our wall of shame.” Travis pointed to the wall directly behind her. “Anytime you want to track down one of those guys and bring him in, help yourself.”

  She twisted her head round to see a wall full of mug shots, and instantly got out of her seat to inspect the photos.

  “What’s this then?” she inquired while she perused.

  “All those guys have previous convictions for sexual-related crimes against minors, and, get this . . .” He joined her. “All of them are in this area.”

  “You mean these guys are on the streets?” Maria exclaimed.

  “Absolutely,” he said with confidence. “They do their time, and they’re out. Personally, I don’t think they get long enough inside.”

  “Our guy last night had no ID, no prints, nothing.” She shrugged and continued looking at the pictures. “We’re waiting on DNA results to see if he shows up on any database locally, nationally or internationally.”

  “These guys on here,” he tapped his finger on the wall, “they’re just the ones that have priors. God alone knows how many are out there who haven’t been caught yet,” he added. “I bet your guy was a first-timer. That’s why he got caught.”

  “I know I could have got him to talk given a little more time.” She continued to walk along the wall, inspecting the mug shots of each face as she passed. “Maybe you could help me out here. When we get a name on our guy I’ll pass it over to you. He may be a known associate of one of these guys.”

  “That’ll be good.” He looked her up and down as she walked further away from him. “Maybe we could discuss it over a drink, or maybe a bite to eat one eveni—”

  “Fuck me sideways!” Maria shouted, cutting him off mid-sentence.

  “I’d be happy with just a dinner date . . .” He looked puzzled at her.

  “Who is this guy?” Maria tapped her index finger on the photo with some force.

  He moved next to her and took the picture down. “Seaton, Charles James. Why?”

  “That’s him.” She glared at the image. “That’s the guy I arrested yesterday.”

  “The suicide?” he asked with alarm.

  “Yes!” Her eyes were wild.

  “But I thought you said the guy wasn’t in the system?” He looked closer at the picture.

  “He isn’t.” She snatched the mug shot from his hand.

  “He must be. All these guys have a record.” He waved his arm, indicating every picture pinned to the wall. “All have prior convictions, so they should be in the system.”

  He suddenly turned away from her and walked towards a bank of filing cabinets.

  “Give me the reference number on the back,” he called over his shoulder.

  Maria read out the number while he looked through the relevant filing cabinet and pulled out a file.

  “Here we are.” He flipped the file open and walked towards his desk. “Charles James Seaton. Forty-three years old from South Carolina. He’s got numerous misdemeanor convictions for robbery and assault, and served three years of a five-year sentence for child molestation. Been out eight months.”

  He sat behind his desk and started typing on his keyboard. A bewildered look developed on his face. He feverishly entered more information into the computer.

  “This can’t be right.” Travis sat back in his chair and thoughtfully rubbed his chin. “If he’s on that wall, he should be in the system. But he isn’t.”

  “Why the hell isn’t he?” Maria demanded.

  “I have absolutely no idea,” he said, closing the file and passing it to her. “It’s lucky my boss is old-school and insists on making hard copies of everything on the wall or we would have nothing.”

  She took the file and began reading through it. “Son of a bitch! I need to show this to my lieutenant. Can I borrow it?”

  “Not a chance.” He jumped up and reached over the desk to snatch the document back. “But, I’ll gladly photocopy the entire file for you.” He gave her a broad smile.

  “Great.” Her anger subsided as excitement took over. “Can you just photocopy the cover page and the photo now? I’ll collect the rest later.”

  “Sure,” he agreed, and went to the copier. “Give me an hour to get the rest done.”

  Travis copied the requested documents and passed them to Maria. She snatched the paper from him and rushed out of the unit.

  “I’ll be back in one hour!” she shouted, as she disappeared into the elevator.

  ***

  When Maria exited the elevator she was so engrossed in studying the information she had received as she made her way to the lieutenant’s office she didn’t notice Officer Wilson walking towards her.

  “Detective Hernandez! Have you got a minute?” Wilson caught her attention in time to stop her from bumping into him.

  “Not now, Wilson, I’m in a rush.” She tried to sidestep to get around him.

  “It’s about the kid that ran away from the scene yesterday,” he persisted.

  She stopped dead in her tracks and spun around. “Have you found him?”

  “Not exactly—”

  “Look, I’m really busy,” she interrupted, and continued to her destination. “Tell me when you’ve found him.”

  “I’ve been showing his description around and I think I know where you can find him!” he shouted after her.

  She stopped ag
ain and slowly walked back to Wilson.

  “How sure are you?” she asked, trying to contain her newly piqued excitement. “I’m fairly confident he’ll be at Richmond Park at some point.” The officer took out a notepad from his shirt pocket and flicked through the pages until he found what he was looking for.

  “Ah, here we go,” he continued. “He’s a latchkey kid—”

  “A latchkey kid?” she queried.

  “Yeah. You know. A latchkey kid.” He looked at the detective for a moment before explaining. “Their parents are never around so they leave the kid with a key. That way he can let himself in and out of the house after school.”

  “Really?” She was astounded. “They’re never home when he gets in from school? What the hell goes through these people’s minds?”

  “Believe me, Detective,” he continued with confidence, “This isn’t an isolated incident. This kind of thing goes on all over the place. Most modern-day parents have to take on two, maybe three jobs to make ends meet.”

  “Jeez. I had no idea.” She shook her head, trying to comprehend what she had been told.

  “So, from what I hear, he spends most of his time hanging out at the park. Goes by the name of Ronaldo,” Wilson concluded.

  “Ronaldo.” She looked puzzled. “Are you sure it’s the right kid? The description I have doesn’t sound like a kid from South America.”

  “It’s his street name. He’s always got a soccer ball with him,” Wilson answered, with the smugness of someone who was expecting the question. He ripped the note from the pad and passed it to her. “Here, take this.”

  “Thanks, Wilson, I owe you one.” She took the note and tapped the cop on his shoulder, then continued her rushed walk to the homicide unit.

  ***

  Andy Cooper had been entering information into his computer for some time when Maria burst into the office.

  “Whoa, there. Where’s the fire?” he joked.

  “Follow me. You need to see this.” Maria waved the paper she had got from Travis and signaled for him to follow her to the lieutenant’s office. She knocked on the door and opened it immediately. Andy sprang from his seat and rushed to his superior’s office.

  Lieutenant Regan, obviously startled by the sudden invasion of his private space, sat upright and scowled at the impatient female detective.

  “Hernandez! We’ve talked about this. You knock, then wait before—” He was cut off mid-sentence by her.

  “Sorry, sir, no time for formalities.” She thrust the documents in front of him. “I’ve got something on the suspect.”

  Regan took the copies from her and started inspecting them.

  “What’s going on?” The senior detective entered the office and closed the door behind him.

  “I’ve found something,” She waved her finger at the papers in her superior’s hands with great enthusiasm. “The suicide guy’s name was Charles James Seaton. He’s got previous, and he has only been out for eight months after serving time for sexual molestation of a minor,” she blurted before taking a breath.

  “Where did you get this information from?” Regan looked up and passed the documents to Andy.

  “The CACU. They have the originals. They have a wall of shame down there, and that’s where I spotted our guy.” She took the copies back from her partner. “But, here’s the kicker; when we ran his name again, it still came back with nothing.”

  “How can that be?” Andy joined in.

  “No idea.” She held her hands out in a disbelieving manner. “I had a feeling that we were trying to close this case too quickly.

  “What made you think that?” the lieutenant asked.

  “When we were in the interview room, sir, the only time the guy lost his composure and looked nervous was when I asked him about a name that was on his phone.” Maria shook her head. “My instinct is telling me that this is not over.”

  “Psychic powers now?” Andy belittled his partner.

  “Not at all. Just a feeling.” She was defensive and slightly affronted by her partner’s words. “We need to find out more about this guy, and why he wasn’t in our system.”

  “I agree with her,” Regan interjected. “If there’s a glitch in the system, it needs fixing as a matter of priority.”

  “There’s something else.” She looked between the two men. “I have a lead on the kid that fled the scene.”

  “Where is he?” Andy snapped.

  Maria became agitated by her partner’s attitude.

  “He hangs about at Richmond Park.” She looked at Andy in an attempt to work out where his brashness had come from. Was he angry because she wanted to investigate this further? Did he want to get back to investigating the gangbangers?

  “Okay.” The lieutenant sat forward in his seat and placed his elbows on the desk. “Cooper, you get down to the Cyber Unit. Tell them to look into why this guy hasn’t turned up on a search. I’ll call their lieutenant to let him know you’re on your way and will be waiting for an answer.” He pointed at Maria. “You, get a uniformed unit and head down to this park. Do not come back without that kid. Do I make myself clear?”

  Both detectives nodded in acknowledgement.

  “I want to put this case to bed as fast as possible. Now go.” He waved his hand, dismissing the pair from his office.

  As she closed the door to the lieutenant’s office, Maria decided to confront her partner about his attitude. She was about to call after him but noted he was heading straight out of Homicide, and judging by his brisk walk, it would be better to leave it till later. He must be having trouble with Jen again, she thought.

  Although her orders were to take a uniformed unit to Richmond Park, she decided that taking Travis would be a better option. Having a cop trained to deal with delinquent children seemed more of an advantage to her.

  When she got to the elevator she saw Andy waiting. Seizing her opportunity, she walked briskly to confront him about his mood. As she got closer the door opened so she quickened her pace. They entered the elevator together. Before she had a chance to say anything, he broke the silence.

  “Listen, Jen has a big presentation tonight at AppTech; it’s a big deal to her.” He glanced at her with an expectant look. “Would you be able to swing by and show her some support? I can pick you up if you want.”

  So that’s what’s wrong with him. He’s stressed about Jen’s presentation.

  “Of course I’ll come, if for no other reason than to make sure you don’t have a heart attack,” she replied.

  Ping. The elevator halted and the door slid open.

  “This is me.” He exited and turned to face her, putting his hand on the door so it couldn’t close. “See you back here around five?”

  “Sure.” She smiled. “See you later.

  “Thanks.” He returned the smile and stepped back, allowing the door to close.

  Alone in the elevator, she felt relieved she hadn’t upset him. That was one less thing to worry about on a day that was turning out to be quite eventful already.

  Ping. The doors opened again and she headed to the CACU.

  ***

  Travis had put the last document into the copier when Maria entered.

  “You done yet?” she asked as she approached.

  He looked over his shoulder and smiled.

  “Detective Hernandez, good timing.” He retrieved both the copy and original document from the machine a placed them into their relevant folders. “I’ve just finished.”

  She took the file and had a quick scan through it and smiled. “Thank you. Are you busy now?”

  “Nothing that can’t wait, why? What have you got in mind?” he asked with a mischievous grin.

  She narrowed her eyes as if weighing him up.

  “Okay, whatever that is,” Maria waved her hand around his face, indicating the grin, “stop it now. I need backup looking for a kid, and as it is your alleged field of expertise, I thought I might take you along.”

  “Say you want me and you
need me and I’m in,” he teased.

  “How about I agree not to shoot you right here, right now, if you come?” She squared up to him.

  “You drive a hard bargain.” He put a finger on his chin and looked towards the ceiling in a mock thinking pose. “Okay. I’ll come. But I know the real reason you asked me.”

  His contemptuous tone was beginning to get under her skin. She also knew that asking what he thought her reason for asking him was almost certainly a license for him to make some other innuendo towards her, so instead of acknowledging his comment, she simply nodded.

  “Good. Grab your shit and let’s roll,” she said.

  “Yes, ma’am.” He saluted. “I do like forceful women.”

  Although she found him a little annoying, she couldn’t help but raise a smile. He quickly grabbed a few things from his desk drawer, then ran over to the door to hold it open for her to pass through.

  The Genesis Chamber

  Chapter 20

  The incessant midday sun beat down in Orlando, a reminder to everyone why it was known as the Sunshine State. But, it wasn’t bothering Maria and Travis, who were in the relative comfort of the air conditioned car they had picked up from the car pool. They had parked by the main entrance to Richmond Park and watched for the latchkey kid for three hours, with nothing that had spiked their interest. Contrary to how stakeouts are portrayed in movies, the reality is that these operations are invariably drawn out, tedious, and not for people who lack patience. The conversation between the officers had dried up over an hour earlier; well, for Maria it had. He still kept trying to ignite a spark of a conversation every now and again, and had even suggested playing a game of eye spy to alleviate the boredom. The look she gave him quickly dispelled that idea.

  “So, are we going to get lunch soon? There’s a great sub shop about a block from here. The meatballs are amazing.” He persisted in his attempt to get some form of conversation going.

  “We are on a stakeout, not a picnic,” she responded curtly.

  “Yeah, but we have to eat. It will only take five minutes.” He rolled his head around to alleviate the stiffness in his neck and shoulders.