A Striking Similarity

by Kevin Hopkins

  ‘Did you miss her match?’ Penner asked as the waitress dropped off their pizza.

  ‘No, I made it, but I had Constable Grant with me, and we were kind of asking questions for the case, so she got mad thinking I was only there to work.’ Millar grabbed a slice of pizza. He sprinkled hot pepper flakes on it and took a bite.

  ‘Why would you have been working the case at a kids’ wrestling match?’ Penner asked.

  ‘Mrs. Wong’s daughter wrestles, so we were asking around to see what we could find out. Didn’t get much, just got Tina mad at me,’ Millar said, taking another bite. This one had a few too many chili flakes on it and he broke into a coughing fit. He grabbed his beer and took a quick sip.

  ‘When will you learn?’ Penner took a bite of pizza, just as her phone rang. Putting the slice down on her plate, she reached into her pocket for her phone and checked the number. ‘It’s Faye,’ she said to Millar. ‘Hey Faye, how’s it going?’

  ‘Tired, but not too bad. Not interrupting am I?’

  ‘No, just having a bite to eat with some boring company,’ Penner said. Millar stuck out his tongue. ‘So, how’d the rest of the autopsy go? Find anything interesting?’

  ‘Well, other than the head wound, there weren’t any major issues. There was the bruising on her elbows that Detective Millar noticed. I think that was caused by falling backwards, but I can’t tell if it happened before she was hit in the head or after.’

  ‘Any foreign hairs or fibers or anything?’ Penner took another sip of wine.

  ‘Nothing. I’m afraid there isn’t much to help you out. If you can find the weapon we can probably tie it to the attack, but that’s about it unfortunately.’

  ‘Great. I was hoping for more. Okay. Thanks, Faye,’ Penner said hanging up. ‘Well, not much to go on.’

  ‘Hopefully her friends can fill in some blanks.’ Millar drained his glass. ‘That tasted like another one. More wine?’ Millar signalled the waitress to bring another round.

  * * *

  It was after nine o’clock when Millar got home. He and Penner had decided to have a coffee and ice cream after dinner. Then, Penner decided to go back to the office to do some more paperwork before calling it a night. Millar thought about it for all of a second and decided that his files could wait until he was back in the office in a couple days. Three days off was a rarity for him these days and he was looking forward to it, even if two of those days were travelling and speaking. Conferences were a different type of work, much less stressful.

  Millar noticed that the house was dark when he unlocked the door. He turned on the light in the foyer and took off his shoes. There was an empty place where Tina’s shoes should have been. And the house felt empty. ‘Probably still mad at me,’ Millar thought to himself. He wasn’t worried—quite often Tina would go out for dinner with her teammates after a day of matches. ‘Wonder how she ended up doing?’ He walked into the living room and checked the answering machine. One new message. He pressed play.

  ‘Hi Dad, I decided to go out for dinner with Christa and I’m just going to spend the night at her place. We have a project to work on for tomorrow. Um, sorry for getting pissy today. I was happy to see you, but I thought you were just there to work. Glad you made it. I ended up winning my age group and got another trophy for the shelf. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow after school, if you aren’t working too late. Bye.’

  ‘I don’t think I’ll ever get used to teenage girl emotions. At least she’s talking to me.’ Millar went upstairs to pack for his trip.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Penner was a little late getting into the office the next morning. After working until almost midnight, much later than she had planned, she had decided to have a bit of a sleep-in for a change. She stopped by Joe’s for a quick breakfast on her way in and was ready to attack the day. She just needed another coffee to really be ready. Penner climbed the stairs to the little kitchenette on the second floor—the patrol officers usually had better coffee than the detectives. For some reason, most of the detectives didn’t like strong coffee. It’s like they got soft once they started wearing a suit every day, something Penner didn’t understand. If the coffee wasn’t good and strong, what was the point? Just drink dirty water. As she was pouring herself a cup, she felt someone walk in behind her.

  ‘Good morning, Detective.’ It was Constable Grant. ‘Wasn’t expecting to see you up here.’

  ‘Oh, morning, Constable. Sorry, I seem to have taken the last of it,’ Penner said, shaking the empty coffee pot.

  ‘No problem, I’ll put some more on.’ Grant opened a cupboard, grabbed a bag of coffee and a new filter. ‘I ran a check on Mr. Wong this morning, ma-am. Came up clean, not even a speeding ticket.’ He filled the coffee maker with water and turned it on.

  ‘Huh. Okay, thanks for doing that. Detective Millar said they had a daughter, anything interesting with her?’ Penner asked, sipping her coffee.

  ‘Nothing that I could find, but I guess there’s a chance she has a juvie record. I don’t have clearance to see those. I’m still waiting to get full access to everything in the system. Not sure what the hold-up is, but my Sergeant’s working on it,’ Grant said grabbing a mug in anticipation of a fresh cup of coffee. ‘I was thinking of stopping by her school later to talk with the principal to see if he can give me anything.’

  ‘I would hold off on that for now. We don’t need to make things worse for the girl, if it’s not necessary,’ Penner said. Nothing was pointing to the daughter right now. If something changed, they could always pay her a visit later. ‘What’s your assignment today?’ Penner tilted her head back and drank the last of her coffee.

  ‘Foot patrol in the Market, ma-am. That’s my typical beat,’ Grant said, surprised that Penner’s mug was empty already. He grabbed the pot and poured himself a cup. ‘Ma-am?’

  ‘Please.’ Penner held out her mug so he could fill it, too. ‘If you’re interested, I can talk to your Sergeant, see if you can join me to interview the friends that Mrs. Wong was out with. Detective Millar’s out of town. Sometimes it’s good to have two people doing interviews. An extra set of ears and eyes can come in handy.’

  ‘That would be fantastic. Thank you, ma-am.’ Grant almost spilled his coffee in excitement.

  ‘Alright. Meet me in the lobby in, say, half an hour?’ Penner said, looking at her watch. ‘I’ll go get it cleared with your boss and then I’ll stop by my office and get the list of names Detective Millar gave me last night.’

  ‘Got them right here, ma-am,’ Grant said, tapping his pocket where he kept his notebook.

  ‘Nobody likes a show-off, Constable,’ said Penner, walking out of the kitchenette. ‘Half an hour!’ Grant heard her call out. He smiled to himself.

  * * *

  When Penner came down to the lobby, Grant was already waiting for her, sitting in one of the chairs beside the elevator and reading his notes. He stood up when he saw her.

  ‘So, your boss is okay with you joining up with me for the day. He thinks it will be a good learning experience for you,’ Penner said as they walked together towards the parking garage. ‘Wants you to report to him at the end of the day, just to fill him in on what we were doing, what you learned, if anything. Hopefully it’s a good experience for you.’ They got to Penner’s car, a newer model sedan. Black with tinted windows. Grant looked around as he sat down, noting how much cleaner it was than Detective Millar’s car. Smelled better, too.

  ‘Thanks, ma-am. I’m sure I’ll learn a lot. I’ve never worked a murder before—this is all new to me,’ he said as Penner pulled out of the garage. ‘So, any ideas about who we may be looking for? Are you a profiler, too?’

  ‘Me? No, I leave that to Detective Millar. I don’t really understand it,’ Penner said. ‘I mean, we were working a case a couple of years ago. All we had was our vic, where he was killed and we knew the type of weapon used. Within a week, Millar came in saying we were looking for a middle-aged, overweight, Jamaican lady. Single.’ Penner had
a bit of awe in her voice. ‘He said the suspect would probably be a day labourer, either as a cook or landscaper. Then, get this, he said she would drive a late nineties Ford four-door sedan. Red. Like, how on earth would he know that! Well, sure enough, after a bunch of leads and investigating, we get a suspect. Marigold Clarke. Fifty-two. Recently moved from Kingston, Jamaica. Worked for a local company cutting lawns. And guess what she drove. A 1998 Ford. Candy apple red. Blew my mind! I mean, if I didn’t know better, I would have said Millar did it himself and set up this poor woman somehow. No, I don’t get it at all, but I can tell you it works. How? Don’t know, but it does.’

  ‘That’s nuts, right down to the car?’ Grant said, surprised and impressed. ‘I’ve been reading Detective Millar’s books. A lot of what he talks about seems to make sense. It’s all using past experiences to narrow down your perp list, but to the car? And how would he have known she was overweight? I don’t get that at all!’

  ‘Makes two of us. So, you’re interested in profiling? Thinking of becoming a detective?’ Penner asked, pulling up to a stop light.

  ‘That’s the goal,’ Grant said. ‘Being a beat cop is okay, but petty crime can get a little dull after a while. I’d like to work the bigger crimes, where you feel like you’re making more of a difference. Getting a common thief off the streets is good and all, but getting a murderer or arsonist off the streets, now that really makes a difference to the community. That’s the type of thing I want to do for sure.’

  ‘At least, when you’re working the beat, you have somewhat normal hours. Sure, you split between days and nights, but Detectives are on call 24/7. You never know when you’re going to be called in. It could be right after you get home after being on duty for thirty hours,’ Penner said. She knew this part of the job all too well. ‘Gets pretty hard on your system. And really hard if you have a family. Loved ones get pretty mad when you’re constantly missing birthdays and other important events.’

  ‘I know, ma-am. I still think I would feel more worth doing something more meaningful,’ Grant said.

  ‘Well then, all I can say is work your ass off and get noticed by as many higher-ups as you can. But make sure you get noticed for the right things. Screw up, and that gets noticed way quicker then when you do something good, so you’ve got to be good way more often than not,’ Penner offered her sage advice as she pulled into a parking spot. ‘And don’t forget, what you do is meaningful to the people affected by those petty crimes. Right, let’s go talk to some people.’

  CHAPTER TEN

  Penner and Grant walked into the small law office and were greeted by a smiling receptionist.

  ‘Good morning,’ the young woman said brightly, looking up from her computer. ‘Welcome to Smithers Law. How can I help you?’

  ‘Good morning, I’m Detective Penner, this is Constable Grant,’ Penner said, showing her badge. ‘We’d like to talk to your boss if we could. Amanda, I believe?’

  ‘Oh, okay, no problem. One second.’ The receptionist picked up the phone and dialed 8. ‘Amanda, there are two police officers here to see you. Okay, will do.’ She hung up the phone. ‘Come on back, I’ll bring you to her office.’

  ‘Thanks. And you are?’ Grant asked.

  ‘Jenny. Jenny Foisy,’ the receptionist said, getting up from her desk. Penner and Grant followed her into the back of the office. Two desks faced each other in an open area where two women were working. The older of the two was on the phone, the younger on her computer. There were also three closed offices around the perimeter of the room. Jenny led them to one of the doors and knocked twice before opening it. ‘Amanda, this is Detective Penner and Constable Grant.’ She turned to walk back to her desk.

  ‘Thanks, Jenny,’ Amanda said. ‘Can we get you something, coffee, tea, water?’ she asked Penner and Grant as Jenny paused at the door.

  ‘Coffee would be great. Just black thanks,’ Penner said.

  ‘Nothing for me, thanks,’ Grant said. Jenny walked away.

  ‘Please, have a seat.’ Amanda motioned towards two uncomfortable looking chairs. ‘What can I do for you, Detective?’

  ‘We want to ask you a few questions about Karen Wong. I believe you all went out last night for a bit of a party?’ Penner said taking a seat. Grant decided to stand. Based on the face Penner made when she sat down, it was probably a good decision.

  ‘We did. I’m actually kind of surprised that she didn’t come in this morning, but I figured she was just sleeping in. It was a bit of a late night,’ Amanda said. ‘Is everything okay?’

  ‘What time did you see her last?’ Penner asked, ignoring her question.

  ‘I think it was sometime before midnight. My husband came to pick me up. I had to be in the office early this morning for a meeting with some new clients. I think Karen, Dave and Jane were going to grab a coffee before heading home,’ Amanda said as Jenny came in with a tray of coffee cups. ‘Thanks, Jenny.’

  ‘Jenny, what time did you leave last night?’ Penner asked, taking a cup of coffee.

  ‘Around 10:30. I had to get home to walk my dog so I left early. New puppy who likes to chew up my couch if I’m out too long without walking him. Why?’ Jenny asked, offering a coffee to Grant. He decided to have one after all.

  ‘I’m afraid we have some bad news. Karen was found dead last night,’ Penner said. Grant paid close attention to their reactions. Jenny dropped the tray.

  ‘Oh my God! What happened? She was fine when I last saw her,’ Amanda said, visibly upset.

  ‘We’re still investigating, so I can’t give you too many details, I’m afraid,’ Penner said. ‘So, you said Jane and Dave were going to have a coffee with her after you left. Are they here today?’

  ‘They are. I can’t believe this!’ Amanda said, passing Jenny a tissue. Jenny was now sitting in the second chair, holding her face as tears streamed down her cheeks.

  ‘Do you mind if we use your office for ten minutes to talk to them? Maybe fifteen? I’d like to talk to them separately,’ Penner said, finishing her coffee. Grant had barely taken a sip of his.

  ‘Of course. Jenny, can you go and get Dave and Jane please?’ Amanda asked. Jenny didn’t react. ‘Jenny,’ she said again, giving Jenny a little shake.

  ‘What? Oh, right. Sorry,’ Jenny said, sniffing. ‘No problem.’ Jenny got up and left the room.

  ‘She was really close to Karen. Actually, they were more like sisters than co-workers,’ Amanda said, picking up the tray and putting it on her desk. ‘This is going to be really hard on her. On all of us really. We’re a tight knit team.’

  Jenny came back in to the office, still sniffing, followed by a tall, rather chubby, balding man and a slender young woman. Jenny grabbed the tray off the desk. ‘Any more coffee?’ she asked between tears. Penner thought about asking for another, but decided against it. Jenny left the room.

  ‘If you need anything, I’ll be out here with her. I still can’t believe this.’ Amanda followed Jenny out of the office, closing the door behind her.

  ‘Please, have a seat,’ Penner said to Dave and Jane.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Jane asked. ‘Why is Jenny crying?’

  ‘So, last night, the two of you went for a coffee with Karen around midnight? Is that right?’ Penner asked.

  Jane looked over at Dave with a concerned look on her face. ‘Um, yeah. We had a dinner that went a bit late and then we stopped at the coffee shop around the corner.’ Jane looked down at the table when she spoke.

  ‘Are you sure?’ Penner asked. Jane didn’t look up.

  ‘Well,’ Jane paused. She shifted in her seat. Penner looked at Dave. He wouldn’t make eye-contact, either.

  ‘Did you not go for a coffee?’ Penner asked. Grant pulled out his notebook, ready to take notes.

  ‘We were going to,’ Jane started. ‘But…’ Dave shot her a look. Jane looked down again.

  ‘What happened? Why didn’t you end up going for a coffee?’ Penner asked. Both Jane and Dave stayed quiet. ‘Alright. Con
stable Grant, take Dave to one of the other offices. I want to talk to Jane alone.’ Grant went to open the door.

  ‘Look, if we tell you what happened, you can’t mention it to anyone, alright?’ Dave said, obviously nervous.

  ‘Go on,’ Penner said.

  ‘Well, just before midnight, quarter to or so, it was just Karen, Jane and me. Everyone else had called it a night. We were going to go over to the coffee shop, but then Karen changed her mind and decided to just go home,’ Dave said. Jane was still looking down.

  ‘Why?’ Penner asked.

  ‘I think she felt uncomfortable,’ Dave said.

  ‘Uncomfortable? Why would she feel uncomfortable?’ Grant asked.

  ‘Well, Jane and I,’ Dave started slowly. ‘Jane and I started. Kissing’

  ‘Ah, right.’ Penner said. Grant was writing in his notebook.

  ‘We were probably being a bit more affectionate than was necessary in public, so Karen said she was just going to head home,’ Dave said. ‘You can’t let Amanda know. Office romances aren’t allowed. We could end up losing our jobs.’

  ‘Don’t worry. If we don’t need to mention it, we won’t. So, what time did Karen end up leaving? How was she going to get home?’ Penner asked.

  ‘I think it was just after midnight, maybe? Around there anyways. I think she was going to try and catch a cab so she was going to walk up to Slater Street. There’s a taxi stand there. What’s going on?’ Dave asked, looking back and forth between Penner and Grant.