A Striking Similarity

by Kevin Hopkins

  Millar took the bag, wondering why Penner was whispering. He realized it was because the room was miked to the hallway. He looked at the bag. ‘A button?’ he whispered back. Penner nodded. ‘What about it?’

  Penner grabbed a sheet of paper off of the pad the Captain was using earlier and wrote on it, passing it over to Millar.

  ‘It’s from a dress uniform. I found it at one of the crime scenes. Your dress coat was missing a button.’

  ‘I lost that button years ago,’ Millar said. ‘Tina used to use my coat for dress-up. I think it was lost in one of the old houses. Besides, if I was going out to kill someone, and I said if, why would I wear my dress uniform?’

  ‘Easiest way to get someone to go with you, if you’re dressed like a cop?’ Penner suggested.

  ‘Pointing my gun at them would probably be easier,’ Millar said, sliding the bag back to Penner. ‘This is absurd. Look, I need you to do some background checks on Grant. Where did he come from, what’s his story? Any black marks on his file.’

  Penner put the bag with the button back in her pocket. ‘Alright, I’ll see what I can find out. But you really need to start thinking of who else might have done this. You said it could have been someone you put away?’

  ‘Yeah, but I don’t know who,’ Millar said. ‘I’ve put a lot of people away over a long period of time. It could be hundreds of people. Maybe someone’s family member who got locked up. I really don’t know.’

  ‘Keep thinking. I’ll be back,’ Penner said, standing up and leaving the room again.

  Millar looked around the empty room and contemplated just getting up and going home.

  * * *

  ‘Take a seat,’ the Captain said to Grant when they entered the second interrogation room. Grant was visibly shaken.

  ‘Sir, I understand the process here, but I swear, I had nothing to do with this. Why would I want to frame another cop?’ Grant asked, sitting down.

  The Captain didn’t respond. ‘Right, I want to know the details before, during and after each of the homicides. So, you were first on the scene for the first murder, correct?’

  Grant opened up his notebook to the night in question. ‘Yes, sir. As I said in the report I filed the next day, I had been called to a complaint about a suspicious individual over on Fifth Avenue at around eleven forty-five. When I was driving over, I noticed someone sitting by the Terry Fox statue. When I came back that way two hours later, I noticed they were still sitting there, so I went to investigate and called it in at one forty-five.’

  ‘So when you first noticed the person sitting there, you just drove by. You didn’t actually go over to see them up close?’ the Captain asked.

  ‘Well, no, sir. I was on the way to a call so I just carried on. I didn’t have any reason at that point in time to go check on them. Besides, you know the area. I thought it was just someone who’d had too much to drink,’ Grant said.

  ‘Are you sure the person you saw before midnight was actually the victim?’ the Captain asked.

  ‘Sir?’ Grant said, feeling like he was on trial. ‘I assumed it was the same person, sir. It would have been a bit of a coincidence that two people were sitting in the same spot only a couple of hours apart.’

  ‘There seem to be a lot of coincidences in this case, Constable. Too many for my liking,’ the Captain said. ‘So, where were you before you got called out and noticed the person for the first time?’

  Grant flipped through his notes. ‘I had started my patrol at around eleven fifteen. Shift start was at eleven, and by the time I got my assignment and all, it was probably quarter after. I was down in the market area, walking around, when the call came in.’

  ‘Busy night?’ the Captain asked.

  ‘Not particularly, sir,’ Grant said. ‘Pretty quiet actually.’

  ‘So, anyone see you?’ the Captain asked, staring at Grant with an intensity that made him nervous.

  ‘Possibly, sir, but not that I’m aware of. I don’t remember talking to anyone.’ Grant flipped through his notebook desperately.

  The Captain made some notes. ‘Right, so the second murder. Where were you before the call came in?’

  Again, Grant flipped through his book. ‘I was with Detective Penner. We were at a taxi stand interviewing cab drivers about whether or not they had seen anyone the night of the first murder. We were still there when the call came in about the second murder.’

  ‘Okay. And for the third, dispatch wasn’t able to get in touch with you, correct?’ the Captain asked.

  ‘Not right away, no, sir,’ Grant said. ‘I was in the shower when they tried calling my house, and I didn’t have my cell turned on. When I finally saw I had a message I listened to it and turned my cell back on, which is when I got all of their messages.’

  ‘And that was at what time?’ the Captain asked.

  ‘Around one in the morning, or thereabouts, sir,’ Grant said, referring to his notes.

  ‘So, as Millar blurted out, why were you showering at one in the morning? Don’t you usually shower before shift, so before you were supposed to report at eleven that evening?’ the Captain asked.

  ‘Honestly, sir, after I found out I was off for the night, I needed to find something to do,’ Grant explained. ‘I was going to go home, but I wasn’t tired at all. I had slept during the day getting ready for the night-shift. Plus, I was excited that I was going to get the chance to work with Detective Penner. And I was hoping I would get to continue to work with Detective Millar at some point, which doesn’t seem too likely now. Anyway, I decided to go to the gym to get a workout in. I didn’t have a towel in my car so that’s why I went home to shower.’

  ‘Can anyone corroborate this?’ asked the Captain, already assuming the answer would be no.

  ‘Actually, sir, at my gym you have to scan your membership card on the way in and out, so there should be a record of when I was there. Here’s their number, if you’d like to call,’ Grant said, handing the Captain his membership card.

  ‘Alright, I’ll make a call and find out if they can confirm what you’re telling me. Do me a favour, go grab me another coffee. I should have been home by now,’ the Captain said, picking up his phone.

  ‘Yes, sir. Thank you, sir,’ Grant said as he left the room.

  ‘Never thought I would be investigating two of my own for a triple murder,’ the Captain murmured as he dialed the gym.

  * * *

  After leaving Millar in the interrogation room, Penner went straight to her office and logged into her computer. She was starting to feel sick to her stomach. This evening was not going how she had thought it would. She honestly thought they would have interviewed Millar for twenty minutes, come to the conclusion he had nothing to do with it and they would be back to working on finding the real killer. Together. ‘Now it seems like Millar is looking guilty to the Captain and here I am investigating another one of our own,’ she thought. She opened up the program where she could do personnel searches and typed in Grant’s name. As soon as she hit enter, his information flashed up on the screen. As he had said, before joining the force he had been a paramedic for five years. He was single, no dependents listed. From what she could tell here, he hadn’t had any major issues, either on the job or in his personal life. Just an all around squeaky clean guy. Part of her was hoping she would have found something. She had nothing against Grant—she actually thought he was a good cop and she liked working with him—but she would have given anything to prove that Millar wasn’t their guy. ‘There’s got to be something we’re missing,’ she said out loud. Whatever it was, she wasn’t seeing it.

  * * *

  With a coffee cup in each hand, Grant knocked on the door of the interrogation room he had just left. The Captain signalled for him to enter.

  ‘Thank you, ma-am, you have been very helpful. Thanks. You, too.’ The Captain hung up the phone. ‘Well, Constable Grant, your gym confirmed your story and it seems that you were there when you said you were. Thanks,’ he said, taking on
e of the coffees. ‘Now, between the gym and getting home, did anyone see you?’

  ‘Honestly, sir, I don’t know. I may have seen my neighbour, but I don’t rightly remember. I know it’s important, but unless I write stuff down, I don’t remember. That’s why I take so many notes. And when I’m not on the clock, there’s no need to write stuff down,’ Grant said, wishing he could come up with something that would prove his innocence to the Captain.

  ‘Understood,’ the Captain said. He rubbed his eyes. ‘Okay. Here’s what I’m thinking. Are you willing to take a polygraph?’

  ‘A lie detector test, sir?’ Grant was surprised. ‘Well, I guess, but why?’

  ‘Because there are periods of time we can’t verify where you were,’ the Captain explained. ‘I know these things aren’t foolproof, but right now it’s about the best thing we have. If we can figure out that you’re not lying and do the same with Detective Millar, then we can start concentrating on figuring out who’s actually behind framing him, right?’

  ‘Fine with me, sir. I know I had nothing to do with this,’ Grant said. Truthfully, he was a little nervous. He had never been hooked up to a polygraph before.

  ‘Alright, I’ll make the arrangements. I’ll see if our technician is still here, in which case we can do it in the next fifteen minutes or so. Otherwise, it may be an hour or two,’ the Captain said, picking up his phone again. ‘Go find Penner. Let her know what’s going on. Oh, and I would recommend you stop drinking coffee. It could give a false positive.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  On his way to find Penner, Grant passed by the interrogation room where Millar had been questioned earlier. He looked through the one-way window to see if Penner was there, but it was only Millar, still sitting in the same chair. ‘How could someone like him be responsible for this?’ Grant thought to himself. ‘Just doesn’t make any sense.’ He stood watching Millar for a minute before deciding to go in and talk to him.

  ‘What do you want?’ Millar asked as Grant closed the door behind himself. ‘I really have nothing to say to you, and I can’t be held responsible for my actions. I don’t think anyone could when you’re wearing that suit.’

  ‘Look, I was just doing my job,’ Grant said. ‘Put yourself in my shoes, what would you have done? Just sit on the information? Plus, if I didn’t mention it, someone else would have made the connection eventually, no?’

  ‘Maybe. Or maybe no one else would have thought to accuse a fellow cop,’ Millar said, feeling like he was getting close to losing his temper again. He had been feeling pretty calm until Grant came into the room.

  ‘Captain said he’s going to have the two of us take polygraphs. Figures it’s one of the easiest ways to see if we’re telling the truth, or not I guess,’ Grant said.

  ‘Fine by me. I have nothing to hide,’ Millar said, looking at Grant. ‘You look nervous. Worried you’ll fail?’

  ‘Just a whole new experience for me is all. Never thought I would be questioned for setting up a fellow cop,’ Grant said.

  ‘Imagine being the one who’s been set up,’ Millar said. ‘Do you really think I had something to do with this?’

  ‘I’m starting to have my doubts. If you were guilty, I don’t think you would agree to the polygraph so fast,’ Grant said. ‘Plus, you never asked for a lawyer. If I was in your shoes, I think I would have asked for one right away.’

  ‘And that would make you look guilty,’ Millar said.

  ‘Well, I didn’t set you up. I’m telling you the truth. What would I have to gain? Once word gets out in the precinct, and it will, that I got one of the top detectives arrested, how do you think the rest of my career’s going to go, eh? How’s it going to look to the rest of the cops? Think I’m going to be considered for any promotions? Anyone going to want to work with me? I really doubt it.’ It all seemed to hit Grant at once.

  Millar thought about this for a minute. He was right. Even if Millar did have something to do with the murders, you don’t turn on one of your own. There was an unwritten code. Of course, no cop wanted anyone to get away with murder, and they would all want the murderer to be caught. But, if you had turned in a fellow cop, you’d still be avoided like the plague afterward. ‘Maybe he didn’t do this,’ Millar thought, even though it pained him to admit it. Millar stood up and took a step towards Grant, who flinched and took a step back. Millar reached out his hand. Grant looked at it, looked at Millar’s face, and took his hand, shaking it. ‘I hate to say it, but I believe you. I don’t think you set me up.’

  ‘I didn’t. And that means a lot, sir,’ Grant said, still shaking his hand. ‘So, what now?’

  ‘First, give me my hand back,’ Millar said, pulling his hand away.

  Outside, Penner had returned to the interrogation room and was looking through the window to see if the Captain had come back yet. Instead she saw Millar and Grant standing face to face. She burst into the room. ‘Don’t hit him, Millar! It’s not worth it!’

  Millar and Grant turned to look at her. ‘It’s all good, Penner,’ said Millar. ‘We’ve come to an understanding.’

  ‘What? Really?’ Penner asked, with relief and surprise.

  ‘Yeah, I don’t think he killed anyone, and he doesn’t think I set him up,’ Grant said.

  Penner wasn’t sure what had happened while she was gone, but she wasn’t complaining. She really didn’t think either one of them had anything to do with the murders. And if they were going to figure out who did, they were all going to have to work together. ‘So, where does that leave us? What do we do now?’

  ‘Well, the Captain is going to give each of us a polygraph. He’s supposed to let us know if it’s going to be now, or later tonight,’ Grant said. ‘Other than that, where do we start looking?’

  ‘Well, if we can all agree I’ve been set up, things are going to be tough,’ Millar said.

  ‘Why’s that?’ Penner asked.

  ‘Think about it. Based on the profile, I thought we were looking for a big, single white guy, good job, possibly divorced with a kid, right?’ Millar said.

  ‘Right.’ Grant suddenly knew what Millar was getting at. ‘But it really could be anyone who had some knowledge of profiling, making the crimes look like they were done by someone fitting that description,’ he finished. Millar hated to admit it, but the kid did have a good head on his shoulders.

  ‘Bingo. So, how do we narrow it down?’ Millar said.

  ‘We could start by creating a list of anyone you put away who got out recently?’ Penner suggested. ‘Might not be too long a list.’

  ‘I’ll see what I can find out,’ Grant said. ‘I can run some cross-checks in the system, come up with some names.’

  ‘Perfect,’ said Millar. ‘Once the Captain gives me the go-ahead to get out of here, I’ll go through my old cases and see if anything jumps out at me. Maybe a case where one of the family members was more upset than usual. I know one or two threatened me after sentencing.’

  ‘What do you want me to do?’ Penner asked.

  ‘Get in touch with FIS, and see how their analysis of the items you took from my place is going. When they show no link to the victims, it will help show the Captain I’m innocent,’ Millar said.

  As Penner and Grant were about to leave, the door opened and the Captain walked in. ‘Right, the technician is just setting up in the next room, the one without the window. I explained to him how important it is that he keep this under wraps. I don’t want it getting out that I’m having two of our own tested. Who wants to go first? Millar? Grant?’

  ‘I’ll go first, sir,’ Millar said. ‘The quicker I can prove to you that I didn’t do this, the quicker I can get back out there and solve these cases.’

  ‘Very good,’ the Captain said. ‘Constable, don’t go too far, it’ll be your turn in about forty-five minutes or so. Let’s go.’ The Captain opened the door and held it for Millar. They went into the next room where the test was going to be administered.

  ‘Right, let’s see what w
e can figure out in the next half hour, shall we?’ Penner said to Grant. ‘You can use the computer in my office.’

  ‘Perfect,’ Grant said checking his watch.

  * * *

  Penner went to the FIS lab in the basement of the building, scanning her pass to open the door. Inside, she saw three forensics technicians in lab coats, each concentrating on their own task.

  ‘Booties, cap and coat,’ one of the technicians called over to Penner. She grabbed a pair of disposable booties off of the shelf and slid them on over her shoes, put on a shower cap and lab coat and walked over to the closest workstation.

  ‘I’m Detective Penner. Some items were sent over earlier for a case I’m working on.’

  ‘Right, sorry, one second,’ the technician said, taking a vial out of a centrifuge machine and putting the contents on a microscope slide. ‘Pete, Detective here for ya!’

  A second technician walked over. ‘Can I help you, Detective?’

  ‘Yeah, wondering if you’ve processed the items that came in earlier. Sweater, baton, pair of boots?’ Penner asked, looking around the lab. ‘Quite the set-up you have here.’

  ‘It is. Got lots of cool gadgets to play with,’ Pete said. ‘So, we’re just finishing up with the initial work on the items for you. If you want to come over here we can have a look.’ He led Penner to a desk on the other side of the room. ‘So first off, the sweater. Lots of hairs on it. We did an initial comparison of them and they all seem to come from the same person—there was no variation at all that we could see. We haven’t had a chance to run a DNA test on them yet. That will probably take a couple of days to get to.’

  ‘Any way you can get a rush on it? I need it compared to the hair that Constable Grant dropped off the other night,’ Penner said, hoping there wouldn’t be a match.

  ‘Still take a couple of days, but we can do a visual comparison now if you want,’ Pete said. He walked over to a workstation that had a microscope next to a computer. ‘Right, so we already have the hair from the other night in the system.’ He typed a few commands on the keyboard, causing an image to appear on the screen. ‘So now, we can put one of the hairs from the sweater on the slide here and see what the two look like side by side.’ He put a hair on a glass slide using a pair of tweezers. Looking through the eyepiece, he adjusted a dial on the side of the microscope, making the new image on the screen come into focus. The two hairs were side by side on the screen. ‘New hair is on the right. You can see that the colours look the same, so does the general structure. See here, the cores of the two hairs are the same size, as are their widths.’