CHAPTER 38: THE ARREST

CHAPTER 38

THE ARREST

Leaving Crystal and Russell to talk, I headed back to the station. As I pulled into the car park around 3 pm, I could see Wozza’s car in its usual spot. He must be back from Jack’s postmortem examination. It was strange that he hadn’t messaged me, I thought. I double-checked my phone. Nothing. I went in through the back way and headed down the corridor towards the CIB offices. As I walked past the general duties office, Jane poked her head around the doorway.

‘Hey, Antigone—the boss wants to see you.’

I halted. Turned. ‘Now?’

‘He said soon as you get in.’

Bugger. I wanted to see Wozza and find out if Doc Caldicott could shed any light on how Jack had died. I turned and made my way to Wheels’s office and knocked on the door. It was a full minute before he responded. A power play. Make people stand staring at your door, waiting.

Finally: ‘Enter.’

I opened the door and was surprised to see Wozza standing in front of Wheels’s desk, looking … stricken. I tried to catch his eye, but he wouldn’t look at me.

Wheels pulled himself to his feet and walked around from behind his large desk to face me. His small eyes narrow and mean.

‘Senior Detective Pollard, the preliminary results from the post-mortem examination show the victim received a dog bite to the arm just prior to death. Not only that, I just received the results from the lab. Your drink had been spiked, which gives you motive to murder Jack Barratt. You wanted revenge.’

I looked at him. His eyes shone with excitement. The guy was nuts.

As he was talking, Wheeler reached for a pair of handcuffs sitting on his desk.

‘What? No!’ Wozza tried to stop him. ‘Boss, Pollard said she made a phone call from her car. We have the phone records—’

‘I admire your loyalty, Woz, but Pollard is our chief suspect in the murder investigation.’ He snapped the handcuffs tightly around my wrists.

I didn’t resist. What was the point?

‘I am placing you under arrest for the murder of Jack Barratt. You have the right to remain silent …’

‘No!’ Wozza wrung his hands together. ‘Boss you can’t—’

‘Move!’ Wheels elbowed Wozza out of the way and grabbed my left arm.

I turned back to Wozza, who looked distraught. I said one word to him. ‘Waffles.’

He nodded. Said nothing. Looked horrified.

Wheels’s fingers dug into my arm as he led me into the muster room. Looking up from their desks, Jane and Randall both did a double take as they saw Wheels lead me over to the processing desk—just like Wozza had done with Jack what seemed like a lifetime ago. He unlocked the handcuffs and I rubbed my wrists. Wheels seemed to take great delight in fingerprinting me like a common criminal.