Canal Bridge

Chapter Two: Missing Persons

"Right, three missing persons reported today all with connections to the same gang." My partner sighs and she slams the paper work on her desk and throws herself onto her desk chair opposite mine. "This will be a doddle then," I return with hopeful eyes. Janette gives me a look of agreement as she starts fiddling with her computer to write an email. Myself and Jan had been partners in law enforcement for six years, six wonderful years. She is the most hard working officer I have known in my 10 years as an investigator. Usually we work in murder inquiries but with our extensive knowledge of local gang culture, we get occasional odd cases assigned that relate to the gangs. 4 years ago we put away a very important gang member: Tony Maneera. Maneera was a horrible man, we had him put away for the murder of a young man from a rival gang. It was a horrific case but the one I enjoyed the most. Putting away evil people always brightens my mood.

After 12 gruelling hours of CCTV footage, we managed to capture where all three people initially met and where they went following their meeting. "Are you kidding?" I exclaimed as Jan told me the name of the people who lived at the house they went to: Holly Maneera and her son and daughter.

"Well, this certainly got interesting. Isn't that what you wanted?" Jan responds, gently nudging my shoulder in an attempt to hold back her own enjoyment. We grabbed our coats in haste and went to ask Ms Maneera some questions about why gang members were again appearing at her doorstep and how they came to disappear. The two men who disappeared were only around 20 but the woman who was reported missing by her husband was 26 years old. It had now been 3 days since no one had heard from them. Not much of a worry for gang members but even our source from their gang hadn't seen them back and they were due back the same night they were seen at the Maneera's residence. Our intel is unsure of what they were sent to do, so this is where the leg work is taking us. What were they doing that day? We need to produce a timetable of events that lead to them going missing. I love my job.

12:00pm: Missing persons spotted at the Maneera residence

Leave after a few minutes.

I stare at the folder we had. If they left, why would this have anything to do with the Maneera family. We have to remove suspicions but as of yet I don't even have an inkling of suspicion about Ms Maneera. As we approached the small building, conjoined to a maze of different houses all looking the same, Jan looked at me for a moment with an expression on her face of uncertainty. We knocked on the black front door, watching as the paint flakes off onto the ground like the door was crying black tears. Out comes the tall thin woman we were looking for. She had a cigarette in one hand with her other arm crossed over herself. Holly was what doctors would call anorexic. Her arms were as thin as a cats whisker and as frail as a fully decayed twig. She was even worse than the last time we had seen her, with bags under her eyes that were marking out her skeletons eye sockets and working their way down to the corners of her mouth.

"What do you want?" She snapped. Obviously, she was fed up of police by this point.

"Detective Halms and Detective Spence" Jan said in a powerful voice, while showing her badge.

"Can we ask you a few questions Ms Maneera? You're not in trouble." I expanded in a more sensitive manner. Holly's eyes darted from myself and Jan as she tapped her foot and bit her cracked lips. She seemed to be pondering as to whether we had something to prosecute her with. Holly sighed and moved out the way to let us in. As we entered, we saw the state the house was in. Clothes and toys all over the place, mouldy food left lying around and a damp smell penetrating the air. Something scattered by the fridge as we passed the kitchen into the front room. Jan flinched at it before finding her seat. Holly looked over to see what the fuss was about and said in a calm tone after taking a drag of her cigarette: "Oh yeah, we got rats. Getting people in to sort it soon, might just get a cat though. Caleb has always wanted a cat after all." Caleb was Holly's son, aged 12 years old and already a menace. He had been caught stealing from shops once or twice so Holly has had her fair share of police to deal with.

"What do you want then?" She snaps, bringing me back into the room.

"Could you tell me what you were doing on the 3rd of August at around 12pm?" Holly again have us a nervous look before breaking her own walls down in a visible manner.

"Look, I don't know why those kids came here. They were asking for T. They left when I told them she was with friends. That's all I know. If there's anything else you wanna know, you best be arresting me." With that, we were kicked out onto the curb with more questions left unanswered than when we arrived.

"Who exactly is T? It could've been her sister Tina? We can get someone to go and question her. It could be Tony's best friend from the gang Tyrone?" Jan looked at me.

"Holly said she, so it can't be Tyrone." As Jan spoke, she seemed mid thought so I took a moment to ponder the possibilities. "You've forgotten one." I was sure that I hadn't. There was no one else that I could think about. Jan smiled as if she knew what had happened already. "Tabitha. The daughter."