Dangerous Games

Chapter 9

That afternoon we both got yet another call to the Superintendent's office. He seemed a much changed man.

"I just thought I should apologise to you two for the way what you had to say was dismissed earlier on. You weren't treated particularly fairly and it was wrong of me to say nothing in your defence."

"Thank you, sir. That means a lot."

"It might also interest you to know that I actually defended you in front of those two. That's what went on after you left the room. Unfortunately, when it came to whether to support your findings, I was outvoted." Of course, we only had his word on that. He wouldn't be the first police officer to cover himself after the fact.

"Does that mean that you believe us?"

The man paused, clearly reluctant to commit himself. He rubbed his chin, in the way that people do when they're trying to choose their words carefully. "Er, well, yes it does. I'm convinced there's more going on here than meets the eye. I'll put it no more strongly than that. The question is, how do we proceed from here?"

"Well, assuming that there is something supernatural going on, we have to find out as much as we can about it. Call in experts."

"Experts? You mean like a psychic or something? Good heavens, no. I've been told in no uncertain terms to drop this paranormal stuff or kiss goodbye to my pension. They've made it clear that this girl is to be found through normal police procedure or not at all. God knows what they expect us to do that we haven't already done."

"Dare I ask, sir, were the usual suspects interviewed as the Commander suggested?"

"Day one. You were out sifting through rubbish if I remember rightly. Everyone was accounted for, all alibis checked. You're right – we literally have no leads. That's one of the reasons why I'm starting to take this tall tale seriously. I've got no choice."

"We appreciate that this must be difficult for you, sir."

"So here's the plan. I'm drafting you two to keep working on this angle – unofficially, of course. You can commandeer any of the station's resources, but I don't want to know about it through the usual channels. And nothing on paper, understood?"

"Yes, sir." Things were looking up. Neither of us in our wildest dreams had imagined that Sugden of all people would be supporting us. It was mark of how desperate the man must have been.

"Also, I'd be careful who you talked to about this. Need-to-know basis only. That's if you value your careers. Trust me, there's nothing like getting a reputation for being a spoon-bender to scupper your chances of ever becoming sergeant."

"Well, sir," I said, "I've been a humble beat constable too long to ever harbour any ambitions of promotion to sergeant, but I'm sure Constable Ogden is grateful for the advice."

"Yes, sir, thank you." Claire chimed in, taking her cue from me.

"Do you have a strategy?"

"Not really, sir. To be honest, we thought you'd come down on us like a ton of bricks if we took this any further."

"Well, here's something. Chief Superintendent Brewer is arranging for some top professor of psychology, or parapsychology or some such nonsense, to come from University College London to debunk all this once and for all. Really put this supernatural theory to bed and no mistake. He'll be here tomorrow. Lots of press, full television coverage. Probably crowds of people too. The idea is that he's going to repeat the Elevator Game in front of witnesses, and then prove to the world that it doesn't do anything that can't be explained by modern science."