Detective Luke Rawlings knocked on Rimis’s door. ‘DCI Carver’s just arrived, boss. He’s downstairs.’
‘Good, bring him up to the meeting room.’
Rawlings turned to leave.
‘Oh, and ask him if he wants a coffee, will you?’
Ten minutes later, Chief Inspector Carver had the attention of a room full of detectives and uniforms. Rimis surveyed the room, noticed Brennan was missing. What was she up to now?
Carver stood at the front of the room. ‘I know you’re all busy and I’ll try and keep this as brief as possible. We’re all under a lot of stress at the moment with these teenage gangs. After the brawl on Mowbray Road last night I thought it was important I come and speak to you in person.’ Carver leaned on the desk. ‘We’ve got kids as young as thirteen being assaulted and robbed. The hooligans responsible are demanding cash, phones anything of value. They’re generally picking on people their own age and we’ve seen in places like Hurstville and Campbelltown a lot more incidences of graffiti and tagging. Reported assaults are also escalating.’ Carver scanned the room, making eye contact. ‘So far this month in Hurstville alone we’ve charged three teenage males in relation to offences. A sixteen-year-old Hurstville boy has been charged with armed robbery and attempted extortion, and a fourteen-year-old Campbelltown boy has also been charged with criminal damage and drug-related offences.’
He tugged his ear. ‘I want to assure you, we are methodically working through the problem and I’m confident we’ll be able to stop this anti-social behaviour from escalating further.’ He turned to Jenny Choi. ‘Choi. You’re the community liaison officer; I want you to reassure the community. I want the message to get out there that if they’re approached, we don’t want people to put themselves in a situation where they’re at risk. People have the right to go about their business without being intimidated.’
Choi gave a nod.
‘Now, are there any questions?’ Carver said.
‘Sir?’
‘Yes?’ Carver turned to Luke. ‘It’s Rawlings, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, sir. Do you think Vincent Wan is behind these gangs? And if he is, are we any closer to tracking him down?’
‘Good question, Rawlings. There are many reasons why these gangs are on the rise. Social, cultural reasons and economic reasons are a big part of it, but our Intel suggests Vincent Wan could be directly involved in the gang culture here in Chatswood, but we don’t have any solid evidence…yet. But we are getting close. Anymore questions?’ Carver looked around the room.
Everyone shook their heads and Rimis led Carver out of the meeting room and down the corridor.
‘Got time for a quick lunch?’ Rimis asked.
‘Thanks, Nick but I’ve got another meeting at Hurstville. By the way, how’s Jill? Shouldn’t she have been in that briefing?’
‘Actually, I’m not sure where she is.’ Rimis looked at his watch. ‘It’s not like her to miss a meeting.’
‘Maybe you should give her a call.’
Rimis gave a half-grunt but didn’t bother mentioning he’d already tried her mobile twice. He wanted Carver to think Rimis had some control over his staff. The two men shook hands and said goodbye.
Rimis watched Carver weave his way through the open-plan offices and wondered why Carver appeared so concerned about Brennan. He shrugged, and walked downstairs to the front desk.
‘You seen Brennan this morning?’ Rimis asked.
‘No, but she was in last night,’ the station officer said. ‘It was just after we got the call about the brawl in Mowbray Road. She asked if you were in, but you and Detective Choi had just left.’
‘Did she say what she wanted to speak to me about?’
He shook his head. ‘Nope, but she looked disappointed when I told her you weren’t here.’
Rimis walked upstairs to his office. He sat down behind his desk and rang Brennan’s mobile phone for the third time. It went to voicemail. Five minutes later he tried again and there was still no answer.
Rimis walked into the detectives’ room. ‘Anybody seen or heard from Brennan? Choi, you spoken to her?’
‘No, boss,’ Choi replied while the others shook their heads.
‘Well, let me know if she calls.’
Rimis went back into his office and closed the door. All the team knew Carver was coming to the station this morning for a meeting. It was unlike Jill not to phone in if she was going to miss a station meeting. If he hadn’t heard from her by lunch time, he’d send a patrol car over to her apartment.
An hour later Jenny Choi tapped on Rimis’s office door and walked in. She pulled up a chair across the table from Rimis and sat down.
‘Boss, still no luck with Fin Calloway. I’ve just come back from her apartment. She wasn’t at home and none of the neighbours were either, so I couldn’t ask anyone if they’d seen her.’
He leaned forward. ‘Get a surveillance team over there. I want her found. She’s the only suspect we have, not to mention the only surviving member of the Calloway family. She could even be the next victim. I want two shifts in six-hour rotations. The moment she turns up, I want to know about it. And make sure they have a good description of her.’
‘She shouldn’t be too hard to spot if she’s in the neighbourhood,’ Choi said. ‘There aren’t many Caucasian, six-feet-tall women walking around Chatswood.’
‘Mmm…true.’ He paused. ‘You haven’t heard from Jill have you?’
‘No. I’ve phoned her a few times, even sent her a couple of texts to tell her we wanted to speak to her.’
For the past few hours Rimis had been trying to convince himself Brennan was off doing her own thing, as usual. That she’d walk into the office any minute and he’d tell her off for missing the meeting and not reporting in that day. But now? It had been too long. ‘Something’s not right.’ Rimis pushed his chair back and stood up. ‘I want you to organise a patrol car to go to Brennan’s place. And let me know immediately if you hear from either Brennan or Fin Calloway.’
‘Yes, boss.’
Choi left and Rimis tried to stay still, tried not to pace. The next half an hour dragged by, but finally his landline rang — Jenny Choi.
‘Well?’ Rimis ran his hand through his hair.
‘The patrol car just called in…Jill’s front door wasn’t locked and there were signs of a struggle inside the apartment. It was a right mess.’
‘Shit!’ Rimis hung up, walked down the corridor to the detectives’ room.
Choi was still holding the phone, her face ashen.
Rimis took a deep breath. ‘Listen up, everyone. Brennan’s missing.’ All eyes were on him. ‘As far as I know, the duty officer was the last person to see her, at around eight o’clock last night. Rawlings, see if we can get a trace on Jill’s mobile phone. And Chapman, I want you to check if she logged onto the police network last night.’
‘Right, boss,’ Choi said.
Rimis remembered Fin. ‘Choi any word on Fin Calloway yet?’
‘No, boss.’
‘Great, just great. So she’s missing as well?’
When Rimis walked back into his office, his mobile phone rang. It was Scott Carver.
‘Have you heard from Jill?’ Scott asked.
‘No. And I just got word from a patrol car I sent over there…signs of a struggle at her apartment. They checked with one of the neighbours but he said he didn’t hear or see anything. He was out, didn’t get home until well past midnight. I’m worried, Scotty. Really worried. With all this digging around she’s been doing, maybe she’s upset someone.’ Rimis leaned over the phone and rubbed his forehead. ‘The wrong someone.’
Chapman knocked on the door and Rimis waved him into his office. ‘Hang on will you?’ He looked up at Chapman. ‘What is it, Chapman? Did you find something?’
‘Jill logged a report last night. She went to see Adam Lee at his father’s restaurant. She saw a tattoo on his stomach that identified him as a member of the Red Cave Gang.’
Rimis’s shoulders slumped. ‘Shit.’ Rimis brought the mouthpiece closer. ‘Did you hear that?’
‘I heard,’ Scott Carver said.