Millar didn’t bother looking at the time when he pulled into his laneway. It didn’t matter. He already knew it was too late to get much sleep before meeting Penner at nine. Grabbing his bag off the back seat, he quietly closed the car door. He walked up to the house and unlocked the front door, throwing his keys on the table and dropping his bag at his feet.
‘Well, good morning, stranger.’ He heard a voice coming from the living room as he took off his wet suit jacket and shirt.
‘Hey T. Late night or early morning?’ He asked his daughter, Tina, as he walked into the living room.
‘Bit of both, you?’ Tina was curled up in a corner of the couch, beneath a blanket.
‘Way too late a night. What are you reading?’ he asked, seeing a book across her lap.
‘Oh, just some book on profiling by some know-it-all detective guy.’ It was Millar’s second book, the one he had written after finishing a speaking tour at various precincts across the States. During that tour, he had met a lot of other profilers and learned several new ideas and theories. ‘Thought it might help me sleep. Pretty boring stuff!’
‘Nice, thanks for the review. Do me a favour and don’t post it on-line,’ Millar said, smiling. ‘I need to shower and get a few hours of sleep. What time are you heading to school? I can drive you at eight thirty, if you want?’
‘Thanks, but I have to be there early for practice. Don’t forget I have a match this afternoon. Three thirty. You promised this time,’ Tina said. The look in her eye was a cross between accusation and hope.
Millar paused in the hallway. ‘I’ll try, but no guarantees. We got another body tonight so…’ he started.
‘Yeah, yeah, I know. The dead always come first. Whatever,’ Tina said, opening up the book again.
‘Now that’s not fair, T!’
‘Don’t talk to me about what’s fair! When was the last time you actually came to watch me? Probably back in my first year! That’s six years, Dad! How fair is that? As soon as there’s a body you’re there in a flash! Maybe if you spent some time with the living, Mom wouldn’t have left,’ Tina said, slamming the book shut in her lap.
‘Tina, you know we were having problems long before I joined homicide. My job had nothing to do with the split.’ Millar rubbed his tired eyes. ‘Look, I’ll do my best to get there this afternoon, okay?’
‘Don’t bother,’ Tina said, tossing the book down. She unwound from the couch, letting the blanket fall on the floor and went to the front hall closet. Grabbing her gym bag, she muttered, ‘See ya later,’ before slamming the front door behind her.
‘Man, life was so much easier before she became a teen,’ Millar thought as he climbed the stairs to take a shower. Even as a little girl, Tina had always had a bit of an attitude, but it had gotten much worse over the years. Her mother said it was just hormones but Millar really wasn’t too sure. He could profile criminals, but his own daughter was a mystery.
Only a few short hours later, his alarm went off. ‘How is it eight thirty already?’ he wondered. Getting out of bed, he pulled a clean, dry shirt and suit out of the closet. He dressed quickly and went into the bathroom to brush his teeth, something he had evidently forgotten to do before going to bed; his mouth felt like he’d smoked a pack of cigars. ‘My God, I look awful!’ he said out loud, looking at the bags under his eyes. This job had really started to take a toll on him. Late nights, early mornings, not enough sleep and too much junk food eaten while sitting in his car.
His phone rang as he was straightening his tie. He glanced at the number before he answered.
‘Hey, Penner. Get any sleep?’
‘Not nearly enough. Change of plans. I’m starved, want to meet at Joe’s for breakfast, then head over to Ms. Wong’s place?’
‘Sounds like a plan. I can be there in, say, fifteen minutes?’ Millar said checking his watch.
‘Works for me, see you there. Order me a coffee if you get there first. Later.’
‘Likewise.’ Millar hung up the phone. He walked downstairs, passing through the living room, his book still on the floor where Tina had dropped it. ‘Not sure why she thinks this is boring. I thought it was one of my better works,’ he thought, picking it up and putting it back on the shelf next to his other two books. ‘Well, let’s get this day going.’ He picked up his keys from the table and headed out to his car.
Millar got to Joe’s before Penner did. It was closer to his house than hers, since she lived right downtown. More convenient for work and for going out at night, but not as good if you had kids, which she didn’t. He went in and grabbed a table close to the door—it was one of the only tables left. Surveying the diner to see who else was there, he saw mainly beat cops, the odd suit, and one table of old guys, exchanging stories after their morning walk.
‘Terry, how’s it going? Been a while. Been busy?’ Joe asked, sitting down across from Millar at the table. Joe was an older guy with grey, straggly hair. He had been a cop in the neighbourhood for almost thirty years, but had to take early retirement because of an injury. He used part of his retirement fund to open the diner. He liked hearing the stories from all the cops that came in—made him feel like he was still working.
‘Yeah, real busy, Joe. Had another murder last night, kind of a weird one. Seems like the body was dumped over on Wellington, right at the Terry Fox statue. Strange place to dump a body, right out in the open like that,’ Millar said.
‘Strange indeed! Definitely not your usual dump site. So, eating alone today?’ Joe asked.
‘No, Penner should be here soon. We’ll get a couple of coffees and the usual when you get a chance. Have to inform next of kin this morning then off to the autopsy sometime today, I think,’ Millar said.
‘You got it,’ said Joe, getting up from the table. ‘You know, you’re real lucky to have a partner like Sue.’
‘So she likes to tell me…all the time. Speak of the devil,’ Millar said as Penner came in the door.
‘Hi, darling,’ Joe said, giving her a hug as she got to the table. ‘Looking good as always! The usual?’
‘Thanks. And yes, please.’ Penner sat down across from Millar. She reached over and pulled a hair off of Millar’s shoulder. ‘It’s like your shedding these days. Stress?’
‘Probably old age. Definitely noticing more and more hairs in the bottom of the shower in the mornings,’ Millar said.
‘That sounds about right,’ Penner said with a smile. There was only a couple of years between the two of them, but Millar looked almost ten years older. ‘You know, a good moisturizer would do you wonders.’
‘I’ll take my wrinkles, thanks.’
While waiting for Joe to bring their coffees, Millar looked around the room again and noticed Constable Grant sitting with a group of cops on the other side of the restaurant. ‘Excuse me for a sec,’ he said to Penner, standing up and walking over to him.
‘Constable Grant?’ Millar said getting to his table.
‘Oh, hi, Detective,’ Grant said, wiping some egg off of his chin. ‘I was going to stop by your office this morning on my way home. I was able to get in touch with the bus company this morning. The last bus passed by your crime scene at 12:48,’ he said, checking his notes. ‘The driver was a Mister Sanjay Singh. He’s working again this afternoon at 3:00. Did you want me to get him into the office to see you at some point?’
‘Just give me his number. I don’t know when I’ll be available. Do you know if the officers that canvassed the area last night got any leads?’ Millar asked, staring at the food on the table. His stomach rumbled.
‘Not too sure, sir, but I can find out from my Sergeant, if you’d like.’ Grant started to stand up from the table.
‘No that’s fine, finish your breakfast. Just have your Sergeant call me at some point, okay?’ Millar turned to walk back to his table. He could see Joe putting down their coffees.
‘Will do, sir,’ Grant said, returning to his eggs.
As Millar sat back down at his table, Penner was already finishing her coffee. ‘Thirsty?’ he asked, taking a sip of his own. He wasn’t sure how Penner could drink coffee as quickly as she did without burning her mouth.
‘Tired. Just trying to stay awake.’ She waved her hand, getting Joe’s attention. ‘Another cup when you can?’
‘No problem, Sue,’ Joe said.
‘So, what’s the plan?’ Penner asked, turning her attention back to Millar. ‘Any idea what time Faye’s planning on starting in on Ms. Wong?’ Joe arrived with their food and a fresh pot of coffee. ‘Thanks, Joe.’
‘For you, anything,’ Joe said.
‘Well,’ Millar started, putting pepper on his eggs and potatoes. ‘Not too sure. I’ll give her a call when we’re done. I figured we would head to Ms. Wong’s place later on this morning, see if anyone’s home yet. I’m supposed to go see Tina’s match at three thirty, so hopefully I get time.’ He watched as Penner put ketchup on her eggs. ‘Gross.’
‘Whatever, you don’t have to eat it. How is Tina? Still moody?’ Penner asked, having another sip of coffee.
‘As ever. Hopefully this teen-aged angst stuff passes before too long. It gets real tiring, real quick,’ Millar said between bites.
‘It’s only really started. You probably have at least two more years, if you’re lucky,’ Penner said finishing off her coffee, looking to get Joe’s attention again.
‘Excellent. At least it’s something to look forward to, I guess. So, any thoughts on the dump site?’ Millar asked as Joe showed up with more coffee.
‘Got me,’ said Penner. ‘Maybe she was being carried and the person got tired? Really don’t know.’ Penner picked up a strip of bacon.
‘Could be, I guess. Even though she was petite, a hundred pounds is a hundred pounds. Dead weight would feel even heavier. Don’t know how far I would be able to carry a body.’ Millar finished off his sausages. He kind of wished he had ordered an extra helping.
‘People don’t usually just leave their victims out in the open like that, not unless they killed them there.’ Penner’s phone rang. ‘Hello? Oh hey, Faye. At ten? Sounds good, we’ll see you then. Cheers.’ Penner drained her third cup of coffee. ‘Okay, eat up. We got a date with a body.’