Chapter 55 Birdy
BIRDY
“The results are inconclusive,” Carter says, staring down at his screen.
“What does that mean?” Harrison asks.
“Let me see that,” I say, taking the phone from Carter and reading the message.
“According to the coroner’s report, they cannot confirm that the victim was Eden.
They have requested and are still waiting for dental records, but they say the DNA sample from the missing woman’s hairbrush is not a match with the victim. ”
“Well, I guess there’s no need for your little visit now,” Harrison says, looking a bit too pleased with himself. “Thanks for popping in, but you can’t arrest me for killing my wife if she isn’t dead. And if they can’t identify the body—”
“Just because they haven’t yet doesn’t mean they won’t,” Carter says.
“You just can’t let it go, can you?” Harrison replies.
“There’s still dental records.”
“Good luck with that. She didn’t have any teeth left.”
“How do you know?” Carter asks.
That’s a very good point but I’ve grown weary of this shit show. “Where is Mary, Mr. Woolf?” I ask, and they both turn to stare at me as though they had forgotten I was here.
“Forget about Mary. I think we should arrest him; he’s practically confessed. Look at the suitcases in the hallway, he was about to do a runner,” Carter says.
The two of them go at it again.
“You think you’ve got it all figured out, don’t you?” Harrison responds with an unkind smile. “You don’t know shit, you pathetic little prick. You should be more careful. You might be dead soon too. It happens to someone somewhere every day, every hour, every minute, every second.”
“Perhaps you would like to continue this conversation at the station?”
“I’d rather slam my penis in a car door.”
Why must men behave like men?
“Let’s just all take a breath and take a step back,” I say, trying to calm things down, but Harrison is having none of it.
“Look at you, Sergeant Carter, playing dress-up like the rest of the losers in this village tonight. Except your costume is a police uniform. Sergeant Cock-up would be a better fit. Wearing a badge doesn’t make you an upstanding member of the community.
How dare you come into my home, judging me.
You’re a hypocrite and you should learn to keep your dick in your pants.
Walking around like you matter. You’re nobody. You’re nothing.”
“And you’re a gold-plated arsehole,” Carter says.
“If you won’t tell us the truth about your wife, maybe we should arrest your freak of a daughter and question her again instead?
” he says and Harrison launches himself at him.
Carter is the younger and fitter of the two men and dodges out of the way.
I put myself between them, trying to keep them apart, wondering what the fuck I am doing here and how it came to this.
“That’s enough. Both of you. Harrison Woolf, I am arresting you for intimidating a police officer and withholding evidence from a police investigation. You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defense if you do not mention when questioned—”
“Is this a fucking joke?” Harrison roars.
“Do I look like I’m laughing?” I say, taking out my handcuffs. He stares at them, then at me, and regains his composure.
“You don’t need those, I’m sorry,” he says, sounding like a smaller version of himself. Defeated. Deflated. “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for my daughter.”
It’s exactly what Carter said about his own child earlier tonight.
The two men have more in common than I think either of them realize.
I catch Carter smiling. “Wait outside,” I tell him.
“But—”
“But nothing. You almost jeopardized this entire investigation with your misconduct. Again. I’m calling it in and I’m calling for backup. Wait outside.”