Chapter 19 – The Twinbrook Police Department
When I arrived at the Twinbrook Police station on the following morning, I was advised that Dudley was in a meeting and would be with me shortly. I was shown into a waiting room, which despite the early hour was half filled with various Sims. In my experience, they would be a mix of anxious parents and partners making enquiries or waiting to bail out someone. Something happened last evening. Judging by the ages of the Sims, I’d say something went wrong at the Prom.
I thought back to last evening when Dudley’s niece Lolly arrived unexpectedly. She had said she’s left the prom when she found out from her friend that her mother had shoved Jayne. Except it wasn’t Jayne that Silver Racket jostled, but Alice.
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On seeing Alice, Lolly was excited that her Aunt Jayne had found her twin sister. But it was a surprise to both Dudley and me when Jayne introduced Alice as her sister, who also suffered from amnesia. It transpired that earlier that evening, Jayne had decided that she and Alice would become sisters. Cassie would be asked too, if she was willing. The three fairies may not have been born sisters but they shared the same DNA and most traits. They also shared the same experience of landing in a strange town without any clue as to their identity. That was a strong basis for a sisterhood if ever there was one. I guessed that Alice looked up to Jayne who was forthright and blunt, whereas Alice was more timid and afraid of abandonment. Wherever Jayne led, I grudgingly admitted to myself, Alice would probably follow.
It was also a surprise to Dudley that his wife and niece were making private enquiries about starting a Business as Usual Bistro franchise in the town, while he had been making his own private enquiries into leaving the town altogether.
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All of us entered into a lively chat about the pros and cons of being a both chef and restaurant owner. Dudley pointed out that the killer expenditure was going to be the fees to be paid to the franchisor which was worked out on the gross profit not the net profit. I suggested that Jayne and Lolly get more information regarding insurance expenses for the business. That expense could make or break the small margin of profit they were looking at. I could also see Dudley’s point of view. He was clearly concerned that being a business owner would put a strain on Jayne’s lifetime wish to raise a large family. Business owners didn’t leave all their worries behind when the shift was over, like an employee could. When Dudley said it was late and he’d drive Lolly home, I said my goodbyes.
I asked Alice if she’d prefer to stay with Dudley and Jayne or to go back to Willow Manor with me. I was surprised, and I’ll admit secretly delighted, that she chose to come with me. Despite her strong bond with Jayne, she wasn’t quite ready to let me walk out of her life just yet.
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We said our goodnights and to humour Alice, we went to check out the spa at the Skylight complex. It was as Jayne described, clean, private and very pleasant, despite the snow.
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Afterwards at Willow Manor, Alice and I went in separate directions. Alice went up the stairs, presumably to bed while I made a beeline for my computer. I quietly composed then sent the email to Keith who answered almost immediately using instant messaging. Keith said he and Diana were in the library despite the late hour. As an alien he didn’t actually need sleep like the rest of us Sims.
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Keith’s response to my query about what the aliens’ intentions, was that he could not tap into the alien hive mind. Since he had been born in Moonlight Falls to a fairy mother, he had no more idea about what the aliens were involved in than I did. His big news was that he and Diana had met another alien at university. His friend was an alien who was implanted into a male Sim from Bridgeport. Her name was Suas Blossom and Keith was sure he was in love.
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Keith lamented that Suas was not so sure their attraction was not just two lonely aliens meeting or a genuine relationship. He was more than ready to get romantic but she had him cooling his heels.
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Keith then asked me for advice on women. I declined to walk into that minefield. I wished him, Diana and Suas well in their studies and said goodnight.
I then inserted my memory stick to look over my notes on a group first known to me as the “Masters of the Crown”. I was careful to keep all my research on this group off my laptop. I had dug around in obscure places over the years hoping to get a handle on the group who first came to my attention when they had infiltrated a small protest group of technophobes in Sunset Valley when I was still working at the Science Lab. I had been speaking at a pro-science rally when we were set upon by some thugs.
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That was one of the reasons that I joined the Police Department in Sunset Valley. Apart from the keys to my personal cruiser, (which was a huge incentive to join the SVPD), I’d hoped to get access to information about this group of weirdos. I had begun to build an independent case on this group in my own time. All I had was a name the “Masters of the Crown” to go on. I worked on the case whenever I could but information was scarce. Also every victim or witness I’d managed to locate was too frightened to spill the beans on them.
Except one. I had been scheduled to meet with a mysterious contact when I had been sucked through the time portal. I’d missed our meeting because of the time taken for the onset, duration and recovery period that time portal travel entails. The only clue left at the rendezvous point were the words “Máistreacht na Cruinne” written in the sand. If I’d been a few minutes longer getting there, the incoming tide would have washed the words away.
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It took me a long time to find anybody able to translate the words which were apparently Celtic in origin. My interpreter turned white when he read “The Masters of the Universe”. “Crown” had obviously been a mispronunciation of the word “Cruinne” when said with a strong Celtic brogue. Not to be confused with the cult TV cartoon series, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, this bunch of psychos and sociopaths had nothing to do with mastering any skill, except perhaps sabotage.
This cult was mostly made up of occults who were determined to stop the advance of science. These anti-science rebels had done a lot of damage with the spread of faux-science as well as false and misleading interpretations of real scientific data. They were not active as an organisation in their own right, but as subversive elements within other organisations which espoused similar beliefs. Their agents radicalised their host organisations’ tactics and philosophy. Sims who were initially just technophobic or skeptics found themselves becoming hard core rebels.
But clearly there was more to it than just radical anti-science. Evidently my interpreter knew more than he was letting on, but no inducement would make him talk about what he knew. He began to speak only in his native tongue, begging for something that I could only assume was mercy. I had to let him go, he was not a detainee. He was only there to help me. When I thanked him for his assistance, he told me in Simlish that not even Finn McCool could help me.
I had not heard of this Sim and was not surprised when I’d later learned that Finn McCool was a Celtic legend alleged to have built the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. If the legendary saviour of Ireland couldn’t help me, I was out of my depth trying to find stuff there in Sunset Valley. I had hoped I might find out more if I went to Dragon Valley which was steeped in Celtic lore. But other events intervened in my life and my interest in the group waned.
As I pondered this, my name was called and I was then shown into a room which I knew from long usage of similar rooms in other police stations, was an interrogation room. Because of the crowding in the general waiting area, I was not initially concerned. What Dudley and I had to discuss was a private matter and the extra soundproofing an interrogation room provided was reassuring.
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I heard a faint click and noticed that the recording equipment was active. Just as I was adjusting to this new development, Dudley entered the room wearing his full dress uniform and quietly closed the door. I saw a brief glimpse of a weapon on the officer standing outside the door. I wondered if, as per standard operating procedure, that there was now an armed guard posted on the outside of the door. I didn’t understand why. But the uniformed man who greeted me now was not the affable Dudley of the previous evening. Gone were the camaraderie and the friendly banter of Sims who I thought, had come to like and respect each other in a relatively short space of time.
“Good morning, Gobias,” he said. “Would you please take a seat?” I did so with reluctance. I couldn’t be more surprised if Dudley had slapped me. I felt gutted. The Sim I’d really come to like and hope that I could depend on, was not behaving like my friend.
“Do I need a lawyer?” I asked thankful that I now had a really sharp lawyer, who could represent me if I needed him.
“You are not being charged with anything so a lawyer will be unnecessary?”
“Then I would like to exercise my right to leave. I am asking you to allow me to leave the building, unescorted and unhindered.”
Dudley watched me closely as he chose his words. “You already know that we can hold you for 24 hours without any charge. You may as well hear what this is all about.” I have to admit that I was indeed curious but I was also a whole lot more apprehensive about why this process was necessary.
Dudley then said, “Gobias, I have to inform you that this interview is being taped.” I nodded unsure why I had been broadsided again. I did not see this coming. Was Dudley simply covering his butt because he had accessed the IDS database and used my old password? Whatever the reason, it was most unusual for the head of the Forensics Unit to be taking this interview. Dudley’s specialty was a Forensic Scientist and a Criminalist. Moreover, I sensed a hesitation in him. Maybe he didn’t want to do this anymore than I did. I resolved to just sit this out and look for technical grounds for whatever charges they may dream up against me to be dropped.
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Dudley sat down in one of the chairs opposite me and drew out a file. He said for the purposes of the tape, “Interview commenced 9:28:22 AM, 14 January. For the record would you please state your name?”
“My name is Gobias Rigby Koffi,” I said without any tone or feeling.
Dudley opened the file and began reading aloud. “Gobias Rigby Koffi, born 2 November in Appaloosa Plains, to Gaylord Simpson Koffi and Alva Doris Koffi, nee Rigby, of 305 Sweetapple Ridge Way. Parents divorced when you were five. Gaylord Koffi awarded sole custody. Alva Koffi married Darris Chesley Teeter on February 14. You and your father left Appaloosa Plains on February 15 with one-way plane tickets to Sunset Valley. Your father Gaylord bought a house at 433 Sunnyside Boulevard where you grew up. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“Gobias Rigby Koffi attended Community School for the Gifted at 101 Water Lily Lane, Sunset Valley. Graduated with a B minus average and voted Most Likely to Get Eaten by Laganaphyllis Simnovorii.” Dudley looked up at me, “Your classmates didn’t like you much did they?”
“That wasn’t it. It was a joke. I was a geek. I was interested in science and invention. I’d always planned to work at the Science Lab. They were just poking fun at my ambition.”
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“Some ambition!” Dudley said looking back to the folder. “You started work for the Landgraab Industries Science Laboratory on Pir Cilium Lane, Sunset Valley and worked as a Test Subject for three years before being promoted to Lab Tech. You worked for five years as Lab tech before promotion to Useless Contraption Manipulator and then eight years before promotion to Fertilizer Analyst. Supervisor reports during that time state that you showed a complete lack of enthusiasm for the allocated tasks. Your work performance record was abysmal and your absenteeism was reported as being chronic. Why didn’t they sack you?” Dudley looked at me for a response.
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“My father had died of starvation, alone and unnoticed. I felt guilty that I didn’t know that he had been accidently locked in an equipment store at the stadium for five days. I just thought he’d found a lady friend. My boss understood that I lost my way a little.”
“More than a little, I’d say,” Dudley looked at me. When I made no further response he continued. “With your inheritance, you bulldozed the house you grew up in and built the house you now call Sur La Plage, which I’m told is French for ‘on the beach’. Is that correct?”
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“Yes, your information is correct but your pronunciation is not. You need more emphasis on the ‘S’ in Sur and less on the ‘r’.”
“You speak French?”
“Oui monsieur.”
“Where did you learn French?”
“Google Translate.” Dudley stared at me as he pursed his lips trying hard to keep a straight face. I stared back keeping my face neutral. How could I possibly say I’d learned French in the wheat fields around Arles in southern France painting with some friends in1888?
He turned back to the file in front of him. “Okay, so then you worked as Fertilizer Analyst for nine years before promotion to Carnivorous Plant Tender. The next day you quit your job. Nine years working knee deep in poop to score a promotion and then you quit! What happened?”
I shrugged, “The Cow Plant bites hurt like crazy. I lost my ambition to work at the Science Lab.”
“Overnight?”
“Once bitten twice shy.”
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“So you left the Science Lab for the Sunset Valley Police Department on Skyborough Boulevard, starting as a Snitch. You worked your way rapidly through Desk Jockey, Traffic Cop, Patrol Officer and Lieutenant. You chose to enter the Special Agent Career track and worked in the Vice Squad before you were advised you’d earned a promotion to Undercover Specialist. But you quit before the ink was even dry on your promotion confirmation!”
“That sounds about right.” Dudley stared at me for a long time and I held his gaze. He looked away first.
“So, moving right along. You started work in the Music career at the Wilsonoff Theatre at Mirabella Plaza and quickly rose through the grades to Music Talent Scout. You were on the fast track with five promotions in less than two years when you don’t have a musical bone in your body? Doesn’t that strike you as odd?”
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I shrugged, “I like music.”
“You liked it so much that you quit again as soon as you’d earned the promotion to Music Talent Scout?”
“Yes I quit. I’d had a previous relationship with one of the newly promoted members of the quartet. I thought it was way too awkward for her.”
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“That’s not what she says. The quartet had no idea why you quit but they all affirm that they liked you and respected you and were in awe of your skill as a pianist. Your boss said he thought you were on a fast track to become a Hit Movie Composer. He said despite not being a virtuoso, you had real talent. The first he heard that you had quit was when the military advised him that you’d joined up.”
“That was probably how it happened. I don’t really remember.” Dudley stared at me, and again, I stared right back.
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“So working in poop again, you started work as a Latrine Cleaner for the Fort Gnome Military Base on Sierra Tango Boulevard in Sunset Valley. You once again rapidly rose through the ranks to Astronaut! Let me just say that again. Astronaut. You were an astronaut! The best of the best of the best! The right stuff and all that? Then after four years at the top, you retired. Why?”
“I was already well past retirement age. The eighteen hour shifts were too much for me.”
“Too much?” Dudley leafed through his folder and brought out a document reading aloud. “As a Top Gun, you competed in the Handiness or Repair Strategy Exam and not only passed it, you had the highest marks?”
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“Did I? They didn’t tell me that. Only that I’d passed.”
At the age of 66, you competed in the Really Hard Athletic Test, R.H.A.T. for short, and were one of the few participants to ever complete the course. That’s remarkable for a Sim at any age, but for a Sim almost an elder, that’s astounding?”
“I’d learned Alchemy by then. Invigorating elixirs come in pretty handy.”
“That’s nice to know. So Gobias, four different careers. What does that suggest to you?”
“Short attention span?”
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Dudley could not suppress a quick chuckle and looked exceedingly guilty for his lapse. I realised that this interview was being monitored as well as taped. I guess I should have known this as Dudley did not have the time to research and produce such a thorough dossier since I saw him last evening. Someone else had done that and that someone was most probably watching my interview. I resolved to be more circumspect with my answers.
“You want to try that answer again?” said Dudley putting on his hard face again.
I sighed. “My lifetime wish was to be a Jack of All Trades. I got my wish.”
“Well here is where things really get interesting.” Dudley said looking carefully at me. “During the time you were a Squadron Leader for the Military at the Fort Gnome Military Base in Sunset Valley, Triple Agent Chester Swain of the Moonlight Falls Police Department recruited a local man named Elias Stavros to join the MFPD as a consultant. Records show that Chester Swain was impressed by the knowledge of police procedures shown by Mr Stavros. After two years Mr Stavros then accepted a full time position working with the Vice Squad of the MFPD where he worked for a further six years, during which time he married Faith Kalamia and changed his name to Elias Stavros-Kalamia. What can you tell me about Captain Elias Stavros-Kalamia?”
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“He was a good police officer?”
“Yes, by all accounts he was a first-rate police officer, dedicated, clever and with a comparatively high success rate. Can I tell you what is so interesting about this police officer?”
“Sure go ahead.”
Dudley looked disconcerted. “Captain Stavros never missed a day’s work. Apart from his honeymoon leave, and the seasonal holidays, he was at work at his desk every day of the eight years he worked for the MFPD. That is a remarkable record in itself! Not one day for sick leave. Amazing as that is, it was matched by Gobias Rigby Koffi. During the exact time period, neither Sim ever missed a day’s work! What do you make of that?”
“Strong work ethics,” I said blandly. Dudley glared at me.
“I’ll tell you what else is extraordinary about these two men. They have the same fingerprints and the same DNA. Did you know that even identical twins don’t have the same fingerprints?”
“No. Fingerprint analysis was not an area I specialised in.”
“You told me last night that you were Captain Elias Stavros of the Moonlight Falls Police Department. How do you explain that you were two different Sims, in two different towns twelve hundred kilometres apart but in the same time zone, at exactly the same time? Even a supersonic jet couldn’t get you to both places in time to do both duties.” Dudley leaned in eager to hear my answer.
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“There’s no logical explanation.” I said evenly.
“So let’s hear the illogical one.” said Dudley
“I’m not saying anything further without my lawyer.” I said with emphasis.
“I’ve told you, you don’t need a lawyer,” answered Dudley without heat.
“Yes you did. I know I have the right to remain silent. I choose to exercise that right as of now,” I said equally without heat. “Either let me go or charge me. Alternatively, you could introduce me to whoever is watching this interview?”
Dudley looked up at the opaque window over my shoulders and nodded to whoever was there. Shortly thereafter an elderly thin man shuffled through the door.
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“Thank you Inspector Dougherty. That will be all. You may go.” the man said to Dudley.
“Thank you Sir, but in the absence of his lawyer, I’d like to stay. Gobias may prefer to have an impartial witness to the proceedings.” Impartial? After the grilling that Dudley gave me, how could he think I’d see him as impartial?
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“I understand your concern, Inspector Dougherty, but you don’t have the security clearance for this interview.” Dudley turned and gave me one last long look and exited the room. The elderly man said, “Interview terminated 9:42:15 AM.” The green light on the CCTV camera turned to red.
The man did not offer to shake my hand nor did I rise from my seat to extend mine.
“Hello Gobias,” he said with a wan smile as he sat down. “I imagine you want to know what that was all about.”
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“Yes George, I do” I said.
