Amy Beadsworth came over and sat across from me. “Liam is sleeping,” she said. “He wakes up early but, thankfully, sleeps in the afternoon. This gives me time to rest, too. I’m sorry about your house.”
I gave her the
“I think it’s nice that you’re staying with us. We have plenty of room.”
She laughed, the way rich people do: proper, and not too loud. “With Noel and Liam I don’t have time. Margarita, our maid, comes in the afternoon. She’s so much help. She keeps this place spiffy. She’s a wonderful cook, too. When I arrived from England, I didn’t even know how to break an egg.” She laughed. “Margarita has taught me a lot. I don’t know what I would do without her.”
I knew I’d tasted eggshells in my breakfast.
“You have family in Toronto?” she asked.
“A mother in Guelph.”
“What about brothers and sisters?”
“I was an only child.”
We heard the sound of the front door and Beadsworth came in, looking serious.
He kissed his wife and then sat down. She left us to talk.
“Did they find anything in my house?” I said.
“Nothing,” he said.
“What about RACE?” I said. “The address Joey gave us. Anything there?”
“Nothing. We found the location vacant. They knew we were coming.”
“How?”
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Great, for a guy who just saw his house burned down and the kid he was supposed to protect, dead.”
Beadsworth had gotten used to my sarcasm so he made no comment.
“Aldrich must be really pissed?” I said.
“Yes. He was upset.” Beadsworth leaned back and unbuttoned his coat. He crossed his legs. “Not more upset than I was.”
“It was a mistake,” I said.
“Yes, a very fatal mistake.”
“I could have gone down with my house.”
“Perhaps.”
“Hey,” I snapped. “I know you told me to watch over Joey but Joey shouldn’t have been under my protection. If I remember correctly, you insisted he be left with me. Why?”
“I thought he would be safe,” he said. “I was wrong.” He sucked in air and blew out. “Officer Rupret, we are no longer investigating RACE, or whatever this organization maybe called.”
“We just give up?” I said.
“Indefinitely.”
He didn’t seem pleased about it either.
“This doesn’t make sense,” I said.
“Of course, it does. The RCMP investigation in to the wrongdoings of the drug squad will go to court within the next few days. The media will be focusing primarily on this event. The Chief does not want any more fodder for the press.”
“What about RACE and Nex?” I asked.
“That is out of my hands. I’ll be going back to my divisional duties as of today.” He looked away. “Constable Barnes is making a speedy recovery.”
Knowing that made me feel a little better, but not a lot. Joey’s death would be something I’d never get over.
Beadsworth continued. “Constable Barnes doesn’t remember anything from that night, but the department’s psychologist is monitoring him. If you require I can arrange one for you.”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Last night you mentioned you were with this woman, Laura Spencer. Is this correct?”
I nodded.
“We did a search and several names came up, but none live in Toronto.”
“She doesn’t live here. She was visiting her sister.”
“Do you know her sister’s name?”
“No.”
“You also mentioned her sister lived around the block from your house. Do you have an address?”
I shook my head. I don’t know what I was thinking yesterday. Maybe I wasn’t thinking. Had I known Joey would be so vulnerable I would have acted differently.
“Can I see my house?” I said.
“Yes, of course. I can take you there. But there isn’t much to see, I’m afraid.”
I didn’t care. I wanted to see for myself. And, I wanted to meet my dear ’ol landlady.
The warehouse, located along the lakeshore, near the west end, was in a decrepit state. The multi- coloured-brown and pink-exterior bricks were fading, revealing white surface walls. The large rectangular windows were either tinted or broken, and those that were broken were boarded up with two-inch plywood. From the outside it looked like an unoccupied, rundown building, but inside it was anything but.
The warehouse was divided into four sections. One for the mixture of Nex, one for the production of the tablets, one for storage of the final product, and one for the distribution.
All the ingredients had been delivered. The blister packs, trays, liquid nitrogen freezing tunnels, refrigerators, and freeze-dryers had arrived early in the morning. They had everything to begin production of Nex.
Ms. Zee was surprised no alarms had gone off with these purchases. Someone could have alerted the police.
Kong entered the office and stood silently. Ms. Zee had sent him to all her suppliers. It was an asset to have Kong in the negotiation process of a transaction. Most suppliers would be reluctant to overcharge.
Kong grunted.
She understood. He was unhappy with her. He wanted to be the one to snap Joey’s neck.
“Kong,” Ms. Zee said. “You will have other chances. I promise.”
I found what was left of my house in total ruins. The second floor was black and charred, with the roof collapsed at an angle. There were a handful of investigators and a few clean-up personnel coming in and out of the house.
I stayed in the car, unable to generate the will to get out. Beadsworth was behind the wheel but said nothing. I wanted to go in, see with my own eyes, the state of my home. But I knew if I did I wouldn’t be able to get the image out of my head.
So I sat watching from a distance. My house and my life had gone up in smoke. No home to go to, no job, per se.
I asked Beadsworth to drop me a block away. David was home and my landlady was there, too. I spent the next two hours at the house. While we chatted, my landlady cried.
She would live with her son until her house was rebuilt. I could live with them, if I wanted, but I declined. I was thinking about spending some time with my mother, but I didn’t know how I was going to call her and tell her the bad news.
I left the house and headed for the Parking Enforcement Headquarters. Just as I entered the building people started coming towards me. They had seen the story on CITY-TV and asked me all sorts of questions.
“How did it happen?”
