Beadsworth shot me a look.
I didn’t care. “Also, the money you give to you wife at night. You know, in brown and white envelopes.”
Beadsworth said, “Officer Rupret, please be silent.”
I wasn’t going to stay silent. “Tell her about your children.”
“Officer Rupret. You don’t realize-”
“-No! You don’t realize. Playing everyone like a fool so you could get rich. You did it just for money, didn’t you?” I was visibly upset.
Laura looked at me, then at Beadsworth, and then at me again. She then started to laugh.
Villains! They were all crackers.
When she was done she said to me, “You’re not as bright as I gave you credit for.”
What was she talking about?
“You think he is the informant?” she said, pointing to Beadsworth.
Then I saw the gun, wedged in Beadsworth’s back by the blond man. Beadsworth’s head was bowed low-in defeat.
“Where did you find him?” Laura said.
The blond man answered, “He was snooping around the back.”
“A big mistake, Detective Beadsworth,” Laura said. “Tie him up.”
Beadsworth was tied up-wrists and ankles-and placed ten feet behind me. We sat in silence. Our captors had left us. They had probably gone off to some meeting to decide our fates. I didn’t care. I was wrong about so many things. It hurt.
I was glad Beadsworth was behind me. I couldn’t face him. Here I was, ready to tell everything I knew about him, to the one person who had deceived me.
I heard footsteps and saw Laura emerge from behind the metal door. Right behind her was the owner of the shop.
“This is not good,” he said nervously. “We can’t have police officers here. We have customers upstairs.”
“Get rid of them,” she said.
“They are police officers,” he said.
“Not them. The customers.”
“That might be-“
“Tell them you have a gas leak and the building must be evacuated. Give them a voucher for a free drink. Just get them out.”
He didn’t look happy.
She said, “We are so close. We keep them here for a few days until-” she stopped when she realized I was eavesdropping. “Kong will watch over them.”
I cringed.
When they were leaving, I said, “I never liked the wallpaper. The color was ugly.”
The-so-called-owner turned to me, then gingerly walked away.
It was quiet again. The metal door was shut tight to prevent the outside world from hearing our screams. I was prepared to scream.
At least they didn’t shut the lights off and left us in darkness.
I could hear Beadsworth breathing in the back. Ever since he was bound, he had not said a word.
I didn’t know what to say. But I wanted to say something.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
No response. Only breathing.
“I was wrong, okay?” I said. “I thought you were the mole.”
“And how did you deduce that, Officer Rupret?” he finally said.
“You were acting strange. It was a mistake. I’m sorry, man.” I tried twisting my head but could only manage up to a certain extent. “How did you know I was here?” I said.
“I’ve been following you,” came the answer from behind.
“Following me? For how long?”
“Since yesterday.”
“You were behind me when I was trailing the Lincoln?” I asked.
“Yes. Three cars back. I saw you park and disappear behind the tea shop. I waited, but when you didn’t come out I decided to take a look. That’s when the blond gentleman pulled a gun on me.”
“But why follow me?”
“So you wouldn’t do anything perilous.”
“Like this.”
“Yes.” There was silence again.
“I need some answers,” I said.
“You are entitled to them.” There was a brief pause. I think he was sorting out his thoughts. Then he began. “As you may or may not know, it was Sergeant Aldrich who had instigated the investigation into the drug squad.”
I didn’t know that.
“What you also may not know is that Sergeant Aldrich was once part of that very same drug squad.”
I didn’t know that either. But why investigate your own team?
“I will not go into the details of the misappropriation in the fink fund but I will say that there were certain officers who were not following all the rules. These officers were noted for bribery, money laundering, assault and various other offenses. Sergeant Aldrich was not, by any means, part of those corrupt officers. No. While in the drug squad, Sergeant Aldrich was clean. But, eventually he became depressed by the legal system; drug dealers and pushers were receiving insignificant penalties.”
“How do you know all of this?” I said.
“Detective David Longfoot.”
“Who?”
“You met him in Scarborough while on our stake-out.”
I remembered. He and Beadsworth had had a private chat in Beadsworth’s car while I was forced to go for a walk.
Beadsworth said, “One night, when Detective Longfoot was undercover, he stumbled upon this group-”
“RACE,” I spoke in.
“Actually, Officer Rupret, the name RACE never existed until…” he trailed off.
“Until what?” I asked.
“Until Sergeant Aldrich invented it.”
I was taken aback. “So Aldrich gave RACE the name RACE?”
“Precisely.”
Wow. “So this Radical Association of Criminal Ethnicities-”
“Invented.”
“And the stock market bullshit about Nex-”
“Invented.”
Beadsworth continued. “Once Detective Longfoot realized this group was onto something big, he contacted his supervisor, Sergeant Aldrich. The information provided to Sergeant Aldrich stated RACE-we shall still call it that-was working on this new drug, which was going to be bigger than Ecstasy. Sergeant Aldrich saw an opportunity. I believe it was then that he made contact with RACE.
“He would provide RACE with information and in return they would give him a piece of, as they say, the action.”
I was partially correct. It was about money.
“Detective Longfoot was told to suspend his investigation into the group, but he felt this could one day pose a real threat, so he continued privately. Seeing that RACE might be exposed, Sergeant Aldrich involved Internal Affairs, citing improprieties in the squad. The RCMP then launched a full-blown inquiry into the now-missing fink fund. Some drug squad officers were re-assigned and others were suspended.
“Detective Longfoot was suspended with pay pending the inquiry. Prior to this he had sent a report directly to the chief, highlighting the seriousness of this new group. She in turn ordered that a team look into this. Sergeant Aldrich volunteered to head this new team along with Detective Garnett.”
“Hold on,” I said. Something didn’t make sense. “Why put Aldrich in charge of a team that would investigate a group he was part of?”
“At the time, Detective Longfoot was not aware of his involvement. Even the chief does not know.”
“Then who knows?”
“Five individuals: Detective Longfoot, Detective Garnett, Detective Nemdharry, and you and I.”
“So that’s why we weren’t allowed to talk to any members of the drug squad?” I said more to myself than him.
“Precisely,” he said. “Detective Longfoot and I go back many years. He suspected something and informed me of this. I then volunteered to be part of Operation Anti-RACE.”
“So you could keep an eye on the team.”
“Yes.”
“Then why bring me in?”
He went silent.
“Why involve me in Operation Anti-RACE?”
Again silence.
I twisted, straining my neck. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Officer Rupret,” he said. “You were brought in to…complicate our investigation.”
“Complicate?”
“Yes.”
“You mean screw up? Right?” I snapped.