stars: Dennis being assigned the case and given the option to choose his number two, and whoever the bigwig signing the paperwork was, he’d miraculously agreed. Perhaps not everyone liked Shakespeare after all.
On a table in the corner stood three boxes full of A4 colour flyers. Lachlan’s details were across the top of his photo, and a list of police phone numbers was on the bottom. Fergus Patrick’s son ran a print shop and he had had them ready before Ella and Dennis had left the old man’s house.
Behind Dennis was a TV on a stand. A digital camcorder was connected to the TV. Along the other walls stood blank whiteboards and desks with phones. A computer hummed in a corner, its screen showing the investigation coordination program desktop.
‘Okay, folks,’ Dennis said. He introduced himself and Ella. ‘We’re going to make this briefing short but thorough so we can get out there and find who did this.’
People had notebooks and pens ready.
‘Around 2200 hours Senior Constable Chris Phillips was shot in the face by an unknown assailant in the doorway of his home in Easton Street, Gladesville,’ Dennis said. ‘His ten-month-old son is missing, believed taken by that same person. Phillips was found by a neighbour at 2215, unconscious. He’s had surgery and the bullet’s on its way for examination, but of course it will be some time before we know anything definitive there. The doctors believe he’ll remain unconscious for some hours yet. We’re hoping when he does wake up he’ll remember something.’
Dennis passed some flyers around. ‘The baby’s name is Lachlan. There’s no sign in his room or elsewhere in the house that he’s been injured. Crime Scene found a lot of fingerprints and hair and fibres they have to compare. We also have this note.’
Ella handed out copies.
‘We don’t know what this is about,’ Dennis said. ‘Phillips’s wife, Sophie, says that he’s been upset by the gang robberies and the bad press we’ve received over them.’
‘Any chance Phillips was the person who called the TV stations yesterday?’ a detective asked.
‘Makes sense,’ another detective said. ‘The caller promised to tell more. “Keep your mouth shut” could be a warning to zip it.’
‘That’s a possibility we’re going to look into,’ Dennis said. ‘Also, Chris was assaulted while on duty two months ago. We’re not aware of any threats since.
‘Now,’ he went on, ‘Lachlan’s mother Sophie’s whereabouts for the evening have been confirmed – she’s a paramedic and was working. The only other family is Chris’s mother, Gloria, and she looks to be in the clear too.’
‘Chris or the wife not having an affair?’
‘Not as far as we know,’ Dennis said. ‘Two days ago when Sophie was at work she had a mother and baby die in an emergency birth. The father, a man by the name of Boyd Sawyer, later threatened and assaulted her and her work partner. We’re looking for Sawyer now.’
‘Why abduct the baby?’ a detective asked with a frown. ‘If you wanted to wipe out her family in revenge for the loss of your own, why not just kill the child there?’
‘We have to hope the baby is still alive somewhere,’ Dennis said. ‘If it was Sawyer, he might have dumped the child or passed him on to somebody. Same applies, of course, if the abductor is someone else. Babies are easy to hide but can be tricky to disguise. One possibility is that they cut all his hair off, or perhaps dress him as a girl. Keep these points in mind when you’re out there.’ He looked around. ‘Questions so far?’
They shook their heads.
Dennis turned on the TV and started the video. ‘Okay. Here we have the front of the Phillips house.’ The screen showed an open front door. In the hall beyond it a flight of stairs was on the right side, a passageway leading to the kitchen on the left. The light in the hall shone down on the bloodstained carpet. ‘There’s no sign of damage to the door so we
On a table in the corner stood three boxes full of A4 colour flyers. Lachlan’s details were across the top of his photo, and a list of police phone numbers was on the bottom. Fergus Patrick’s son ran a print shop and he had had them ready before Ella and Dennis had left the old man’s house.
Behind Dennis was a TV on a stand. A digital camcorder was connected to the TV. Along the other walls stood blank whiteboards and desks with phones. A computer hummed in a corner, its screen showing the investigation coordination program desktop.
‘Okay, folks,’ Dennis said. He introduced himself and Ella. ‘We’re going to make this briefing short but thorough so we can get out there and find who did this.’
People had notebooks and pens ready.
‘Around 2200 hours Senior Constable Chris Phillips was shot in the face by an unknown assailant in the doorway of his home in Easton Street, Gladesville,’ Dennis said. ‘His ten-month-old son is missing, believed taken by that same person. Phillips was found by a neighbour at 2215, unconscious. He’s had surgery and the bullet’s on its way for examination, but of course it will be some time before we know anything definitive there. The doctors believe he’ll remain unconscious for some hours yet. We’re hoping when he does wake up he’ll remember something.’
Dennis passed some flyers around. ‘The baby’s name is Lachlan. There’s no sign in his room or elsewhere in the house that he’s been injured. Crime Scene found a lot of fingerprints and hair and fibres they have to compare. We also have this note.’
Ella handed out copies.
‘We don’t know what this is about,’ Dennis said. ‘Phillips’s wife, Sophie, says that he’s been upset by the gang robberies and the bad press we’ve received over them.’
‘Any chance Phillips was the person who called the TV stations yesterday?’ a detective asked.
‘Makes sense,’ another detective said. ‘The caller promised to tell more. “Keep your mouth shut” could be a warning to zip it.’
‘That’s a possibility we’re going to look into,’ Dennis said. ‘Also, Chris was assaulted while on duty two months ago. We’re not aware of any threats since.
‘Now,’ he went on, ‘Lachlan’s mother Sophie’s whereabouts for the evening have been confirmed – she’s a paramedic and was working. The only other family is Chris’s mother, Gloria, and she looks to be in the clear too.’
‘Chris or the wife not having an affair?’
‘Not as far as we know,’ Dennis said. ‘Two days ago when Sophie was at work she had a mother and baby die in an emergency birth. The father, a man by the name of Boyd Sawyer, later threatened and assaulted her and her work partner. We’re looking for Sawyer now.’
‘Why abduct the baby?’ a detective asked with a frown. ‘If you wanted to wipe out her family in revenge for the loss of your own, why not just kill the child there?’
‘We have to hope the baby is still alive somewhere,’ Dennis said. ‘If it was Sawyer, he might have dumped the child or passed him on to somebody. Same applies, of course, if the abductor is someone else. Babies are easy to hide but can be tricky to disguise. One possibility is that they cut all his hair off, or perhaps dress him as a girl. Keep these points in mind when you’re out there.’ He looked around. ‘Questions so far?’
They shook their heads.
Dennis turned on the TV and started the video. ‘Okay. Here we have the front of the Phillips house.’ The screen showed an open front door. In the hall beyond it a flight of stairs was on the right side, a passageway leading to the kitchen on the left. The light in the hall shone down on the bloodstained carpet. ‘There’s no sign of damage to the door so we
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