Grave Situation by Alex MacLean

occurred at the intersection of Quinpool
Road and Oxford Street. One driver was charged with operating a
motor vehicle without a valid license. Neither party involved
required medical treatment.
    Assault With A Weapon – 10:13 p.m.
Gottingen Street. A lone male was approached by a group of four
males asking for a cigarette. When he said no, the victim was
beaten and struck in the face with a metal pipe. He was taken to
QEII for treatment of facial lacerations. No description of the
suspects could be made, only that they were all wearing bandanas
over their faces. The matter is under investigation.
    Motor Vehicle Collision – 10:42
p.m. Kempt Road. One vehicle struck another from behind. Driver of
struck vehicle was taken to QEII for non-life threatening
injuries.
    Vandalism – 11:25 p.m. 7890
Waterloo Street. Homeowner called to report two people throwing
beer bottles on his property. One vehicle was damaged. Two males
matching the description of the suspects were detained on South
Street. The pair will appear in court on Monday.
    Robbery – 12:05 a.m. Stan’s
Variety. Robie Street. Owners, who live upstairs from
establishment, called after hearing noises in their store. When
officers arrived, a lone male fled on foot. After a short pursuit,
he was caught. The suspect will appear in court on Monday to face
several charges.
    Assault – 1:38 a.m. Lower Water
Street. A red, older sedan approached a lone male, 21. Inside, 4
males and 1 female uttered verbal threats. They were described as
being between 17 and 25. 2 blacks and 3 Caucasians. When the victim
ignored them, the 5 suspects exited the vehicle and proceeded
assaulting the man. They fled in the vehicle. The victim was taken
to QEII for treatment. The incident is still under
investigation.
    Assault With A Weapon – 2:06 a.m.
Waterfront Bar & Grill. Hollis Street. An altercation ensued
between two males who were ordered out of the bar. One male
produced a knife and stabbed the other man in the abdomen.
Additional officers were dispatched to disperse the crowd that had
gathered around. The victim was taken to the QEII. He is in serious
condition. The suspect will appear in court at a later
date.
    Suspicious Death – 5:45 a.m. Lower
Water Street. A man’s body was found in the Impark lot by a
co-worker. Responding officers pronounced the victim dead at the
scene. Major Crimes and the Forensic Identification Unit were
notified. The incident is still under investigation.
    Allan leaned back in the chair and
entwined his fingers behind his head.
    No such
luck , he conceded.
    Time, he knew, had an unsettling
way of mocking a murder investigation. Once the hours begin ticking
away, the greater chance witnesses can forget what they saw and the
greater chance suspects can form alibis or simply escape. If the
door-to-door canvass still in progress didn’t produce any
witnesses, Allan knew he was in for a long haul. With the crime
being committed when most people were in bed, witnesses would be
minimal.
    If Brad had been someone else, then
a lead might be easier to establish. The investigation would reveal
who the victim was, whom he hung with, who his enemies were, how
many bad relationships he’d been in. A meaningful chronology of
what he did in the last hours of his life could be
created.
    Allan knew that many victims of
murder seem to set up their own finales. They ran with the wrong
crowds or quarreled with the wrong people, but Brad Hawkins
presented special problems for him. The young guard had a reason to
be on the waterfront at such a questionable hour. About to walk
into something that would cost him his life.
    What?
    Allan pored over the canvass
reports and concluded the officers who handled the neighborhood
Q&A had done a good job. From the reports, he made a list of
who lived where. What addresses had no answer, so a follow-up could
proceed in the morning. He began running the names of those
interviewed through the computer for prior criminal
histories.
    He