Speechless, Matt continued to gaze at the emptiness on his desktop. If death had seized him and dragged him away at that very moment he would have gone willingly, though, in afterthought, not without reservation. Looming fatherhood rooted him in more commonsensical aspirations. Nevertheless, he was crushed by the very thought that someone could so blatantly stroll into his office, remove evidence, and saunter out. He quietly chastised himself for not putting it under lock and key. The loud breathing from the people behind him and their assumed hot gazes may have been an illusion, but, nevertheless, he felt their presence just the same. Matt peered over his shoulder toward the squad room. He hadn’t noticed Sergeant Gupta when they had first entered his office, but he was pleased to see him now.
“Excuse me for a moment,” he said without elaborating, and he exited his office and headed straight to Sanjay Gupta who was working at his desk.
Sanjay looked up at Matt with a greeting smile which quickly evaporated. “You look…” he scratched the back of his ear, “well…you appear harried…Is everything okay?”
“Not really!” Matt sighed. “By any chance, Sergeant, did you see anyone enter my office between the time I went to my meeting with the Deputy Commissioner and now?”
“Blair Plummer is the only one that comes to mind.” He turned to one of his colleagues who was listening into the conversation. “Did you see anyone else, Jimmy?” Jimmy reflected on the query for a few seconds before saying “No.” Sanjay returned his attention to Matt. “Blair rummaged around your desk for some time before he finally left with several items under his arm that he had taken from the top of it. I assumed they were for your meeting, and you had just forgotten them. Is there a problem?”
“At the moment I’m not sure how to answer that,” Matt murmured. Cheerless and chewing on the inside of his cheek, he headed back to his office and closed the door behind him.
“Was the Sergeant able to cast any light on the situation?” Philip asked, who was now comfortably seated in Matt’s chair behind the desk.
“It appears Blair Plummer absconded with them.”
“The Blair Plummer? The Commish’s right hand man? How did he even know you had these items?” asked Bill.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” shrugged Matt.
“Maybe from the CCTV cameras?” declared Bertie.
Bertie hadn’t encountered many ‘Eurekas’ in his lifetime but their expressions told him that this was one of those moments.
“Where are you going Lou…?” Philip asked jumping to his feet. Louise Jenkins darted a sharp glance in his direction that stopped him dead in his tracks. “Judge Jenkins?” he harrumphed, quickly correcting what would have been a major floperoo on his part considering her judgeship status. She had made it quite clear early in their relationship that she would not tolerate any overlaps between their personal and professional lives. He stood facing her with a slightly bemused expression.
“You need to ask?” she moaned.
Philip peered at her sheepishly. “You’re right! I should have known better. I assume you intend to retrieve those missing files!”
“Give this boy a gold star!” she chuckled, shooting him a wink. Tugging at Matt’s sleeve, she headed out the door. “No sense being a judge unless I can take advantage of my clout from time to time.”
Matt got Judge Jenken’s message loud and clear and followed in close pursuit. He headed toward the stairs as per usual when he realized that she had other plans. Quickly changing direction, he joined her at a rush before the elevator doors closed. Leaving the others behind, the lift began its ascent.
“Finally! We are alone.” Judge Jenkins said, stepping forward to push the button which stopped the elevator between floors. “We don’t have a lot of time, but we need to talk.”