Chapter 16: Could This Be True?
The Enforcer Headquarters was quiet; there were only a few enforcers on duty. Most of the enforcers were sleeping in after a long night. Orcille was by himself in the holding cell. The cell was not very comfortable. Instead of a bed, it only had a long bench against the wall. The lights remained on all night. It had a toilet, but there was no privacy. Orcille was lying on the bench, waiting for what was to come next.
Vulay arrived back at the headquarters to check if there was any news regarding the video footage from the Carvaress cameras. At that point, there was no response from the Carvaress Company. The hours were now more sociable. Therefore, she gave the Carvaress complex a call. She explained what she needed from them and referred them to the message sent in the early hours of the morning.
Carvaress staff were friendly and helpful. They said, in the next couple of hours, they would send through camera footage of the last week from their section of the Industrial Zone. While she waited, she thought she would visit Orcille in his cell.
‘Good morning, Orcille. Did you get any sleep?’ Vulay asked in a chirpy voice.
‘I prefer to sleep in my own bed, but that’s not everyone’s preference,’ replied Orcille with a smug look on his face as he eyed her crinkled uniform.
‘The videos from Carvaress will arrive soon. I will study them personally,’ said Vulay in an agitated tone.
Orcille placed his hand on his chest and said, ‘I feel so relieved that you take your job so incredibly seriously.’
Vulay went to her office, where she waited for the bulk of the enforcers to return to duty.
About an hour passed, and finally, all the Adoy enforcers plus several others from neighbouring regions had arrived.
‘I understand. Last night was tough, but we need to find these children. Time is running out,’ said Vulay in a stern voice. ‘I want three of you to stay here to view camera footage from every source we have. We could have missed something. I want the rest of you out there searching everywhere possible. The Agriculture Zone is large, and not all areas can be observed by cameras. I will stay here to look over the Carvaress video footage.’
The enforcers headed off to work. Vulay headed back to her office to see if the video footage had arrived. She had an email from Carvaress containing the previous week’s footage from nine different cameras. Vulay cracked her knuckles. ‘Let’s see what we have here,’ she said with intrigue.
It was around midday, and at the temporary apartments where the Inquisitives were staying, a food truck had just been unloaded. There was more than enough food for all of them for a week. The Bramley family had gathered in the common dining area on the ground floor of the apartments.
‘We have fourteen big boxes of cakes,’ exclaimed Darlene.
‘Sounds like a lot, but they will go quickly,’ replied Demarcus.
‘They will go quickly. Cakes are only good for the first few days,’ remarked Darius. ‘I think we should eat them for lunch and any leftovers for dinner.’
‘I have a better idea,’ interrupted Jacob. ‘Let’s have a healthy lunch followed by half a slice of cake each. There is no rush; these don’t expire for a week.’
Darlene, Darius, and Demarcus ignored their father and began scoffing down the cakes. Jacob looked over to Janice, who was nibbling on lettuce. ‘You haven’t spoken since the incident yesterday,’ said Jacob to his wife.
‘Our son was arrested because of suspected involvement in the disappearance of those children,’ she said while looking at the lettuce in her hands. ’I know these children. They are like a second family to me,’ she said as she turned to face Jacob. ‘His new friends were suspected because they are not good Sapiens.’
‘I admit they have strange views, but that doesn’t mean they could do terrible things,’ Jacob said to her. Janice continued to nibble on the lettuce.
The members of the Inquisitives had collected some food, but they did not feel like eating. The feast they had the night before had given them stomach aches. Victor was least affected, as he had not eaten as much as the others had. He sent a message to the others, asking them to gather outside the apartment block. Most of them declined. They claimed they were too ill to meet. Denise was the only one to respond positively. Victor met Denise at the edge of the Agriculture Zone. She was carrying a box of cakes.
‘Do you want one?’ asked Denise.
‘It’s a bit rich for me right now. Something in that meal last night does not agree with me,’ responded Victor.
‘I hope you feel better tomorrow. These cakes are great,’ she said, taking a big bite out of a chocolate freckled round cake.
‘Everything we have ever worked for is at risk right now,’ said Victor in a concerned voice. ‘The tokens have gone, all our meet-up spots are now exposed, and our credibility has been crushed even though none of us had anything to do with the children’s disappearances.’
‘We need to break all ties with Orcille,’ said Denise sternly. ‘He is the reason we are in this mess.’
‘I think we have to, but I really don’t want to,’ replied Victor. ‘Orcille is a troubled young male, but I see good in him.’ Denise contorted her face in frustration. ‘There is some good news. The Commander of the Enforcers is in our corner. She’s going to be Head Enforcer someday soon,’ added Victor in a more upbeat tone.
‘Her goons yelled at me for hours last night,’ said Denise angrily. ‘Then she ordered them to trash our homes. Now she’s bribing us with really delicious cakes.’ Denise looked Victor in the eyes. ‘I’m thinking she might have put some kind of evil spell on you. You are never this trusting.’
Victor sighed, ‘You could be right. Anyway, we better go back to our homes and check on the damage.’
‘Of course, the commander said we could do that,’ replied Denise sarcastically. ‘I’m going to find Hamlet. I can no longer partake in this bribery. Sapes deserve cake too,’ she said as she walked off. Victor shrugged his shoulders as he made his way back to his apartment.
Vulay was busy studying the Carvaress video footage. She was still on the first video. She fast-forwarded to the evening of the day when the children had disappeared. She slowed the video to five times the normal running speed. She did not expect to see anyone around at that time. If they were there, they would be out of place.
As the video reached just after 10 p.m., she saw figures dart across the screen. She paused and rewound. She played at normal speed. She could see two Sapiens pulling a trolley with two bags on it. One Sapien appeared to be of average size, and the other was quite small. They were both wearing hooded clothing. She watched as they exited the frame. She played the video from the next camera along that stretch. She fast-forwarded it to the same point as the other video. The same Sapiens came into view. They were still pulling the trolley. She watched as they went out of frame again. She continued with the next video as she hoped to catch their faces or have a better idea of what might be in the bags.
On the fifth video, she noticed one of the bags move. She continued with the sixth and seventh videos. In the seventh video, the other bag moved. The bigger Sapien went over and poked the bag, but Vulay could still not see their faces. She moved on to the eighth video. This was different. The Sapiens stopped pulling the trolley. It looked like they were talking to the bags. Then another Sapien appeared. He was not wearing hooded clothes. This Sapien turned his head. Vulay immediately recognised who it was. She gasped as she put her face in her hands. A few seconds later, she stopped playing the videos. She thought about corrupting them so they could not be watched. After some thought, she decided against it. Instead, she transferred the videos to the digital evidence file for the missing children.
Orcille was lying on his back in the holding cell. He was counting the cracks on the ceiling. Vulay tapped on the cell bars and said, ‘Hey, how would you like it if we made you feel a little more comfortable?’
‘I want to be made a lot more comfortable,’ responded Orcille with a broad smile on his face.
Vulay approached the three remaining enforcers, who were studying videos. ‘I have a new task for you,’ she said to them.
The enforcers went into Orcille’s cell. They pulled out the bench. They brought in a large sofa bed. They placed a small rug on the floor. They cleaned the toilet and sink. They added a privacy curtain for the toilet.
‘Is that better?’ inquired Vulay.
‘Almost; I need my medication,’ said Orcille. He rattled off a long list of the medications he used.
‘I can’t give you this medication, but I can get someone to administer it to you,’ said Vulay.
Orcille nodded.
‘We need to have another chat,’ said Vulay in a soft tone.
‘Sure, but I need some privacy for a bit. I have a bad stomach ache. I couldn’t use the toilet under the previous circumstances,’ said Orcille in a slightly embarrassed voice.
‘No problem, I’ll be back in twenty minutes,’ said Vulay, shaking her head.
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