Human Frailty, a Detective Mike Bridger novel (16 page)

He had not seen Brian since the start of the
day but knew he would be at home, tucked up in front of the
television with Mrs. Johnson, East Enders or Coronation Street for
entertainment, quite content to leave the rigors of his court
appearance for the next day. He envied that in Brian, being able to
switch off.

Maybe it came with age and experience, he
thought. Then how much age and experience did he need.

He thought about his life compared with his
colleagues, all completely different, they all seemed happy enough,
always doing something. He realised that he could not remember the
last time he had actually spent some meaningful time with Laura
without it ending in arguments or stony silences. Pushing those
thoughts to the back of his mind, he tried to concentrate on the
job ahead.

For her part, Jo looked keen as mustard to
be working late on an enquiry, the keenness of youth not having
dulled her sense of excitement for the job. He envied her
enthusiasm, having lost a lot of his over the years. It was not as
if he was old, but the job had taken a lot out of him over the
years. He had developed what he thought of as a coppers intuition;
Laura called it a mistrust of people in general. She still believed
in the goodness of people, he just believed that most people had
secrets, most of them stayed secret and were never a problem. Some
of them spilled over into their daily lives, and then some of those
secrets were against the law.

He wondered what secrets he would uncover at
the Playhouse this evening.

"There it is," Jo said, pointing to the old
red brick church building standing beside a row of Victorian
terraced houses. They could see a large spire in the middle, which
gave it a grand feel.

There was a lot of old buildings in Dunedin
used for every purpose other than what they were intended for when
they were first constructed. Churches were a popular choice;
Bridger did not know whether it was the decline of religion that
made this possible or something else entirely, either way. This one
was now apparently a fully functioning theatre.

The billboard out the front was
displaying past and present productions. The one that caught his
eye was called;
‘
The Frailty of an Angry Man
’
- A journey into the
violent emotions of men. Displayed under a bright banner
proclaiming it was
‘
Coming Soon
’
.

The play that went with the script Becky had
shown him earlier in the day, Bridger guessed. Reading the fine
print, he picked out the name Marion Watson. He wondered if she
would make the curtain call. He certainly hoped it would be so.

Stepping inside the building it looked as if
it had not changed from its days as a place of worship, all that
was missing was a white collared man greeting them at the door. The
white washed brick walls inside the door giving it the feel of a
small courtyard, and radiating a slight chill.

"I've never been in this place", Jo was
saying, "I've been to the Globe and the Fortune but not this one.
The girls from work like to go to a play every so often; I will
have to keep this place in mind next time".

Bridger was about to say something when
middle aged male stepped into his personal space. He was dressed in
beige trousers and a woolen v-neck jersey, which had the slight
smell of body odour clinging to it.

"You must be the police", he was saying, "Is
it about Marion? The rumour mill has been going wild; people are
saying she is missing or that she died. Beth said you were coming
tonight, I thought she was just Beth being Beth and making a big
thing about it. She idolizes Marion you know".

Bridger held up his hands, "I'm sorry
you are?
”

"Jonas..., Jonas Clifton, the writer
director of this play. Marion was my leading lady".

Another person using past tense already,
Bridger noted.

Glancing at Jo, he saw she was studiously
writing in her notebook as Jonas was speaking. Bridger could be a
bit slack on the note taking sometimes, preferring to keep
everything in his head. His memory did not fail him often but he
was glad of a backup just in case.

"Jonas, I am Detective Sergeant Bridger and
this is Constable Williamson. We are here about Marion as it
happens. She has disappeared and we would like to find her".

"Of course, of course, come through to the
main hall". Jonas turned with a flourish and swept into the hall
area clapping his hands. "People..., people please".

A hush swept through the small group
standing in the middle of the room. Heads turned expectantly, "Are
these the critics from the paper then?
”
one of them said loudly.

"No Jeremy they are from the police, here
about Marion".

Jeremy looked embarrassed and lowered his
head. Turning back to Bridger, he spoke quietly, "I've asked them
already whether they know where Marion has got to and no one has a
clue".

"If you don't mind", Bridger replied, "We
would like to speak to them ourselves..., and you to Jonas. We will
try and be as quick as possible, let you get on with your
play".

"Of course, but I'm not sure I will be of
any help, I hardly knew the girl outside of the theatre group. The
play can wait. Besides, without her it will force me to use Beth.
Jonas looked towards where Beth was standing. "She is her
understudy, nowhere near ready. Marion was who I envisioned when I
wrote this, she was my muse, and she seemed so perfect for the
part".

"But you just said you hardly knew her", Jo
said, looking up from her notebook.

"Y yes..., quite right constable", Jonas
stuttered. "I guess I meant to say that she fitted the character
that I created... she was better than I could have hoped for".

Nice call Jo, Bridger thought, looking at
Jonas's reaction. It is always good to put someone off guard. You
get to see how they react.

Bridger looked over at the eclectic bunch of
people arranged in a small line in the middle of the room. A few of
them were dressed in clothes he used to wear as a teenager, a
throwback from the eighties.

Maybe the play was set in that decade, he
was thinking.

"Right Jonas we had better get on with it if
we can", Bridger said.

He had already discussed with Jo on the
drive over what they needed to ask. He had gone over what
information would be helpful in the enquiry so he felt comfortable
with letting Jo get on with her part.

They divided the small group into two and
then began speaking to everyone one by one. The whole troupe
consisted of five main actors, four without Marion, a stage hand, a
writer come director, and three hangers on who called themselves
understudies, one who doubled as the lighting and effects person.
It was not a huge operation.

The actors were all students from the
university and only knew Marion from the theatre. None of them
confessed to having anything to do with her outside of the play
except for Beth. Bridger did not press Beth for any more
information than what she had provided to Grant and Becky
earlier.

Jeremy who had spoken earlier apologized a
lot for making light of the situation; he liked Marion and said he
would never wish her any harm. He had met her for coffee a few
weeks ago, but she had a boyfriend he had added quickly, so he
thought it better if he did not see her again. He did not want to
cause trouble between them.

Bridger thought that a coffee hardly rated
in the book if infidelity.

Moving on, he found the lighting and
effects person was a
student counselor employed by the
university. A nondescript sort of man, middle aged, conservatively
dressed. Bridger was currently getting a very descriptive lesson on
the stage set he had designed for the play. His expressions
animated in his face as he explained the intricate
workings.

"That sounds pretty technical Mr.
Crompton, but can you tell me if you know Marion at all outside of
the theatre group?
”

"No Sergeant I didn't..., I only met her
this year when I got asked to design the set for the play. I have
worked at the university for about 8 years but she has never set
foot in my office. She did seem very settled and composed. I guess
she had no use for my services". He was now looking at the floor,
almost embarrassed.

"What sort of services do you provide,
Mr. Crompton, if you don't mind me asking?
”

"I'm sort of a sounding board for the new
students. Some of them get a little overwhelmed when they first
arrive. For most of them, it is their first time away from home.
They have too much freedom and don't know how to make the right
choices; I sort of guide them through the finer points of
university life..., and life in general".

"Sort of like a social worker then", Bridger
said.

"Not really, I don't have any formal
qualifications. My job description is more to point them in the
right direction; I have been helping Beth, which is how I got into
this. We were talking about her acting and I mentioned that I was
handy with a hammer. She suggested I contact Jonas as he was
looking for volunteers to build his set
….
And here I am".

Bridger looked at the man in front of him.
He did not look like the type that a young girl would open up to,
but it took all sorts.

"Thanks you for your time Mr. Crompton", he
said.

Bridger looked at his watch. It had been
less than half an hour and they had covered everyone. They were no
further forward. No one knew anything about the whereabouts of
Marion and they could offer no further information on friends that
they had not already spoken to before. It was starting to look
serious; females of any age do not usually just disappear.

First thing in the morning, he would ring
the bank and get them to hurry up on checking usage on her account.
He would also have to think about a media release.

Bridger motioned for Jo to follow as he made
his way towards the door.

"Thanks for your time Jonas; you can get on
with your practice now".

"It's actually a rehearsal, but I don't
think I can carry on tonight, not without Marion, we might just
call it a night. I am sure whatever Marion is up to she will sort
it out soon. The play will not go ahead without her, she knows
that".

"I hear that you are a lecturer at the
University Jonas, what do you teach?
”
Bridger asked, as he stopped the
door.

"I'm a Professor of Sociology
actually, I provide tutorship to various students but I don't
lecture at the moment
…
, I am currently undertaking various
studies".

"Forgive my ignorance Jonas but what exactly
is Sociology".

"Not at all Sergeant, I don't mind
explaining". Jonas took a deep breath "In a basic broad sense
Sociology is the study of society and the way social structures
impact on our daily lives, how people work together for the greater
good...., or not, as the case may be. I'm sure you see many
examples in your work of the negative side of social structures no
longer working".

Bridger nodded.

"I believe people are a product of their
circumstance. What they experience in their lives shape them into
whom they are and what impact they have on the world. Take those
religious extremists that insist on females wearing a burqa in
public to protect their modesty, which is not about religion, it is
about power and control, keeping the woman subservient. The women
have grown up like that and so they never question the custom. The
men are hardly likely to change it of their own accord because they
have it to good.

Then we have the western world, its teenage
population is out of control, a young female in her room listening
to the lyrics of a song or watching the raunchy music videos, she
is forming a distorted view of what life is like. Young males
watching those girls trying to portray what they see on TV,
receiving mixed signals. That is control as well, only in a
different form. Life can be to free for them, causing issues all of
its own".

Bridger was beginning to regret asking the
question.

"Then there the extremes like the child
soldiers in central African wars, inducted into a violent world of
rape, mutilation and murder at the age of 12. They grow up thinking
that it is normal. You see how Circumstances directly affect who we
are.

At the top of the pile, we have the
Governments and big business that control the world's finances,
their decisions impact on billions of lives worldwide. The greed of
man has caused the fiscal meltdown of the world
’
s economy. It's all about
the few controlling the many....., maybe that's how it's supposed
to be, to stop all out anarchy, I don't really know. I do know
society needs structures to work; I just do not think we have
worked out what they should be yet....

In the mean time, to coin a phrase, it looks
like we are all going to hell in a hand basket. Anyway, you are not
interested in all that. It bores most people, happy to live with
the status quo. If you're not one of the affected you can just turn
off the television and pretend it isn't happening."

Jonas looked almost angry at the end of his
little speech, Bridger saw him take a deep breath and close his
eyes for a second.

He looked at Bridger and Jo again, "You
should come and see my play. I could get you some tickets. I am
trying to explore the reasons why man has a violent streak and why
he uses it against the ones he loves. It seems so inconsistent with
human nature to hurt those closest to you. Surely it could spell
the demise of the human race if we all started maiming and killing
our families every Friday night".