Chapter 21

The Detective: Do You Take This Woman

Their wedding day was fast approaching. Spud had tried to get another ride-along but when he explained that he wanted to be a cop they suggested another approach. The OPP have an option called an Auxiliary Constable. There is no pay, no gun, no powers of arrest but you get to wear a uniform and ride-along with a regular constable. If the police need extra manpower, you are pressed into service.

Spud had proudly shown his uniform to Julie and her family. They were all polite but Spud knew that he had a long way to go with Julie’s parents about his career choice although Julie had buried her concerns deep in her brain because she was excited and busy with plans for the upcoming wedding.

Spud had gone on numerous patrols and was seeing how boring the job could be. When he arrived for his latest ride, he didn’t find his usual partner. The detective constable they assigned him to explained that his regular ride was off sick and although detective constables rarely rode with auxiliaries his regular ride had made a special request that Spud go with this officer.

They made a few calls at houses and the detective asked questions of the people, and then he said that was it for riding today. They were going back to the station. He was casting about for something to occupy Spud when he thought of the video which was about to be sent out to the forensics labs where experts would view it. He told Spud he could look, if he wanted, and see if he could spot anything. The detective had already looked at it finding nothing.

Spud took his very sharp memory and sat down and spent the next four hours looking at video from various cameras. Suddenly Spud jumped up and said to the detective,

“I think I found something. Come here.”

The detective thought it would be a wild goose chase as he sauntered over to the computer screen.

The particular video that Spud was watching had come from a high quality high definition camera in a drugstore parking lot.

“Look at the driver with the baseball cap sitting in that car almost out of the frame.”

The detective looked and said, “What are you seeing?”

Spud answered, “You can just barely make it out, but the guy has a mole on his left cheek. The last guy you interviewed had a mole on his left cheek.”

“What!”

“Come on kid. We will bring him in here for further questioning.”

A cruiser met them at the property and Spud had to stay in the unmarked detective’s car while they invited the suspect to join them at the station for an interview. He came along quietly and was delivered to the station in the back of the marked vehicle. The detective told Spud that the interview would be a long process and since it was already past the end of his auxiliary shift, he should go home. He asked Spud to leave his number, and he said he would call him tomorrow if they got the guy to confess.

Spud returned home and couldn’t wait to tell Julie what had happened. After he finished his tale, she gave him a big kiss and told him how proud she was of him.

“Spud, I want to be serious for a moment.”

“Is something wrong?”

“Yes, I did something wrong, and I am sorry. It has taken me too long to realize it. You know I am not a virgin. I had a rotten boyfriend for a couple of years at university, and we were sleeping together. I have sexual experience and you don’t and I have made fun of you and I want to apologize for every time I said something which I thought was hilarious, but I don’t think it was funny for you.”

“Julie, I don’t care about that.”

“Please let me finish my apology because it is important.”

“OK.”

“In my defence, my poor taste was a private joke between you and me. I have said nothing to anyone about our sex life or lack of it and I promise that I never will. Oops! That is not true. I did once slip up. My mom thought we were getting married quickly because I was pregnant. I blurted out we had never slept together. I am so sorry.”

Spud broke into laughter.

“Spud this is serious, and I am very sorry.”

“Well, you are apologizing to the devil because I did the same thing with my mom only worse. Remember, you told me you wanted to have sex with me and you had decided the only way that would happen would be if I married you.”

“Yes, I was rather brazen.”

“Julie, I liked it. But my mom said the same thing. Is Julie pregnant? And I said no, and she said then why are you rushing into this? And I said because Julie wants… and then I realized what I was saying and stopped.”

“OH NO! What did she say? I am so embarrassed.”

“She laughed and said I had a lot to learn about women and you sounded like the right person to teach me.”

“OH NO! Is there anything else?”

“Just that I love you but I have a concern about making you happy on our wedding night.”

“Honey, I am glad you can say that and you can stop worrying. People get so wrapped up in the technicalities of sexual intercourse they forget it is also called making love. Size, whether breasts or penises, doesn’t matter when you are with the right person. When you are making love, not just having sex. And I love you no matter what lies ahead for us as long as we are facing life together.”

“Julie I am so glad to be marrying you.”

“And I am so glad to be marrying you… and I can’t wait to...”

“Julie!”

“I love watching you blush Spud. It makes my heart jump up and down, and I am afraid it will become more and more difficult to get you to do it.”

“I think it is time we go to bed.”

“To our unromantic separate bedrooms.”

“Only a few more days Honey.”

“And then a whole year of practising at making babies before we go for the gold.”

“Julie, I am so glad you only say these things to me. One last thing I want to be serious about. Your life experiences, good and bad, have made you the person you are. If you changed any of those experiences, you would not be the same person. The result of all of those experiences is the person I love, not society’s concept of what is perfect. You are my concept of perfect.”

“Oh, Spud, come to bed with me now.”

“Only a few more days Sweetheart. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight Spud.”

Spud was home for lunch with Julie when a call came. She answered and called Spud to the phone. It was the detective constable from the previous day shift that ran on into the evening.

“Spud I wanted you to know that you solved your first rape case and you aren’t even a rookie constable yet. The perp confessed to the rape. Spud it is none of my business but what are your plans for the future once you are a cop.”

“I want to be a detective but I want to work on murder cases.”

“Spud the OPP doesn’t have specialists like that. If you are a detective, you work on rapes and drugs and organized crime and murders and anything else that needs investigating. Are you still interested?”

“Yes.”

“Good, because I have arranged something that has never been done before. I am your new constable. You will work with me on whatever cases I am assigned. Does that appeal to you?”

“It does. Thank you. Do I have to do anything?”

“The only thing different is that for your next assigned shift you report here at the station. If I am not in, because my hours are a little erratic, ask somebody to contact dispatch and track me down. I will come for you when I can. While you wait, you will find case files on my desk. You can look through them and see if you see anything I might have missed. See you at work Spud, Bye.”

“Julie, Julie, guess what?”

“What?”

“I will be working with a detective.”

“That’s wonderful Spud but there is something you have to do right now.”

“What?”

“Draw a deep breath, calm down, and let me talk to you about the wedding.”

“But mom said I only needed to show up.”

“Hmm, selective deafness already, and we are not even married. Mom warned me about that. If you recall, she said ‘Just show up for the wedding and do everything that Julie tells you.’ This is the part where I tell you.”

Spud sat down and was mesmerized with all the details. It wasn’t as simple as they had led him to believe. Finally, relief came when Julie said it was time for him to go back to school to teach his tutoring pupils.

Spud said, “Well, I am glad that is over.”

“Spud it isn’t over. After you come back from work, we will sit down and you will tell me everything you remember before I fill your head with more.”

“OH, I am looking forward to it,” Spud said with an obvious lack of enthusiasm.

“Spud, I will never hit you because I don’t want that sort of relationship, BUT consider yourself slapped.”

*****