Work Text:
The Visit
The woman from the city’s Child Protection Bureau stood by her car. She had a sheaf of papers and folders. She was waiting, impatiently, for her police escort. The house in front of her was the one that the reports were focused on. The two people who lived in the house were the objects of her investigation. She was confident that, after a brief interview, the two youngsters would be taken away to be processed by Social Services.
For their own good, of course. She was so sure of this that she never questioned it. She never even thought of it. Her world was so well ordered and completely catalogued that she never dreamed that anything could possibly not be in any of the neat little boxes that made up that world.
Sergeant Emily Hoskiss was a veteran. After three kids, two husbands, four gunshot wounds, one stabbing, twenty years on the force, and a world-view shattering experience, she didn’t let much bother her. Rookies and Social Services were very high on her short list, however, and today she had to deal with both of them. The driver of the patrol car was a new kid, just out of the academy. They were to meet an agent of the city’s Child Protection Bureau. Emily knew, without ever meeting the woman, that she would be the most arrogant person that she would meet this week. Patrolman Jason Richards would probably make a decent policeman after a little seasoning. She was reasonably sure that the woman from the S.S. wouldn’t ever learn how to be a real human.
Emily smiled to herself; the fact that she always used the initials for that particular agency spoke volumes about her and her attitude towards the agency, if not about the agency itself. It was a common opinion amongst cops of her city. The so-called Child Protection Bureau may have done some good for some children, but on the whole, it seemed to do more harm then good. She had seen more then one family torn apart by baseless accusations that the CPB ‘investigated’.
Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? This bitch will probably already have convicted these kids, no matter what the facts are. I hope that it doesn’t get too ugly. I feel sorry for Richards; the kid shouldn’t have to go through something like this on his first day. She looked out the window, a glum expression on her face.
Without looking at him, she told Richards, “Turn left at the next intersection, kid.” A minute later, she said, “This is the address and that must be the woman from the S.S. Park in front of her car.” Richards glanced at his sergeant with a frown.
“Sure thing, sergeant Hoskiss. Uh, I hope that you don’t call her a Nazi to her face. I wouldn’t want her to make trouble for you when you’re so close to retirement.” Emily looked over at him with a startled expression.
“Damn, I didn’t even realize that I had said it out loud. Thanks for catching that for me. I owe you one, kid.”
Richards smiled, “Well, about you always calling me, ‘kid’…” They both laughed as they got out of the car.
The woman glared at them. She dropped her cigarette and ground it out with her heel. As the two police officers got out of their car, she confronted them.
“You two are late! Never mind the excuses, lets just get this over with. I have a lot of paperwork to do about this case.” Emily frowned and bit her lip. Jason could see that the sergeant was only seconds from biting off the woman’s head.
“Uh, ma’am, we have some new procedures: We need to see some official ID before we can get started. Sorry, but you know how bureaucrats are.” As the woman dug in her purse, Emily gave the rookie a grateful look. The woman gave them both dirty looks as she handed over her credentials. They proclaimed her as Susan Thompson, Field Investigator First Class. Emily thought that was funny in an ironic way: one of her best friends had the same title, only he was a member of the forensics team. The man was a real detective, solving cases by putting together clues and catching criminals by compiling evidence. Suddenly, Emily didn’t think that it was so funny anymore. They walked up to the door.
Susan Thompson was impatient. She was impatient to start the interview, she was impatient to bring the two kids in, she was impatient to get the paperwork ball rolling, she was impatient with the two policemen that she felt saddled with. She didn’t even think of the two in the house as people, just as case numbers. She looked at the younger cop, “You, be useful and take these papers. You” She pointed at Emily, “Stand ready, sometimes these kids don’t want to be helped. Whatever you’re going to say, save it, I’ve heard it all and I’m not impressed.” Emily bit off whatever she had planned on saying. Susan rang the doorbell. After a minute they heard noises from inside the house.
The girl that opened the door peaked around the doorframe at the three official looking figures on her porch. She sighed. “Well, I suppose that you should come in. You look very officious and I don’t need the neighbors gossiping anymore then they already are prone to.” She moved out of the way to let them in. Susan swept in like she owned the place. Emily and Jason exchanged glances, and then followed her in. The girl closed the door behind them.
The room that they found themselves in was dark. It had heavy drapes over the windows, which, in turn, were tightly shuddered. The lights were turned low. The furniture was heavy, old, and dark colored. The other furnishings and decorations were also dark in hue. The overall effect was almost like stepping back in time to the 1930s. The girl also wore black, but not much of it.
She was dressed in a black sweatshirt that came down to just above her knees. She was plump, plain, very pale, and had stringy brown hair. She was bare foot and sleepy looking. Susan immediately suspected drug use and wrote that down in her notebook. Emily thought that she looked like she had a night job. Susan started to speak as the girl sat on the couch.
“We are here because one of your neighbors called us to file a report about two young people living in this abandoned house. I’ve done a background check. Now, was it your or your friend’s grandparents that use to live here?” The girl looked at her with a bemused frown. She opened her mouth to speak, but Susan just continued on anyway.
“Now, how long have you two been living here and where did you live before you came here?” Jason stood behind and to one side of the chair that Susan sat in. He frowned at his sergeant. Emily rolled her eyes and walked around the room, looking at objects and furnishings. She noted the lack of dust.
The girl spoke, “This house is paid for, we both have jobs, and we’ve been married for a while now. What do you want? We pay our bills and taxes, we live quietly, we don’t bother anyone, what more do you want from us?” Susan smiled in an absent way as she wrote in her notebook, never looking up, never really paying attention to the girl’s answers.
Jason, holding the sheaf of papers, frowned at the S.S. agent.
Oh, god, now I’m doing it! He again glanced at his sergeant; she was making careful note of the room.
He turned his attention back to the other two, as the girl said, in an exasperated tone, “Are you listening to me? This house belongs to me and my husband, we are not runaways, we are gainfully employed, we are not destitute, we are not school children, we do not need to be taken care of, and this house is certainly not abandoned. My husband and I work at night: as a matter of fact, we need to go to work tonight. Now, if you will excuse me, I’ll try to go back to sleep.” She started to get off the couch, but the sound of Susan’s voice kept her there.
“Now, now, you just need to tell me how you got the name of the previous owners. Was it the boy you live with? That’s it, isn’t it? He’s abusing you? Is that why you are so reluctant to cooperate with me? I can protect you from him. I can explain to you why and how he’s been abusing you.” Jason made a face at Susan, behind her back. Just then, a young man walked into the room. Emily hadn’t heard him, even when he was right beside her. That startled her. The boy sat down on the arm of the couch, beside the girl. Both Jason and Emily studied him.
The boy was medium tall, wiry, had black hair and eyes, and was as pale as the girl. He had on a pair of black sweat pants, the bottom half to the girl’s garment. As he draped his arm across the girl’s shoulders, Jason noticed that he wore a wedding band that matched the one that the girl wore. The boy kissed the girl, and then spoke.
“I think that you people have acted on false information. My wife and I have lived here for several years. I hardly think that looking younger then your proper age is a crime. I’m also sure that these two police officers have much better things to do then escort you on a wild goose chase. So, if you will kindly leave, my wife and I will go back to bed until the alarm goes off.” Susan still had that arrogant smile on her face, as she started to speak again.
“My, you are well spoken for a boy your age! Now, you can drop the charade, I know that a William and Matilda Coburn purchased this house in 1932. You two are obviously not them, so…” At this point, all three of them started talking at once, and the two officers tuned it out, not being able to follow the mingled conversation in any event.
During all this, Emily had walked around to the end of the couch, opposite of the two pale figures. She noticed that the girl had tucked her legs up under her and was clutching a red pillow to her ankles. It seemed to be the only splash of bright color in the room. On the lamp table next to the arm of the couch that the boy sat on, was an antique brass oil lamp. Emily thought that they were the two most noteworthy items in the room, but then her gaze shifted up to the mantle. Then it sifted up again, to the mirror in the heavy gilded frame. Jason looked over at his sergeant and became alarmed by her frozen stare and expression of terror. He looked in the direction of her stare, saw nothing alarming, and looked back at her. She looked at him and flicked her head, meaning for him to come to her. Jason casually walked behind Susan, then over to where the sergeant stood. When he got there, he turned and followed her gaze.
A few hours later, Susan Thompson sat in the office of Emily and Jason’s captain.
“Captain Warren, your officers’ behavior was totally unacceptable, inappropriate, and unprofessional! I demand an immediate apology! I also need two reliable police officers to help me take those two kids into custody so that they can be processed. Now, captain, before they skip town and we lose them! And I promise that if that happens, I will press charges against those two incompetents that you saddled me with this morning.” She finally seemed to have finished venting her spleen at the captain, and the world in general. Captain Warren glanced at the other person in the room, Dr. Andersen. After a shared look full of meaning with the doctor, he then addressed Susan Thompson.
“Ms. Thompson, the two officers that I assigned to you are among the finest that I have under my command. I’m sure that they have a perfectly good explanation for what they did. After I interview them, I’ll know better what that reason was. Now, until then, please, just try to calm down. I’ll call you and fill you in as soon as I know anything.” He offered her a false smile. Susan gathered her things, and, muttering obscenities, stormed out. Captain Warren sighed, Dr. Andersen shrugged.
“In my professional medical opinion, that woman should take the stick out of her ass and drop the holier then thou attitude.” She sounded as disgusted as Warren felt. He grunted, and then called for Hoskiss and Richards. They immediately came in and sat down in front of their captain’s desk. They both glanced at Dr. Andersen. Emily smiled at her.
“Cathy, good, I’m glad that you’re here. It’ll save me from repeating myself. The reason that me and Richards here pulled that stupid bitch out of that house was something that we saw. Now, when we got back to the precinct, we ran the history of utility bills, mortgage payments, tax records, public announcements, and employment records. They all jive with what the two occupants of that house told us. I’m just glad that we left before that self righteous bitch made them angry.” Richards just nodded and looked scared. Warren frowned, trying to understand the thread of the conversation. Dr. Andersen spoke up.
“Emily, I think that you’ve left out a important bit of information. What lead you to believe that those two kids were dangerous? Was it something that you saw next to the mirror? And, if they were dangerous, why aren’t we surrounding the house with a SWAT team? Please, try to calm down and explain it to us.” She smiled encouragingly. Warren looked expectantly at them. Emily took a deep breath, looked at Richards, who nodded at her.
She said, “It wasn’t what we saw in the mirror, it was what we didn’t see. In the mirror, I could see the brass oil lamp on the table and the red pillow on the couch, but, I couldn’t see the two people sitting between them.”