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Started at the Bus Stop Chapter 44
Percy shook his head and wiped some tears from his eyes but didn't begin to cry. He looked at Adam but couldn't speak yet. Then he bowed his head again and just sat quietly for a while. Adam sat quietly next to him with his arm around Percy's shoulders. His own anger at what these people had done to Percy was growing all the time. He was determined that if the lawyers couldn't get anything done about it, he was going to try his best to get the ones who seemed to think they were above the law punished.
It took Percy about ten minutes to get back into control to where he felt it was safe to speak. "I'm sorry. Thank you for being with me."
"There's nothing to be sorry about. You've had a really tough time and have really been very strong with it all. I'm glad to be here to help if I can. You ready to get a Big Mac or something?"
"Thank you, yes, but I'm paying. I also got my bank cards when I went home. Those guys didn't know where to look for them. I'm just glad that I hide them away every day," Percy said.
"It's a good habit to have. If it will help you to feel better, I'll let you pay for lunch," Adam said. He guessed that Percy was struggling with the hospitality he was receiving so generously, and this at least helped to balance the books a bit.
After they had eaten, Adam suggested they go back to Percy's house and ask the people in the house when Percy could occupy it again. He also suggested that Percy not mention his first trip to the house. Percy agreed. After dropping the car off at Adam's house, they walked up the road to Percy's. The same two vehicles were still in the drive. They walked up to the front door and entered the house just as Percy had done earlier. Percy led Adam through to the kitchen first so that he could see first-hand how bad it was. It was now even worse. In addition to the dirty cups, of which there were more, there were a couple of plates, one with a half-eaten sandwich on it. Speaking in whispers, Percy confirmed that the plates and cups were all from their cupboards. He went to the fridge and opened it. He pulled out a bottle of milk and commented that it was a lot less than when he had made a drink the night before he got taken away. Clearly the men were helping themselves to what they found in the fridge and the cupboards. Adam used his phone to take some more pictures and then they went up the stairs to Grace's office. This time it was empty and Percy gingerly looked around. Papers and books lay scattered about and there were some more dirty cups and plates on the desk. His mum's computer was missing. Adam took some more pictures. They moved down the passage to Elliot's study where they found the men still searching. Adam quietly took a few more pictures; getting some of the men who were searching. Then he spoke, "Excuse me, but can you tell us how much longer you will be?"
The three men in the room all jumped.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" one of the men asked gruffly.
"I'm a family friend, and this is a young man who lives here. Can you tell me who you are and what you're doing in this house?" Adam replied.
"Who we are and what we are doing is of no concern of yours. Now I must request that you leave," the same man replied.
"Is there something dangerous here?" Adam asked again.
"No, of course not. Now, please leave," the man said.
"How can you demand that a person who lives in this house leave? And that his invited guest must also leave? Surely it is you, who are not invited, who must leave, unless you show us some proof that you have the legal right to be here," Adam demanded.
"We don't have the warrant with us," the spokesman said.
"Well then, you'd best leave, before I call the police and have you arrested for trespassing and damaging private property." Adam wasn't sure if he had a leg to stand on, but the attitude of the trio had added fuel to the flames of his anger.
"We are the police, and there is a warrant giving us authority to search these premises. We just don't have the warrant with us," the man said.
"Show us your identity cards. All police have to carry them when they are on duty," Adam demanded.
"Not all police carry them. Undercover officers could land up in big trouble if they were found to have a police identity card on them."
"Well, you told us that you are police, so you can't be undercover. Let's see your IDs."
"We can't show you them."
"Percy, go downstairs and call the police. Tell them you've interrupted a burglary in progress and you believe they are armed," Adam said.
"No! Wait!" the spokesman said. He took out his mobile phone and punched in a number. "I'll get someone to bring the warrant back."
"Okay. Until you have that warrant, you will wait outside, off the property. Without the warrant, you are breaking the law," Adam said.
The three men began walking out of the study, with the one speaking on his phone. Adam and Percy followed them out and made sure they walked off the property before closing and locking the front door. They checked the house phone. Finding it working, Adam phoned John Bridgewater. "Mr. Bridgewater, we have some more pictures of the current state of the house. But we have also confronted the men who were in the house, and I think you might like to hear the conversation." Adam held his phone to the house phone and played a blank video. Just before speaking to the men for the first time, Adam had set his phone to video it, but as he was not showing his phone, he was really just recording the sounds and in particular his conversation with the men.
"That's absolutely brilliant. Those guys have hung themselves and their investigation. Without executing the warrant they cannot use anything they have found as evidence. I'll be there in ten minutes to see this warrant for myself." John ended the call.
While they waited, Percy went to the kitchen with the intention of cleaning up a bit. "Don't touch anything. Let Mr. Bridgewater see it first, and then those goons can clean up their own mess," Adam advised.
"Perhaps we should go and take some photos in Dad's study before they come back in."
"Good idea! Lead the way."
Percy and Adam went up the stairs again. Once in the study, Adam clicked away, making sure to get pictures of how untidy the room was and the leads showing there had been a computer on the desk. Once Adam thought he had enough, they went back down to the lounge and kept an eye out for John Bridgewater. True to his word, it only took him about ten minutes, so he was there ahead of any warrant to allow the goons back in. He parked his car at an angle across the driveway, blocking the other cars in. "If that warrant wasn't properly served, anything that's come from this house will not be leaving in those vehicles," he explained.
Percy and Adam gave John a quick tour of the house. While they were going around, he asked Percy to tell him what he had experienced. Once Percy had finished, they returned to the lounge, where John took out a pad and began to make some notes.
"Now it's important that I get this down correctly. You opened the door to these goons, who proceeded to barge in and seize your phone without first telling you who they were and what they were there for?" John asked.
"Well, they said they were the police, but none of them had a uniform on," Percy said.
"You were then made to take them to your room where there was a female officer present and you were told to get dressed with that female officer still present?"
"Yes."
"After that you were cuffed and led out to a police van and driven away?"
"Yes."
John continued to question Percy and clarify certain points until there was knock on the door. John went to answer the door. The man who had been the spokesperson for the three goons stood there with a rather triumphant grin on his face and waved a piece of paper in front John's face. John took the paper and began to scrutinize it. "One moment. Percy, could you come here, please," John called out. While waiting for Percy, John introduced himself, stating that he was the family's legal representative and that he was recording the conversation. After offering a card, he told the goon that all communication with the family was to go through him.
When Percy arrived at the door with Adam just a pace behind him, John asked, "When did you say these people woke you and entered your house?"
"It was about three o'clock yesterday morning," Percy answered.
"Would you agree with that?" John asked the goon.
"I'm not sure of the exact time, but yes it would have been about then," the goon answered.
"I see. And before you entered the house you showed them a copy of this warrant, I presume?" John asked.
"Of course. That is what is required," the goon answered.
"And shortly after that, this young man's phone was seized and he was required to get dressed with a female officer present?"
"I'm not entirely sure about that. There were a number of us here."
"But you were the person in charge of the ground operation?"
"Yes."
"And you don't know what your staff were doing?"
"As I said, there were a number of people present. I couldn't be in every room at the same time."
"No, perhaps not. But you did order that this young person be cuffed and taken for questioning?" John asked.
"The instruction given at the briefing before the start of the operation was that any residents in the house were to be separated and taken for questioning."
"Separated and cuffed?" John emphasised the last word.
"That is normal procedure in this sort of operation."
"I see. So, if there was a six-year-old child living here he, or she, would also have been put into handcuffs and kept separate from their legal guardian?" John asked.
"Of course not," the goon replied in a mocking voice.
"So, at what age does it change for a person to be manacled or not?"
"All minors are treated differently to adults."
"And you'd done your research before hand and so knew the ages of all the people in the house before the operation started yesterday morning, I presume."
"Of course. We wouldn't have carried out the operation without good intelligence," the goon said.
"I see. And can you tell me exactly who you showed this warrant to, and can you confirm it was done before any officers entered the building?" John asked.
"The warrant was presented to the father when he opened the door."
"And that was done by yourself?" John asked
"No, I was still in the yard directing the police units to ensure the whole property was covered and no one could escape by another route."
"Who was holding the warrant at the time, then? Was it one of the other men with you now?"
"Yes, he's here now."
"Please ask him to confirm who he showed the warrant to."
"Okay, but you'd better make sure you know what you're in for. Holding up our investigation like this is going to have repercussions," the man said.
"Oh, I'm quite sure it is. Now could you please ask your officer, who he showed the warrant to and at what stage of the investigation it was done? Or it may be better if he just comes and talks to us himself," John Bridgewater said.
The man went off and returned a couple of minutes later with one of his men.
"Thank you for coming to talk to us. I'm the legal representative for this family. I am recording this conversation. Now I believe you are the one who presented the warrant to search this house to its occupants. Is that correct?"
"Not exactly. I advised the person who opened the door that we had a warrant to search the house. He didn't ask for it, and I didn't show it to him," the second man admitted.
"But you had it on you, and you showed it to someone from the house before you began your search of the premises?"
"No, I wasn't asked for it, so I didn't show it."
"I see. Have you removed any property from this house?"
"We have seized a number of electronic items and some documentation at this stage," the lead of the team said.
"And where have you removed it to?" John asked.
"It is in the van there. And as soon as you let us get on with our search, we will be taking it to our headquarters."
"I'm afraid that will not be happening. You have entered these premises illegally and stolen private property. Now you will open that van and bring everything back into this house, then you will get in your vehicles and depart. You will also call your superiors and tell them they will release and deliver Mr. and Mrs. Nisbett back to this house immediately. Oh and you can also advise them that there will be legal proceedings taken against your department."
"Right, I've heard enough of this! Step aside and let us get on with our job. You have the warrant, so you can't stop us," the team leader said.
"Oh, but I can and I will. This warrant has no legal standing until tomorrow. What's more, it was only issued today. I dare say, it was only issued when a warrant was demanded of you. Now open that van up and unload it. Or do I need to add further charges to what will be filed?"
"What are you blethering on about? That warrant is a legal document allowing us to search these premises and seize any evidence we find."
"Did you not listen? Remember this is being recorded and the recording will be used in court as evidence. You people illegally entered these premises yesterday without a warrant. You didn't show it to any of the members of this household, because you did not have a warrant at that time. This warrant was signed by the judge today and is dated for execution tomorrow." John showed the goon the relevant dates on the warrant. "Now, my patience is wearing thin. Get your men to return all those seized items to this house immediately. You stay here and in my hearing phone your bosses and tell them to return the occupants of this dwelling to their home immediately. Or there will be even more charges added. Come on, give the orders. Time is fleeting."
The goon told his accomplice to do as Bridgewater had instructed and then got on his phone to the headquarters and asked to speak to his superior. He then relayed to the superior the demands that had been made and after a bit of discussion held the phone out to John. "The guvnor wants to speak to you."
John held a crisp conversation with the `guvnor' and told him that he had messed up completely and there was no room for negotiation at this stage. He also reminded them that they had now held Percy's parents for over twenty-four hours and as they now had no evidence with which to lay any charges, they would be best served by releasing the Nisbetts and returning them to the place from which they were illegally abducted.
John handed the phone back to the owner and then said to Percy, "I'll wait here to see that your parents are released and returned before I go and set the ball rolling on the charges we will bringing against this mob. They have got away with too much too often, which has led to this complete disregard of the law and rules of investigation."
Once the van had been emptied, John asked for the mobile phones of the three who had been in Elliot's study. He checked each in turn and deleted any pictures of documents that he thought looked like they had been taken in the house. When he handed the phones back, he said, "Next time you'll make sure that the correct procedures have been followed before you do something like this. One member of this family might be guilty, but you have let that one go through your carelessness and your slapdash approach to your work. Take that back to your superiors and see what they say." He then went and moved his car so that they could get theirs out the drive and leave.
While waiting, Percy phoned Mavis and told her what he knew. They had to wait for almost an hour before another unmarked car pulled up and let Grace and Elliot out. A few minutes later, Mavis arrived. After greeting everyone and being introduced to John, she said a cup of tea would be a good way to start mending things.
"Mavis, just a warning – the guys who were here are not good at housekeeping," Percy said.
A few moments later they heard a wail and Mavis came storming out. "I'm afraid tea will have to wait. I can't make anything in that pigsty. You be sure to add charges for endangering our lives with germs," she admonished John.
"You can be sure that pictures of the state they've left the house in will be included with all the other evidence," John assured her.
John asked Grace and Elliot if they were up to giving him a statement or if they needed to rest first. Grace said she was tired but would rather get the questions over and done with. Elliot just nodded his agreement. For the next hour, amidst the noises of Mavis restoring the kitchen to a state she could work in, Grace and Elliot described their experiences, which were not dissimilar to what Percy had been through.