The DPO returned to his office with another man. I wondered who he was, of course how could I know who it was. The DPO asked the man to have a seat beside me, while he went ahead to take his just opposite us.
Then, he introduced the man to me and then me to the man, that was when I realised that he was a detective.
"Mrs. Sonia Tinket, may I officially introduce you to Detective San. Detective San, this is Mrs. Sonia Tinket, the last I told you about earlier."
"Nice meeting you Mrs. Sonia, I hope we will work well together and get the desired results you want." He said.
"Thank you so much Detective, I hope so too." I answered, and gave out that forced smile.
The DPO then turned to me and continued, "so ma'am, Inorder to handle this case well and perfectly, I needed to bring in Detective San. He will take over the investigation from here and anything you need to know or do will be communicated to you by him. Hope that is okay? He asked.
"That's fair enough." I replied.
The DPO gave me that strange look like I said something very bad. Well, I knew what I said and I did that on purpose. Most of this police officers take cases for granted. There are lots of people standing outside waiting to be attended and if not that I had some kind of connection, who knows when I would be allowed to meet with the DPO, that's aside the fact that he might not want to talk to me.
"Sir, did I say anything wrong? I asked in feigned ignorance, avoiding a direct eye contact with him.
"Ma'am, with all due respect, I won't say you belittled me or something, sometime ago I would have said that. But now, concerning the issue at hand, I could say that you are really ungrateful. You should know that a lot of people are out there waiting for their turns to be attended to. But lucky you, you bypassed that protocol and not only that, you have been assigned a personal top detective to handle your case. Isn't that just enough for today? He asked in annoyance.
I wasn't moved by the crocodile story he was sharing, because I knew that he on a normal note has no right to leave people waiting aside. I wonder if they actually derive e joy in that, because I don't see anything worth it.
"Sir, with all due respect as well, I just say that you need to be demoted, perhaps you have missed that level for a while now. Why do you remind me of the people waiting outside to be attended to why you are the ones allowing it to happen. You leave people outside and you don't attend to them, while you stay in your office all day, literarily doing nothing at all. Only to report to work the next day and continue from where you stopped. What do you call that, leadership? I replied him boldly.
Mr. DPO was speechless and taken aback. He didn't realize at first that I could talk like that, I guess. He was bragging about how people come around to look for him but do not see him for days, when he cannot do his simple job that has been assigned to him.
"Ma'am, you see, you are not supposed to be here."
"Is that the policy you signed up for, when you were employed as a more young officer of the law? Was that the policy you signed up for? Welk, the answer is no, but the desire for authority and the seat of authority has taken over your mind for good judgment. Sir, please, let's just cut the chase and go straight to the reason why I am here. My children are missing and need to be found, I don't have the time for a hide and seek game."
"I see, so...".
"DPO sir, please, let's cut the chase already. You guys have argued enough and Ii am quite sure it's worth it. Mrs. Sonia, please calm down, I will help you with what you need, with the help of the DPO there, we will help you find your children." The detective convinced me, after succeeding in stopping our arguments.
"Thank you mister Detective, I am sorry I let out my feelings that way and I don't really mean to trouble you.
"There's no problem ma'am. Atleast, it's nice you accepted your faults, that's what makes you different." He commented and smiled casually at me.
I bought that as a joke, though I knew it wasn't at all, but I really didn't care at that moment. I turned to the DPO who was already pissed off with me.
"Sir, my sincere apologies for the way I reacted. I promise it won't happen again. I haven't been feeling too good since my children got missing and I haven't really settled with the knowledge of that." I explained to him, and with an apology.
He nodded his head reluctantly in acceptance. After that, he asked that I return the next day, so that they will give me a complete information of what I needed.
I thanked them both profusely, then I got up from the chair where I have need seating for a while. After I left the hospital, I went to my car and got in. Then, I started the car and drove out of the police station.