Chapter 13
Return to Duty
Vigau, Arielle, Bonaventure
Inspector Vittorio Coriolis knocked on the door, saying, "Chief? It's Vito. You in?"
There was no reply, no sound of anyone moving around inside. He tried knocking again.
"Chief? You in? It's Vito."
The door was not quite latched. That was most irregular for a cautious man like Inspector Andress. Reaching for his revolver, Inspector Coriolis slowly opened the door. He knocked again as he stepped into the room.
"Chief? If you're in there, say something."
The floorboards creaked as he walked. Rationally, he had no reason to be on his guard like this. If something happened to the Chief, it would already be long since over and surely it would have alerted the other residents of the townhouse. Still, your training kicks in and overrides all conscious thought.
The curtains were closed and there were no lamps on, so it was hard to see much of anything. Inspector Coriolis' foot brushed up against something. By the sound it made as it moved, he recognized it as an empty bottle. His eyes were adjusting to the dark and he found that bottle was but one among many.
Sprawled out on the bed was Inspector Andress. Judging from the state of his clothes, he had gotten halfway into the process of undressing himself when he passed out.
"Aw, hell, Chief..."
Inspector Coriolis took his hand from his revolver. He would not be needing it except to perhaps put Inspector Andress out of his misery. His suspension had only been going on for a little over a month and he had already fallen this far. An uptight overachiever like him had probably never been seriously slapped down once in his entire career and this was what his first big cock-up did to him.
Having been around his share of drunks, Inspector Coriolis knew better than to approach too heedlessly. Some plainclothes officers did not like to carry their truncheons, but Inspector Coriolis was not one such officer. He even had a tailor modify his trousers with a truncheon pocket just like that of the uniformed officers. He drew out his truncheon and cautiously poked at Inspector Andress' shoulder.
"Chief. Wake up, Chief."
Inspector Andress moaned softly but was otherwise as good as stone dead.
"Alright then, Chief. You asked for it."
He tucked away his truncheon and left the room. He went straight to the bathroom, took the tin bucket sitting beside the tub and headed downstairs. From the kitchen, he pumped water to fill the bucket, then carried it back upstairs. With that done, he went back to Inspector Andress' room.
Taking hold of Inspector Andress' arm, Inspector Coriolis said, "Come on now, Chief. Up we go."
Another moan from Inspector Andress was all the response Inspector Coriolis got as he hoisted up his limp colleague and dragged him to the bathroom.
"And in we go," he said as he lowered Inspector Andress into the tub. "Nice and easy now. Mind your head, Chief."
The insensate Inspector Andress barely moved. Inspector Coriolis then picked up the bucket and held it up.
"Oh, Inspector Andress, it's your wakeup call."
With that, he dumped the contents of the bucket on Inspector Andress. For someone who had been good as dead, the splash of cold water triggered an explosion of movement.
"Damn it all to hell!" he howled.
A moment passed with him lying there dumbly in the tub dripping wet, then his senses started to come back to him. He looked up to Inspector Coriolis, with bucket still in hand.
"Coriolis? What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing, Chief," Inspector Coriolis replied. "This is a fine sight. What if they sent one of the lads instead of me?"
"I imagine I would be drier."
"Drier is what you need to be, Chief. It looks like you raided a whole pub's stores in there."
"Surely it's not as bad as all that."
"Have you taken a look while sober?"
Inspector Andress' jaw worked wordlessly as he seemed to be considering the question.
Moving things along, Inspector Coriolis said, "Get yourself cleaned up, Chief. You're off suspension."
Inspector Andress held his forehead and moaned.
"Did the world just forget the worst magic incident since the last time Vigau made headlines?"
"Where have you been, Chief? There was a bigger one and we need our Chief Witch-hunter. Come along now."
Inspector Coriolis did not imagine he could leave Inspector Andress to his own devices. He was going to have his work cut out for him, but he was willing to put out the effort to make Inspector Andress presentable for the Superintendent. It had nothing to do with camaraderie, fellow-love or anything like that. The last thing Inspector Coriolis wanted was to have to replace Inspector Andress and be responsible for this mess.