Phrase Writers Group

I received a scam call from a "Detective Constable Peters, Hammersmith police station". They are very convincing. Thankfully I smelled a rat.

DECADE

“Daddy Daddy Daddy” cried Jessica, blonde pigtails bouncing with her excitement. It was her second favourite time of day. The best being when her Daddy woke her up every morning with a kiss and cuddle.

“Daddy you’re home”.

“Hello Princess” he smiled, braced as she ran to his arms for their cuddle and kisses.

“Hello Dear” was somewhat muffled as his wife walked through their garden to him. He squeezed her hand, a daily routine that began 10 years ago on their wedding day.

They walked inside their welcoming house, pristine like a telly makeover show, but full of warmth, flowers and Jessica’s toys.

His daughter was recounting her day, at about 100 words per minute, much faster than his PA wife when they first met.

“Your bath is ready for you” his wife said. “Us girls will prepare supper. Go and relax. You look so tired, Dave”.

“Had a good day. Why don’t we go out and celebrate?”

His wife paused. “It’s been a long time since you’ve had a holiday. I know your job is important, but even a long weekend would be a welcome break. Anyway, Jessica likes to celebrate just by being with you. Me too”.

“I’ll see what I can arrange” said Dave. He turned to climb the stairs. “Thanks for the bath. Every day gets better and better with you and Jessica”.

Dave turned. “A decade married to you. Hadn’t forgotten. We’ll do something special soon”.

The following morning David was back at work. He was a Detective Constable, dealing with the dregs and scum of society. Sometimes his efforts led to a conviction but all too often he had to watch criminals walk freely.

He was working on a particularly vicious gang, making good progress. This morning he was discussing the case with Jess, his detective superintendent.

“Hello David, good to see you again. How’s your family?”

“Good morning Ma’am. Family’s fine, they’d like to see me a bit more”.

DI Jess chuckled. “They will, once we conclude this case and put away the gang. Remind me of their modus operandi”.

“Well Ma’am, it’s a common scam these days. They ring vulnerable older people, pretending to be detective constables like me. Thing is, the victims are of a generation brought up to respect the police and officialdom. So the criminals are trusted.

“They call their victims on their landline, and tell them their address and postcode. Information the victims would expect them to know. Then they talk vaguely about debit card misuse, and make a point of not asking for the card number or PIN. It’s a clever operation, they sound almost like real police officers”.

“Where’s the sting?” asked Jess.

“Ma’am, it varies. With this gang they talk about needing help with an undercover ‘police sting operation’ to catch those stealing debit card numbers. They need some money, usually an odd amount like £4,650. But they made a big mistake. They called Guv, your predecessor”.

“Detective superintendent Shelley?” said Jess.

“The same”, replied David. “He may be retired 10 years, but once a cop, ’n’ all that. So he’s been helping us with our sting operation to catch the gang. Everything is lined up. They’ll be on remand in prison till the trial begins, then 10 years with no parole”.

“Excellent” said DI Jess. “You’ve deserved a long weekend at least”.

The next time Jessica saw her Daddy her love had decayed.