Abacus

given her number on a small piece of paper. We have since got her in and she has positively identified our victim as Briggs from photos.”
    “Is Briggs a current missing person?” Randall asked.
    “No , not at this stage,” Michael replied. “But the description is identical.”
    A wide smile beamed from Jesse’ s face. “Excellent work, Michael.”
    Randall patted Michael on the back as he headed for the door. “Game on, guys. Game on.”
    * * *
    Once Briggs had been positively identified, Leanne and Randall made the long drive over the Sydney Harbour Bridge to the Northern Sydney beaches suburb of Narrabeen.
    Randall had, throughout his career, delivered many a death message to families who had suffered loss. After gaugi ng their responses, he categorised them into three distinct groups. There were the violent confrontations, where family members would channel their shock into anger. These people at times would take their rage out on the police messengers. He had in the past been the recipient of such outbursts and never took it personally. He knew it was an involuntary action of which they had absolutely no control.
    The next group were the ones who totally broke down, usually yelling and crying uncontrollably and often losing the use of their legs and all strength. These people were usually inconsolable and were in total denial about what they had just heard.
    Finally, there was the group who stood there absolutely silent and showed very little emotion at all. He believed that this group were more likely to do something drastic in response to the bad news. This group could easily be interpreted as having something to hide, however, experience had shown him that this, too, was a completely normal way for these people to deal with shock after hearing life changing news. It didn’t matter what the reaction was though, it was still a very difficult task to tell a family that their loved one was not coming home.
    Nonetheless, the reaction of family members in murd er investigations was important. He wanted to see firsthand the reaction he received; in his eyes everyone was guilty until proven innocent.
    It did not seem long before he stood face to face with Mrs. Briggs in the doorway of her modest suburban home. “Mrs. Briggs, is it?”
    “Yes, why? ” she asked nervously.
    Like most people who were about to receive bad news from police, she had sensed that she was about to learn something very painful. “I’m afraid I have some very bad news to share with you. Can we come in?”
    She instantly grasped the doorframe and visibly shook. Leanne instinctively held her hand and walked her into the house. She was excellent at times like this. Once inside, Leanne sat on the lounge with her arm around Mrs. Briggs, while Randall pulled a chair up and sat opposite her. Randall had thought beforehand how he was deliver the news, but decided as always, the most direct method would be best.
    Pulling his chair a little closer, and holding her hand, he said, “Mrs. Briggs, I am sorry we have to meet under such circumstances, but I am afraid to inform you that we have recovered a deceased man in the Botany River who has been identified as your son Tony.”
    With that, she pulled her hand from his grasp, held her head in her hands and bent forward, sobbing uncontrollably. “No, no, it can’t be, it can’t be true, please God, no.” Mrs. Briggs seemed to lose all strength in her body and slid forward off the lounge onto the floor, with her back up against the seat cushion. She reached across to a family photograph, which was on a small side table next to the lounge, and held it against her chest. “No, not my boy,” she cried as she rocked the photo in her arms as if soothing a newborn baby.
    He knelt down next to her, put his arms gently around her shoulders and helped her back into her seat. “I’m so sorry to have to bring you this terrible news,” he said apologetically.
    “How did this happen? Was it an acci dent?”
    “Ma ’am, unfortunately it does look like Tony was the victim of foul play.” This further information seemed to cause even further distress to her already fragile state as she loudly wailed in denial.
    T he chime from the front doorbell sounded. Leanne walked down the hall to answer it. “That will be Kaitlyn, my daughter, I called her after you called me.” Mrs Briggs sobbed. Seeing her mother in distress, Kaitlyn ran down the hall to comfort her. As Kaitlyn listened to the details