A long row of orange streetlights cast a heavy glow on the pier and tableau of motionless carnage both on the street and in the water. Bollards and their chain had been uprooted from their concrete foundations, taking chunks of the pavement with them, and had been discarded across the road or tossed into the water where they likely would not be seen for some time. The neat row of parked cars had been similarly ruptured, with some getting away with a slight displacement, while others had their chassis crumpled like foil, their windows shattered and lights put out. One was flipped over entirely. Even less fortunate were the ones that now sat mostly sunk in the black, cold waters of the bay, their windows glaring up at the police officers on the quay like angry alligators.
‘Piss,’ said DCI Sherclaw. ‘What a mess. Did anyone see what happened?’
A winch was already being lowered from the back of a truck towards the divers in the water. Sherclaw wasn’t sure the truck itself looked heavy enough to be towing whole cars out of the water, but who was he to say? Not his department.
‘A bloke walking by said he saw a car go careening around the bend there,’ said PC Ahmed, pointing to a corner of the road where a tire streak had been burned across the pavement. ‘Then hadn’t the time or the inclination to stop itself from plowing into the parked vehicles over there and off into the water.’
‘DUI? Did the suspect survive?’ said Sherclaw.
‘He did,’ said Ahmed.
‘Right, well,’ Sherclaw waved his hand at the scene before them, ‘I think we have enough to charge him with reckless endangerment for a start.’
‘Er,’ Ahmed cleared his throat. ‘That might be a bit difficult.’
‘What? Why?’
An officer walked past their conversation, holding a lead, to which was attached a soaking-wet golden labrador, who was wagging his tail and generally looking very pleased with himself.
Sherclaw looked at the dog. Then PC Ahmed. ‘That’s not-’
Ahmed nodded.
‘Piss.’
Paddy Dobson
2nd November 2020