The Dull Circus

The Dull Circus

By Alex Watson





Haddon knew what to expect. The door squeaked open at the end of the corridor followed by some heavy steps. A shadow fell over the crack in the doorway. Up above, the florescent light hummed loudly. Haddon felt an urge to punch it and make it cease. For two hours the same sound had been shredding his eardrums. The room was damp and poorly lit and a stench of stale coffee and dettol filtered through the doorway. It was another day of the same old circus, only the lions were now toothless and the clowns all out of laughs.

As the door drew back Haddon saw the same two men he had seen many times before. The older one in the pink shirt he’d nicknamed Silver Fox, he was the calmer one where as Mr Anger Management next to him seemed to be the devil that perched on his shoulder.

Haddon knew his place in the two men’s lives. Every time help was needed they hauled him into the station. They never called any of the other crime departments.

Anger Management was circling desperately. Something was on his mind and he was going to get it out of Haddon no matter how hard he pushed. The man wanted to imitate those tough guys he’d seen on television. But in reality he was simply Silver Fox’s clown which was lured to perform its sad dance.

“So what have I done this time?” Haddon sighed

“I don’t know what have you done?” Anger Management asked

“Well I wouldn’t be here if something wasn’t wrong,” Haddon said

“Hello that sounds like a confession to me. What do you think sir?” Anger Management replied excitedly.

Silver Fox ignored him and crossed over to face Haddon

“See you’ve been dodging those meetings you promised to go on,” Silver Fox told him.

“If it isn’t broken don’t fix it,” Haddon replied

“You may not be broken but you sure seems to have a wish to end up in Crowmarsh again.”

“Now please tell why I’m here, I haven’t committed any crimes.”

Silver Fox took a step back, the man liked to stare at people it seemed. Haddon didn’t face him because the man had done this more than once, also Silver Fox was about to size him up for another of their talks.

“Ever hear of Oleg Rebrov?” Silver Fox asked him

“Yeah, Ukrainian man isn’t he,” Haddon answered

“Indeed and it seems that his factory was raided last night. Not by us, he always swore to us that he ran a machine parts business. Only there was no machinery, just large portions of white charlie,” Silver Fox chuckled.

“And what does this have to do with me,” Haddon said irritably

“Well let’s just say that the dispute between him and your boss Corry was quite well known. To put it bluntly we think he’s behind it, we just need to know for sure.” A cold feeling of dread seeped through Haddon, any mention of Corry or his group of flying monkeys put him on edge.

Corry was the one name that put the frighteners on anyone. He was a man seldom seen whose actions spoke clearer than the few words he mustered. Haddon had the misfortune to be one of the people he regularly saw.

“Come on, we know all about your boy Corry now stop fucking about and give to it to us,” Anger Management screamed from the other side of the room. All those years of police work and it still hadn’t cross his mind that you never got things from your enemies by drowning them in spit.

“Look I don’t work for you alright” Haddon calmly explained “I’m a tradesman that’s all. Frankly if you had any sense you’d quit bothering me.”

“Tradesman? What’s your fucking trade, crack?” Anger Management spat.

“You may not work for us, but if you’ve got a file going back to 1995, then I’m practically family.” Silver Fox said.

“You think I forgot.” Haddon chuckled. He expected Anger Management to make a move for his throat, but his fist remained still. It seemed that this time the old dog had truly learned a new trick.

Silver Fox had his eyes transfixed upon a file in his hands; did these fools not know how to form their own opinions anymore? It seemed that whenever they decided to drag Haddon into this place that it was because of some paper evidence that they had allegedly uncovered and they needed his ‘help’ on. To the left of the file lay a plastic evidence bag that was filled with something metallic that glinted under the lights. Haddon’s inside’s stirred cautiously.

Silver Fox was a clever old man, he may be overdue for a retirement but in this moment he was about to what he did best. He leaned to face Haddon; in his calm, educated tone he began with.

“Now son, we know you. I think I know more about your own childhood than you do. You’ve dodged me more than once. In fact some days I wonder whether you would have been better standing next to me. Sure DC Rutledge here has his charms but you’ve got this wit about you, I wonder,”

In the background Anger Management looked like a girl who’d been ditched at the school dance, it made Haddon smile.

“Always known that you’re smarter than Corry, he has the intimidation factor but you’ve got the head for business,” Silver Fox softly said.

“Is that a compliment Inspector?” Haddon enquired

“No it’s an insult you silly prick. All these years you could have risen above him, made your own empire and given that idiot over to us. Wouldn’t have been hard once you got past the tough guy factor,”

“That’s right; all you are is another one of life’s wash outs.” Anger Management taunted.

“You shut your fucking mouth,” Haddon snapped. Anger Management then grabbed his shoulder hard; the man had a forceful grip and the nerves in Haddon’s shoulder tinged with pain.

“You know what Inspector? I think we’ve been too nice to this guy. All those times he should have been put back inside and we just let him go back to his pitiful life. Maybe it’s time we stopped doing him favours,” Anger Management said.

“You’re right we don’t need Corry for this, after all we’ve got you.” Silver Fox said.

“What? Get lost you’ve got nothing” Haddon screamed. Silver Fox moved towards the evidence bag and picked it up. It swung back and forth in front of Haddon’s eyes. Immediately Haddon recognised its contents.

“This is yours isn’t it? Silver Berretta?” Silver Fox asked

“Well you see instead of Corry we’re going to pin it on you. You were at the crime scene weren’t you? Oh yes that’s right thought you might have been. Only you were silly enough to leave this. You’re going back inside Haddon; we’ve had enough of your substandard bullshit. All those times you haven’t delivered to us are really biting you now” Silver Fox said. The pain increased in Haddon’s shoulder as Anger Management pushed harder.

“Now unless you know someone else who’s involved then I’m charging you right now, so speak,”

Haddon heart was beating faster than ever; he couldn’t hear anything apart from its thump. His time was nigh, things were unravelling before him and something here would have to give and fast. Haddon nodded reluctantly, Anger Management removed his grip from Haddon’s shoulder, the man look pleased with himself. Silver Fox picked up a chair and sat down. He looked like a teacher punishing a pupil.

“Now be a good boy and tell us what we want to know.”

Haddon leaned back in his chair and stared into space; if the old man wanted something he was going to have to shake it out of him. He knew he had time on his hands; Silver Fox would wait all night until breaking Haddon because he’d tried it so many times before. There was one thing up in the air that was troubling Haddon, how safe was he? Surely Silver Fox would come good on anything he promised? But things had a way of getting back to Corry, what if Haddon was just a sitting duck?

“I know certain things that may be of interest. But the real question is what the real benefit is for me?” Haddon asked

“Check this out guv this twat wants money,” Anger Management laughed

“It’s not a question of money; I’m talking about not having to glance over my shoulder. This situation is easy for you, I don’t deliver you put me away. But me that’s a whole different story, so please answer my question” Haddon explained

For once neither man answered his query; all the men seemed to be looking to one another for answers. However, instead of doing his old routine Anger Management calmly sat over by him and looked for once as if he was perplexed. There was silence between the two of them; once again the sound of the florissant light came into play.

“Now listen, we know what you expect of us and I can tell you this we shall deliver it. We can put you into…” Silver Fox started with.

“No deal,” Snapped Haddon.

“You can spin me these fancy sounding terms but we all know there are no such things as ‘protective custody’ or ‘Immunity’ just another body thrown into the river at the end. You get famous, I end up dead. Unless you’ve got a fucking good offer for me my mouth remains bolted,”

Silver Fox pulled Haddon out his chair, his heart jumped. The old man’s face had turned dark; it was like looking into the eye of the storm. This time Haddon had ticked him off and this was looking to be his ticket back to Crowmarsh! A gland of sweat trickled down his brow.

“One day you’re going to get smart, but it won’t be here, no it’ll be in a prison cell with your cracked skull pissing claret. And your last thought will be ‘shit why didn’t I listen to that kindly Inspector.” Silver Fox spat. His words sent a trickle of nerves; the old man was talking sense, but to Haddon he might as well have been speaking Zambian.

“Inspector, let me have a quiet word with him,” Anger Management said.

Silver Fox threw Haddon back down; he laid a quivering mess on the floor. Silver Fox began to walk towards the door, the man looked fed up already and they hadn’t even been there an hour.

“You go ahead Rutledge, he’s fucking slaying me.” Silver Fox whinged.

The door slammed shut loudly as the man made his exit. Anger Management had a smirk on his lips; Haddon feared that his ‘kind word’ would end up with him breathing through a tube.





Anger Management brought his chair and sat it next to Haddon’s; he looked deep into his eyes, just like his superior would have done. Was this the sign of a new officer? Haddon assumed that Anger Management was merely sizing him up for the chop.

“You’re scared aren’t you?” Anger Management said

“Might want to check that,” Haddon joked

“Well clearly you are otherwise you wouldn’t have a tear running down your face,” Haddon felt the salt water taste hit his tongue; the brute wasn’t lying to him.

“You asked before about what’s the benefit to you,” Anger Management asked “Well the benefit is simple, you tell us whether Corry robbed Rebrov’s factory and you get the power you desire with the minimum of effort.”

Haddon shifted in his seat, though whether it was out of sheer joy or discomfort remain unclear to him. He glanced over at Anger Management. The man’s eyes were wild with excitement. Haddon heard himself giggle slightly at this.

“No I’m serious; we’re similar because we both desire what we cannot have,” Anger Management explained

“No offence but what the fuck do you mean?”

“Well you see we both desire power in places we’ll never get it,” Anger Management.

“And before you interrupt me, you know what I mean Haddon,”

Haddon wasn’t sure that he did understand what the detective was rambling on about, but he listened on regardless.

“For five years I’ve been listening to bitterness and frustration in your voice. That yearning for another life that doesn’t involve the words ‘yes sir’. For instance I’d love to be above DI Moss, but I know that it will take me years of work and back breaking effort to do that. But you on the other hand have a chance to amend things now,”

“Go on,” Haddon urged

“All you have to do for us is tell us that one thing. Then life will seem a whole lot brighter, you can walk along aimlessly without that sense of dread eating away at you. Instead you’ll be able to get someone else to your ‘yes man’. Think about it Haddon, a new world in front of you and for once you control it. Corry can be a distant memory; you just tell us what we want to know.” Anger Management gleefully explained to Haddon.

Haddon leaned back in his chair; for once he had no smart reply

“You better get Silv… I mean DI Moss in. I’ve got something you might be interested in,” Haddon announced.

Silver Fox emerged in the door way, as he entered the room Haddon felt an uncertainty about the situation, yes he was about to tell a story but the real ending would remain to be seen. Then as Anger Management pushed the door shut Haddon story could begin.



The evening sky was beginning to stain purple as Haddon made his way out, there was a still feeling to the air. That aroma of stale coffee and dettol still floated out from the reception, it became clear why criminals often confessed, hell was better than having to put up with that. In the pocket his mobile buzzed into life, someone had sent him a message.

The blue screen flashed on as Haddon opened the message up, it read

‘WILSON PARK NOW. CORRY’.

The sense of paranoiac dread with the side of order of utter panic came into play once more. Life however had a nasty of changing when you least expect it.

A stray brown leaf blew across the ground as Haddon made his way across the muddy fields of the park. Over the other side was the shelter where Corry held all his ‘private’ meetings. Haddon had never been present a single one of them and all of Corry’s men had remain tight lipped about anyone who spoke with him.

There he stood, the beef faced prick that was his boss. Corry was adopting his usual tough stance. With every step the butterflies in Haddon’s stomach got worse, he felt like he was going to throw up right in front his boss which would cause him to shake his head.

Haddon reluctantly extended his hand towards him; it was met with a stare.

“Been busy lately Rory?” Corry asked him.

“Sorry I don’t follow Mr Corry,” Haddon answered. Corry moved closer to him and put his hand on his shoulder.

“Well then it would appear I need to remind you,” Corry said.

Behind him a forceful arm wrapped around his chest. One of the flying monkeys had him caught in a vice. Haddon’s cries for mercy echoed around the vacant forest in front. But it was no good, nobody was anywhere within sight. Haddon’s last yelps disappeared into the tree lined abyss.

Inside the shelter all he could feel was wind blowing against his hair. Corry stood to face him, his stare fascinating Haddon. The feel of cold steel pressed against his forehead and as the catch was pulled back all Haddon could hear were the words of that kindly Inspector.