by Morgana Best
I spun around to see two men, Thomas and Max. “I came to see if you were all right,” Max said.
At the same time, Thomas said, “I’ve come to give you a lift back to your house.”
“You can give yourself a lift back to Melbourne,” I said to Thomas. To Max, I said, “Max, are you offering to drive me back home?”
“Of course,” Max said. I thought he looked secretly pleased. “That’s why I came.”
As I walked past Thomas, he called after us, “Oh, Goldie, I know how you always love to play hard to get.”
I did not look back. If this had been months earlier, I would have been thrilled that Thomas wanted me back. Now, I never wanted to see him again.
Max opened the car door for me and I hopped in. As soon as the car turned onto the road, he asked, “What was the evidence that Power thinks he has against you?”
“It’s just a piece of paper,” I said. “The victim was holding it. It had the address of the house plus my name at the top. Obviously, the man didn’t know where Doug Greer’s house was and he googled it and found out I was the agent. You don’t think it’s really evidence, do you?” I added.
“Of course not, but Power would think it is,” Max said. “I think you should get a lawyer, Goldie. I mean, it’s nothing to get too worried about, but we know what Power’s like and I’m still on leave.”
I let out a long sigh and looked out the window. “About Thomas—he’s my ex-boyfriend from Melbourne. I have no idea why he came to East Bucklebury.”
“You don’t owe me an explanation, Goldie,” Max said.
My heart sank. Did Max mean he wasn’t interested in me? I had thought he was. In fact, I thought he had dropped hints that we would soon be dating when the internal affairs investigator had left town.
Had I got it all wrong?
Chapter 5
“Do you think I could risk hiding a coffee machine out the back?”
I was in my new office in the main street of East Bucklebury, filling in Oleander and Athanasius on the day’s events and my interrogation at the police station.
They both turned white. “Of course not! You can’t risk having one here,” Athanasius said. “I’m sure the police would find it. You know what Detective Power’s like.”
“I sure do,” I said with a sigh.
“It’s so nice that Max came to your rescue.” Oleander winked at me.
I sat down hard on a black plastic chair I had bought on sale at Bunnings for five dollars. “I don’t know. I tried to explain about Thomas being here, but he said I didn’t owe him an explanation.”
I got no further because both Athanasius and Oleander shrieked, “What? Thomas is here?”
My hand flew to my mouth. “I forgot to tell you, what with all this fuss about the murder. Thomas turned up at Doug Greer’s house.” I paused for dramatic effect and then pushed on. “He said he wants me back.”
Athanasius looked confused, but Oleander said, “You’re not thinking of going back to him, are you?”
“Of course not!” I shrieked. “He’s…” I caught myself just before I assaulted their delicate ears with foul language. “Hell would freeze over first! And then he came to the police station just as Max turned up to give me a lift home.”
“Max was jealous,” Oleander pronounced.
“But then, why did Max say I didn’t owe him an explanation?”
“But you don’t owe him an explanation,” Athanasius said.
“Don’t be so reasonable, Athanasius,” Oleander scolded him. She raised her eyebrows at me and added, “Typical man thing to say.”
Athanasius looked confused. “It’s a man thing to be reasonable?”
“The whole day’s been a disaster,” I said. I tried to put my feet up on the counter, but the chair tilted back at a precarious angle so I saved myself by slamming my feet on the floor. “First of all, that poor man was murdered and then I was taken in and questioned by the dreadful Detective Power and now Thomas is here trying to get me back. I wonder what his motive is?”
“Maybe he actually wants you back,” Athanasius said.
This time, Oleander agreed with him. “The man probably realises he shouldn’t have let you get away, Goldie. It’s clear he’s come to his senses, but it’s too late. You have flown the coop. You’re a horse that’s left the barn. A ship that’s sailed. A train that’s left the station. Thomas missed the boat. He’s a day late, a dollar short.”
“You’re right. I have and he has,” I said, hoping she wouldn’t think of any more sayings. “Still, on the bright side, I got this rent for a song.”
“I tell you what,” Oleander said, “this is a nice office and there’s room outside for tables and chairs.”
“For us to drink our coffee at?” I said sadly. “What use are tables and chairs outside a real estate office?”
“Well, at least it has a little fenced off area out the back for Persnickle.”
“That’s good, but I’d rather leave him at home while I’m out of the office,” I said. “I’d worry if he was here alone in town.”
Athanasius stood up suddenly. “Maybe we could be your receptionists. We come cheap.”
I tapped my chin. “That is a good idea. If you’re serious, as soon as I can afford it, I’ll take you both on as receptionists.”
Before either of them could respond, Thomas himself appeared. “So this is your new little office,” he said with clear disdain in his voice.
“This is Thomas, my ex-boss,” I said and to Thomas, I said. “These are my good friends, Oleander and Athanasius. And this is my wombat, Persnickle.”
Thomas bent down to pat Persnickle. Persnickle made a deep grunting sound. Thomas jumped back.
“He doesn’t like you,” I said. “And he bites.”
“Don’t we all,” Thomas said with a big wink.
I rolled my eyes. “What do you want?”
“Now Goldie, is that any way to speak to me?” he said in an admonishing tone. “I’ve flown all the way from Melbourne to the Gold Coast airport and then hired a car and have driven at least two hours to get to this, this… place. I thought you’d be only too pleased for me to rescue you and take you back home to civilisation, to Melbourne.”
“East Bucklebury is my home now, Thomas, and as you can see I don’t need a job because I’m working for myself.”
“Goldie, you know you won’t make a success of this business. You’ll never be a success here. You were a success in Melbourne, both as a real estate agent and as my girlfriend.”
I raised my eyebrows. “As one of your girlfriends.”
“Well, if you’re still upset about it, that shows you still care about me.” Thomas punctuated his remark with another wink.
“I have some eye drops that will fix you right up, young man,” Athanasius said. “If you’d like to accompany me to the retirement home, I’ll fetch them for you.”
Thomas appeared taken aback. I got out of my plastic fold-up chair. “Thomas, I will never go back to you, not in a million years. Not if you were the last man on earth and not even if I had been on a desert island for ten years,” I said. “And that’s the end of the matter. I never want to see you again. Goodbye.”
He reached for my hand, but I brushed it away.
“Goldie, I’m still in love with you. I’ll always be in love with you.”
Just then Max walked in, carrying a cardboard box containing four milkshakes. “I’m not interrupting something?” He looked quite put out.
“This young man has something in his eye but has refused medication,” Athanasius told Max.
“And he’s professing undying love for Goldie,” Oleander added.
“Is he indeed?” Max strode over to us. “And what does Goldie have to say about that?”
“I told him to leave me alone. I said I never wanted to see him again.”
Max placed the box on the counter, before folding his arms over his chest and glaring at Thomas.
“You can’t i
ntimidate me, Detective,” Thomas said with a sneer. “I’m quite within my rights to try to win my girlfriend back.”
“Ex-girlfriend,” I said, “and I don’t want you back. You’re trespassing. Please leave.”
Max cleared his throat. He loomed over Thomas. Thomas looked between the two of us and then beat a hasty retreat.
“Thanks for that, Max,” I said.
“Anytime, Goldie. I don’t like to see you upset.”
Oleander winked at me, and for a moment I was afraid Athanasius would offer her eye drops as well.
“I came to give you some information, off the record, of course.” Max took a milkshake from the box and handed it to Oleander.
“Thanks, but I’m lactose intolerant,” she said.
Max walked over to the front door. “Goldie, you’re not open for business at the moment, are you?”
“No, I was just doing a bit of cleaning. I’m shut on Saturday afternoons,” I told him.
He walked over to pull down the blind on the front window. “I got you all coffee at Ormeau. Look inside the milkshake containers.”
We took off the lids of milkshake to see coffee cups hidden inside. “You’re so thoughtful Max, thank you,” I gushed. I sipped the latte and let out a long sigh of contentment. “That was exactly what I needed. How did you know to bring three coffees? I mean, how did you know Oleander and Athanasius would be here?”
“I am a detective, Goldie,” he said, looking quite pleased with himself. “Anyhow, I’ve come to give you some information, but you didn’t hear it from me. The victim died around twelve hours earlier than the time you found the body.”
“Twelve hours?” I said. “That’s last night.”
“Yes, after your birthday party, Oleander,” Athanasius said.
“Does this mean I’m off the hook?”
Max shook his head. “I’m afraid not, Goldie. Of course, it does look better for you. It would’ve been much worse for you if the victim had been murdered around the time you were at the house. Still, it doesn’t let you off the hook, truth be told.”
I pulled a face and continued to sip my latte.
“Do they know who the victim is yet for sure?” Athanasius asked him.
Max nodded. “That’s where it gets interesting. He was one of the men involved in the Great Bank Robbery of 1955.”
“Yes, Doug was telling me about that,” I said. “His father was Ben Parrish, but he legally changed his name to Greer. Ben was involved in the Great Bank Robbery of 1955 with several other men. They all went to prison, but the victim got a lesser sentence because he was so young and didn’t have a criminal record.”
I put down my coffee for a moment. “Doug said the victim had bright red hair and so did Angus Burns, plus the victim had the same ring as Doug’s father. So the victim was Angus Burns?”
“It was indeed. Did Doug tell you anything else?”
I thought back. “Doug said his father didn’t spend the stolen gold because he was saving it as an inheritance for Doug. Doug’s been digging up the back yard ever since his father died, but he hasn’t found a thing, not even with a metal detector. Still, he’s sure his father wouldn’t have buried the gold at the house.”
“So his father didn’t tell him where the gold was hidden?” Oleander asked me.
I shook my head. “No, because he died unexpectedly and suddenly.”
“You’d think he would have made a will or something,” Athanasius said.
“Yes, you’d think so.” Oleander fell quiet for a moment before adding, “Maybe he didn’t trust lawyers. I wonder if this man came looking for the gold and someone murdered him?”
Max waved his finger at me. “No investigating this time, Goldie. I mean it. Athanasius and Oleander, make sure she doesn’t do any investigating, won’t you?”
They both looked at him blankly. Perhaps Max didn’t realise they were implicated in investigating the previous murders just as much as I was.
“Well, I’d better hurry. That internal affairs man is still in town. See you later, everyone.” He addressed those last words to me.
I crossed to the door to let out Max, when a man brushed past me and stormed into the office. I was about to say we weren’t open when I realised it was the internal affairs investigator.
“What are you doing here?” he snapped at Max.
“These are my friends,” Max said. “And I don’t like your tone.”
The man narrowed his eyes. “You have to admit it’s a little suspicious.”
Max drew himself up to his full height and loomed over the man. “Exactly what is suspicious?”
The man pointed at me. “You’re always hanging about her.”
“The lady’s name is Goldie Bloom,” Max said. “Ms Bloom to you.”
Something occurred to me. Since I was going to do a vinegar bottle for Detective Power, I might as well do one for this man and then he’d be out of our hair for good. And speaking of hair… I walked over to the man. “You should relax in East Bucklebury,” I said. “It’s a nice town.”
I stared closely at his jacket. Thankfully, he had more hair than Detective Power. A few hairs had fallen onto his jacket. I reached out and snatched one.
He stepped backwards. “What are you doing?”
“You had a hair on your jacket,” I said. “Never mind, I got it off.”
The man spun back to Max. “I’m watching you,” he said before storming out the door.
“Sorry about that, Goldie,” Max said. “It won’t matter soon, anyway.” With that he crossed to the door and let himself out.
I stood there for a moment, pondering his words. What had he meant? Was he soon going to make it abundantly clear to the investigator that he and I weren’t dating? And how would he do that? I sure hoped Max didn’t have a girlfriend.
I hurried into the kitchen at the back of the office and fetched out some cling wrap before carefully folding the piece of hair inside it. “I hope it’s enough,” I muttered to myself.
I turned around to see Oleander and Athanasius staring at me, surprised looks on their faces. I hurried to explain. “I’m going to do a vinegar bottle spell to separate me from Detective Rick Power and I decided to do one for the internal affairs investigator as well.”
Oleander clapped her hands. “What a good idea, Goldie. I hope it works.”
“I’m sure it will,” I said. “I’ve had great success with vinegar bottles in the past.”
Athanasius pointed to my desk. “Quick, turn on your computer, Goldie. We have to find out about the Great Bank Robbery of 1955.”
I hurried over to my desk and turned on my computer. While I was waiting for the painfully slow Wi-Fi to work, I said, “Surely the motive is connected with the bank robbery.”
“Not necessarily,” Athanasius said, “but the fact that the victim was murdered at Doug’s father’s house does seem to make it the obvious motive. But who knows? It might not have been someone connected with a gang member. It could have been a scorned lover. We shouldn’t shut our minds to other possibilities.”
I tapped away on the keyboard and quickly found the details of the Great Bank Robbery of 1955 committed at one of the major banks in Sydney. “These are the men involved.” I jabbed my finger on the screen. “Doug’s father, who is now deceased, and there’s the victim who is also now deceased, obviously.”
Athanasius looked over my shoulder. “It said the other two have died and one of them is still living a private life at the Gold Coast.”
“The Gold Coast?” I said. “That’s a bit close for comfort.”
“Quick, see if you can find an address.”
I tapped away. “Laurence Pattinson-Smythe is an unusual name,” I said. There was only one L. Pattinson-Smythe and his address was at Tamborine Mountain. A well-known tourist town, Tamborine Mountain was only a fifty minute or so drive from East Bucklebury.
“Do you think it’s him?” I asked them. “Why doesn’t he have an unlisted number?”
“What will we do? We can’t just turn up at his door and ask him questions about the victim.”
“That’s exactly what we’re going to do,” Athanasius said.
Chapter 6
“Goldie, don’t forget the exit!” Oleander exclaimed.
Athanasius sighed. “Goldie won’t miss the exit, will you Goldie?”
I was gripping the steering wheel for dear life. In Melbourne I had mostly used public transport, and the M1 here could be scary at times, especially when cars merged en masse.
“Tell me when the exit’s coming up,” I said.
“You’ll see Dreamworld on your left first,” Athanasius told me.
I gripped the steering well more tightly, just as someone pulled in front of me causing me to slam on the brakes. “Sorry about that,” I said. “No, I won’t see Dreamworld on my left, because I’m not taking my eyes off the road.”
“There’s Dreamworld now, Goldie. Get into the left lane when you can.”
“Thanks, Oleander.” I took a deep breath and checked over my shoulder before launching into the far left lane. “Phew,” I said. “I’ll be glad to get off onto a quieter road.”
I drove up the exit bank and waited at a set of traffic lights. “You have a few traffic lights ahead of you, and then it’s fairly straight sailing up the mountain,” Athanasius said.
He was right. Soon I was driving through pretty country on a winding road. “There’s a sign saying it’s a very steep climb.”
“It’s not that steep,” Athanasius said. Once more, he was right.
“I’ve never been to Tamborine Mountain,” I said. “Athanasius, what are you going to say to Laurence?”
Athanasius leant over from the back seat. “I’m going to go with the creative flow, Goldie. I haven’t planned what to say. Don’t ask me now or it will affect my creativity.”