Ashes to Ashes

by Campbell, Jamie

  She cleared a small area of her lounge, righted the television set and got involved in the daytime soaps. She didn’t want to touch anything else until the police arrived, just in case they could actually find the person who did it.

  It wasn’t until late afternoon that she actually got the knock on the door from the police department. She got both of them to hold up their ID badges to the spy hole before opening the door. They took one look at the room and got straight to work. One of them asked her to wait outside while they ‘processed the scene’.

  She stood just outside the door and leaned against the railing. The younger of the two policemen stepped out after a short time and opened his little black notebook.

  “Have you noticed anything missing?”

  “Yes, I had some newspaper articles on the kitchen table and my laptop computer. They are both gone.” She spoke matter-of-factly, trying as hard as possible to keep her emotions out of the equation.

  “Your laptop computer?” He wrote it down. “Can you think of any reason why someone would target your apartment to break into?”

  “I don’t know,” she lied. “I don’t really have anything of value, except for the laptop.”

  “Well, I’m sure it wasn’t personal then. Do you have insurance to cover the costs?”

  “No, I don’t.” She hadn’t even thought of the cost involved in replacing her stolen computer. She was more annoyed that she would have to go back to the library and re-print the articles.

  The young constable’s partner joined him at the front door. He was replacing his camera in a black bag hung over one shoulder.

  “I’ve got everything we need here,” he said to his partner, before turning his attention to Jasmine. “Miss Parker, did you get a locksmith in here to replace the door lock or anything?”

  “No. Everything is how it was, except for the refrigerator which I told you about.”

  “Do you keep a spare set of keys hidden anywhere? Perhaps under the welcome mat or a fake rock?”

  “No, I have the only key and it was with me the whole time.”

  “Okay, I couldn’t find a point of entry so I assume the robber must have come through the front door. Except, the door is showing no signs of forced entry. Usually that means either someone inside the place answered the door and let them in, or they had a key. You have ruled out both scenarios. This one’s a bit of a mystery. Maybe they had a skeleton key.” He chuckled to himself.

  “There’s no such thing as skeleton keys,” Jasmine rebutted. She didn’t like the older officer. He was speaking down to her as if she was a five year old asking why the sky was blue.

  “Well, we’ll file this one in the X-Files then. Come on Lance, we’d better be off. Good-day, Miss Parker.” He gave his partner the camera bag to carry and strode towards the staircase. The younger policeman, Lance, gave Jasmine an apologetic look and handed her a business card before following after his senior officer.

  She went back inside and surveyed the rooms. Her apartment was still in as much upheaval as before, but at least it hadn’t gotten any worse. She started cleaning the lounge room, picking up each item one at a time and replacing it back in its rightful position. She worked on each room methodically; making sure the room was spotless before moving onto the next.

  The bedroom was the worst room to clean. Not that it was messier, everything in it was just that bit more personal. Whoever had turned the room over wasn’t out just to cause chaos; it felt as if he was out to hurt her too. Her clothes weren’t just pulled from the closet; most were torn from their hangers. Shoes were expelled from their boxes, socks separated from their pair, and her sheets were all in a big pile.

  If whoever it was had set out to scare her, then they had succeeded. However, if they had set out to scare her off, then they were poorly misled. Seeing her possessions scattered about the place gave her a steely determination to find them and work out exactly what they had done to her parents. “No one messes with my family and gets away with it,” she vowed to the empty room.

  She continued on with her cleaning and tidying until she had the apartment back to order. As she was finishing up in the kitchen, her mood was improving three-fold. She had put right what someone had tried to wrong. She put some vegetables on the stove for dinner and turned on the nightly news. She put her head back and tried to focus on the headlines. Her eyes kept closing, as hard as she fought against it.

  She didn’t realise she had nodded off until the stove timer sounded, jumping her out of her unconsciousness. She quickly walked to the stove and turned it off, removing the pot of steaming vegetables. She poured the hot water out and transferred them onto her dinner plate.

  She sat in silence as she ate her dinner before showering and climbing into bed. She must have checked all the window and front door locks dozens of times before being satisfied that they were securely fastened. The words of the police constable kept niggling away at her, “... or they had a key.” She put her phone on her bedside table as an extra precaution.

  * * *

  Jasmine had slept surprisingly well for most of the night. She had thought she would never drift off, but the last few days’ events had taken their toll and made her too tired to stay awake. It was a blessing in disguise.

  She awoke, ready for a fight and was determined to conquer the faceless intruder and whoever was pulling his strings. She ate breakfast quickly and was waiting outside of the library when it opened at 8:00am. She was, in fact, the first one through the doors that morning.

  She headed straight for the archive room and repeated the steps that she had taken only the week before. She printed off each article in turn. Instead of going home to read through them, she found a cosy corner in the library and settled down in an armchair. Public areas were good at the moment, home was just too secluded. Anything could happen when there weren’t witnesses around.

  All of the articles were exactly how Jasmine had remembered. The ones that spoke about the fire didn’t reveal anything and the ones that mentioned the mayor could be discounted; at least that was one thing she did know. There was her birth announcement, but that was printed just for the sentimental value. That only left two articles, each one reporting on an animal cruelty investigation at the Avalon Laboratory. They ran along similar lines, however, the second one focused more on John Parker.

  ‘Parker Asked to Stand Down Over Cruelty Claims,’

  By James Loughlan.

  ‘John Parker was yesterday asked to resign from his position as head of the research department at Avalon Laboratory Industries Pty Limited. This stunning turn of events came late yesterday afternoon, just hours after the police and the Animal Welfare League dropped the charges of animal cruelty.

  ‘Parker, 45, has not released a statement, however, our contact – a co-worker working alongside Parker – has stated he has denied all the allegations. Speaking from an undisclosed location, our informant stated, “John would not even hurt a fly, let alone a cat or monkey. It’s just absurd to even consider that these allegations are true. I have known him for more than fifteen years. It’s just not him. He’s being held out as a scapegoat.”

  ‘Fast to deny any mention of a scapegoat was the CEO of Avalon Laboratories, Mr Barry Thrift. “There is no conspiracy theory here. It is what it is. I will not tolerate any animal cruelty in my labs and those responsible are being held accountable. We run a clean lab here; I just hope the public can see that.”

  ‘The charges of animal cruelty were raised back in February, when two anonymous witnesses came forward, widely believed to be ex-employees of the lab. They claimed that live cats, dogs, rabbits, and even monkeys were being used to test new medications. The conditions were described as ‘horrendous’, ‘barbaric’ and ‘unnecessary’.

  ‘The animals were reportedly housed in small cages and were never allowed out. Medications were tested both externally and internally, causing great distress to the animals and sometimes even resulting in death.

  ‘The Avalo
n police and the Animal Welfare League conducted a joint investigation into the claims; however, these were withdrawn yesterday. Sergeant Stampnel released the following statement early this morning, “No evidence was found to confirm the animal cruelty claims.” He did not elaborate on the findings, which had led many to believe that they were pressured into dropping the charges.

  ‘It seems that for now the matter has been closed. It is expected that John Parker will confirm his resignation in the following days and his reign at Avalon Laboratories will be over. For the man that led his team to develop the wonder drug Hifelox and was once regarded as a modern day hero, it is an unhappy ending.’

  Jasmine put the article down on her lap. As hard as she thought back, she didn’t remember anything about her father being forced to resign from his job in disgrace. He was so proud of the work he did and was always happy to go to work every morning. Not once did she ever hear him complain about his job, like most people did. For him, there was no Monday-itis or ‘sickies’. He genuinely wanted to be there and work hard for whatever cause he was following at the time.

  She scanned the article to look for a date; it was published on the 8th July 1994. A chill ran down her spine. It had been written only two days before John Parker had lost his life. ‘That’s why I didn’t know about it,’ she reconciled in her mind. If it had been so recent, then it’s possible the news hadn’t filtered down to the children of the household. For all intents and purposes, Daddy may have just been having a few days off work to rest from working so hard.

  Jasmine didn’t know what to think about what she had just read. She knew in her mind that her father wouldn’t have been cruel to animals, but how could she really know that? She started to doubt whether she had really known her parents at all. Her mother had covered up someone stealing money from the citizens of Avalon, now the other parent was accused of mistreating animals. They were brilliant parents, this she knew, but the rest, how they spent the rest of their time, she wasn’t sure about. At the funeral, she had had so many people come up to her and say what good parents she had and what a pity they died so young. Those were the parents she knew, not these other ones. The John and Julia Parker she was discovering were not her parents; they were their other personas – ordinary adults.

  She was being forced to remove the superhero exterior that usually dissolves as children grow up and learn their parents make mistakes too. Normally this comes with age; however, Jasmine’s parents stopped living when she was only eleven, so she never got to see them for just ordinary people. Now it was coming down on her like a tonne of bricks. She was learning the lesson fast.

  She thought back to how close they were as a family. It just couldn’t possibly be true.

  * * *

  “Kids, gather around. We are having an official family meeting.” Julia Parker clapped her hands together to call everyone to the table. Once Jasmine and Lucy had joined John and herself, she proceeded. “It has come to our attention that you might have both begged and pleaded for a pet over the last few weeks. Now, your father and I don’t take this decision lightly. Being a pet owner is a huge responsibility. I’m not sure if a seven year old and a nine year old can handle the responsibility.”

  Their father looked from one daughter’s face to the other and back again. They were taking the meeting very seriously. Family meetings were only called when there was a big change happening. They hadn’t had an official meeting since they decided to buy their new car three years ago. The rules were simple, everyone had an equal vote and the majority ruled.

  “We promise, Mum. We will look after it and feed it and play with it. You won’t have to do anything,” Lucy promised.

  “Who will clean up after it? Pets can be messy, especially if we get a puppy or kitten. Whose responsibility will that be?”

  Jasmine and Lucy looked at each other; they hadn’t considered having to do any of the messy work. Finally, Jasmine spoke diplomatically. “We will take it in turns.”

  “Okay. If we do decide to extend our family, what would you prefer? A dog, cat, goldfish or rabbit? We’ll put it to a vote. Hands-up for a dog.”

  All four hands shot up in the air. It was a unanimous decision. They would buy a dog to add to their family. The girls would learn about responsibility and they would all get to spend time together walking and playing with their new pet. They had only ever had one animal in the past and that was a cat named Matilda. It had run away in the middle of night, leaving everyone to forever wonder what had happened to her. It was one of the great Parker family mysteries. John prayed it wouldn’t have a sequel, especially with a dog as the star.

  The next day was a Sunday and the pound was only going to be open for the morning. Lucy and Jasmine had bounded out of bed at 6:00am in anticipation for the trip. The plan was to visit the pound and find a dog that picked them. They would surely choose the saddest looking thing in the place. Walking down each aisle, all the barking animals in the background, they looked inside each cage.

  There were dogs of all sorts. Some were small lap dogs, others were big guard dogs.

  The four of them passed each cage. Just when they thought they were running out of options, they stopped at the very last one. Inside was a small brown and white dog. He had long floppy ears and the biggest brown eyes you could ever imagine. He didn’t look sad though, rather he had a hopeful glint in his eye. They stared at him and he wandered up to the front of the cage. He didn’t stand up on his hind legs and beg for attention. Instead, he eyed them all in turn as if trying to decide whether he wanted them. They stood there, sizing each other up, for a few minutes.

  Eventually, his tail started to wag and he stood against the door with his paws poking through the wire. Jasmine put her finger through the cage where he licked it. She squealed with delight.

  “We have to have him!” she declared.

  “What do you think Lucy?” Julia asked, seeing her other daughter remain quiet.

  Lucy thought about it for a few moments before she spoke. “I like him. We can name him Gordon.”

  John and Julia exchanged a glance at the name choice. “Why Gordon?” they asked together.

  “I don’t know, it just suits him,” she answered, shrugging her shoulders.

  They hurried back to the front desk and filled in the paperwork for Gordon. They were told he was half Beagle, half something else – they couldn’t be sure. He was found wandering around on the highway and rescued by a motorist. They had been worried that he would be hit by a car before he managed to get himself to safety.

  They guessed his age to be about three years old and he was already house trained; the girls’ worry about having to clean up after him was for nothing.

  Gordon sat between Lucy and Jasmine in the car on the way home.

  He panted away happily and kept looking around the car. He had surveyed every family member and wagged his tail until Jasmine thought for sure that it would fall off. It didn’t though, and by the time they got home, they were all best buddies. They spent all afternoon playing with Gordon and showing him around his new home. They even walked him down to the park at the end of the street.

  That night in the midnight hour, a whimpering had awoken Jasmine and Lucy simultaneously. They followed the sound to the laundry where they had locked Gordon away for the night. He didn’t like being on his own after sharing quarters with dozens of other dogs. They let him out and he ran straight for their parents’ room. They hurried after him, scared of him waking their parents.

  It was too late. They rounded the doorway to where their parents were sleeping soundly just in time to see Gordon dive onto the bed.

  They stood frozen, horrified that he was about to wake them up. John stirred first from the weight on the end of the bed. He blinked his eyes a few times before sitting up. Julia did the same a few minutes later.

  “Who let the dog out?” John asked.

  “He was crying,” Jasmine explained, hoping it was a good enough excuse. She didn’t want to di
sappoint her parents after only one day of being a pet owner.

  “Come on then. If we have to sleep with Gordon tonight, then so do you.” He waved both of them over to join them in the bed and together, all five of them snuggled up and drifted off to sleep.

  * * *

  She folded all the articles and placed them into her handbag. She didn’t like what she was learning and for an instant she considered walking away from everything. Just doing what the man on the telephone had said and dropping it all. She thought for a moment that she didn’t want to know what happened, didn’t want to know who her parents were. She liked how it used to be. It was hard but it had all made sense before. Now, nothing made sense and it was just all going downhill.

  She stood up and walked back to her car. She could feel the tears behind her eyes and wanted to reach the safety of her car before they flowed. She unlocked the door and got in just in time. She bent forward and put her arms over the steering wheel, letting her head lean on them. She wasn’t sure exactly what she was crying for, but suddenly everything had just seemed so hopeless. She was damned if she did keep investigating and ran the risk of finding out more bad information about her parents, but she was damned if she didn’t because then she would always be wondering.

  She stayed there for only a few minutes, letting everything out. Then she sat back in her seat. Her face was wet and her nose had started to run. She fished around in her handbag until she found a tissue, then wiped her nose and dried her face. She pulled the articles out and unfolded them again. The article on top was her birth announcement. The picture showed her parents and her big sister. All smiling, Jasmine in her mother’s arm, being held up so that the photographer could see her face. She was fast asleep but nobody seemed to mind. It was probably easier taking her picture that way.