STRANGE BODIES (a gripping crime thriller)

by Antonia Marlowe

  ‘It looks pretty solid to me. Are you sure?’

  ‘There’ll be a catch or a lever somewhere inside this cupboard.’

  Nick squatted down and peered inside. ‘It’s full of cooking utensils. They look pretty unused to me. Have a look … I can’t see anything obvious.’

  Verity switched off the wand and crouched down beside him and peered in. ‘There must be a catch in there somewhere that probably allows it to swing out.’

  He pulled out some of the pots and pans and was feeling along the sides. A sudden click and they saw the cupboard move slightly. He gave it a tug and it swung around smoothly from its base. They could see a round metal plate with a recessed handle, engraved with the name Fasse-Drune and a keyhole.

  ‘What’s that name mean … it sounds vaguely German?’

  Verity just looked at him and laughed. ‘So the great detective hasn’t figured it out yet. It’s an Australian company, or was I should say. Just someone’s sense of humour.’

  ‘Fasse-Drune, Fasse-Drune. Why didn’t I see that before … Safes Under, how corny is that!’ He shook his head in disgust. ‘No combination lock. I would have expected one.’

  ‘Some of them did, but the smaller, cheaper ones didn’t and since they were only intended to keep important papers safe in case of fire they weren’t as sophisticated as their bigger brothers. And lucky for us we have the key.’

  They both stood up, then Nicholas looked at Verity and held out the key. ‘Would you like to do the honours?’

  ‘Thank you but no. I’m probably not really supposed to be here. Chain of evidence. You need to hand it to another cop. I can’t do that.’

  ‘Let’s see if this key works.’ He inserted the key and turned it then tugged at the handle to no effect. He turned the key again and the door lifted and flipped back on a hinge. Wearing gloves he reached in and pulled out what was there, a sturdy envelope with contents that felt rigid. He opened the envelope and spilled the contents on to the kitchen table, five clear envelopes, each marked with a year, containing disks smaller than a shirt button, and a soft silvery bag which proved to contain gemstones.

  ‘There’s something else here too,’ he said and reached down, pulling out some tightly rolled papers tied with a red ribbon.

  ‘I think I know what these discs are from ... a small recorder which could be designed to look like a decorative medallion or almost anything. Oldish spy stuff. As I recall it was a complex procedure because it needed a machine to translate the coded recordings, then you had to transfer the result to a mainstream computer with the right software. Far too complicated and expensive. It went off the market after only a few years. One of yours?’

  ‘No, that’s way before my time. They came out about twelve or thirteen years ago and lasted about four or five years. I think I’ve got one tucked away in storage. It’s a PeeWee. I like to collect some of the older stuff just in case, including old computers. I remember when we, the company, bought the old radio telescope site at Parkes for the electronics plant, they were going through the archives, packing stuff up for the Thomas-Walker space exhibition and lab at the Powerhouse Museum. One of the archivists told me about how some recordings of the original moon landings were lost and copies turned up at Curtin University in Perth. Those boxes of “lost” NASA tapes recorded conditions on the moon when the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, landed there in 1969.

  ‘The problem was finding something to play them on. They found an old machine but had to figure out how to repair it before it could be used. So ever since then I’ve made a point of collecting and storing old media and the means to play them. It’s probably in our underground storage area.’

  ‘I’ll check with the lab but I doubt they’ll have one so we may need yours. Can you go ahead and look for it? I think these stones better go to the lab too. They may be valuable.’

  Nick relocked the safe then put the disks, the small bag and the key in some evidence sacks and labelled them.

  ‘Now what’s this rolled paper?’ He undid the ribbon and unrolled the papers carefully. ‘Grab something to hold them flat.’ Verity spotted a few heavy mugs on a sideboard.

  ‘Well, I’m damned. It’s his will. And it looks legal as it’s dated only a couple of months ago. There’s a firm of lawyers mentioned here. Now let’s see …’

  ‘Should we be looking? You’ve got a law degree, haven’t you?’ Verity asked.

  ‘Well, legally speaking, I’m not one hundred percent sure, but this is a murder investigation so I would say yes, I can look at it. Not sure about you though,’ he said glancing sideways at her. ‘As far as the law degree goes I never practised and I wouldn’t be qualified in Australia anyway.’

  She nudged him with her hip. ‘Move over. I found it so I’m looking too.’

  ‘Mmm, not too unexpected. All the paintings are left to the National Gallery. The scrimshaw goes to the Maritime Museum, I assume Sydney though he doesn’t say. What else?’

  He turned to the next page. ‘Well, our friend the professor’s in luck. He’s bequeathed him his chess sets, three of them. Detailed descriptions given too.’

  ‘I saw them in the study. One looks like ivory, one is black and white marble and the other is just an ordinary oldish set.’

  ‘Okay, next page. Oh, my Lord, I don’t believe it. He has left his computer to the professor too. But there’s a proviso.’

  ‘What is it? Show me.’

  She read the words silently then looked at him bewildered. ‘But I never met him. Why would he say this.’ She looked at Nicholas. ‘I swear I never met him. The night he was on Adelaide’s show I wasn’t even in Sydney. She was a bit annoyed because she wanted me to do a last minute check on him and I was out of touch. She told me later.’

  She read it again, out loud this time, still trying to make sense of it.

  ‘I also leave my computer and peripherals to my friend and neighbour, Oscar Jerome Morgenstein in the hopes that he will give his ancient abomination a decent burial. Before such event, my computer is to be delivered to Dr Verity Sarah Burne’ … he gives my address and all my qualifications here … ‘so that she may examine the contents therein. The computer is booby-trapped and triple protected and it is my opinion that she is one of the few persons capable of rendering it safe. Following the retrieval of certain information, she is to wipe all information on said computer, install an operating system and then and only then to pass the computer on to the Professor. For her inconvenience in this I leave her the gem stones found in the enclosed silver bag. Their provenance is to be found under the heading Gemstones on my computer.’

  Verity trailed off and sat down at the table, stunned. ‘How did he know about me? He couldn’t have been the one sending me those emails and pictures. He’d have no reason to implicate himself in anything or the Richardsons’ deaths if they were tied up with him in some way. There’s not even a pocket phone in the house. Now that’s strange. The killer must have taken his phone. Left the computer.

  ‘And the stones … I don’t want the stones. I’ll refuse to accept them. My God, he said the computer was booby trapped. Do you think the killer tried to get in, and has inadvertently sprung the trap and initiated a meltdown, as it were?’

  Nicholas was watching her and was quite convinced of the truth of her words … she had never met the man. How he knew of her and her expertise was a mystery, one they would probably solve sooner or later.

  ‘They took the computer to the lab, I’d better get on to them straight away and tell them not to touch it.’ He rang through and passed on the information.

  ‘I’ll send someone to pick it up later today, Greg. Thanks.’ He picked up the papers again.

  ‘There’s more,’ he said, turning to the last page. ‘He’s left all his money to the Elizabeth Langton Hospital Children’s Wing. He says details of his financial holdings are on his computer. I think that’s meant as an extra incentive for you to be careful with it. Finally he wants to be cremated and scatte
red in the park “outside my house”, he says … no memorials, no markers. It’s signed and properly witnessed.’

  ‘What about the house?’ said Verity. ‘He hasn’t mentioned the house.’

  ‘There’s another paper at the back of this. Right, I see. It’s a lease, a ten year lease. He doesn’t own the house. It’s leased from a company and these are the details relating to the lease conditions. Permission for the alterations, the amount to be paid annually, obligations of tenant and landlord … pretty standard. He’s only been here a bit over four years from what I can gather. The company name, Orcus Property Holdings P/L.’

  Verity was racking her brains. ‘Somebody has a weird sense of humour. I think Orcus was a god of the underworld, probably equivalent to Pluto. So I’d say it is … oh God, no.’

  She looked stricken. ‘What is it, Verity?’

  ‘Marcus … all his properties and companies have names associated with mythology, with major and minor gods and associated places, Greek, Roman, even Norse and South American. It could be one of his. Shall I ring and ask him?’

  Nicholas thought for a minute. ‘Yes, do that, if you know where to find him. Oh, that’s right. He gave me this special phone. Said it would reach him wherever he was. Of course, you’ve got one too,’ he said.

  She rang and a few seconds later she heard her uncle answer. Before he said anything else she asked, ‘Marcus, do you own a company called Orcus Property Holdings?’

  ‘Yes, P/L. … Orcus Property Holdings P/L. Don’t be clever … I know you can’t help it.’ She sighed. ‘It’s to do with a property, a house at Lavender Bay. That’s right, on the other side of Havington-Clark Park … Problem? Well, sort of. The lease holder’s dead. Just a tick.’

  She said, ‘What did that mean … pointing to your ear? Oh, I’ll ask. Marcus, I’m with Nicholas Adams. He asked if it’s alright to put this call on loudspeaker this end ... Thanks.’

  ‘Nicholas, my boy, glad to hear you’re taking good care of my favourite girl. Now what exactly is going on?’

  Nicholas gave him a concise summary of events then waited to hear his reaction.

  There was a second or two of silence. ‘I’m out of Sydney at the moment. I’d like to talk to you both about a couple of things. Verity, invite Nicholas to your place for dinner tonight and I’ll talk to you then. About seven.’ He cut off before either of them could speak.

  ‘Well, that didn’t tell us much more. My uncle, much as I love him, can be a very frustrating and annoying person.’

  ‘And I was wondering where you got it from!’

  She thumped his arm quite hard.

  ‘Ow. Save it for the gym, miss.’

  She eyed him up and down, hands on hips. ‘Do you really think you could go a round with me? I’ll take you on this Sunday, Adelaide’s at-home. Come at eleven. One round, hand to hand, no holds barred.’

  ‘Oh, come on. What do you weigh, about fifty-five kilos wringing wet.’

  ‘A lady doesn’t usually say but I’ll make an exception for you … sixty-three and it’s all lean muscle, hard earned not machine manufactured the lazy way.’ She laughed at him.

  ‘I’ll take you up on that challenge Sunday, but you can tie one hand behind my back and blindfold me … and I’ll still beat you.’

  Verity thought it was wiser to say nothing more at this stage.

  ‘I think we’ve done all we can here for now. I’ve arranged for a couple of uniforms from North Sydney to be here,’ he looked at his watch, ‘any minute now. They’ll supervise the cleanup squad, get the rest of the smell out.’

  As he finished speaking there was a knock at the front door. ‘Right, there they are. Now we’d better get you over to Medea House so you can get your car.’

  He opened the door and greeted the two policemen, letting them into the hallway. The senior of the two said, ‘Morning, sir, Sergeant Innes. I’ll be looking after things here for today, my specialty. Cleaners should be here in about ten minutes, robots not much use with this sort of thing. Anything in particular we need to know?’ He wrinkled his nose. ‘Still a bit of a pong here though I’ve smelt worse. Right, leave it to us. I’ve got keys so we can lock up later. Oh, and Mr Greene would like a word when you get back.’ He grinned. ‘Good news, he said to tell you.’

  ‘I’ll be heading to the lab with this lot. Here’s my card. Call me if necessary, thanks, both of you.’

  Adams collected his gear and Verity from the kitchen. He ignored the quizzical looks from both policeman as he ushered Verity out ahead of him then into the car.

  She protested. ‘I can walk across the park from here.’

  ‘And what if our bomber is waiting to have another go. No fear. I’m taking you right to the door. Are you going to stay at the office or go home again?’

  ‘I’ll go up to my office for a while and work on the story I’m writing about the professor’s experiences with the terrorist bombs in Canberra. I’ll probably leave about four.’

  Nicholas took her to the covered main entrance and waited till the security guard Max appeared. He showed Max his ID then said, ‘Take Ms Burne up to her office please. She’s had another threat. And I don’t want it broadcast.’

  Verity said crossly, ‘This isn’t necessary, Nick. I’ll be perfectly alright now.’

  He merely said firmly, ‘Don’t pout, Verity. I’ll call you later. Don’t forget I’m coming for dinner.’ He took her hand before she could get out of the car and squeezed it gently.

  ‘Goodbye until tonight.’

  She flounced off, there was no other word for it, her every movement radiating annoyance at what she regarded as his high-handed treatment of her. Max flashed him a grin then hurried to keep her in sight as she stalked to the elevators.

  Chapter 30

  Adams retrieved his messages, the dozen or so that had piled up overnight and this morning. As usual, the press was screaming for information … those went straight to the Press office. Word on Levinsky’s murder had leaked out; a couple of lab reports from earlier cases had finally arrived; there was a list of court dates from the Public Attorney’s office and a call from Chief Superintendent George Greene which he returned first.

  ‘Nick Adams here, George. You wanted to speak to me?’

  ‘Yes, I wanted to bring you up to date about Mostyn. When he left Levinsky’s house he went raging back to the station. Long story short, when he tried to enter his pass wouldn’t work. He went berserk, attacked the door then two officer who’d gone out to detain him, on my orders.

  ‘Mostyn got away, but being the great brain of the century made straight for home,’ said CI Green sarcastically. ‘I’d anticipated that and by the time he got there we had the search warrant in hand, and some very large coppers who restrained him.’

  ‘Did you find anything in his house or his locker to justify the warrant?

  ‘Oh, my goodness, yes! A veritable treasure trove. Everything from guns to drugs, cash, and jewellery, rings and watches mostly. Best of all he kept records, records of the payments he received, who from and even better who was on his payroll. Unfortunately, we’ll be a couple of officers down in North Sydney, though looking on the bright side, you could say it’s fortunate we can clean out this rotten little nest.’ said Greene.

  Congratulations, that’s excellent news. Tell me, did the missing scrimshaw turn up?’

  ‘Yes, it was on his desk at his home. It’s now on my desk. See.’ He turned the phone so Adams could see the lovely little globe, protected by an upturned glass. ‘It should be in the evidence locker but I must confess I’ve fallen in love with it and it’s safe enough here. I don’t suppose you came across his will anywhere?’

  ‘Yes, we … I did. The scrimshaw items are to go to the Maritime Museum, but you never know, they may be willing to sell it to you. Do you have any idea what it’s worth?’

  ‘Not really, but it’ll be too much for me,’ he sighed. ‘But getting back to Mostyn. He’s been suspended, of course. We charged him with
receiving stolen goods for now. The other charges are being worked out but there’ll be a number of them. He’s sitting in an isolation cell feeling very sorry for himself at the moment. Typical bully … he dropped the bucket on half a dozen others, so we’ve rounded up most of his cronies.’

  ‘That’s great news, George. About Mostyn, I mean. You giving a press conference?’

  Greene said gloomily, ‘I suppose I’ll have to. By rights you should be there too, Nick, being as you were the one to twig to the murder. They’ll bloody eat us alive over this. New evidence has come to light, blah, blah, blah … the usual. Now, I’d better go and get my lines straight. Thanks for returning my call.’

  ‘Sorry I can’t front the ravening beasts with you … orders from above to keep a low profile for now. And thanks for letting me know about Mostyn. Good luck and keep in touch.’ Adams turned his attention to the other messages and made a few more calls.

  Mrs Halifax stuck her head around the door saying, ‘It’s nearly ten, sir. Shall I send everyone to the conference room?’

  ‘Yes, thanks. See if you can get hold of Blanchard from CECI. If Fraser is here I’ll have a word with him first.’

  ‘I’ll send him in.’

  Adams brought him up to date on the morning’s findings at the house and Mostyn then concluded, ‘The lab won’t be able to interpret those little disks; Verity tells me they’re from an old system, called a PeeWee. The labs haven’t been able to track one down and the disks can only be read by that machine then fed into a computer with the right program.’

  ‘I don’t think I ever saw one, but I heard of them. They were spook stuff, weren’t they?’

  ‘Yes, but pretty much amateur spy, rather than MI5. I suspect whoever used these had them concealed in a lapel badge or tie pin but until we find out what’s on them we won’t know what they’re about.