‘That shouldn’t be too hard. We just tell them we are drawing rings around the observatory. If we are really lucky, these chumps won’t have the mental discipline to work the machine anyway.’
‘I sincerely hope so,’ she said. ‘For all our sakes.’
Chapter 6
Lucas Black was the most senior police officer in town. His responsibility was compounded by the fact that he was also the only police officer in town. He lived in a small apartment at the rear of his modestly equipped station. With very little in the way of actual crime to keep him busy, he acted more as a surrogate uncle for the small population that he had sworn to serve and protect. A typical day could see him do anything from helping out with the local children’s schooling to reading the mail for Mrs Coppersmith, the town’s oldest resident at ninety eight. Very occasionally, he would be called on to settle a minor domestic dispute.
As always, his day had unsurprisingly, been a quiet one. Apart from Mrs Mangle worrying that her pet dog was “not being its usual self”, the only call of the day was from the Merrill’s farm regarding a young woman who turned up on their doorstep after breaking down on an outback road. It was late in the day and he managed to persuade the couple to put the girl up for the night and then promised that he would go and pick her up in the morning. With business taken care of, it meant he could relax and enjoy a few cold beers. Lucas never relaxed.
At around 8pm every evening, the men of the town would begin to gather in its only watering hole; the Sly Fox. Thursday was poker night and with the brewery offering a prize of a seat at the state championship in Darwin, the event was proving popular. There was only one heat left before the final and the competition could get quite heated at times. Lucas removed his hat and took up his usual seat at the corner of the bar, so that he could watch the action from afar whilst supping on his favourite pale ale.
With tourists or other outsiders such a rarity, even on the busiest of nights, there were no strangers among the drinkers. Everybody knew everybody else, which in turn made Lucas’ job much easier.
‘Good evening, officer,’ said Mindy, the landlady. ‘Will you be having your usual?’
Mindy was in her early fifties and possessed an attractive figure. In her youth, she was what many would consider as beautiful and was much chased, although far from chaste. In keeping with her reputation, she had not aged gracefully and her wardrobe changed little in thirty years. Her skirts shared a lot in common with her spirit measures. They were short and went down easily.
‘Of course,’ replied Lucas. ‘And like I tell you every time I come in here; you don’t have to call me officer when I am not on duty.’
She took a clean glass from the washer and began to pour him his drink.
‘And like I tell you every time, officer; you are never off duty. Do you think that I don’t know the only reason you come in here is so you can check up on your precious citizens; making sure none of them gives in to vice or villainy.’
Lucas took his drink, and as he allowed the head to settle, he realised that Mindy was right. Somehow, without him even realising it, he had let the job take over his entire life. He had been drinking at this same bar for sixteen years. At what point did he stop being one of the regulars and simply become Officer Black? Looking around, he could see faces belonging to young men who were barely out of their nappies when he first started drinking at this place. These same young men would soon leave town to pursue a college education or take a chance on their big city dreams. Few people stayed around once they reached adulthood and before he knew it, Lucas had found himself a generation apart. He was now an authority figure, but one who lived to serve not to rule.
‘Something on your mind?’ asked Mindy, noticing Lucas’s faraway expression.
‘Nothing of any great concern,’ he replied. ‘You know how it is with this town; people come and go, but nothing ever really changes.’
‘Would you want it any other way?’
‘I guess not.’
He took a sip from his schooner. The first taste was always the sweetest. It was the small rewards that made his line of work worthwhile. Lucas could never understand the people who drank to excess rather than taking the time to enjoy their beer. He always thought that a tasteless palette was the first sign of a shallow mind. At least whilst he stuck around the bar he could make sure that nobody’s drinking got out of hand.
Mindy left him to go and serve another customer, but she was soon back, eager to try and glean any interesting pieces of gossip from the one person in town who knew almost as much about everybody as she did.
‘Have you met the newcomers yet?’ she asked.
Lucas looked up from his drink and the surprise that he displayed was more than enough to answer her question. This also meant that she held the most currency in the conversation, which was exactly how she liked it to be.
‘Surely they didn’t slip under your radar?’
Again the policeman showed nothing but bemusement.
‘Now isn’t this a turn up for the books. It isn’t like you to be out of the loop. Maybe it is time you hired a deputy. Y’know, to lighten the load a little.’
‘I can assure you that I am fully capable of carrying out my duties without the need for an assistant. Besides, I already have Val and she would be more than capable of handling any criminals should I for any reason be incapacitated.’
Valerie Duggan was Lucas’s secretary at the station and unofficial housekeeper. She had served three generations of police chiefs and knew more about the intricacies of small town law enforcement than Lucas ever would. Occupying the position of town matriarch, she carried a great deal of respect and the prospect of a morning lecture from Val was much more of a deterrent for any would be lawbreaker than a night in the cells could ever be.
‘So who exactly are these newcomers that you are referring to? It has been a long time since we got any tourists through these parts.’
‘Oh, these did not look like tourists. My guess is that they have something to do with the Government.’
‘What makes you say that?’
Mindy shrugged and then turned to serve another customer. Lucas knew that she was deliberately teasing him. When she returned to face him, he picked up his hat and held it for her to see.
‘I can be a customer or I can be a policeman. Which would you prefer?’
‘Okay, okay,’ she conceded. ‘There’s no need to put your hat back on. I’ll tell you what I know, but it isn’t much. I only got a glimpse of the car as it headed up towards the observatory. It was one of those big fancy American style utes. I can’t tell you who was driving, though, as the windows were blacked out. Like I said; they are probably government types that don’t want to mix with ordinary folk like us.’
Lucas took another sip. He originally planned on having a second, but would now make this one last the night.
‘They were headed towards the observatory, you say?’
‘As far as I could tell. I guess they must be staying up there as well, unless they are planning on driving through the night or camping out.’
‘If they wanted to camp they would need a permit. Since I’ve not heard anything, I am guessing they are staying at the observatory. The professor must have invited them, but it is unusual that he never mentioned it as I only spoke to him yesterday.’
‘Do you think it could be trouble?’
‘No, not really. I’ll have a drive up in the morning just to be on the safe side. I’ve got to get up early to pick up a stranded motorist first thing, so I should pass the outsiders on the road if they leave early.’
Lucas picked up his drink and moved to an empty booth in the corner of the bar. It provided him with a more discreet location to watch the evening unfold and left Mindy free to socialise more with her customers. In a place like this, the chit chat was just as important a part of the service as getting the beer.
Shortly after Lucas sat down, Jimmy Johnson, a nineteen year old kid with even less pros
pect of ever leaving the town than he, entered the bar. The newcomer had a brief conversation with Mindy before buying a bottle of beer and taking a seat at the poker table.
Jimmy was well known for his lack of intelligence. He had no physical learning disability and was not a bad kid; he was just not too bright either. Throughout his school days he often found himself in detention due to the ease at which he could be talked into doing things by the other kids. His mother raised him to tell the truth at all times and due to his simple nature, this led him to never suspect deceit in others. What can be seen as honesty by some is mere gullibility to those of a more manipulative mindset. Suffice to say, the real bad kids took full advantage.
Lucas waited until he caught Mindy’s eye and then gestured for her to approach his booth. She used the excuse of collecting empty glasses so as not to arouse any suspicion the policeman was singling her out to get information about any of her customers.
‘Are you ready for a top up, officer?’
‘Not just yet.’
He lifted his drink to allow Mindy to wipe down the tabletop. As she leaned forward he quietly asked her about Jimmy.
‘Do you think it is wise for young Jimmy to be entering the game? I have no problems with gambling, but only when those involved are aware of the risk.’
‘You worry too much. There is a fifty dollar limit on each round and knowing Jimmy, he’ll be out after the first one.’
‘All the same, I think he may be better suited to the pokies than a competitive match against actual opponents.’
‘So are you gonna go over there and tell the kid that he can’t play?’
Lucas had no reply.
‘I didn’t think so. If you molly coddle the kid, he’ll never learn. Now just try to relax and maybe have another beer. I won’t let anybody start trouble in my bar, I assure you.’
She took the empties back to the bar and placed them in the washer. Lucas, meanwhile, sat back and tried his best to take her advice. Besides, a poker game was the least of his worries. He was aware that Professor Fox and his team were working on something big and the last thing he wanted was for their work to draw too much attention to his town. He liked it just the way it was and did not want outsiders poking their noses in, causing disquiet amongst the townsfolk.
With his thoughts occupied elsewhere, the evening passed quickly and without incident. The poker had been such a low key affair that it was only as the final round drew to a close that Lucas noticed Jimmy was still in the game. Rather than rouse suspicion by shadowing the players, he instead returned to the bar, where Jimbo, a player who had earlier lucked out, sat consoling himself with a beer.
‘I guess your luck wasn’t in today,’ said Lucas, as he seated himself at an adjacent barstool.
‘Luck,’ Jimbo scoffed. ‘If only it were down to luck, I’d probably still be in the game. Those Carlton boys are up to something. They’ve been influencing young Jimmy’s bets all night. He got lucky on his first hand with two pairs, but since then he’s been winning with next to nothing. He has no idea either as he played one hand with nothing but jack high and those two folded despite clearly having winning hands.’
‘You think they’re letting him win?’
‘Oh, he’s not winning. Every round he has scraped through with just a dollar or two left. I think they are just milking the cow for everything they can get. They only fold when Jimmy is all in. With the rest of us they play it straight and they are good, I will tell you that. There is no way a novice with a dead hand could beat those two unless they wanted him to.’
The sheriff looked over his shoulder. Only the three players remained. Jimmy was one, along with Joey and Sam Carlton. The two brothers had a stack of chips and Jimmy was almost down to his last. With two going through to the final heat, the Carlton boys looked a sure thing.
‘How many rounds have been played?’ asked Lucas.
‘This is the fourth,’ replied Jimbo.
‘So they have taken two hundred dollars from the kid.’
Jimbo shrugged.
‘This isn’t right,’ said Lucas, ‘and for them to have the nerve to pull this right under my nose. They can have their moment of triumph, but once they set foot outside of this bar, they’ll be taking a short trip down to the station to talk poker tactics.’
Jimbo subtly nodded his approval and then turned away from the policeman to carry on with his drink. Lucas put his hat back on and made a show of saying goodnight to Mindy before leaving through the front door. There was a wooden bench fifteen yards along the street. He sat down and waited for the Carlton brothers to leave the bar. The pair stayed for a further half hour before exiting by the same way as Lucas. In the dark, they did not notice the seated policeman as they walked past.
‘Did you have a good night, boys?’ asked Lucas, deliberately drawing their attention.
‘Officer Black, I didn’t see you there,’ replied Sam, who at twenty, was the eldest of the pair by a year. ‘It’s reassuring to know that even at this late hour you are busy keeping the streets safe for law abiding folk like us.’
Lucas could not suppress his smile. He always enjoyed dealing with these two.
‘That’s what I’m here for. Tonight I am investigating a possible case of fraud. It’s actually lucky that I ran into you guys as you may be able to help me.’
The brothers exchanged a brief look of caution.
‘I don’t think so, officer,’ replied Sam. ‘We’ve both been in the Fox all night. We know nothing of any fraud that may be going on.’
‘Oh, that’s right,’ said Lucas. ‘Tonight was the last heat before next week’s poker final. How did you guys do; there were two spots up for grabs, weren’t there?’
‘That’s right,’ said Joey, with a great deal of pride showing in his voice, ‘and we took ‘em both.’
Sam gave his brother a sharp nudge to the ribs.
‘What he means, officer, is that we got lucky,’ he said. ‘I’ve never been big on tactics. I just play the hand I am dealt and hope for the best.’
‘Is that right?’
‘Yes, sir.’
The policeman rose from his seat. Lucas was not a particularly tall man, but he stood at least two inches higher than either of the brothers. He used the light from an overhead streetlamp to press this advantage further, casting a foreboding shadow over the boys.
‘Who else was in the game tonight?’
‘Oh, you know,’ replied Sam. ‘The usuals; Robbo, Tommo, Mick and Jimbo.’
‘What about Jimmy Johnson? I saw him leave the bar shortly before you guys. Was he involved in the game?’
‘Jimmy, of course,’ said Sam. ‘Yeah, he played. He did real well too. Who’d a thought young Jimmy would be such a card shark.’
‘Sharp,’ corrected Lucas.
‘Excuse me?’
‘The phrase is card sharp. A shark is a mean old fish that preys on defenceless animals. Being a thousand miles from the coast they don’t usually pose too much of a threat in these parts.’
The brothers chuckled weakly, neither of them quite sure where the policeman was going with this.
‘I would hate to think that anybody here was being preyed upon,’ continued Lucas.
Joey looked nervously over his shoulder as if he had seen a dorsal fin in the corner of his eye. Sam grabbed hold of his brothers’ t-shirt and started to pull him away.
‘If you don’t mind, officer, my brother and I really need to be getting home.’
‘Not so fast,’ said Lucas, placing his palm against the boy’s chest to stop him from walking away. ‘It may not have been some fancy casino in the city that you boys were playing in tonight, but cheating is still cheating and will not be tolerated. I know what you did to young Jimmy tonight. People in this town are no fools.’
Sam was about to try and come up with an excuse, but Joey was less confident and simply blurted out a confession.
‘I’m sorry, officer; we didn’t mean any harm, I promise. Everyone k
nows that Jimmy is not all there. What were we supposed to do when he sat down at the table with a load of money?’
‘You were supposed to let him lose his fifty bucks and drop out of the game at the first round like he would have done had you played fair.’
‘So what are you gonna do?’ asked Sam. ‘You can’t arrest us. We may not have played fair, but we did not break the law either.’
‘You’re right; I can’t arrest you. What I can do is place a ban on you boys entering the pub. Nothing permanent. Shall we say one week?’
‘One week, but that means we’ll miss the poker final.’
‘Have you got a problem with that?’
Lucas raised his heels slightly off the ground and with the added height of his hat he towered above the pair, menacingly.
‘No, officer,’ they repeated in unison.
‘Fine, now you boys get out of my sight and keep it that way.’
The brothers crossed to the other side of the street and scurried off back to their mother’s house. Lucas smiled as he watched them leave. He could have confiscated the money the boys had unfairly won, but he thought Jimmy needed to learn a lesson too. With any luck, the kid would not be pulling up a chair at another poker table any time soon.
The station was at the top of Main Street and through a clearing; lights from the observatory could be seen in the distance. Lucas paused briefly before going inside and looked west through the clearing. He was curious as to whom the outsiders could be and decided that he would pay a visit to Professor Fox and his guests first thing the following morning.
The town had been struggling of late, with fewer tourists passing through and relied more than ever on generous donations from its main benefactor. Whatever happened at the observatory could possibly make or break the town. He wanted to find out which it would be as soon as possible.
Chapter 7
Diamond Sky Trilogy Box Set: Books 1-3 Page 6