Graceless

by Clare Kauter

  I heard footsteps behind me as James jogged to keep up. Before he could talk to me again, I called out, “Oi, Goofy!”

  “It’s Mickey,” the creep in the trench coat called back.

  “Right, whatever,” I said. “We’re here to talk to you about Tim Carter.”

  “Who?”

  I rolled my eyes. “You actually think that is going to work? I know you’re thick, but I’m sure even you would remember who had put you into prison.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, officer.”

  “I – what?” Wait, this guy thought I was a cop? I guess that made sense given that I was here with McKenzie. Apart from the fact that I was, you know, carrying a piglet. “Oh, I’m not a cop. And I think you’re lying to me. Sharps Carter?”

  “Oh, Sharps, right. Yeah, I know him,” he said. He didn’t sound bitter, which surprised me given that Tim was the reason he’d gone to prison. “Why do you need to talk to me about him?”

  “He’s the reason you got locked up, right?” James said. “Must have made you pretty angry.”

  Mickey shrugged. “I don’t hold it against him. We all do what we can to make money. Nothing personal. Speaking of which…” He opened his jacket. I flinched, expecting the worst, but it was lined with small transistor radios. “Can I interest you? Only ten dollars each.”

  “Mickey, she might not be a cop but you know I am, right?” said James, frowning. “I’ve arrested you before. You shouldn’t be trying to sell me anything that’s fallen off the back of a truck.”

  Mickey put his hands up in front of him, letting his coat fall shut. “Nah, nah man, this is all legit. I’m reformed now. Proper businessman. One of them corner stores was throwing ‘em out. Brand new, can you believe it? They said I could have them.”

  “How odd,” I said. “Can’t imagine why they wouldn’t be selling. They were so big back before we had cassettes.”

  “Hey, I sense a lot of negative energy coming off you right now,” said Mickey, looking at me. “You’re wrong, but. Analogue’s where it’s at.”

  “Must be why your sales are so good.”

  Mickey opened his mouth to respond but James cut him off.

  “Anyway, back to Sharps.”

  “Right, man. We cool. Got nothing against the guy.”

  “You seem pretty relaxed about heading to prison.”

  Mickey shrugged. “It’s not so bad. Free food, plenty of company. I don’t mind it so much.”

  “What about your bosses?” I asked. “How did they feel about Sharps getting you arrested?”

  He shrugged again. “Think they were expecting me to get arrested, to be honest. Besides, it’s not like Sharps got them in trouble. I don’t think they’d care all that much about him.”

  “I don’t suppose you’re willing to tell us who those bosses are?” James asked.

  He shook his head. “Sorry, man. That’s the kind of thing they get real touchy about. Especially since you’re a cop, you know?”

  James nodded. “Yeah, I get it. Good luck with the sales, Mickey.”

  We made our way back to the car.

  “That was kind of useless, wasn’t it?” I said.

  James sighed. “Yeah.”

  “What now?”

  I shrugged. “I guess we should probably check in. Maybe they’ve found her.”

  I took out my phone and called Adam.

  “Charlie,” said Adam. “What’ve you got?”

  “A pig,” I said.

  He paused. “Are you talking about James?”

  “No,” I said. “James found a piglet by the side of the road and I’ve decided to adopt her. Her name’s Arnold because traditional gender constructs are ridiculous.”

  “Right.”

  “James is wondering what to do now. I thought maybe the piglet was a clue, but we can’t figure it out.”

  Adam sighed. “The piglet isn’t a clue, Charlie, other than a clue to the fact that you’re insane.”

  Not much of a clue, then. We already knew that.

  “Right. Any news on your end?”

  “Not really. We’ve recruited a couple more people to go through Tim’s old cases, but nothing’s come up.”

  I sighed and hung up, turning to James.

  “So now what?”

  “You got any ideas?” James asked.

  Biting my lip, I thought for a moment. Questioning Tim seemed like a good idea, but as soon as I did that Adam would know I’d left the office. If we went to see Ellie I was sure she’d tell Adam too. Of course, I could always send James alone, but I didn’t really feel like heading back to B-Co. and sitting behind a desk doing nothing. There was one half-formed idea in my head. I wasn’t ultra-keen on it, but I didn’t have anything else.

  “I do have one idea,” I said hesitantly. “But I’m not very excited about it.”

  “What is it?”

  I sighed. “Someone needs to visit The Prince.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  I’d met The Prince a couple of times before, and that was a couple of times too many. He was shorter than me and even more annoying, not to mention creepy. I wasn’t quite sure how he made a living. He described himself as a ‘salesman’, though whether that was drugs, information, used cars or black market human organs I wasn’t sure. He was one of Tim’s informants, and as much as I hated him, if anyone was going to know something it would be him.

  James and I headed further down Slade, even deeper into the dodgiest part of town. Boarded up windows, smashed bottles in the gutter, blood stained concrete – you get the picture. I’d nearly been bashed up and had my car stolen here before. Maybe I should have brought a weapon. Sure, I had Arnold on my lap, but she was hardly a vicious attack pig. Right at this moment she was asleep and snoring softly.

  James parked outside The Prince’s apartment and stepped out of the car. He’d almost made it to the door of the apartment building when he realised I wasn’t following him. He turned and stared at me for a beat, then walked back to the car.

  “Any particular reason why you’re not joining me?” he asked.

  I gestured to Arnold, curled up in my lap, snoozing away. “She looks so comfortable,” I whispered. “I can’t wake her up.”

  He smiled. “Your affection for Arnold is touching, but I can’t go in there by myself. I’m a cop. He’s not going to talk to me.”

  “What, and I’m meant to just wake Arnold up so I can help you?”

  “You need to establish an appropriate sleeping schedule or she’ll keep you up through the night.”

  I rolled my eyes at him. “She wouldn’t do that. She’s an angel.”

  He sighed. “Charlie, I need you to come with me. Arnold’s nap isn’t as important as a little girl’s life.”

  Right, Gracie. It was just past 2 p.m., which meant she had been missing for, what, 14 hours? My heart began to race as I thought more about it. That was a really long time. My breathing sped up. Looking around now, nothing felt real. It was like I was in a dream but I knew I wasn’t. I couldn’t breathe properly. What if Gracie wasn’t OK? The sounds around me became muted and everything seemed to be moving in slow motion and I just couldn’t get enough air into my lungs and –

  “Breathe in for four counts,” James said.

  “What?” I hissed. I was panting like I’d just run a marathon and I was beginning to see stars.

  “Breathe in for four counts, hold for four counts, breathe out for four counts. It’ll help you calm down.”

  “I’m perfectly calm!” I snapped.

  This was scary. I didn’t usually get all that panicked – ordinarily I’d just destroy something with a large, blunt instrument. This wasn’t exactly a fun new development. I decided I should probably do as I was told. After a couple of rounds of the slow breathing, my heart had decelerated a little and I’d come back to reality.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Alright,” I said. “Bit better. I don’t really know why that…”r />
  “Just focus on what we’re doing. Try not to think about Grace. We’re no good to her if we’re too worried to look for her.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, that seems like a good idea.”

  “OK, good. Now I need you to come upstairs with me.”

  “But…” I gestured to Arnold.

  “She shouldn’t be napping at this time of day anyway. Besides, I don’t really want to leave you alone after what just happened.”

  Somehow that was both comforting and offensive.

  After shaking Arnold awake (she was not impressed – we had a lot in common), I stepped out of the car and followed James to the block of flats. It was just as seedy as I remembered. The staircase stunk of urine and there was a used condom sitting in the corner. (Why? Why are there so many condoms just lying on footpaths and bus seats and staircases in this world? WHERE DO THEY COME FROM?) When we reached flat 2C, I saw the familiar hole in the door repaired with tape. Tim had been the one to put the hole there. The Prince wasn’t exactly cooperative with Tim, but he was a little scared of him. (I’d never really seen Tim’s scary side, but I’d heard tell, and I had no doubt that the rumours were trumours.)

  I didn’t bother knocking. I just turned the handle a little too hard and the lock popped open – a trick I’d learned from Tim. Apparently The Prince wasn’t too careful with his security. I guess he thought people wouldn’t kill him since he was too useful. It had worked so far, but with a guy that annoying I wasn’t sure his luck would hold forever.

  James looked a little worried. “Uh, Charlie, you really shouldn’t –”

  “That door was locked!” The Prince shouted from another room. I could hear him stomping towards us. “How dare you –”

  He had just rounded the corner into the foyer, but he stopped short when he caught sight of me. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. Wow. I hadn’t thought I’d left such a lasting impression. I’d never even beaten him up, despite how much he deserved it. There he was, though, cowering in front of me. He’d turned noticeably pale.

  “What – is – that?” he spat.

  My jaw dropped. “How dare you?”

  “Vile creatures!”

  Wow. Well, if he was looking to rile me up, he was going about it the right way. Men making sweeping statements about women was just one of those things that made me –

  Then I noticed where he was looking.

  Oh, right. He meant Arnold.

  I walked a little closer.

  “Stay back!”

  “This is Arnold,” I said. “She’s assisting with our investigations.”

  “I – I – I don’t know anything! Please leave!”

  I clicked my tongue. “Now, I don’t think you’re telling me the truth, mate.”

  “I wouldn’t try to lie to her. She’s got a good eye for that kind of thing,” James said.

  I stepped a little closer. I was about two metres away from The Prince now, and he was beyond scared. He leaned away from me, looking truly terrified. Excellent.

  “I – I don’t –”

  I could see him cracking now. He knew something, I was sure of it.

  “Tell me about Tim’s niece.”

  I took another step.

  “Fine!” he cried. “I don’t know who did it, exactly, but I don’t think you’re looking in the right place.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re looking through Tim’s old cases, am I right?”

  I frowned. How could he know that?

  “We’re looking at a number of angles,” said James.

  “There hasn’t been any talk of people going after Tim. He’s been out of town for months and not many people know that he’s back. Whoever did this wasn’t trying to mess with Tim. If they’d wanted to get to him, they wouldn’t have done it when they thought he was out of town.”

  “You’re just guessing,” said James. “Whoever did this could have known he was back.”

  “Yes, but given the fact that I haven’t heard anything about it, I don’t think they’re local.”

  “What else?”

  “That’s it! That’s all I know. It could just be a random act.”

  “Yeah, except it’s not, because there’s no ransom request,” I said, taking another step towards him.

  “No, please! That’s all I know!”

  I rolled my eyes and looked at James. He jerked his head towards the door and I followed him back to the car.

  “Well that was pointless,” I said once we were back on the road. “He didn’t know anything.”

  “He was right, though,” said James. “The fact that he didn’t know about it means it probably isn’t the work of some petty locals.”

  “You trust him?”

  “Yeah. He was terrified. I’m taking Arnold every time I have to question someone from now on. Who knew a piglet could be so useful?”

  I gave her a scratch behind the ear. She was drifting off to sleep again.

  “What does any of it mean? So it wasn’t the locals. Does that mean it was whoever attacked Tim in Sydney after all?”

  James shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe that’s just a coincidence.”

  “Adam and Tim seemed to think that if they’d found out Tim’s real name and where he lived, he’d be dead. They wouldn’t bother just messing around like this. They’d go for violence.”

  James nodded. “Still, I don’t think it’s smart to discount them entirely. I hope Tim and Adam are looking at that angle. It’s weird that they won’t tell you anything about it.” He paused. “They probably know what they’re doing. I’m sure they have their reasons.”

  “Then who else could it be?” I asked.

  “The Prince did raise a good point.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, for once. I think I like him better when he’s trembling in terror.”

  “She is a pretty threatening pig,” I said as Arnold began to snore again. “What point do you mean?”

  “We’ve been assuming this has something to do with Tim.”

  “Well, that just seems the most logical, right?”

  “Yes, but it might not be about him. We need to question Ellie.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  We were silent for a while as we drove, both lost in our own thoughts. Who would do this? I tried to focus on the facts of the case and not think too much about where Grace might be in case I started hyperventilating again. What info did we have? It seemed like the kidnapper had personal motives, but we didn’t know what they were. We’d found Grace’s bow, but it didn’t have real blood on it. What was the point of the fake blood? Just to freak us out? This was definitely being done to get to someone, but if not Tim then who? Ellie was the obvious candidate, but she would have told us if she knew who it was. Then again, maybe she’d been assuming – like the rest of us – that it had something to do with Tim and hadn’t considered that it could be someone connected to her.

  I’d called Adam about what The Prince had said, but he didn’t seem to think it was worth paying attention to. My mind drifted back to the fake blood. Why? They must have known we’d figure that out. If they wanted to really freak us out, surely they would have put some of Grace’s actual blood on the bow. Was there a chance that the kidnapper didn’t want to hurt her?

  I voiced my thoughts to James.

  “Good point,” he said, thinking. “If it was Gracie’s kidnapper, they could have left her finger there or anything, but they used fake blood.”

  “Do you think that means it’s someone who cares about her?”

  “Maybe,” he said. “I think it’s time to visit Ellie. If this isn’t someone going after Tim, it could definitely be something to do with her.”

  I nodded. “We need a plan, though.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We can’t just rock up and start questioning her. Her daughter has just gone missing.”

  James looked impressed. “You’re being much more compassionate than normal.”r />
  I shrugged. “Well, I understand how she must feel. Now that I’m a mother and all.”

  “You – you mean Arnold?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “I don’t know if that’s quite –”

  I shot him a look.

  “No, totally. Definitely the same thing.”

  “We can’t just go in there accusing her willy-nilly. She’s obviously going to be very distressed already, and we don’t want to make things worse. Plus, there’s also the chance that if we upset her she’ll tell Adam on me and I’ll get fired.”

  “Right. So not all your selfishness has disappeared now that you’ve become a mother.”

  I ignored him.

  “I think we should take her lunch,” I said. “It’s a perfect cover story. Plus it’s a totally legitimate reason for me to be out of the office.”

  James nodded. “Sometimes, Charlie, you’re kind of clever.”

  We stopped off at a café-slash-bakery to get some Thai-spiced pumpkin soup and bread rolls to go and then headed to Ellie’s house. (James had found out Ellie’s address from Joe.) When we got there, there were a couple of cops hanging around the house, presumably waiting for a ransom call, as well as a social worker/police liaison person waiting with Ellie, comforting her and bringing her cups of tea.

  Ellie herself looked awful. Even worse than when I’d first met her at the hospital after Tim had been attacked. (She was really having a rough week.) Seeing the helpless look on her face and her puffy red eyes, my heart immediately twinged. OK, it was more than a twinge. Just seeing how devastated she was I felt like I might start crying. I took a deep breath and a gulp and blinked a couple of times. Everything was fine. Totally fine. No need to panic.

  “Hi, Ellie,” said James softly. He walked over to the couch and sat next to her. “I’m James, a friend of your brother’s. We brought you some lunch.”

  “Thanks,” she said, without much emotion. “I’m not really hungry, though.”

  The social worker took the bags of food from me. “I’ll heat it up,” he said. He leaned closer to me and whispered, “Thanks for coming around. She hasn’t had any visitors all day with her brother being in hospital and everything. She could do with some company other than police.”