by Polly Carter
“Ooh, how exciting,” Harley said her eyes shining. “I hope he is worthy. He looks worthy,” she added taking a beer for herself and putting the remaining eight in the fridge. “Come on, then.” They took their beers and some nibbles back to the lounge room where the men were waiting. Harley sat on the floor at Arian’s feet next to Toby who immediately rolled over so she could finish the patting of his stomach that Arian had started while she was in the kitchen.
Zain jumped up and indicated the couch next to him for Jessamy to sit there.
“Miss Lushpin,” he said, drawling the ‘Lush’.
Jessamy pointedly ignored his invitation and sat in the other armchair. Zain replied with the smallest of wry smiles and a tiny nod of acknowledgement, but beneath that politeness lurked a grim determination. The gauntlet had been thrown. And accepted.
Harley was surreptitiously watching the interplay and enjoying it. She loved her friend to bits and it really was time some worthwhile man realised what a treasure she was. Maybe, just maybe, this Zain guy would be the one.
With them all settled, Arian got the business of the meeting underway. “So, Zain’s an old copper buddy of mine and he’s agreed to help us if he can. First, though, he wants to hear your side of the story, Hal. He’s been able to get a look at a fair bit of the paperwork, so has a pretty good idea of the case against you, and he’s read your statement, but figures it never hurts to hear it again, and straight from the horse’s mouth as it were.”
“Where do I start?”
“How about with how come you wound up being at that house with that bag of groceries,” Zain suggested.
“Ok.” Harley took a deep breath as Arian put his hand on her shoulder, squeezed it gently and then left it there. “So, when Mum got sick and I decided to come back to Perth to help her, I got a transfer with my job, but it was only three days a week to begin with. Mum didn’t need me around all the time. I wanted to do something with my free time, so I started volunteering at the drop-in centre on Friday mornings. I think it was only about my second time there that Gary came in. He looked a bit scary with his piercings and tattoos and stuff, but he was very polite and very insistent that he’d made mistakes but wanted to turn his life around.” She paused, shrugged and sighed.
“He saw your big kind heart a mile away,” Jessamy said with a disgusted snort, the little bell on her nose tinkling. “And he’s a mucilaginous wretch for whom a bullet would be too good.”
“Hey!” Zain said quickly, holding up his hand and looking sternly at Jessamy who looked unflinchingly back, but didn’t reply.
“Go on,” Zain encouraged Harley, turning back to her.
Harley smiled at Jessamy. “Apparently,” she said, then turned back to Zain. “Anyway, he asked if I could give him a lift home. The next week he asked me again and, when we were in the car, he asked if we could stop at the supermarket, which we did, and if I could drop him off at his mother’s house after, which I did. That was the house I got arrested at. Then the next week he asked to go to the supermarket again, which we did, and when he got back in the car he said he’d got a phone call and had to go home urgently and would I mind dropping the groceries off to his mum as it was on my way home. I said I didn’t mind, so I dropped him off first and then left the bag of groceries on the front porch. He said his mum probably wouldn’t answer the door so just to knock to let her know they were there and leave them on the porch. So, I did.”
“Did you see or hear anyone?” Zain asked.
“No.” Harley shook her head. “My guess is the house was empty the whole time. The only thing there was that black panel van.”
“Do you know what make and model? Registration?” Zain interrupted.
“I had a look at some pictures the cops showed me, and I reckon it was probably a Ford, but I didn’t notice any plates. Most likely wasn’t registered. It looked like a rust bucket and it was always in exactly the same place, so no-one was driving it.”
“Okay.” Zain nodded. “Go on.”
“So, the next week after I first dropped the bag off by myself, was the first time he asked if he could use my card. I was a bit nervous, but he gave me the receipt and I checked my bank balance and he hadn’t bought anything other than what he’d said which was always about fifteen dollars’ worth of groceries. Once he’d groomed me, that’s what we did each time: we’d go to the supermarket, he’d buy groceries using my card, I’d drop him off at his place, then I’d leave the bag of groceries on the porch of his mother’s house. He came in most weeks. I’d done it maybe half a dozen times before I got there to find the cops waiting. And, of course, the little packet was in the bag as I guess it had been every time I’d done the drop. What a prick! I can’t believe anyone could be so horrible.” She buried her face in Toby who understood that she was distressed and in need of wet kisses and lots of them.
“So,” Jessamy said urgently, “all we have to do is find this fetid villain and threaten to break every bone in his misshapen excuse for human form if he doesn’t confess…”
“No!” Zain turned and glowered at her. “Look, Miss Lushpin, is it? You can’t threaten to hurt people in front of a policeman.”
“Fine,” she replied, getting up, planting her feet apart, putting her hands on her hips and leaning forward over him. “In that case, I’ll hurt him behind a policeman.” She turned to Harley and Arian. “And as I was saying prior to being… interrupted…” She glared at Zain. “As I’m a private detective, I won’t have any trouble finding the malefactor in question and…”
“Hang on,” Zain interrupted again, jumping up. “You’re a private detective?”
“I am,” Jessamy replied smugly.
Zain turned to Arian. “Hey, man, you didn’t say there’d be a girl dick messing about in this.”
Harley flinched at his words. Jessamy wasn’t going to like that at all. Sure enough she could see her shaking her head, turning her mouth down and mouthing the word ‘unworthy’.
“I had no idea Jess was a dick, or that she was involved, but I don’t think there’s any need to take her too seriously,” Arian said, quickly trying to distance himself from Harley’s friend.
Harley, feeling Jessamy was being ganged up on, got up off the floor and went to stand next to her. Toby agreeing that more weight was needed on that side of the room, joined them, sitting on Harley’s foot.
“Jess is a great private eye,” Harley said firmly, hooking her arm through her friend’s. “And if anyone can find the lying little drug-dealer who set me up, it’s her. I bet we can find him, eh, Jess?” Instinct was telling Harley that it would be best not to let on that, in fact, Jessamy had already found him, and was planning a stake-out for the end of the week to which Harley was also going.
“What do you mean we can find him?” Arian demanded, now also getting out of his chair and standing over Harley. “I absolutely forbid you to go anywhere near this man. Are you crazy? Not only could it be detrimental to your case and get you thrown in prison immediately for breaking your bail conditions, it could be dangerous. You are to stay away, do you hear me?”
“Well, fine,” Jessamy replied quickly for Harley so she wouldn’t have to make any promises she had no intention of keeping. “But no-one can forbid me. I can do what I like.”
“Really?” Zain’s voice was a deep and threatening growl. “I forbid it.”
For a nano-second Harley thought Zain had completely back-footed Jessamy, her eyes opened as wide as the proverbial saucers and her mouth shut in shock. Jessamy put back in her box? Harley couldn’t believe her eyes, but she didn’t have to for long.
“You, muscle man?” Jessamy said mockingly. “You think because you have arms like the trunk of a boab tree that you can stop me doing whatever I want? Then your arms and legs aren’t the only part of you that’s thick, eh?”
“Enough!” said Arian, placing himself between Zain and Jessamy and looking sternly at the two women. “Harley certainly won’t be taking any part in your she
nanigans or she’ll be over my knee quick smart and won’t be sitting down for a week. Isn’t that right, Hal?”
“Well,” Zain said with a low whistle, after recovering from a momentary shock. “So, that’s how it is, is it? Good for you, man. And there I was thinking all you lawyers did was talk. But you’re prepared to take action, too, huh? Impressive. I’m impressed.” As he spoke, he nodded in admiration, and then shifted his gaze from Arian to Jessamy. There was no mistaking the glint in his eye or the symbolic way he was rubbing his hands together.
“Well, ladies, I think you’ve been warned. I think you need to leave this to Arian and myself.”
“But what about Gary?” Harley snapped. “He’s just going about his business, free as a lark, while I’ve got all this shit hanging over my head. What’s happening to him? Hey? What are you doing about him? Are you going after him or not?” She was perilously close to tears.
“That’s enough, Hal,” Arian said firmly, pulling her into his arms. “The police are doing all they can. He was obviously using a fake name. There were no fingerprints in your car or on the shopping bag or the packet in the bag. And no apparent connection between a Gary Mellors and the house you were arrested at. It’s all just your word. The cops have tried to find someone matching his description but thus far have drawn a blank. Now, how about if you fetch Zain and me another beer and we’ll take a moment to calm down.”
Harley sighed. “Come on, Jess.”
“And just remember, a very hard spanking will be the only result if I find out you have even been thinking about chasing around after Gary Mellors.”
“Both of you,” added Zain ominously causing Harley to burst into a fit of giggles as soon as they were out of sight.
“Wow, Jess, looks like your dreams have come true!”
“Him?” Jessamy snorted scornfully. “That overblown swankpot? Has a rather high opinion of himself, don’t you think? Anyway, he’s just lucky I’ve only got thongs on my feet today and not my naddy nobblers. I might grab a glass of water.” She opened the fridge and took out the bottle of cold water.
“Aw, come on, Jess. He’s a hunk. You can’t deny it.”
“Yeah, he’s all muscle, including where his brain should be,” Jessamy said filling a glass.
“Excuse me.” A deep voice behind them made them both jump guiltily. “Could I have a glass of water too, please?”
Turning to see Zain standing right behind them, Harley had to quickly look away to prevent another onslaught of giggles. But she still had time to see something she’d never seen before: Jessamy blushing as she pushed rudely past Zain, who was giving her a death stare, to retreat and join Arian in the lounge.
“Of course,” Harley replied to Zain’s request. She fetched him a glass and filled it with water from the bottle Jessamy had left on the side, then handed it to him along with his bottle of beer.
“Cheers,” he said politely, taking it from her and returning to the lounge room while she refilled the bottle and put it back in the fridge, collected beers for herself and Arian and then joined them.
“Right,” Arian said when everyone was settled again, Zain and Jessamy as far away from each other as possible, and Harley back on the floor, now playing tug of war with Toby and his piece of rope. “That pretty much covers everything leading up to your arrest then, Hal. Now we need to go carefully through your interaction with the police. I know you don’t like the idea of technicalities as a defence but, believe me, they’ve rescued the bacon of many an unlucky or stupid but not bad person through incorrect or sloppy police procedure. So, try and talk us through exactly what happened. Who did and said what in as much detail as you can remember?”
“It’s sort of hard to remember,” Harley replied in a tremulous voice. “Gary said his mum didn’t get up much and so wasn’t likely to answer the door.” Her voice hardened and her fist clenched. “Especially as she wasn’t even there!” Arian patted her shoulder.
“Go on,” Zain encouraged her.
Harley took a deep breath. “Okay, so I pulled up and went up the steps to the porch, like I’d been doing and knocked on the door. Like I said, I wasn’t expecting anyone to answer but just as I was about to put the bag down, someone did! I thought for a moment I was going to get to meet Mrs. Mellors, but it was the cops. I didn’t know that at the time. Just two guys in suits. I was terrified.”
“Did they identify themselves?” Zain asked.
“Not at first,” Harley said through chattering teeth. She wrapped her arms around herself. “For a moment I thought they were as surprised to see me as I was them. Then one of them grabbed me and pulled me through the door and closed it behind me so I was shut in. That’s when I realised the house was empty. I thought they were going to rape or bash or murder me.” Her voice broke and she stopped speaking.
“Those bastards,” Arian said under his breath, then added. “You’re doing great, Hal.” He squeezed her shoulder and she continued.
“So then one of them grabbed the bag and tipped it out onto the floor. That’s when they found the packet. They opened it and found the drugs. I told them I didn’t know it was there and it was Gary’s bag and I was just dropping it off for him, but they obviously didn’t believe me. They were so horrible, I couldn’t believe it. They treated me like a piece of dirt. And they were asking all sorts of horrible questions about whether I was having sex with Gary–they clearly thought I was–and what we did and stuff like that. It was just horrible.” Her voice broke and she had to stop.
Zain and Arian looked at each other over the top of Harley. Zain shook his head. “I told you Jimson is a nasty piece of work. He should be kicked off the force. My guess is he will be one day, and it won’t be soon enough.”
“So,” he said to Harley who had recovered a little, “what happened then?”
“They searched me. The older bloke put his hands all over me. I thought I was going to be sick. He just treated me like trash. Then I had to stay with him while the other bloke searched my car.”
“Did you say anything to them about what they were doing?”
“No, just that I didn’t know the drugs were in the bag, I was dropping the bag off for Gary, and I wanted to get home in time to pick Lyddia up.”
“And after they’d finished searching you and the car?”
“They told me they were arresting me and took me to the central lock-up.”
“Did you ask to see their search warrant?” Arian asked.
Zain nodded at Arian in response to his question and asked, “Did they tell you they had one?”
“No. No-one mentioned a search warrant,” Harley replied to them both.
“What did the packet of drugs look like?” Zain asked.
Harley thought for a moment. “I guess it was about as big as a pack of cigarettes. The twenty ones, not the bigger ones.”
“Did you see them open it?”
“Yes. Well, they just opened it a little bit, realized it was drugs and closed it again.”
“What happened to it then?”
“The older guy, he seemed to be in charge, put it in his pocket.”
“Did you see him take it out again?”
“No.”
“Was he always in your sight?”
“Yes, wait, no. He went to the toilet as we were leaving. The other guy took me out to the police car and then the old bloke came out after us.”
Once again Zain and Arian’s eyes met.
Harley turned to look up at Arian from the floor where she was still sitting. “What do you think?”
He shrugged, then glanced at Zain again. “I think we’ve got some things we can follow up on, eh?”
“Yep,” Zain agreed. “Starting with the search warrant. And why they were even there that day? Why were they in the house when you got there? And I wouldn’t mind checking how big the quantity of ice they brought into the station was, although I don’t think there is any chance at all of proving any went missing between them finding it and it g
etting logged at the station. Still, it would be good to know.”
“Now I know how people feel when they get arrested and say they’re innocent and no-one believes them. They kept asking me where I’d got the drugs. They obviously didn’t believe my story especially as they couldn’t find any trace of Gary. It was so horrible being treated like a criminal when I didn’t even know I had the drugs on me.”
By the time they’d finished, they’d been at it for a couple of hours and Harley was exhausted. She couldn’t think of a single stone that hadn’t been turned over and everything beneath minutely inspected. The conversation had switched to more general topics, although Harley noticed Jessamy had not spoken directly to Zain since her embarrassment in the kitchen and, whenever he spoke to her, she pretended not to hear. She was heartened, though, to see that Zain seemed determined not to give in and appeared to be hunkering down for a battle royale. This could be very interesting…
The meeting was finally broken up by the return of Harriet and Lyddia, the latter squealing with joy when she saw Arian and immediately running to jump on his lap.
“Ooh, Arian,” she said conspiratorially, “what did Mummy thay ‘bout you being here?”
Arian whispered back seriously. “She said it is all right if I come and visit you so long as I play with Toby and read to Toody.”
“Oh, goody,” Lyddia jumped off his lap and grabbed his hand, pulling him up out of his chair. “Then we have to go read to Toody. He’th all alone.”
“And I’ve got a present for you, too,” Arian told Lyddia. “It’s a new book. But first say hello to everyone. This is Zain. He’s a real detective.”
“And I want to say hi to Arian, too,” Harriet told her granddaughter. “I haven’t had a chance yet.” She gave him a warm hug.