‘Don’t worry, Angelique,’ says Mr Pluck, ‘I’m sure the male spectators will be arriving at eight o’clock so please don’t be sad.’
‘I know,’ says Angelique
Mr Pluck takes a deep breath and says to Tyler, Angelique, Peter and four dancers, ‘Well, come on everybody, it’s time to leave this place.’
Five minutes later outside the Duke of York Hotel in Fritzeg Street, Mr Pluck and Tyler are standing next to the hotel while Angelique, Peter and the rest of the people are standing next to the entrance. Mr Pluck addresses everyone.
‘All right, everybody. We have to leave the Duke of York Hotel because Robert Taylor is coming to take over our building. I don’t want the hotel to become besieged. We’ve got to get out of this place and find a safe spot. Here’s Tyler’s emergency evacuation plan.’
Tyler is coughing and addressing Angelique, Peter and the rest of the people. He says to them, ‘Are you looking forward to finding a safe spot during the evacuation?’
‘Yes,’ says everyone.
‘Okay,’ says Tyler. ‘I have an idea for my emergency evacuation plan. Walk to my flat and when you make it, Peter will take all the dancers home safely, one-by-one and then, Angelique and I will call the other residents of my flat to take the staff members home safely, one-by-one. It’s not a trick, it’s not a joke, it’s a mission. A rescue and evacuation mission, thank you.’
Everybody claps their hands and Mr Pluck says to Tyler, Angelique, Peter and the rest of the people, ‘Thank you, all right, everybody. Let’s get walking.’
‘Forward, march!’ says Tyler so he, Mr Pluck, Angelique, Peter and the rest of the people march as they leave the hotel and walk to Tyler’s apartment block. A minute later, outside of the Duke of York Hotel after they leave, the door opens and two security guards enter. One of the security guards shuts the door and joins the other security guard to protect the hotel from Robert Taylor.
CHAPTER 35
A
t the police station, Inspector Mack Young and some others are in the boardroom. The inspector has in his hand a piece of paper which has information about the first two shootings by Robert Taylor. A police officer is standing to attention, and Mack is leaning on a chair, while Detective Sergeant Nick Baxter, Constable Troy Williamson, Professor Jerry Bowie and Dr Airhardt are sitting on chairs. Behind Mack and the police officer is a map of Melbourne on the wall.
Mack says to Nick, Troy, Jerry and Dr Airhardt. ‘All right, gentlemen, this is a manhunt for Robert Taylor. We have got to find him, because he’s out-of-control and has gone nuts. We have got the news, information and details about the first two shootings by Robert Taylor after he escaped from police custody at our police station. He’s already killing and here is a piece of paper that has this information. We will have to wait for more news about Robert’s killing rampage.’
Nick, Troy, Jerry and Dr Airhardt clap their hands as the police officer began to address them.
‘Thank you very much. Here’s the details. The first victim of Robert’s killing rampage was a homeless man outside the National Gallery of Victoria in Southbank. This victim was in his late forties and was sitting on a footpath outside the gallery. He was wearing tattered clothes and was using a hat for collecting money. These are the details of the first shooting. Robert ran near the homeless man who asked Robert for money. Robert refused and shot this man dead and then stole lots of coins from this homeless man’s hat.
‘The second victim was a twenty-five-year-old male driver who was driving his car on St Kilda Road. This driver was wearing a T-shirt and jeans. The details of the second shooting are like this. Robert spotted the male driver’s car driving down St Kilda Road. Robert ran, jumped and landed on the road stopping the young man’s car. Robert pointed a gun at the car, and so the male driver stopped his car. Robert then shot him dead, removed the male driver’s dead body from the car and threw it onto the road. He then stole money from the male driver’s wallet. After this shooting, Robert stole the same car and got away with money from his first two shooting victims.’
The police officer takes a break from reading this information. As he does, the door opens, and a police desk sergeant with a piece of paper enters and says to the police officer, ‘Excuse me, we have more information and details about Robert Taylor. Do you want it?’
‘Yes, bring it on,’ says the police officer.
‘Okay, we have two more shootings by Robert Taylor, so here’s the details. There are two more victims in St Kilda which have been shot dead by Robert Taylor. One was the owner of a firearms store in Rodart Street, St Kilda but we don’t have the details of this victim. The details of the shooting were that Robert entered the Rodart Street store, stole a 9mm semi-automatic high-powered rifle and a shotgun, but when he tried to escape, the owner returned to work, saw Robert and tried to stop him. Robert then turned around and shot him dead, stole money from the cash register machine and escaped. This is murder and theft. The other shooting victim was an old woman who was shot after she finished calling her daughter on the phone at the telephone booth in Barclay Street, St Kilda. As yet, we don’t have details about this little old lady. It seems that after the last shooting at the firearms store, Robert was running on the footpath to escape. About five miles from the firearms store, when he was in Barclay Street, he stopped running and swapped guns from the pistol to a 9mm semi-automatic high-powered rifle. Meanwhile, the old lady hung up the phone after she finished calling her daughter and then, Robert shot her dead. Robert put the same weapon back over his right shoulder, removed the old lady’s dead body from the telephone booth, and threw her onto the footpath. He then stole her money from her purse and called the Duke of York Hotel on the phone in the same telephone booth. His plan was to take over the Duke of York Hotel and taking the people inside hostage.’
The police officer finishes reading and puts the piece of paper about the second lot of Robert Taylor shootings also on the big-ger table.
‘Now, we want the public to call us if they see Robert Taylor in St Kilda, because we must stop him from becoming a super-villain.’
‘Thank you,’ says Mack, ‘but I think Robert is also a thief since his bad early years like Ned Kelly and even, Ronald Ryan.’
‘Strewth!’ says Nick. The men of the force and Dr Airhardt continue the meeting about the manhunt of Robert Taylor in the police station’s boardroom.
Outside Tyler’s apartment block, Mr Pluck and Tyler are standing on the footpath. Angelique, Peter and the rest of the people watch the two men. Mr Pluck addresses the group.
‘All right, everybody, we are at Mr Brown’s flat so here is Tyler to speak to you about one of his emergency evacuation plans.’
Tyler takes a deep breath. ‘Okay, I have a plan about taking people home after we leave from the Duke of York Hotel. First, Peter will take any of the dancers home safely, one-by-one, so, mate, will you do that please?’
‘Why?’
‘Because you’re first,’ says Tyler.
‘Oh, okay,’ says Peter, so he turns around and says to the four dancers, ‘Come on, girls, it’s time to take you home.’ Peter and the four dancers leave and walk to a 4WD car and drive away.
Meanwhile, Tyler continues. ‘Then Angelique and I will call the other residents of my flat to take the rest of the staff members home safely, one-by-one. So, my darling, come with me.’ Angelique walks to Tyler, and when they are walking to his apartment block, they call the other residents. Mr Pluck says to Tyler and Angelique, ‘Um, I’ll go and check the Duke of York Hotel to check how things are going and I’ll see you later.’
‘Okay,’ says Tyler.
‘Be careful, Mr Pluck!’ says Angelique.
Mr Pluck leaves and walks back to the Duke of York Hotel.
Outside the Duke of York Hotel, two security guards stand at the entrance of the hotel and guard the place like bouncers standing at the entrance of a nightclub. One security guard says to the other, ‘Do you think Robert Taylor will co
me?’
‘He’ll be arriving soon,’ says the other security guard.
But Robert is on the footpath on the left side of Fritzeg Street. He has two weapons, one on each shoulder. He stops running, takes two cartridges for the shotgun out of his left shoe and puts the two cartridges on the footpath. He takes the shotgun from his left shoulder and holds it in his hand. Then, he loads the shotgun with the cartridges he picks up from the footpath. He is ready and takes aim towards the outside of the Duke of York Hotel.
The two security guards see him and one of the security guards points at Robert and shouts, ‘There’s he is, it’s him!’
Robert turns, mad, angry, and shouts loudly, ‘Damn security!’ He points the shotgun at the two security guards.
‘Look out, he’s got a gun!’ The security guards run to a nearby parked car and hide behind it. Robert pulls the trigger of the shotgun and fires at them but the shot misses them.
Robert pumps and reloads the shotgun, taking another two cartridges from his left shoe. Now that Robert is ready, he takes aim again. Robert sees one of the security guards – who is still hiding behind the parked car – holding a .45 pistol in his hand. The same guard is going to shoot Robert.
‘Oh crap!’ Robert runs away and the security guard pulls the pistol trigger, firing at Robert. The bullet misses Robert. The two security guards then leave from behind the parked car and move to another parked car to avoid being shot at by Robert. After the two security guards have gone into hiding for safety behind the second parked car, Robert runs to the Duke of York Hotel on the right side of Fritzeg Street. He opens the door and enters the Duke of York Hotel and sees that the bar and the hotel are empty.
‘Where is everybody?’ Robert then stops being angry, and turns into being sad, and when he looks at the stolen shotgun, he says to himself, ‘I can’t take it anymore. I give up.’ He puts the shotgun on the floor first and then, takes the 9mm semi-automatic high-powered rifle from his right shoulder and puts it next to the shotgun on the floor. After this, he removes the bullets and cartridges of the same two weapons from his two shoes, walks and puts them all into a bin nearby and says to himself, ‘I’m sick of my life and I’m going to lock the doors because I hate myself and I’m sick of it!’
Robert walks back to the front door which is still open, shuts the door, locks the latch and walks back towards some furniture.
In five minutes, Robert puts all the furniture against the door.
Suddenly, there’s a knock on the door of the Duke of York Hotel, and a voice of one of the security guards says, ‘Hey, open the door!’
‘Get lost! Just leave me alone! Go and call the cops and tell them I’m here at the Duke of York Hotel! Now get out!’
Robert leaves the door and again his anger changes to sadness. He feels lonely and blue. He has finished his killing rampage and feels depressed because he’s going to be alone again.
In the boardroom of the police station, a police desk sergeant enters and says to Inspector Mack Young, Detective Sergeant Nick Baxter, Professor Jerry Bowie, Dr Airhardt and a police officer, ‘Excuse me, everybody, I have got a phone call from one of the security guards who is working at the Duke of York Hotel.’
‘What did he say?’ asks Mack.
‘He talked about Robert Taylor being at the hotel,’ says the police desk sergeant.
‘All right, gentlemen, let’s go to the Duke of York Hotel at Fritzeg Street. It looks like a real problem with Robert.’
They stand up from their chairs and leave. The police officer also leaves as he’s going back to do his normal duty. Robert Taylor has taken over the Duke of York Hotel, and it’s under siege, but there are no people taken as hostages.
Just himself.
CHAPTER 36
A
police car arrives and stops on the left side of Fritzeg Street, while the other police cars and motorcycle cops from the force drive to the scene of the last two shootings by Robert Taylor.
Inspector Mack Young, Detective Sergeant Nick Baxter, Constable Troy Williamson, Professor Jerry Bowie and Dr Airhardt open the doors, step out of the police cars and shut the doors.
Mack says to Nick, Troy, Jerry and Dr Airhardt, ‘Well, boys, this is it, the Duke of York Hotel.’
‘Who’s inside?’ asks Troy.
‘It’s Robert Taylor, Constable,’ says Mack.
‘Hang on, men,’ says Mack. ‘Looks like we’ve got two survivors.’
The two security guards walk to Mack, Nick, Troy, Jerry and Dr Airhardt.
‘What’s happened?’
‘We survived from being shot at by Robert Taylor,’ says one security guard.
‘How did it happen?’ says Mack.
‘Well, we were guarding the Duke of York Hotel when the others were away and then, Robert – with a rifle and a shotgun on his shoulder – arrived. He used a shotgun, and we saw him loading the weapon and then, after he finished loading he saw us and turned mad! We ran to a car and hid behind the car until Robert fired at us. The bullets missed us because we were hiding behind the car, so when Robert was reloading the shotgun we used our pistol. Robert ran when we fired at him but he was gone and did not come back until we moved to another car to avoid being shot by Robert again. After we made it safely, Robert ran to the Duke of York Hotel and entered the hotel. We heard his voice when he was shouting. There were no people inside the hotel.’
‘So what happened next?’ asks Mack.
‘When Robert was in the Duke of York Hotel, we tried to contact him but he told us to go away and call the police.’
‘Oh no,’ says Mack.
‘I think he has a mental illness,’ says Nick.
‘He also has schizophrenia too,’ says Dr Airhardt.
‘Um, Inspector …’ says Nick.
‘What?’
‘Here comes another survivor,’ says Nick.
‘Who?’
‘Mr Pluck.’
‘Oh, strewth.’
Mr Pluck arrives.
‘Hello, Mr Pluck.’
‘Hello, sir,’ says Mr Pluck.
‘Call me Inspector, Mr Pluck,’ says Mack.
‘Sorry about that, Inspector,’ says Mr Pluck.
‘What did you do when Robert Taylor came to the Duke of York Hotel during his escape from custody and killing rampage?’ asks Mack.
‘Before Robert arrived at the Prince, I saw a barman who had a terrible shock when he got a phone call from Robert. He told me that Robert is coming to our place to take over the place and that he’s going to take me and my staff hostage. So we closed the hotel and then, we left from the hotel with the help of one of my staff members, Tyler Brown,’ says Mr Pluck.
‘How did Tyler bring you and the rest of the people to safety before Robert arrived?’ asks Mack.
‘We walked to his apartment and when we arrived outside his flat, his mate Peter took the dancers home safely, one-by-one, while Tyler and Angelique called the other people who lived in the same apartment block to take the staff members home safely, one-by-one. So that’s it, end of story,’ says Mr Pluck.
‘Wow, that’s good, this is bloody good,’ says Mack, ‘I’m sure Tyler will have a bravery award for bringing the people to safety before Robert arrived.’
‘Oh, heaven’s above, Inspector!’ says Mr Pluck, ‘Yes, Tyler has been a good organiser and he has done his best to help all of us.’
‘Well, don’t worry, Mr Pluck,’ says Mack. ‘We’ll sort it out.’
‘That’s okay, Inspector,’ says Mr Pluck. ‘I’ll go back to Tyler’s flat.’
‘All right,’ says Mack. ‘Goodbye, Mr Pluck.’
‘Bye, Inspector,’ says Mr Pluck as he leaves and walks to Tyler’s apartment block. Nick says to Mack, ‘What should we do now about the siege of the Duke of York Hotel, Inspector?’
‘I think we’re going to talk to Robert, Sergeant,’ says Mack. ‘We’ve got to speak to him. Come on, Sergeant and Constable, let’s go and talk to him.’
They w
alk to the Duke of York Hotel to talk to Robert Taylor, while Jerry and Dr Airhardt stand patiently and watch them, waiting for more news about Robert.
Outside the Duke of York Hotel, Inspector Mack Young and Detective Sergeant Nick Baxter are standing behind the door, while Constable Troy Williamson is standing behind the window.
Mack says to Robert who’s inside the hotel, ‘Come on, Robert, it’s time for you to leave this building or I’ll bring the Special Forces team to remove you from this place.’
Robert doesn’t answer.
Mack says to him again, ‘Don’t be shy, I know you don’t like the media but we’re trying to help you.’
‘I think Robert is lonely, Inspector,’ Constable Troy Williamson says, so Mack and Nick leave from the door of the Duke of York Hotel and walk to Troy. Mack asks Troy, ‘Why?’
‘Because he’s alone, Inspector,’ says Troy. ‘Maybe he was thinking about his past.’
‘What about his past?’ asks Mack.
‘I don’t know,’ says Troy.
‘What’s this about? It’s about his trauma, his loneliness, his life being bad or even, him being a failed person?’
‘Look, Sergeant, I don’t know,’ says Troy. ‘I’m not sure what happened in his past, during his life as a bad boy in his childhood, a bad teenager in his youth and a bad man in his adulthood when he was a mysterious person who wore a bloody mysterious coat.’
‘Come on, gentlemen,’ says Mack. ‘We’ve got to go back to the other side of Fritzeg Street and wait for Robert to come out.’
They leave from the Duke of York Hotel and walk back to the lefts side of Fritzeg Street because they plan to wait for Robert to exit the Duke of York Hotel.
Inside the Duke of York Hotel, Robert sits on the floor, his face on his knees. There are voices from yesterday in his head and he hears the voice of Tyler when he was being interviewed by Tyler at the police station. Tyler’s voice is saying, ‘I remember I saw you creeping around my apartment block during my swimming training at the swimming pool. What are you doing at my apartment block?’
The Mysterious Coat Page 20