by Fiona Tarr
‘I’m guessing there is no one-answer-fits-all. Attention seeking, lonely, poor body image, nasty peers. We’ve all done stupid stuff. Guys drive cars fast for attention or adrenalin. Maybe these girls do it for the thrill. Or maybe they do it so someone will tell them they are beautiful?’
She could almost hear Jack thinking. ‘Either way, it isn’t their fault someone is lurking, waiting to take advantage.’ She continued. ‘Like most things, education is the key to overcoming this. Technology has moved so fast in the last decade. We now carry a more powerful computer in our pockets than one that used to take up an entire city block back in the eighties.’
‘Some of us do.’ Jack offered.
Liz laughed, ‘yes, some of us do.
‘The problem with technology is the predators are getting smarter. If this one is super good, the device tracking will go nowhere. He might have used a burner phone or had his computer hidden behind multiple VPNs.’
‘My head is spinning. Let’s hope he isn’t that smart.’ Liz offered. ‘Let’s hope this Friday’s auction exposes something and Gemma and Belinda are there and we can extract them safely. I’ll pay whatever we need to.’
‘Could it be that easy?’ Jack sounded dubious.
‘Probably not, but it might give us further leads.’
22
Liz wrapped a towel around her body and left the bathroom, walking across the porcelain tiles to her kitchen, thankful the underfloor heating was installed. She peered out of the bank of windows to see an autumn sun desperately trying to peak out from dark grey rain clouds.
She pushed the on button for the coffee machine before opening the laptop that sat on her counter. She groaned aloud as dozens of unread emails flashed up on the screen.
She turned her computer towards her and browsed as she loaded the milk in the machine and started her regular coffee cycle. New clients that needed vetting, established ones that wanted new girls and applications from girls wanting to join the agency.
Liz’s mind was reeling. She wanted to keep the business going. She really wanted to keep in touch, working when she could to assist her new business, but how on earth was she going to keep up?
The coffee machine finished just as her mobile began to ring. The caller ID showed her work phone app was ringing. Liz took a breath, composed herself, preparing her best phone voice ready to take the call.
‘Foxy Escort Agencies.’
‘Good morning. Ted suggested I give you a call, Lillian, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, that’s correct. How is Ted going?’
‘Great. He speaks very fondly of you. I’d certainly like to meet the person who has managed to get Ted’s undivided attention.’
Liz laughed. Ted was one of her longest standing clients. His Texan drawl always curled her toes and he was a true gentleman. She wondered how this man had come by a referral. She really didn’t expect Ted to share her details.
‘I’m sorry but I’m at a loss. Ted didn’t tell me to expect your call. What did you say your name was?’
‘I didn’t, but my name is Greg.’
‘Do you work with Ted?’
‘No, our relationship goes way back. I’d like to organise a date with you Lillian. I think we’d get along very nicely.’
‘I’m flattered Greg, but I’m personally not taking on any new clients. I have quite a few lovely ladies who’d certainly be pleased to look after you.’
‘Well, I was hoping I could book with you, but please, you have my number, let me know when you’ve arranged a date.’
‘Are you in town long Greg?’
‘Until Easter.’
‘Well we’ll need to run through a few details. I’m sure you’re familiar with the usual checks. I’ll send you a text with my email so we can get the information we need.’
‘Perfect. Thank you. Lovely to talk with you.’
‘And you.’
Liz hung up and looked at her cold coffee still sitting on the drainage tray of her machine. Something had to give. She was going to run herself ragged trying to keep all the balls in the air between her two businesses, her own clients and her emerging relationship with Jackie.
A few minutes passed, while Liz stared at the coffee machine, willing herself to pull herself together. This case was getting to her. It was taking all her attention and getting side tracked with her escort business wasn’t an option when two girls’ lives were on the line.
She stood up, collected her coffee from the machine and poured it down the sink, beginning the cycle again. She waited for it to finish and put her coffee on the counter as she dialled a number, an idea forming in her mind.
She sipped her drink, savouring the flavour as the call rang. ‘Liz, honey, how are you?’
‘Connie, busy, busy. You know how it is.’
‘Sure do. You’ve got a lot on, hey?’
‘You have no idea. I’m just wondering, do you have time to catch up?’
‘Of course. Your place?’
‘I think that would be awesome. I can carry on catching up on emails while I wait for you.’
‘Done. Do you want me to grab something for breakie?’
‘I think I’ve got plenty of food here.’
‘Great, see you in ten.’
‘Thanks. See you soon.’
Liz hung up, and carried on flicking through emails as she finished her coffee. The realisation that today was going to have to be a paperwork day wasn’t a welcomed feeling. She’d gotten so used to being out and about, interviewing people and trying to figure out where Gemma and Belinda were that a day in the office wasn’t exactly filling her with excitement.
The doorbell buzzed and Liz checked her tablet to make sure her visitor was Connie. The tall red-head stood outside, pulling faces at the camera she knew her friend would be looking at. Liz saw the cheeky smile and pressed the automatic unlock, allowing Connie entry.
‘Coffee?’
‘Absolutely!’
Liz stood up and started running a refill for herself while she got another mug out of the cupboard.
‘How’s the study going?’ Liz began fishing, wondering if her plans might be too adventurous.
‘Okay I guess.’
‘Not enjoying it?’
‘I guess if I could just skip to the doctor bit and bypass the nursing phase, then maybe it would be more fun, but I’m not sure I’m going to get the grades to switch to pre-med.’
‘Tough course.’
Connie rolled her eyes. ‘You have no idea.’
‘I told you to make sure you made good contacts at the last medical conference your date took you to.’
‘I know, I know. I just don’t think my heart is in it. I’ll need to empty bedpans for at least four years while I study to get into medicine. The only other pathway is to switch to paramedic medicine and I don’t think dealing with drunks and drug addicts on the street is going to be my thing either.’
Liz had heard enough. She didn’t want to offer Connie a new position if she was still set on medical school, but it seemed she wasn’t so sure now.
Liz pulled her coffee out and added Connie’s mug to the tray before pressing the espresso button.
‘Yoghurt okay?’
‘Sure.’ Connie waited for her coffee to finish as Liz opened the fridge and got out some fruit and yoghurt. ‘What’s on your mind luv?’ Connie wasn’t born yesterday and Liz smiled guiltily.
‘That obvious?’
‘We go way back. I can read your mind before you even know what you are thinking.’
‘Too true. I’m swamped. This new detective thing is awesome, but I can’t keep up.’
‘Ah ha.’ Connie sipped her coffee as Liz served up peaches and yoghurt into two bowls.
‘I don’t want to interrupt your study, if you are set on your course, just say no, if you want to say no.’
‘Ah ha.’ Another sip of coffee followed by a smile over the top of the cup.
‘I need a partner. I should have asked you yea
rs ago, but I really wanted you to leave the life behind and be a big-wig doctor.’
‘Ah ha.’
‘Oh come on. You aren’t helping me out here are you?’
Connie shook her head, still smiling.
‘Fifty, fifty on the agency profits. You take fifty percent of the shifts to cover emails and phone calls and I can focus on my case-load as it is already getting crazy.’
‘Deal.’
‘Just like that?’
‘Just like that.’
23
Jack ran Jones’s details through the National Police Reference System. The issue with the database was that it only held information on convictions or pending cases currently awaiting conviction. It wasn’t going to provide all the information on the open murder cases in Victoria.
‘Have the files come over from the Vics yet?’ Jenny asked as she placed a coffee down on Jack’s desk and took a long sip of her own.
‘No, they are dragging their feet. Anyone would think it’s a competition and they don’t want us to find the guy because they couldn’t.’
‘Do you want me to give the lead detective a call?’
Jack shook his head. ‘No. He’s regional and old boys’ club by the sound of him. As much as I hate to say it, the push might have to come from higher up the food chain. I’ve already asked the Chief to throw some weight into it.’
‘I don’t get the old guard attitude.’ Jenny clicked a few keys on her keyboard. ‘I’ll take another look at the burger bar footage and see if we missed something. If Liz’s IT guy says the guy who received the photos was on site, then I might be able to get a glimpse of him.’
‘Good idea. I’ve been over it twice this morning and found nothing.’
‘Did you check it out in ops?’
‘No, just on this monitor.’
Jenny got up, skulled the rest of her coffee and headed for the operations room. ‘Have forensics run facial recognition software over it?’
‘Yep, I got Penny a copy early this morning. She’s already run it. Nothing has jumped out so far. No-one with a record, or from the school’s staff, including Jones.’
Jenny was on her way out of the office when she stopped and looked at Jack, her arm resting on the wall near the hallway. ‘Maybe we are wrong about Jones?’
‘Maybe, but I don’t believe in coincidences and the Victorian cases are from the same town he last lived in. So I’m hanging on to him for now. We can’t get any uniforms on him yet, not until we get more evidence, so Max is still stalking him.’ Jack smiled and Jenny laughed aloud.
‘Poor bugger.’ She turned and headed to the operations room.
Three hours later the complete case notes arrived via secure email. Forensic reports for the murders, missing persons reports, school information, boyfriends, all possible suspects. Jack searched the file names finally coming across Jones.
He opened the file, the photo on file was pulled straight from the school website staff page. Nothing new there. Jack scanned the interview transcript and logged report. Nothing out of the ordinary. Two of the missing girls had been students of the college he taught at, but the rest were unknown to him.
None of the girls, even those Jones knew did music at school, so no need to have private classes. Jack took a long slow and ragged breath, then lifted his coffee, shaking it when he realised it was empty. The temptation to go outside for a cigarette was growing with his frustration, but he was a social smoker and he was going to keep it that way.
He picked up the phone and dialled the Bendigo Police headquarters. ‘Detective Rogers thanks.’
‘Yes, tell him it’s Detective Cunningham, Adelaide Major Crimes.’ There was a click and the line began to ring again.
‘He’ll be with you in a moment detective. Can you hold?’ A young female spoke as gruff voices argued in the background. Jack didn’t have time to answer or to hold as he heard the phone rasp across fabric.
‘Detective.’ Jack was tempted to correct the greeting to Detective Senior Sergeant but decided to ignore the flat greeting. He wasn’t going to turn it into a pissing contest.
‘Yes, that’s me. I just got your case notes from the schoolgirl homicides and Missing Persons.’ There was silence and Jack realised he was going to have to pull blood out of a stone if he wanted more information.
‘Do you recall the interview with the music teacher, Jones?’ More silence, but at least Jack could hear the man was sifting through files.
‘Yep. Enquiries went nowhere.’
‘I can see that in the report. Can you elaborate? Did you like him for it? Did you check his alibi for all the missing girls?’ Jack prompted but the detective wasn’t going to be persuaded.
‘He was a smooth talker, no argument there, but he’d been with the school for five years. There wasn’t anything to connect him to any of the girls. It’s not like girls had been going missing for the five years he’d been there. All of the cases were in a six-month window.’
‘So you didn’t keep him on the radar?’
‘No.’
‘Thanks for your time detective.’ Jack was about to hang up but he could still hear papers shuffling, so he waited, hoping to find out more.
‘Why are you asking about Jones?’ And there it was, the curiosity factor. Maybe Jack would be able to get something out of him after all.
‘He teaches at the school of one of our missing girls here. Coincidence? I don’t think so.’
‘Shit.’
‘You know something or you are just pissed you didn’t find a connection before?’
‘Pissed. We couldn’t be sure exactly when the girls disappeared, so alibis were useless. Once you dive into the files you’ll see. All the girls are seniors, all have few friends and all have working single mums. Pin-pointing the actual last known whereabouts or last person to see them was almost impossible.’
‘Ours are pretty much the same. At least we have his victim type. We’ve narrowed down some footage of the girls in a local burger bar. Did you recover the phones for the missing or murdered girls?’
‘No. All disappeared. By the time we went searching, the batteries were dead on them so no tracing could be done. Bloody teenagers, using the internet so much they run the things flat all the time.’
‘Anything in common with the victims or missing?’
‘Nothing concrete, other than the obvious stuff. Age, no dads, few friends.’
‘Thanks again Rogers. I’ll keep you posted if anything comes out of our enquires.’
‘Same here.’ Jack hung up and opened another file that had caught his eye. Something piqued his interest, but the name wasn’t familiar. He opened the file, no photo. ‘Helpful.’
‘What’s helpful?’ Jenny returned, grinning. ‘I found our perp. Well, I think I have.’
Jack stopped, the curser hovering over the interview file with the name Francis O’Brien on it. ‘Let’s see.’ He took his hand off the mouse and grabbed the photo Jenny handed to him.
The pimple faced kid would have been seventeen if he was lucky. ‘What makes you think this is our guy?’
‘Time stamp matches the downloads.’
‘Yeah, but there are three other people there at the time.’
‘No one else is on their phone.’
‘Could be the perp was out of view? Or he had his phone in his pocket, not looking at it?’
Jenny shrugged. ‘Worth an interview, don’t you think?’
‘If we can figure out who he is.’
‘Done!’ Jack raised an eyebrow. ‘Don’t look so surprised. It wasn’t hard. The kid is a student at Gemma Richardson’s school.’
‘Of course he is.’ Jack got up, collected his weapon from the locked drawer of his desk and placed it in the shoulder holster.
‘I haven’t been to the school yet. This should be interesting.’
‘Why?’
‘It’s my old school. I’m still on the email list. Let’s see how many of my old teachers are still there.’ She
winked mischievously.
‘And why didn’t you tell me this earlier?’ Jack moved to the elevator and pushed the down button.
‘Because it wasn’t relevant. Jones is new, so is the Principal and the Chaplain.’ Jenny shrugged.
‘Fair enough.’ Jack thought about his own old school. He wasn’t on the email list. He didn’t stay in contact with his class chums. In fact, he’d done everything he could to distance himself from the life of a private school boy.
****
Jenny pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket and showed Linda the photo she’d pulled from surveillance. ‘I saw he’s in the senior class here. We need to speak with him.’
‘The school counsellor is off sick. We’ll need to have a teacher or the Chaplain join you.’
‘That’s fine. What’s his name and what classroom is he in? I can find my way there.’ Linda looked unconvinced. ‘I’m an old scholar.’
‘His name is Jeremy. Jeremy Douglas. He’s in Science Block G, Mrs Pettifore’s class.
Jenny laughed ‘She’d have to be ninety by now.’
‘Not even close.’ Linda smiled. ‘They all look old when you’re young.’
‘True. Can you arrange for someone to meet us there?’ Jenny turned to Jack and waved for him to follow. She moved past reception, out the back of the building and down the covered veranda leading past the student lounge. They moved across a large grassed area, surrounded by a brick pathway lined with tables and chairs, bolted to the ground.
‘It’s the next building.’ Jenny nodded to the red-brick building ahead. The original entrance had been replaced with thick metal doors, designed to contain a fire if necessary. The detectives moved inside the open doors, past the fire extinguishers and down the wide commercial vinyl clad hallway until they reached the Science Lab.
The room was lined with a wall of thick glass topping a low wall, making the classroom and the students visible from the hallway like they were in a fishbowl. Jenny knocked on the door, Jack stood behind her, happy to allow her the lead given the circumstances. They saw the teacher look up. She squinted over half lensed reading glasses, then smiled and waved the detectives inside.