by Angus McLean
The guy had a shaggy mop of dark curls and a flavour saver under his lip, and the almost obligatory Chinese lettering tattooed on his inner forearm.
The girl was blonde and bouncy and he took in their body language as he got closer. The way they were standing and looking at each other indicated a level of familiarity most colleagues didn’t share.
He reached the desk and waited until the young guy could tear himself away and look over.
‘Hey buddy.’ He noted Dan’s lack of a bag or gym attire. ‘What’s up?’
‘You Tim Ashford?’
The guy stiffened almost imperceptibly. ‘Ah, yeah, that’s me.’
‘I need to speak to you, mate.’ Dan hadn’t smiled or introduced himself yet, and he could see the wariness in the young guy’s eyes. He glanced at the girl. ‘Preferably in private if that’s possible.’
The girl looked at Tim with concern, and touched his arm. ‘Tim?’
He gave her a sideways smile. ‘It’s all good; can you cover here for me for a minute?’
She nodded, and looked back at Dan as if trying to suss him out. He ignored her and followed Tim from the foyer, down a short corridor and into an empty staff room. They sat at a Formica table, and Dan put his notebook in front of him. He put his hands flat on it and looked across at Tim. The younger guy was trying not to look nervous, but was losing.
‘My name’s Dan Crowley,’ Dan told him. ‘What are you so nervous for, mate?’
Tim shrugged coolly. ‘I’m not nervous, buddy, I’m just not sure why you want to talk to me, that’s all. I’m kinda busy, you know, so...’
‘Uh-huh.’ Dan spoke deliberately slow and calm, as if he had all the time in the world and was calling the shots here and would get to the point when he damn well felt like it. It was an old tactic that subtly ramped up the pressure on the interviewee. ‘I’m a private investigator, Tim, and I’m investigating the allegation by Jessie Parker against your flatmate Chris. You know what I’m talking about?’
‘Yeah, yeah.’ He frowned. ‘But I already made a statement about that.’
‘I know, and I’ve read it.’ Dan’s gaze was direct and Tim couldn’t hold it. He looked away and rubbed his knee. ‘I’ve got a few questions about it, though, so I need a few minutes of your time.’
Tim opened his mouth to speak but hesitated, and Dan carried on regardless. Tim shut his mouth again.
‘So I’ve read your statement,’ he said, opening his notebook and shuffling the statement pages there. ‘Pretty detailed, I guess. Sounds like a pretty uncomfortable sort of night for you, with him being your flatmate and all.’
He looked up, his dark eyes probing Tim’s face. The young guy nodded and shrugged.
‘Yeah, I guess so. Doesn’t happen every day, y’know.’
‘No, it doesn’t. And obviously you understand what’s going to happen...you know, when it goes to court and everything.’
Tim’s head came up sharply and he looked quizzical.
‘Who owns the place you guys live in?’
‘Ahh, Chris does. Well, his parents I think, but yeah, na, it’s like his place.’
‘Uh-huh.’ Dan nodded his understanding. ‘So it’ll be you that will have to move out then.’
He went back to his notebook as if to carry on, but Tim interjected.
‘Hang on, what d’you mean, I’ll have to move?’
Dan looked surprised. ‘Well, if and when Chris gets charged over this, he’ll be on bail, and one of the conditions of that will be not to associate or communicate with any of the prosecution witnesses.’ He paused. ‘Which, so far, is just you and Jessie.’
Tim looked shocked, and it was obvious he either hadn’t been told this before or didn’t understand what it meant. Dan pressed home the advantage.
‘Didn’t you understand that?’
Tim slowly shook his head, his curls bouncing as he did so.
‘What this all boils down to mate, is that you and Jessie will be in court giving your version of events, and Chris will have to give his version, which is probably slightly different to yours.’
Tim digested this with difficulty. ‘So it’s our word against his? Is that what you mean?’
‘That’s exactly it. You and her will give your story, and if the court believes it, well...’ He spread his hands expressively, as if the answer was obvious.
Tim licked his lips. ‘So what will happen if they believe us over him?’
‘He could go to jail,’ Dan said bluntly, ‘assault carries a term of imprisonment, and domestic assault is looked at pretty severely. Especially for a cop.’ He paused a beat. ‘And of course he’ll lose his job, for sure. That’s a given.’
He stopped there, letting it all sink in. The silence in the staff room was broken only by Tim’s increased breathing. He looked almost panicked, and Dan knew he had him on the ropes.
‘Oh man,’ he managed, putting his head down and running a hand through his mop of curls. ‘Oh man.’
‘Yeah,’ Dan agreed, ‘it’s a bit of a mess, aye.’
He leaned down and looked the young guy in the face.
‘Tim, look at me. Look up.’
They straightened up and Dan looked him in the eye.
‘It wasn’t supposed to go like that, was it.’ It was a statement, not a question.
Tim slowly shook his head, his face ashen.
‘Look me in the eye, Tim.’
The young guy reluctantly did as he was told.
‘I need to know the truth, mate,’ Dan said softly. ‘This is so important it’s not funny.’ He leaned forward, his eyes never leaving those of the youth opposite him. ‘Your mate’s future completely hangs on this, d’you understand?’
Tim nodded slowly again, and breathed deeply. He looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He put his hands on top of his head and leaned back in his chair, staring at the fridge as he gathered himself.
‘Mate, I’ve been doing this a long time now,’ Dan said evenly, ‘and I know a lot about people, okay. I’ve got a pretty good read on you, and I can tell you’re basically a decent bloke. You’ve got a good job here, you take care of yourself, and you’ve probably got a big group of friends. Am I right so far?’
The young guy smiled slightly as he nodded.
‘You obviously have no issues getting the chicks.’ He smiled conspiratorially. ‘And, I might be wrong, but I’m picking that’s what led to all this.’
He sat back now, leaving it there. The silence was heavy, but the weight was for Tim to carry, not him.
It didn’t take long.
‘Oh man, this sucks.’ Tim let out his breath and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. ‘They were just supposed to break up, none of this was supposed to happen.’
Dan nodded his understanding and adopted his counsellor persona. ‘So tell me about that.’
Tim took a deep breath, and started to talk.
Chapter Six
Dan was confident that he now knew the truth behind the allegation against Chris Taylor-lust and vindictiveness, with a large dose of stupidity.
From his own experience, he knew how damaging false allegations could be against anyone, let alone a cop who was held to higher standards of conduct than the average member of the public.
The fact that Jessie and Tim were cheating behind his back was bad enough, but the lies that went with it could have huge consequences for the young man. And much and all as Dan didn’t particularly like him, he also didn’t like unfairness.
He’d interviewed two more friends who had been at the party and in town with Chris and Jessie, and both expressed dislike for Tim. One thought he was a sleaze in general, the other thought he had the hots for Jessie. Dan didn’t confirm their suspicions for them, and neither of them handed him a smoking gun.
He was contemplating his next move as he sat in the car opposite Stylz Gym, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel in time to the Skynard classic coming through the speakers. The next wi
tness worked at a store in the mall, and he had half an hour to kill before his appointment with her. He’d swung past to see if Tim was at work, and saw his car-a lowered and souped up red ZX-in the car park.
And now, as he let theories and thoughts bounce round his head, he saw the man himself pushing through the front doors and head across the car park. He went straight past his car towards the road, aiming for the mall a few hundred metres away.
Dan waited until he was halfway across the road before getting out and quickly popping the boot. Along with the usual boot contents, he kept a sports bag there with various changes of clothes. He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it inside, grabbing a replacement T shirt and pulling it on, topping it with a cap and sunglasses, before snatching a day pack and shoving a sweater into it. He checked over his shoulder and saw Tim had slowed down as he fiddled with his phone, almost at the undercover car park now.
He snatched one last piece of equipment from the boot, dropped it in the bag and slammed the boot before hurrying off after the young man ahead of him. He closed the gap quickly and reached the undercover car park as Tim was entering the doors to Farmers.
Dan darted between the parked cars and as he entered, saw Tim going up the escalator directly ahead of him. He tagged on behind and rode the escalator up to the ground floor, keeping sight of Tim in his peripheral vision. He followed him through the department store into the body of the mall, where Tim turned right and drifted into the crowd of shoppers.
He didn’t look back at all as he went straight to a street wear store half way along the block. Dan watched him go in and drifted into a DVD and CD store directly opposite. He positioned himself at the bargain bin near the front and casually flicked through as he kept obs across the way.
Tim hung back for a couple of minutes while the girl behind the counter served a customer, and Dan continued to flick through the DVDs. He found Chinatown for $8 and shook his head in amazement. For such a stone cold classic to even be in the bargain bin was crime in itself.
He glanced up in time to see the customer in the street wear store leaving, and saw Tim approach her. There was a definite air of familiarity between them. He dug a compact pair of binos out of his bag and quickly focussed on the girl.
Jackpot; Jessie Parker.
Dan dropped the binos back in his bag and took out the last item he’d grabbed from the car boot. It was a directional listening device, with ear buds that he screwed in before switching the machine on. It looked like a small transistor radio with a telescopic aerial which he extended and aimed at the street wear store. He was busy tuning it to eliminate the background noise when he felt a tap on his shoulder.
He turned to look at the spotty faced youth who’d been behind the counter a few moments ago. He was saying something and looked annoyed. Dan looked quizzically at him, lip reading ‘Excuse me man, but what are you doing?’
Dan glanced back at the device, straining to hear above the cacophony of the mall, but couldn’t pick up the conversation across the way. He glanced back at the youth. He was still there, and still looking annoyed.
Dan adopted his crazy war vet persona, complete with an accent straight out of the Louisiana bayous, and took the left ear bud out.
‘What?’ he said loudly, screwing his face up and staring intently at the young man.
‘I said, what are you doing?’
‘I said what?’
‘Um, I said what are you doing?’ The youth leaned closer and spoke louder. ‘What are you doing?’
‘What are you doing?’ Dan repeated, frowning with concentration. ‘You mean what am I doing?’
‘Um, yeah. What am I doing? I mean, what are you doing?’ The youth flushed as he fumbled.
‘Well, what you’re doing is annoying me, son. Go away while I tune myself in.’
‘Tune yourself into what? Is that a radio or what, man?’
Dan scowled at him. ‘The signals, man, the signals. It’s all out there, you just gotta find it and hear it. Man.’
‘I think maybe you need to leave, man. Go tune yourself in somewhere else, okay?’
Dan fixed him with a cold glare, his nostrils flaring. ‘Well maybe you need to leave, man. Go serve your country. Fight for freedom and justice.’
‘Dude, you want me to call security?’ The youth was looking more annoyed now. ‘’Cause I’ll do it. I’ve done it before, and I’ll do it again.’
‘Don’t wet your panties about it, draft dodger. I’m goin’.’ Dan grinned and sucked his teeth loudly. ‘But is anyone ever really gone, or are they just not all there? Know what I mean?’ He plugged the left ear bud back in and tipped his cap brim at the bemused looking youth. ‘Think about it.’
He turned to go and the youth turned back towards the counter.
‘Draft dodger,’ Dan fired at him as he walked away.
He made his way out into the corridor again, tucking the listening device close to his body as he watched Tim and the girl. They were speaking animatedly, maybe even disagreeing without quite making it to a full blown argument. Dan shuffled over to an advertorial sign as tall as he was in the middle of the corridor, and angled the aerial towards the street wear store.
The reception was much better here, and he fine tuned the dial until he could hear 70% conversation over 30% background noise.
‘I dunno, Jess,’ Tim was saying, ‘it’s a lotta pressure, y’know?’
‘Oh man up, you little baby,’ she retorted, ‘it’s too late now anyway, the cops’ve got your statement, so you just have to stick to it. It’ll be worth it, I promise.’
Dan couldn’t see them from where he was, but he heard a ‘Hmmm’ and the sound of a kiss. He pulled a face to himself and saw a woman enter the store, practically dragging a small boy by the hand. The kid was grizzling, and he heard Jess groan.
‘Great, a screamer, just what I need to make my day even more sucky.’
‘Call you later, babes.’
‘Text me first. Hi there...’
Dan turned away and quickly retracted the aerial, switching the device off as Tim walked straight past him. He tucked it back into his bag, watched as Tim made his way back to Farmers, then dug his wallet out of his pocket.
Jessie looked up as he hurried into the store with a $20 note clutched in his hand. He glanced around, saw her, and hurried over. The mother and child were coming back out now, the kid really starting to kick off. The mother looked harassed and scowled at him as she waited for him to stride past.
‘Hey, did you see that guy? He was just in here?’ Dan reached the counter but hung back, looking at her expectantly, letting her know he was poised to move as soon as she answered his question. ‘Big guy, pretty built?’
‘Why’s that?’ She squinted at him suspiciously.
‘He dropped this on the ground when he walked out.’ He waved the cash at her impatiently. ‘Do you know him? I had to fight some old guy for it and I didn’t see where he went. Do you know who he is?’
‘Yeah, he’s like...I know him. You can give it to me and I’ll get it to him.’ She held her hand out to take it, but he pulled back with a wry smile.
‘Seriously? I don’t even know you. I just wanna give him his twenty bucks back, okay, so if you don’t know him then don’t jerk my chain.’
‘I know him, okay?’ She was irritated now and pouting. ‘You can trust me, I’ll pass it on.’
‘Yeah, well...what’s his name then? I’ll go see him myself, I think that would be better.’
She sighed heavily at the difficulty of getting through to this idiot. ‘I said I know him, okay. His name’s, like, Tim, okay?’
‘What? It’s like Tim? Is it Jim, or Slim, or Kim, or...Lim?’
‘It’s Tim, it’s like, it’s his name, okay?’
‘His name’s Tim? Actually Tim?’
‘Yes!’
‘Well, I better speak to him myself I think. Where do I find him, do you know? Is he in the mall somewhere?’
‘No! He’s not
in the mall, okay? He works at the gym down there.’ She pointedly vaguely in the wrong direction.
‘Okay, thanks, I’ll go and see him. Cheers.’ He smiled and turned to go, then paused and checked his watch. ‘Actually...so you know him, really?’
Jessie groaned again and pouted a bit more. ‘Yes, I like said that didn’t I?’
‘You like did,’ Dan agreed. ‘How well do you know him?’
‘Well enough to give him his money back.’
‘Like, you know him a bit, or is he your boyfriend?’
She didn’t hesitate. ‘He’s, like, my boyfriend. Okay? I can give him the money tonight, okay?’
‘Hmmm.’ Dan paused, thinking. He snapped his fingers suddenly and grinned. ‘Nah, I think I’ll go see him myself. Thanks for your help though, great chat.’
He turned and hurried away, ignoring the ‘dick head’ she threw at his back as he went. Outside the store he reached into his pocket and turned off the micro recorder hidden there. He grinned to himself as he tucked it into his day pack, satisfied that things were quickly coming together.
He glanced up to see a security guard approaching him, a walkie talkie in his hand. The youth from the DVD store stood in his doorway, looking over unashamedly, a phone in his hand. Dan saw him speak into it as they stared at each other, and a moment later the guard lifted the radio to his ear and listened before glancing round and locking onto Dan.
The guard was a Samoan with a shaved head and arms like telephone poles. He was on the plus size of 130kg and probably ate a cow for lunch.
Dan turned on his heel and went the other way, ignoring the ‘Hey’ from behind him. He gripped the day pack and headed for the closest exit, still a good seventy metres away, ignoring another ‘Hey’ and hearing the guard say into his radio, ‘He’s heading for the exit by Sierra.’
Heavy footfalls sounded behind him and Dan glanced round to see the guard had broken into a trot now. He was still twenty metres behind though and Dan was confident he could make the exit before the guard got to him. He picked up the pace and gauged he was about fifty metres now from the exit.
Suddenly another guard appeared at the end of the avenue, coming from the left to cut him off. He was a skinny Indian guy of about sixty, and didn’t appear to have seen Dan yet.