by Uc Amalu, Jr
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The monotone voice of the message bank assistant cut
in. "You have one new message. Message received
yesterday at 11.27pm"
'Detective Payne, this is Marla Andrews from the
Wellness Clinic, I need to speak to you, as soon as
possible. It’s important. There is something you should
know; I can’t go into it now. Can you please call me back?
Thank you.'
Ben listened to the message again. The desperation in
her voice was evident. He saved her message on his
phone, threw it onto the bed and headed straight for the
shower, finally there was going to be more than cracks
appearing down at the Wellness Clinic. Marla was going to
blow the lid clean off the place, he could hear it in her
voice. For the first time in almost a month of investigating
Tessa’s murder, he saw a glimmer of hope shining at the
end of the long, black tunnel he’d been walking down.
Ben threw the phone onto his bedside table and headed
into the bathroom.
He stepped into the shower, cold water splashed over his
face. His entire body felt invigorated by the drops that
rained down upon him. His thoughts travelled back to his
visit to the Wellness Clinic and his interview with Marla
and Dr. Sugars, finally the reason for their odd behaviour
and caginess would be revealed. Ben knew with every
ounce of his being, that today would change his, and
Jay’s case; in a way they had never anticipated. He flicked
the taps off and reached for the towel draped over the
railing beside the shower cubicle. Wrapping it securely
around him, he hurried into his bed-room, pulled a set of
clothes from the hanger on his robe door and slipped
into them.
He grabbed his phone and stuffed it excitedly into his
shirt pocket before rushing downstairs, his pulse racing
in anticipation of Marla’s upcoming revelation. Once or
twice he chided himself for being so excited, that’s how
mistakes are made and vital information is overlooked.
He made his way to the kitchen bench and pulled a coffee
cup from the cup-board. Determined to slow himself
down he set the jug to boil and searched for his
notebook. Plucking it from amongst the debris on the
living room coffee table, he flipped through it and
surveyed his previous notes. This time he would get what
he was looking for if he had to set up camp in the
wellness clinic waiting room.
The kettle wailed it’s shrill whistle, alert-ing him that it had
boiled. Ben placed his, coffee, sugar and milk in the cup
followed by the water. He stirred it vigorously, all the while
the excitement of what Marla was about to reveal to him
was building inside him. After two sips, he was unable to
contain himself any longer, he had been waiting for a
break for so long and now he was going to get it. He
poured the unfinished coffee down the sink and rinsed
his cup quickly before placing it upside down on the
drainer. With not so much as a second thought, he
snatched the keys from the holder and made a beeline for
the car.
He backed down the driveway and out onto the street,
with a swift gear change he found himself nestled
amongst the flow of traffic, heading east towards the city
centre. Twenty minutes later, he turned onto Link Avenue
and then onto Fort Street before halting steadily in the
nearest parking bay he could find. Ben turned off the
engine and sat in his seat, the anticipation of what he was
about to learn paralysing him. Deep breaths filled his
lungs with fresh air before escaping from his mouth ready
for the next intake. He pulled the sun visor down and
stared at his reflection in the tiny personal mirror behind
it. He studied his eyes and the sternness he wanted them
to hold, he pursed his lips in an attempt to remain firm. It
was time; he was ready.
The glass doors and marble columns that had so
impressed him before, no longer intimi-dated or held awe
for him. He was focussed. With one hand, he pushed on
the glass entrance, marched across the immaculately
shiny tiles and straight up to the reception counter. Just
as he was about to open his mouth, a petite red head
stared up at him and smiled courteously.
"Good morning, Sir, how may I help you?"
"What?" he choked out.
"How may I help you?" she continued, clearly confused by
his stalled behaviour.
"Who are you, where’s Marla?"
"My name is Sandy. I’m sorry, Sir, I can’t give you any
personal information. Is there something else I can help
you with?"
"Sandy…"
"Yes?"
"You go and get Marla and tell her Detective Payne is
here to see her… please."
"Detective? Uumm, well…"
"What? It’s a simple request."
"Marla didn’t come in today, Sir."
"She what? Well when did she call in sick?"
Sandy’s eyes darted around like a frightened deer, "Well I…
I Don’t…"
"Where’s Dr. Sugars?"
"Oh, I’m sorry, Detective, she can’t be disturbed, she’s on
a conference call at the moment."
Something inside Ben snapped, the Wellness Clinic, Marla
and Dr. Sugars had jerked him around for the last time.
He spun on his heel and marched deliberately down the
corridor and crashed through the door at the end.
Sandy ran out from behind her desk and scurried after
him. "Wait, Detective… You can’t go in there!"
Ben turned and faced Sandy when he stepped into the
office, then with a wry smile, slammed the door in her
face. He spun around and saw Dr. Sugars sitting behind
her expensive oak desk, her eyes bulging and her mouth
slightly ajar.
"Where’s Marla?"
"Well, good morning to you too! What gives you the right
to come barging into my office this way? I hope you have a
warrant, Detective." Her cool words sprayed from her
mouth like venom.
"No, I don’t have a warrant, Rose… I can still call you Rose,
can’t I?" The sarcasm oozed from his lips. "I have
something much better than a warrant."
"And what would that be?"
"A need."
"Excuse me… A what?"
"A need, Rose. A need to speak to Marla, a need to know
what’s going on here, a need to get to the truth of these
murders I’m investigating and…"
"Get out of my office immediately…"
"Don’t interrupt me please, I am express-ing myself." He
spat back at her before continuing on unabated. "I need
to know why you are playing games with us?"
"Us?"
"Yes, Detective Marnotti and myself. Us."
"I’m not playing…"
"Where is Marla, Rose?"
"She’s sick."
"What time did she call in?"
"She didn’t."
"So what time did you call her?"
"I didn’t call her."
"So how do yo
u know she’s sick?"
"I just assumed…"
"Does she often skip work and not call you?"
"No, never…"
"So wouldn’t you consider this a little odd?"
"Well, yes I guess so, but…"
"Why didn’t you call her Rose?"
"I… I… I was going to."
"What, you decided you’d wait until morning tea time
huh?"
Rose wrung her hands together so tightly that her
knuckles turned white, her eyes avoided Ben’s and she
slumped in her chair. "No, I just thought…"
"What is going on here, Rose, be straight with me before I
haul you down to the station for obstruction!"
The colour drained from her face and she sighed deeply.
"We had a fight last night, when I dropped her home." Her
words were barely a whisper and she covered her face with
her hands.
"About what?"
Rose regained some composure and sat a little stiffer in
her seat. "About her pregnancy."
"She’s pregnant?"
"Yes. She was planning to terminate and she didn’t want
me to tell her Father."
"And why would she be worried about you telling her
Father? You’re just her…"
"Mother!" She hissed, cutting him short.
"You are Marla’s mother?" Ben stepped back, the shock
knocking the wind out of him. Glancing behind him, he
moved to his left and sat in the easy chair.
"Yes, Detective. I bet you didn’t see that one coming did
you?"
"Why didn’t you tell me this before?"
"You never asked… I didn’t see that it was important, and
quite frankly I still don’t. I am only telling you now so that
you understand why I haven’t contacted her today. I’m
giving her some space. She’ll cool down and be back at
work tomorrow. That, I am certain of."
Ben sat forward in his chair and stared di-rectly into her
pale blue eyes. "What else haven’t you told me that you
think isn’t important, Rose?"
She raised her silvering eyebrows and looked away,
"Nothing. There is nothing to tell."
"Oh, I think there’s a lot to tell and I am going to keep
digging until I find it, so you’d better get used to seeing
my face around here, Rose." He pushed himself up from
the easy chair and walked towards the door. "What’s
Marla’s address?"
"What do you want that for? I told you, she’ll be just…"
"Her address please, Rose. Now."
She slumped back again and whispered, "42 Mayberry
Terrace."
"Thanks for your time. I look forward to seeing you again
soon."
Back at his car, he turned the key and the engine roared to
life, the power purring from beneath the bonnet in waves.
While the car sat there idle, Ben pulled his phone from his
pocket and called Jay.
"Jayy?"
"Yo, Ben… what’s up?"
"You busy?"
"Just leaving the morgue," he replied.
"You got a positive I.D. from the parents then?"
"From Frank, yeah. Where are you?"
"I can’t explain too much right now, can you meet me?"
"Sure. Is everything ok Ben?"
"I don’t know, Jayy, I guess we are about to find out. I’ll
be at 42 Mayberry Terrace."
"Got it,‛ said Jay. ‚See you there in ten."
Ending the call, Ben threw the phone down on the
passenger seat of the car, shifted into reverse and rolled
out of the car park before joining the stream of traffic. The
congestion on the highway was murder, bumper to
bumper for as far as he could see. Just what he needed to
cap off his already badly started day. It always annoyed
Ben when it took twenty minutes just to get from one
side of Showsdale city centre to the other, it would have
been quicker to travel the outskirts. More kilometers but
fewer hold ups. By ten-fifteen, he had successfully negoti-
ated his way from east to west and made a right turn onto
Evergreen Crescent followed by a left into Applegum Drive
and a final right onto Mayberry Terrace. The area was
commonly referred to as Shrub City by the locals due to
the streets of the four square blocks, all being named
after trees and flowers of sorts.
He rolled slowly along Mayberry Terrace, noting the
development of the surroundings. There were at least five
vacant blocks, two houses in the process of being built
and a further three blocks under excavation. Ahead of him
was a cul-de-sac lined with dense bush land. Ben thought
how eerie it must appear to the naked eye at night. It
would be a child’s nightmare to have that as the view from
their bedroom window. Number 42 appeared on his left at
the end of the cul-de-sac, the single story timber home
butted directly up against the scrub, with not so much as
a fence dividing the house from the nature strip.
Ben came to a halt in front of the quaint ivory and green
painted home. He remained in his car and observed the
house before him. The driveway was bricked up, quite
loosely too he thought. The front steps appeared to be in
need of some repair and a new paint job. Compared to
the rest of the house, the railing was old and peeling. He
tried to imagine Marla standing out in the heat with a can
of paint and a brush… no wonder it hadn’t been fixed. A
brief smile tugged at his lips, he couldn’t imagine a
woman such as her ever getting her hands dirty.
The sound of Jay’s cruiser filled his ears. Ben looked in
his rear vision mirror and saw him turn into Mayberry
Terrace. He roared along and pulled up behind him,
honking his horn as a final alert to his presence. He
grabbed his phone from the seat next to him and
climbed out of the Chevy, locking the door behind him.
He stood on the roadside for a moment and waited for
Jay to climb down from his cruiser.
"Gees, Ben. What are we doin’ out n the sticks?"
"Thought we’d pay a little visit to the Ice Queen," he joked.
"Really? You mean this is where she lives?" Jay stared at
the rather plain house.
"I kinda pictured her as the brick and tile type."
"Me too. She’s just full of surprises isn’t she?"
"Now why do I feel that there’s more to that question than
meets the ear?"
"Marla left a message on my phone last night," said Ben
pulling out his phone. He entered his message bank,
keyed in his pin and threw his phone to Jay. "Here, you
listen for yourself."
Jay held the phone to his ear and listened intently.
"Sounds like she had some pretty beefy news for ya. So is
that why we’re here?" He threw the phone back to Ben.
"Marla didn’t show for work today."
Jay stared at Ben.
"I called by the Wellness Clinic only to find some little red
head where Marla should have been."
"What did the good doctor have to say about it?" Asked
Jay.
"Rose hadn’t heard from her. Boy is she some piece of
work though
."
"How so?"
"Let’s just say she is full of secrets." He glanced back at
Jay and added, "She is Marla’s mother."
"Now there’s an image I can live with-out!"
Ben chuckled and walked up the brick driveway looking
around the yard as he went. Jay followed, lighting a
cigarette as he walked behind him. Upon reaching the
front steps, Ben held his arm out and said to Jay, "After
you."
"Are you kidding? Those damn things don’t even look like
they would hold my weight!"
"Oh alright then… you sook," laughed Ben, his foot lifting
to the first step.
A couple of steps later he was at the front door, the paint
job on that was looking a little worse for ware too. Ben
raised his hand and knocked several times loudly, then
stood back and waited for Marla to appear. He looked
back down at Jay.
"Hey, where are you going?" He asked.
Jay was disappearing around the side. ‚Just checking the
joint out. No harm in looking is there?‛
"Well mind your manners, we have no warrant you know."
He looked back at the door, Marla still hadn’t answered,
he banged louder and waited a bit longer.
"Yo, Ben…" Jay yelled from around the side of the house.
"You might wanna come take a look at this."
Ben left the front door, scooted down the steps and raced
around the side of the house, following Jay’s voice. He
was hit in the face with various tree branches and foliage
from the unbridled nature strip
"Shit," he cussed loudly.
"Over here, Ben."
A few steps further, the scrub was down trodden and Jay
was standing aside staring up at an open window, the
glass broken and splinters of wood strewn about the
ground and architrave.
Ben took a minute to digest the scene and then said,
"Jayy, these shards of glass and splinters of wood are on
the outside. Why would someone break out?" He thought
a few seconds longer and then it dawned on him. "Unless
someone was dragged or pushed out?"
Jay looked at him, his face stern, "Who needs a warrant?
We’ve just found probable cause."
