The Red Cardigan

by J. C. Burke

  ‘I’m not sure.’ Evie knows this is something she has to confront. ‘You know, in a funny kind of way I feel sorry for her. It’s like I kind of understand that stuff with her father now. But she’s not meant to be a part of this, Dad. I might call her tomorrow. I don’t know.’

  ‘I’ve got to ring her, Evie. I have to tell her about this. She’s your mother.’

  ‘I know, Dad. I’m just not ready to talk to her myself. Soon, maybe.’

  Theo has finished on the phone. He sits back down and opens up his notebook. Evie and her mum tease Theo behind his back for being such a know-all.

  ‘No wonder Corrina divorced him,’ Robin would laugh. ‘He’d drive you crazy. And that aftershave – it’s a wonder he can breathe!’

  ‘Okay, let’s see,’ Theo says, licking his fingers as he flips through the pages. ‘I must say I picked the right man for the job. That was definitely worth the wait.’

  Nick brings over fresh mugs of tea. ‘So you got some facts for us?’

  ‘I got facts,’ he whistles.

  ‘Theo? Did he, um – your friend – did he believe you?’

  ‘Evie, he’s over in the northern hemisphere and all the facts are here, in the southern hemisphere. He’s been waking up people all over the country. Believe me, sweetheart, he wouldn’t have taken off on a goose chase for nothing.’

  ‘Okay,’ nods Evie.

  ‘I think we need to establish this early on.’ Theo places his hands over Evie’s knees and looks into her eyes. ‘I believe you, and you know your dad believes you. These heavies in authority know me. They’re not going to think I’m playing a bit of a trick.’ He takes a long gulp of tea. ‘Good cuppa, Nick. To be honest, we will run across sceptics. Maybe just a few, maybe a lot. But we know about this and we’re used to it. We can’t let it put us off. Remember, I knew your grandma, she was like my second mother. So I do know a bit about this.’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘We, but especially you, honey, have to stay strong and focused. Me and your dad will be here but most of it’s going to be on your shoulders and it might get tough.’

  Nick frowns. Evie knows Theo’s frankness worries him but she is grateful for it. They need someone like him.

  ‘At first it seems the cops didn’t suspect foul play,’ Theo explains to them. ‘You see, Athena had a proxy.’

  ‘A what?’ Evie asks.

  ‘A potential husband. You know, an arranged marriage.’

  ‘That’s disgusting!’

  Theo laughs. ‘No, it’s not. It actually works well for a lot of couples. My parents were an arranged marriage. They’ve been together nearly sixty years. Perhaps I should’ve had one?’ He shakes his head. ‘Nah, nothing could’ve saved Corrina and me.’

  ‘But come on, Theo, I didn’t think it’d still be done today.’ Evie cringes. ‘I mean, yuck, what if Athena didn’t like the guy or already had a boyfriend?’

  ‘Well, that seems to have been the problem. She did have a boyfriend and the family thought she’d run off with him. I get the impression Athena’s parents must be fairly protective, in the traditional sense. Athena’s boyfriend was a skip, not a Greek. She was completely against the guy her parents wanted her to marry and she’d been pretty rebellious in the past. So in the beginning, the family presumed she’d run off with the boyfriend and gone into hiding. They sent the family out to search for her. They reckon the cops described it like a military operation.’

  ‘But she hasn’t gone into hiding,’ Evie says. ‘Don’t they realise that?’

  ‘Well, now the boyfriend’s been interviewed half a dozen times they do. He has a solid alibi and, according to the detective Carl spoke to, he’s in a pretty bad way about the whole thing. It took a while for the family to tell the cops about the proxy arrangement and how the family network had been searching for her.’

  The phone rings, then stops.

  ‘That’ll be the fax coming through. Can you get it, Nick?’

  ‘So the police haven’t been involved?’ asks Evie.

  ‘Well, no. Not until recently. Us Greeks like to do things our own way first.’

  Nick scans the sheets as he separates them. ‘Long fax, seven pages. Looks pretty official, it’s marked “strictly for addressee”. It says none of the above agencies, Centrelink and so on, have been notified. Her bank account has not been accessed since the date of disappearance, blah, blah. And women’s refuges and youth shelters have no record of her either.’

  ‘Let’s have a look.’ Nick passes Theo half the pile of faxes. He shuffles through them. ‘It says we have an appointment with CIB Detective Francis Cooper at 11 o’clock tomorrow.’

  ‘We should all try and get some shut-eye. The sun’ll be up in a few hours. Do you reckon you’ll be able to sleep, Evie?’

  ‘I’ll try.’

  ‘Good girl,’ Theo says. ‘You’ve always been a good girl. Maybe that’s why you are who you are. Ever thought of that?’

  Blushing, Evie shrugs.

  ‘I mean, look at your old man. No wonder it bypassed him. Hey?’

  ‘Yeah, yeah,’ Nick replies.

  They laugh. It’s a relief for that moment, then Theo picks up a different picture of Athena and it’s back to the reality.

  ‘Notice anything?’ he asks, holding it up like a teacher.

  Nick and Evie take a look. ‘No. What?’

  ‘Have a closer look. She has what they call an identifiable feature.’

  ‘I can’t see anything, Theo.’

  ‘Me neither,’ says Nick. ‘Tell us?’

  ‘Athena’s left eye is glass.’

  Evie and her dad look at each other. Evie covers her left eye with her hand. Nick opens his mouth but no words come out.

  They step out of the lift and back onto the granite floor of police headquarters. Evie wears her tweed coat with the fur-lined collar, hoping it’ll give her confidence or maybe give others confidence in her. Theo and she wait at the desk while Nick speaks to someone. Theo’s hand is on her shoulder. His cologne floods the room.

  ‘Come through,’ a police officer says.

  Theo squeezes Evie’s shoulder as the electronic security door slides open. They are led down a corridor lined with TV monitors attached to the ceiling. A police officer opens a door marked Interview Room 3.

  ‘Detectives Francis Cooper and Mary Thackeray will be with you in a moment,’ she explains. ‘Can I offer anyone tea or coffee?’

  ‘Black coffee, thanks,’ says Theo.

  Evie sits at a table. There are three chairs on her side, two chairs on the other. The round clock on the wall reminds her of the one on Play School. It ticks loudly.

  Nick comes in. ‘You okay?’ he says, sitting down and taking her hand in his.

  She nods just as the doors burst open. The power and authority catch Evie off guard. She grabs hold of the desk before standing up.

  A tall man with receding ginger hair holds out a large freckly hand. ‘I’m Detective Francis Cooper, Evie. Call me Frank, and this is Detective Sergeant Mary Thackeray.’

  ‘Hello, Evie,’ she says.

  All Evie sees are her narrow eyes. She knows she isn’t going to like this woman. Her head is already stuffed with doubt. Evie senses she’s come along for the entertainment. She wishes she could tell her dad she doesn’t want her here, but they have already started talking.

  Evie finds her dad’s hand under the table and holds it tight. Theo is explaining the situation like he knows it better than she does.

  ‘Thank god for Theo,’ Evie thinks, knowing her dad is thinking the same.

  ‘The portrait is remarkable,’ Frank says. ‘How long ago did you draw it, Evie?’

  Evie’s fingers fumble with the pages of the exercise book.

  ‘Um, June 12th is when I started drawing the first one. The other stuff kind of followed after that.’

  ‘Have you seen missing persons posters before, Evie?’ Mary of the narrow eyes asks this one.

  ‘Um, I’ve seen those
um, smaller ones at the video shop and newsagency and um, places like that.’

  Mary mumbles something to Frank Cooper. ‘I think we should check,’ are the only words she says in an audible tone.

  ‘I definitely haven’t seen the poster of Athena before.’ Evie interrupts. ‘So there’s no need to check.’

  ‘Pardon?’ responds narrow eyes.

  Evie is using all her energy to intercept the detective’s thoughts and it’s exhausting. Theo and Nick give her a puzzled look.

  ‘Nothing. Okay.’ Evie shakes her head. ‘Don’t worry about it.’ The old clay figures flash into her head. This time, she dismisses them. She smells a sceptic.

  ‘Let’s talk about the other things you’ve recorded. Like the dreams. Evie?’

  ‘What?’ Evie snaps at Detective Cooper. ‘Sorry. Can you say that again?’

  ‘The dreams. Tell me about them.’

  Evie shuffles around in her chair and loosens the jumper around her neck.

  ‘Um. The first one I had was really vivid,’ she gulps. ‘The girl in the dream had long hair. She was wearing a ring that had a red stone in the shape of a heart. She was trying to rip my red cardigan off me. There was this loud noise like bells or something. I don’t know what it was. It was just really loud and sort of shook everything. I’ve heard the noise a couple of times now.’

  Mary doesn’t look like she’s listening. She’s busy laying out an enlarged missing person’s poster on the table. She leans over Evie pointing to something in the picture.

  ‘If you look closely. You can see Athena is wearing a chain around her neck. See?’

  ‘It’s got something on it,’ Evie says, covering her bad eye. ‘Look, I know what you’re trying to say.’

  ‘It’s the love heart ring. See?’

  ‘I just said, I know what you’re trying to say.’

  ‘Pardon?’

  A bead of sweat sits on her top lip. It dribbles into her mouth.

  ‘The other dream is of more interest to us,’ continues Frank. ‘Tell us about that one.’

  ‘Yes. Tell us.’ The narrow eyes watch and judge.

  ‘I was – um – I was at a fair with this – um – this man.’

  ‘Just take it slowly, Evie,’ says Theo.

  ‘Um – this man was walking towards these lights that were shaped like a star. They kept going around and around in circles.’

  ‘Can you draw the star for me, Evie?’

  ‘I think so.’ She draws six radiating points of a star, like the one she remembers from her dream.

  ‘And you’re sure it was like this?’ narrow eyes inquires.

  Evie looks at Theo. ‘I am sure.’

  ‘You also mentioned a fence.’ Frank flips through Evie’s book. ‘You say here, “My hand gets cut on a fence”.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Can you remember what the fence looked like?’

  ‘I think so.’

  ‘Can you draw it for me?’

  Evie tries to picture the fence in the dream. There is something that identifies it but she can’t get the detail right in her head. She’s so distracted by the narrow eyes watching her every move. Her suspicious thoughts bore a hole through Evie’s head like a jackhammer going off in her brain.

  She begins to draw a line on the paper but her hands are shaking and sweaty. She’s restless. There’s not enough air in the room. She looks around at her dad.

  ‘Take it slowly, darling,’ he whispers. ‘Just relax.’

  ‘I can’t!’ She hears a thump. It’s her fist on the table.

  ‘What is it, Evie? Tell us, sweetheart.’

  ‘Not with her here I can’t!’

  ‘Evie?’

  ‘Make her go away, Dad,’ Evie’s voice growls. ‘I can’t concentrate with her here. She doesn’t, she doesn’t –’

  ‘Doesn’t what, Evie?’ Theo is looking at her. ‘Doesn’t what?’

  ‘She doesn’t believe me! I can feel it.’

  Evie’s foot is tapping the floor. That and the ticking of the clock are too much. Evie jumps up and starts walking to the door.

  ‘I’ve got to get out of here,’ she is muttering. ‘I can’t breathe. Victoria told me to remove myself,’ Evie points at Detective Sergeant Mary Thackeray. ‘From people like you!’

  Nick and Theo push their chairs aside and follow her out the door, down the corridor and to the lift. They almost have to jog to keep up. Evie pushes the ‘G’ button until the lift doors keep opening and closing. They’re going nowhere.

  ‘Evie?’ Theo says. ‘Evie? Stop it. Take a breath. Come on.’

  She holds onto her dad’s jumper. ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry. That woman, she was like …’

  ‘Sshhh.’ Her dad puts his arms around her. ‘I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you. Ok? Theo and I are here.’

  Evie’s ribs hurt as she shakes and chokes. ‘I don’t know if I can do this, Dad.’

  They go to a park across the road.

  ‘Nick, I’ll ring Frank and sort it out.’ Theo paces up and down. ‘There’s got to be something he can do. I mean, they wanted to see us.’

  ‘Thanks, Theo.’

  ‘Remember what I said, Evie. We’re going to meet sceptics along the way and that’s when you’ll really have to keep your head together.’

  ‘I just wasn’t ready for that, Theo. She made me paranoid. I couldn’t think straight.’

  ‘Well, now you know what to expect if you encounter one.’

  ‘It was like I had no energy. It was weird. I’ve never felt like that before not even with … Mum.’

  ‘That’s something else we really need to discuss,’ Theo says under his breath. ‘Nick?’

  Nick puts his head in his hands and nods.

  ‘But, let’s get through this bit first. I’m going off in search of decent coffee. Who wants one?’

  And with his mobile phone pressed to his ear, Theo crosses the road. He will make the necessary calls. He’s good at that.

  Evie links her arm through her dad’s, puts her head on his shoulder and soaks up the sedating potion of the sun, a thought stuck in her head: she never felt like that with her mum. Not like with Mary of the narrow eyes. Never that bad!

  Theo returns with a tray of takeaway cappuccinos, looking relieved.

  ‘When you’re ready, Evie, Frank’d like to see you back at headquarters. He promised Mary Dickface Thackeray won’t be there.’

  Evie laughs at Theo’s description. Just his tone makes her feel lighter.

  ‘Thanks, Theo.’

  ‘He’s very interested in what you have to say. He personally told me that.’

  ‘I quite liked him,’ Evie says. ‘It was just her.’

  ‘And the other big news is that I’m expecting a call from Athena’s uncle.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Don’t underestimate us Greeks, Evie. We’ve got a real network, nationwide. It’s not hard to track someone down. It just takes a few phone calls from your Uncle Theo.’

  ‘Are you okay to go back?’ asks Nick.

  ‘I think so, Dad. I’m sorry, I didn’t handle that well before.’

  ‘I heard her tone too, Evie.’

  ‘Okay, then,’ Theo says. ‘I’ll call Frank and tell him we’re on our way?’

  Evie and her father look at each other and nod.

  ‘Let’s go,’ Evie says.

  They head back to police headquarters. Evie walks between her dad and Theo, her arms linked in theirs, her strength returning. This time it’s the real thing.

  ‘I’m sorry about before,’ Frank says.

  ‘That’s okay.’ Evie even manages a smile.

  ‘I realise this must be very difficult for you. I’ve read through your diary carefully.’ He holds up her exercise book.

  ‘A lot of your detail corresponds with the case. Remarkable, really. There’s enough to warrant me sending you to Adelaide. That’s if you all agree, of course. I understand it’s a very unusual situation.’

&nbs
p; Evie’s father puts his arms around her. ‘It’s up to you,’ he says to Evie. ‘Whatever you want to do, I’ll support. Your call.’

  ‘In the dream, you described the exact jacket Athena was wearing when she set off for the Glendi Festival,’ Frank explains. ‘Red silk with black and gold flowers. I’m also wondering if the fair you describe in the dream might even be the Glendi Festival? The Adelaide police had a couple of positive sightings to be fairly confident she did make it there.’

  Evie, Nick and Theo sit forward in their seats.

  ‘I’ve liaised with the South Australian police and spoken to one of the head CIB detectives. Now the Poulos family’s communicating with them they feel there is probably a reason to suspect foul play, though they have no factual evidence of it. There’s really very little to go on and the family is quite desperate. Everyone there agrees it’s worth a shot you going over. There’s nothing to lose except the taxpayers’ money.’

  ‘I’m expecting a call from a member of their family,’ says Theo, getting out his notebook. ‘An uncle. Con Poulos.’

  Franks stands up and directs his words at the two men. ‘Now, I have to say this. I don’t want anything finding it’s way to the media. We’re dealing with a juvenile and the circumstances are very unusual. I’m sure it’d be a journo’s dream stumbling across this type of story.’

  ‘What are you suggesting?’ Nick’s anger is sudden and stinging. ‘The last thing I want, or my daughter needs, is the press on our back. I’m standing on the other side of the fence this time. Look at me, I’ve got no power, no control. I know what they’re like. I know what they’d do to her. How can you even –’

  ‘It’s okay, mate. It’s okay,’ Theo is saying. Theo, the middleman this time.

  The men discuss a media ban, the South Australian police, travel plans and adequate supervision. Evie watches Frank rub his chin and crack his knuckles, watches Theo wildly throw his arms around as he speaks and her dad frown and shake his head as he questions the potential dangers for his daughter.

  But it’s only her eyes that watch them. The rest of her feels and hears and smells and even tastes the cold and hollow loneliness of Athena Poulos. Now Evie knows.

  ‘I want to go to Adelaide,’ she announces.