STRANGE BODIES (a gripping crime thriller)

by Antonia Marlowe

  There was silence for a beat or two. ‘I see. Just tell me where you are exactly. Do you know who handled the original call?’

  She gave the details that Oscar had told her about the police and directions to his house then broke contact.

  ‘I’ll come into your house with you. I’m pretty sure I can trust you.’ She gave him a smile and he responded with a wry grin.

  ‘Let’s go in then. I could do with a cup of tea.’

  They made their way to the large kitchen at the back of the house. The professor pulled out a chair for her at the battered wooden table then went over to the refrigerator. He put his hand on the door, then looked back at her.

  ‘Now here’s a question for you, something that’s been bothering me for the last few years. That building, is it called Media House or Medea House? Everyone seems to pronounce it “Mee-dia” not “Me-dee-a”.

  Verity laughed. ‘That’s Marcus’ idea of a joke. All his companies and buildings have names with some association with mythology, Greek, Roman, even Norse. He couldn’t resist this one especially since in legend Medea was said to be a niece of Circe.’ He looked a little bemused by this so Verity took out one of her cards and said, ‘See, Circe is the name of one of the magazines produced here. On my card—see it says, Verity Burn, Circe. Turn it over— part of one of the many paintings of Circe.’

  ‘Ah, that’s Marcus Havington to a T. I knew his wife. Elizabeth Langton she was. She was a grad student of mine in, let’s see … the mid twenties, I think. Bright, very promising young woman but swept off her feet by Marcus. Met him a few times, too. Charismatic, forceful. Reminded me of Clark Gable.’

  At Verity’s questioning look he said, ‘Old movie star.’

  ‘Don’t you like the new building?’

  ‘On the contrary. It is a vast improvement over what was there—two or three derelict old buildings. When they were all demolished I hoped they’d continue the park but with land so valuable it was a vain hope. It’s really quite an achievement—all that open space around it and under it and the superb gardens they’ve established. You know he paid for the complete refurbishment of the park, too, the first in nearly fifty years, and for a permanent gardener. Now what will you have … tea, coffee or maybe a beer?’

  Adams said, ‘You heard that, Bob. It can’t just be a coincidence. The Adelaide Browne connection, I mean. You remember that list I got from Sukey Forrest, the RAZZ producer? The list of all the guests for the last year? Solomon Levinsky was on that list. That’s what Verity was talking about.’ He brought it up on a screen. ‘Yes, here it is.’

  ‘Yes, you’re right, sir. It was a few weeks ago now, something to do with a book he’d produced or edited on Australian art and artists.’

  ‘I’ll head over there now and I’ll get back to you if it looks like the real thing. In the meantime contact the other team members and clue them in. I want them ready to go as soon as I give the word. If it is the real thing I’ll want SOCOs. Ring the lab and put them on standby too. Speak to the chief, Dr Greg Norris; he’s the best there. From what Verity said it may be complicated.’

  Fraser said, ‘I know that Sergeant Mostyn at North Sydney by reputation, and none of it’s good. I hear he’s had a few raps for sloppy work and Internal’s had a go at him too. Young DeLuca came to us from the North Sydney station. I overheard a few things he was saying in the pub one night.’

  ‘I want a word with Mostyn too, so I’ll get on to his boss now as a courtesy, bring him into the picture. Who’s in charge there?’

  ‘I’ll look it up—right. Chief Superintendent George Greene. Yes, I’ve heard of him. Good man, ex-army, I believe. Doesn’t stand for any nonsense.’

  ‘How on earth did he get lumbered with this Mostyn character?’

  ‘I reckon no one else would have him. Let’s see, yes, Mostyn’s been at North Sydney fifteen years. Transferred there when he finally made sergeant. They call him Monster Mostyn, I believe … very appropriate. He’ll have a cosy little set up over there after all this time. A lot of flies tangled in his web.’

  ‘Sound familiar, Bob?’

  Fraser laughed, then said a little ruefully. ‘Well, it was well worth giving up my own little web to come here. And to find Amy.’

  ‘Alright, we’ll talk about you and Amy later. Once I’ve had a look around the scene I’ll be in touch. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.’

  ‘Monster won’t be too happy, sir. He’d be the last person to call us in … arrogant prick thinks he’s infallible.’

  Adams grinned wolfishly. ‘I’m almost looking forward to this. Tearing a few strips off him will really make my day.’ He flexed his shoulders as if about to take him.

  ‘Call you soon, Bob.’

  Chapter 25

  Verity and Oscar settled down in his kitchen, with strong tea for him and coffee for her as they waited for the police to arrive. They talked desultorily of this and that, neither of them wanting to discuss what might happen next. She was tempted to take her minicomp out and do some digging on Levinsky but decided that could wait.

  Oscar fretted. Maybe he was wrong, maybe it was a simple accident … but no, he was sure it was murder. If he hadn’t seen the body he would not have thought twice about it. And then he thought about the fact that he hadn’t much liked Solly Levinsky and wouldn’t miss him. He would miss the chess games though.

  On an impulse he said to Verity. ‘Do you play chess, Miss Burne? I suppose that sounds somewhat trivial or even callous at this juncture but you seem to me like the sort of person who does and I’ve now lost my chess partner.’

  Verity said, ‘Yes, I do. But I haven’t played against a real person for years. I usually programme a game or play online.’

  ‘You mean against a computer? I’ve never tried that. Always been meaning to but I always had someone to play with.’ He looked at her, head on one side. ‘I don’t suppose you could show me how it works?’

  ‘Let’s see your computer. I can set that up for you, an interface from my system.’

  He stood up and went back out to the hall then opened the door to a room opposite the kitchen. ‘My study’s in here. Please excuse the mess. I’m in the middle of some research and I tend to leave stuff, reference books, notes open when I can see them.’

  Mess was an understatement. Verity said, ‘Are you sure there hasn’t been a break in, Professor. It’s a wonder you can even find your computer in this.’

  He sighed. ‘It seems to get out of control. I don’t know how that happens.’ He made a half hearted effort to clear his desk, scooping up an armful of papers, books, stuff, then looked around helplessly for somewhere to put it. He solved that problem by wandering over to an already full side table and dumping it there where most of it slid to the floor.

  Now that the computer was visible he switched it on. Verity was astounded. She hadn’t seen one of these antiques for years, a Cosmos 150, running Horizon 3, for goodness sake.

  ‘Does this still work?’ she asked. ‘I had one of these way back at university. I’m not sure if I can still get a chess program for this, but I may have something in my archives. Let me think about it. It might be better if I update it for you.’

  She pulled out her minicomp but before she could interface, the front door bell rang.

  ‘That’ll be Commander Adams. We’d better let him in and you can tell him your story.’

  ‘So that’s about all I can tell you, Commander. Maybe I’m just a silly old duffer with an overactive imagination. Do you think I’m making a mountain out of a molehill?’ The professor concluded.

  ‘Professor Morgenstein, first, you couldn’t be a silly old duffer if you tried. Though it wasn’t my subject, I went to some of your lectures when I could. Second, I think you are right about the murder. Has anyone been into the house since the death, since his body was taken away?’

  ‘Some other police came the next day but they weren’t in there for very long. They put a police lock on the front and back doors a
nd reset the security system. They managed to get around his security somehow.’

  Verity said, ‘He had retinal, hand and e-card locks, Nicholas.’

  ‘That’s not so unusual as he had a lot of valuable paintings in there I heard, early Australian artists like Hans Heysen, Tom Roberts and Arthur Streeton. Some Norman Lindsay drawings, too.’

  ‘And an equally valuable collection of early scrimshaw. Oscar seems to think an old scrimshaw globe disappeared when the first lot of police were there. It was only five centimetres in diameter, so easily pocketed,’ said Verity.

  The professor looked distressed. ‘I don’t want to point a finger at anyone. It may not … he might have put it somewhere else, but it was in one of those cupboards he had specially made for the collection. It had glass shelves and the pieces were arranged in a particular order. The glass doors were open a bit and there was a gap.’

  ‘We’ll certainly look into it. In fact we can take it that you are reporting a theft and as such I need to take immediate action. In fact why don’t we record your statement and make it formal.’ Adams said.

  He activated his recorder.

  ‘Commander Nicholas Adams, interview with Professor Oscar Morgenstein.’ He gave the address, date and time and continued, ‘Professor Morgenstein has reported the disappearance of a valuable item from the home of his neighbour, Solomon Levinsky. Sir, would you tell me, for the record, what you witnessed.’

  ‘I found the body of my neighbour, Solly, Solomon Levinsky, last week, last Thursday it was … I’m not sure what date that was … and I called the police.’ He broke off and turned to Verity, whispering, ‘Should I talk about the state of the body?’

  ‘No, just the theft, the alleged theft, so we can check it out,’ she whispered back.

  The Commander glared at her. ‘Thank you, Ms Burne. Now shall we continue? Just what you noticed missing, please.’

  Oscar told him about the cupboard, the missing item. ‘Of course, it may not have been that sergeant. There was another policeman there too, but …’

  Adams said, ‘Is it possible there was someone else in the house, someone else before the police came?’ He was trying not to put words in the professor’s mouth.

  The old man bit his lip and frowned in concentration. ‘I’m sure that cupboard was closed when I first went into the house. When you come in the front door there’s a short hallway, then off to the right, the north, it opens out into a huge space. He knocked down a few walls to create that space for his gallery, and that’s where most of his collection is housed, his paintings and such. He put in those huge windows with the special glass to get the north light into the studio where he did restorations; he said he preferred to work in natural light when possible. He used that room for a study too. The glass was all shatter- and bullet-proof he told me. Had to get permission for that.

  ‘I came through the back door to the kitchen, but you have to go past the gallery—that’s what he called it—to get to the staircase. I’m sure I would have noticed if those glass doors had been open then.’

  ‘Thank you, Professor, that’s very clear. Interview terminated at …’ He gave the time and switched off the recorder. ‘I think I have more than adequate grounds to investigate the possible theft of a valuable item.’

  He turned to Verity. ‘Notice I said “I” not “we”. I’ll call in my team.’

  Adams contacted Fraser and simply said, ‘It’s a go,’ and rang off.

  ‘Now, Professor, let’s take a look at the scene.’

  ‘But it’s sealed with special police locks.’

  He looked amused. ‘Don’t worry about it. I have an override. Always carry it.’ He pulled out a small electronic key. ‘This little beauty will get me in.’ He turned to Verity as she burst out laughing. ‘What’s so funny?’ he demanded.

  ‘Bingo!’ she said, trying for straight faced as she waved a near identical e-key.

  ‘That’s restricted … where did you get that?’

  ‘Read the brand name on yours, there on the silver side.’

  ‘Versa Electronics. So, Versa Electronics is …bugger me, that’s you, isn’t it. You invented the bloody thing!’

  She smiled smugly. ‘Actually, this one, mine, the gold one, is a more advanced version which will be on the market shortly. I believe about five thousand or so have been pre-ordered by the police and the security people.’ She dropped it back in her jeans pocket and said, ‘If you ask me nicely I’ll let you use it. What the hell, if you let me come with you I’ll give it to you.’

  Adams threw up his hands and said, ‘Why me, lord? Professor, lead the way.’

  Oscar looked at both of them and crossed his arms across his chest. ‘I’m not going anywhere until somebody enlightens me.’

  Verity and Nicholas spoke together, ‘He is … She is …’ then stopped. Verity gestured for Nick to continue.

  ‘Let me re-introduce you, Professor. Dr. Verity Sarah Burne, Ph.D., Features Editor of Circe. She is also S. Byrnes, electronics and cyber whiz and writer of text books on advanced systems, robotics and artificial intelligence. And now I find she is also Versa Electronics. See, obvious when you know … VER from Verity and SA from Sarah.’ He turned to her, ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

  ‘I thought you knew. I thought you knew everything about me. Marcus told me that he … that he told you about Terry. I thought you would have put a c-tec on my life story.’ Her voice caught in her throat and she swallowed hard a few times.

  The professor sat again. They were oblivious to anything and anyone around them.

  ‘Verity, I would never do that, not to you. Look.’ He took a small packet out of an inside pocket. ‘Look, this is what he gave me. I haven’t opened it. I’ll give it to you if you like. He told me very little, just that it wasn’t a happy marriage and that your late husband was a bad lot and was shot in New York. As for the other stuff, I don’t have any valid reason … you’re not a suspect in any crime. I don’t investigate my friends or my … whatever. And I wouldn’t ask someone else to do it anyway.’

  As he spoke, her colour had mounted until her cheeks were glowing.

  ‘You checked on me, didn’t you,’ he said quietly. He made a mental note to remember how easily she blushed.

  ‘Only to level two,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry, Nicholas. I was worried, concerned about what was happening, the effect you … and I wanted to find something to … I don’t really know … something. But I’m sorry I did it. Keep that; I trust you not to listen to it until I feel ready. And I think I will … soon, quite soon. Maybe we can do it together.’

  ‘Hrrumph,’ said a voice behind them. ‘Shouldn’t we be checking the house next door, Commander? Your men will be here soon.’

  Nicholas Adams shook his head like a man coming up for air from a deep dive. ‘You’re quite right. Let’s get going … yes, you too, Verity. I may need you to look at his computer and the security system. Consider yourself seconded to the service, special duties.’

  She smiled and followed them outside, waiting while Oscar locked his door.

  They made their way to the house next door. They could see a trailing end of broken yellow tape but the electronic police lock was still on the door and the red light of Levinsky’s security system was still slowly blinking. Verity solemnly handed over the golden e-key and he inserted it in the police lock. It worked instantly unlike the older version which could sometimes take up to ten seconds to work. ‘Gee, I’ve just saved ten seconds. What will I do with all that time I will be saving,’ Adams said sarcastically.

  Silently, Verity took it from him. She twisted the top twice and touched it to the red light of the security system which instantly turned green. ‘Yours won’t do that.’

  ‘I see. Well, clever miss, you have managed to come up with the handiest burglar’s tool known to man, apart from the pry bar.’

  Verity twisted it again and resecured the security system and the police lock. She handed it to the professor who had been greatl
y diverted watching the byplay between them.

  ‘Try it, Professor.’ He tried to insert the e-key but it wouldn’t work and wouldn’t even go into the slot. He turned it over and tried again, but still no result. She handed it back to Nicholas. ‘Now it’s your turn.’

  It worked instantly again. ‘It will only work if it’s registered to a specific finger or thumb print, in other words, it’s individualised. And that has to be done by an authorised person, which is me for now, on an authorised computer with the correct serial and identification numbers.’

  ‘I see,’ said the Commander, ‘and how did you just happen to get hold of my prints. I suppose you … no, I’m not sure I want to know.’

  She said calmly, ‘I had to give a demonstration to the Police Minister and Commissioner Sherwood to convince them the department needed to upgrade some of their equipment. It’s a matter of keeping one or two steps ahead of the black hats. Commissioner Sherwood kindly allowed me to select a high ranking member of his staff to issue a demonstration model to and I chose you. No doubt you’ll be getting a call from your boss sometime soon. Oh, and I also gave him one, but, ahem, not quite as versatile as this one.’

  Nicholas decided to say nothing at this stage, merely opened the late Solomon Levinsky’s front door and walked in as the other two followed him. But he couldn’t help wondering what extra features might be on this particular device.

  Chapter 26

  The smell hit them first, the putrid, sour stench of death, the foul body odours given off when a living person becomes a dead one.

  They stood in the hallway and tried not to breathe.

  ‘Leave the door open … just pull the security screen to, please. Is there an air conditioner? It should have been left on to preserve the paintings.’

  Nicholas turned to Oscar. ‘Hasn’t anybody been back here, Professor? They should have sent a clean-up team ... they have special extractors to reduce the smells. That’s usually done in these cases.’