by Morgana Best
“Oh, oh no, no.” I was defiant. “You haven’t, have you?”
“Of course not, dear.” Iris was trying her best to sound convincing, but I didn’t buy it. Not by a long shot.
“Who is he?” I asked, not about to fall for this trick. I was telling the truth when I said I had too many troubles to worry about this kind of thing. Besides, the only man I wanted to date was Alum.
“He’s…” Iris began to say, but was cut off by Barbara.
“He’s no one,” Barbara said, smiling. “You don’t need to be so paranoid, Prudence! We were just making conversation. There’s no grand conspiracy to find you a date.”
Definitely nothing grand about it, I thought grimly. “So what brings you here, Constance?” It was obvious I was trying to change the subject, but I figured the others would want to do the same to avoid suspicion, anyway.
“I was just in the neighborhood and saw you three through the window and thought I’d stop by and say hello.”
If I didn’t know better, I’d have found this story convincing.
“Here’s the coffee you called ahead for.” The waiter handed Constance a coffee and smiled before heading back to the counter. Constance looked at all of us briefly before taking a long drink, clearly desperate to avoid speaking.
I sighed softly to myself. It was good to have some time just to sit back and have a meal—even when Constance seemingly communed with the All-Seeing Eye to track us down and join in—but I couldn’t stop thinking about Alum and the case. How was Becca Barnes related to the case, and who or what was Cyclops? I considered that the case would be very easy to solve if Becca turned out to have one eye, but couldn’t bet on it. I had to find some kind of concrete evidence fast. Just saying, “The spirit of Constable Decker incriminated a mythological monster,” wouldn’t fly too far in court.
“Well, Prudence?” Barbara asked. I realized the three of them were looking at me.
“Oh, sorry, what? I tuned out a bit.”
Barbara looked a bit annoyed, but continued. “I was just asking if you had any plans tonight.”
“Oh, um.” I paused to think. Maybe telling them the truth wasn’t for the best. “I’m afraid I do, yes. Can we do something some other time?”
“Oh, no, I didn’t have anything planned. I was just wondering.” Barbara quickly went back to her coffee after she said it, which struck me as strange. It was a weird question to ask if she didn’t have any plans. Before I could think about it too much, the cafe door opened and a man briskly walked in.
He was tall, with well-groomed dark hair and was of a solid build. He was wearing a clean formal white shirt and suit pants, though no tie. He looked around the cafe quickly, stopping when he spotted us. He walked directly over to the table, and grabbed a nearby chair, sliding it over to us and sitting down, just like Constance had.
“Oh, Josh! Hello.” It was Barbara. Iris also shot him a knowing smile. “I didn’t know you’d be here.” Barbara sounded so fake that I was almost embarrassed for her.
“Well, I was just in the neighborhood and happened to see you, so I thought I’d stop by and say hello.” He smiled a big toothy grin, showcasing his perfectly straight, white teeth. Despite his good looks, there was something undeniably slimy about him.
“Sorry, I don’t think we’ve been introduced,” Josh said, looking directly at me and smiling.
“No, we haven’t,” I replied, glaring at Barbara.
“Oh, this is Josh.” Barbara motioned to him. “He’s an old friend of mine who’s recently moved here.”
Josh nodded along with Barbara’s story.
“Nice to meet you, Josh. I’m Prudence. Barbara never talks about you.” I did my best to smile as I said it. I wanted nothing more than to get up and leave, but thought that would probably upset Barbara and Iris. It would probably upset Constance and Josh too, but that didn’t bother me nearly as much.
“I’m sure she does,” he said dismissively. “Prodance, did you say? That’s a strange name.” Bizarrely, he stood up and walked to the counter before I could respond.
“Be honest with me,” I whispered to Barbara, probably much too loudly. “Did you ask him to come here to set him up with me?”
“Oh, no, of course not!” she replied innocently.
“No, dear,” Iris chimed in. “It was both of our ideas. He seems nice!”
Barbara shot Iris a glare as I cupped my head in my hands. I wondered who would show up next, but considered unless it was Alum, it would only make me feel worse.
Josh sat back down heavily and leaned on the table. “So, Prodance, tell me about yourself.” He shot me another grin.
“It’s Prudence, and there’s not much to tell. I won’t be staying much longer, I’m afraid.” My dramatic announcement didn’t seem to faze him as his expression remained unchanged. I saw the waiter approach from the corner of my eye.
“Here you go,” the waiter said, dropping a tall glass in front of Josh. “Iced, Half Caff, Ristretto, Venti, 4-Pump, Sugar Free, Cinnamon, Dolce Soy Skinny Latte.” The waiter lingered awkwardly for a second as Josh ignored him completely, then went back to the counter. I decided to finish my coffee before I left—something good should come of all this—and took a long final drink.
“Well, Prodance, you’re obviously single,” Josh said, sounding almost bored.
I refrained from spitting out my coffee while regretting that I didn’t have any left to throw at him. “What!” I said angrily. “What makes you think that?”
“It’s just the hungry way you’ve been looking at me since I came in here. Don’t worry, Prodance, I think I might feel the same way. We should have coffee again some time. Just us.” He smiled his toothy smile and took a sip of his ludicrous drink, and then winked at me.
I shook my head and put my cup down, but before I could say anything, Constance butted in, true to her character. “I’d like to take you up on that offer.” She leaned in closer to Josh.
“Uh, I see, thank you. But I’d like to see what Prodance has to say.” Josh was looking at me the entire time he spoke, much to Constance’s annoyance.
I tried to speak, but Constance interrupted me again. “Prudence is too busy to look for a man, Josh.” She slinked back into her chair with a grunt, a sound accompanied by a worrying squeak as the chair began to struggle. While I knew Constance wasn’t saying it for altruistic reasons, I appreciated that she was trying to get this guy away from me, either way. I had no idea where Barbara and Iris had found him, and I didn’t really want to know.
Josh looked at Constance with a mixture of intrigue and annoyance. He looked back to me and asked “What exactly do you do?”
“Oh,” I said, but stopped myself in time. He seemed genuinely not to know what I did for a living, and while my regular job could probably scare a fair few guys away anyway, this seemed like a good opportunity. “I drive the trash collection truck around town.” Josh’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, so I continued. “Yeah, they tried to stop me doing it after the incident, but they backed down pretty quick when they realized nobody else could stand the smell from some of the places around here.”
Barbara sighed, and Iris looked at me with genuine confusion. To my delight, Constance saw her opportunity and jumped on it—not literally, thankfully. “Yes, that’s right, Josh. Prudence drives the trash collection truck, which is probably what you can smell.” Constance smiled at him as if she’d said something seductive.
“Well,” I said, as I pushed my chair back and stood up. “I’m off.” Josh was distracted by fighting off Constance, and Barbara and Iris had clearly given up on their crusade. Barbara and Iris waved little goodbyes, and we promised to meet again soon for another coffee, though I hoped there’d be less scheming next time.
On my way home, I tried to think about Becca Barnes, but kept being distracted by thoughts of the day. I appreciated my friends trying to help, but I wish they’d gone about it in a less intrusive way. Maybe tomorrow would be better.
&
nbsp; Chapter 9
I was back on my way to Tamworth yet again. It was a rather boring drive, lots of bushland with nothing interesting to look at. Once I was down the Moonbi mountains, the countryside was more attractive, with rolling paddocks, but it was still not a drive I enjoyed. This time, I was on my way to speak with Becca Barnes, who, if what Christine Decker had told me was true, had been the mistress of Constable Decker.
This time, my plan was to pretend I had come across her accidentally, and give her a reading. It had worked with Christine, and I was hoping it would also work with Becca. Besides, nothing else came to mind.
Christine had told me that Becca worked at a computer games store in Tamworth. This time, I managed to find a parking place, even though it was several blocks from the store. It was a stifling hot day, the dry heat typical of this part of the country. As I walked down toward the store, my nervousness grew. I walked in the store, and saw a woman probably around the age of thirty. I hoped it was Becca. I walked over to the PlayStation games, and tried to look interested. Within seconds, she approached me.
“What are you looking for? Anything in particular?” she asked me.
I shrugged. “It’s a gift for my nephew’s birthday,” I said. “I know nothing about games.”
She smiled warmly at me. “How old is your nephew?”
“Oh,” I stammered. “He’s fourteen.”
She maintained her professional smile, but I figured she’d probably gone over this conversation a thousand times with other customers. “Do you know what sort of games he likes? Do you mind how violent they are?”
I thought for a moment. “Honestly, I don’t have a nephew,” I admitted, sighing.
She gave me a puzzled look before I continued. “Look, I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but I’m a clairvoyant medium.”
The woman looked shocked. I was fairly certain by now that she was Becca, because I could feel the spirit of Constable Decker around her, more strongly than he had been around his wife. Nevertheless, he was still not telling me anything.
She shot me a polite look, but remained silent.
“Have you seen clairvoyant mediums on TV?” I asked her. “You know, they give readings, put people in touch with their deceased loved ones. Sometimes they give readings to random strangers in the street.”
Her face showed a hint of recognition. “Oh yes,” she said. “I’ve seen that on TV.”
“I can feel the spirit of a newly deceased man around you,” I said. “Not a father figure, or anything like that. I get the feeling he was a boyfriend.”
She gave me a measured look. “A customer died recently. He was a good customer, actually, a regular.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “But this person was definitely your boyfriend. Was it the same person?”
“No, the customer was married.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “You should know that since you’re psychic.”
“I’m not psychic,” I said wearily. “I’m a clairvoyant medium, so I only know what the spirits tell me. I’m not the slightest bit psychic at all, but this spirit is telling me that he was in a relationship with you, and that he died very recently and in unexpected circumstances.”
The woman looked around wildly, but we were alone in the shop. “Did he say anything else?” she asked urgently.
I shook my head. “All I know is that he was a police officer and he died very suddenly recently.”
She gasped. “You can really speak with him?”
“Yes,” I said. “Do you know how he died?”
“Only what I read in the papers,” she said. “It was such a horrible shock to find out that way. The article only said that he died in the line of duty, but didn’t say anything else. Do you know any more?”
“No, I don’t,” I said, “and you have no idea how it happened?”
She shook her head, but as she did so, I felt the constable’s presence come forward swiftly. He was angry, but he did not divulge any information.
I handed her my card. “If you think of anything, please call me,” I said.
She took my card, but for all I knew, she intended to throw it out as soon as I left the store.
I left the store, feeling quite down. What had I been expecting? At least she had admitted that she was having an affair. I had to find out where Alum was being kept, and Constable Decker’s murderer would know the location. I had two suspects, Decker’s wife, Christine, and his mistress, Becca. Yet they were hardly likely to admit that they had killed him or tell me where the safe house’s location was.
I was in the depths of despair. I hurried down the street, in search of an isolated coffee shop. I dreaded cities. They were full of the spirits of the deceased, and if those spirits had any inkling that I could communicate with them, they would crowd in on me. A few times I had the uneasy sensation that I was being followed, but figured it was just the spirits of the deceased.
I wanted to find a coffee shop where I could sit, have something to eat in peace, and make notes. I always thought better on paper.
I finally found a little place that didn’t have many patrons. I hoped that wasn’t because the coffee was bad. I walked in and sat on a wooden seat with my back against the wall, a rather unpleasant lime green wall. I hoped that the half dead palm tree hanging over me would afford me some measure of privacy.
I reached into my purse and pulled out my phone, and turned it back on. I had two missed calls and ten texts from Constance. I groaned out loud. I looked at the last message.
‘Prudence, I’m very angry with you. You blocked me on Facebook! How dare you! After all I’ve done for you and you blocked me on Facebook!’
The earlier nine texts were all along the same lines. I deleted them all. I, in fact, had not blocked her on Facebook; I had not even unfriended her. It’s just that I hadn’t had much time lately to spend on Facebook. She must’ve taken my absence from Facebook as some kind of personal slur. I rubbed my forehead and muttered rudely to myself, and then looked up in dismay to see a waitress hovering over me, pen and notepad in hand.
I ordered a soy latte and a tomato sandwich. It didn’t sound very exciting, but I hadn’t had time to look at the menu, and I was ravenous. Perhaps I could have something more to eat after that.
I took my little notepad and a pen from my purse and wrote ‘Christine’ and then ‘Becca’. Were there any other suspects that I didn’t know about? Most likely. I was frustrated. Decker had been a cop after all and who knows how many criminals he had put in prison? There could be any number of people with a motive to kill him. For all I knew, the police had apprehended his murderer already. As he had been involved in guarding a safe house, they were never going to make that news public.
Still, I tried to force myself to look on the bright side. I only knew of two suspects, and that was all I had to go on. I had to find the location of the safe house, and I had to do so as soon as I possibly could.
It was then that I realized I did in fact have one more lead. Alum had told me that he’d heard a train twice a day. I couldn’t be sure he was correct, given that he was recovering from a coma, and apparently was spending most of his time asleep, but if he was correct, then that would be a good lead.
As I was in Tamworth, I decided to go to the Tamworth train station and find out which train lines had trains that only went twice a day. Surely there couldn’t be many.
Chapter 10
The Tamworth railway station building was an imposing, single story Victorian Italianate building complete with pediments, brackets, cables, and intricate Victorian window and door details. It was significantly larger than other country railway buildings I had seen.
The newer extensions had continued the color of cream and red. It was a decidedly pretty building, but I wasn’t here to admire the architecture. I made my way past the freight area, luggage office, and ticket office, in search of an official who didn’t appear to be busy.
I couldn’t find one, so I queued up outside th
e ticket office. When it was my turn, I informed the man that I was simply there for information. I asked him which lines had trains that only ran twice a day. To my delight, he informed me that there was only one line, the Main North Line that ran to Armidale.
“Does it terminate in Armidale?” I asked him.
“Yes,” he said. “And that’s the only line that has trains that run twice a day.”
I thanked him and made my way back through the heat to my car.
I turned on the air conditioning, and sat in my car for a few moments. Two trains a day, and the line was from Tamworth to Armidale. That was only just over fifty miles, and there weren’t many towns on the way. I could only think of Bendemeer, Kentucky, and Uralla—and the city of Armidale itself. That meant that the safe house was in one of those towns, and close enough for Alum to hear the train. I figured he was in a house close to the highway, but there was always the possibility that he was in a farmhouse out in the middle of nowhere. That would make it even harder to find him.
I cranked up the air conditioning and shook my head. No, surely Alum was in a town. He had needed medical attention, and I doubted that a safe house would be somewhere on a farm.
I drove out of the parking area, my spirits lifted. Finally, I was getting somewhere.
I reached the little town of Moonbi about ten minutes later, and parked under a spreading shady tree. On my phone, I googled to find the towns that the northern line ran through.
It proved to be far more difficult than I thought. I found that it was the Northwest Explorer Train and that it took just under two hours to run from Tamworth to Armidale, but I had to search each town one by one. I found it went through the towns of Walcha Road and Uralla, but did not stop at Kentucky or Bendemeer. Still, I was fairly certain that the railway line ran through both of those small towns.
This meant that I had several towns to search for the safe house, Uralla and Walcha, the smaller towns of Bendemeer and Kentucky, and the city of Armidale. I knew that the railway station in Armidale was on the east side of the city, so I would only have to search about one third of the area.
