The Mysterious Coat

by Nicholas Walsh

  Tyler closes his eyes and dreams about being a private eye walking on the dark streets and going to a mysterious house. In his dream, he walks to the door and enters a room. The room is dark, so he turns the light on and sees a dark figure running out of the corner of his eye, wearing a coat.

  When Tyler wakes up, he is shocked by his dream. ‘Holy shit! Now, I’m dreaming about that bloody coat!’

  Suddenly there is a knock on the door.

  ‘Who is it?’

  ‘It’s me, Angelique. I just finished work’

  Tyler opens the door and sees Angelique holding the sign he wrote. He says, ‘I tried to ring you. Where have you been?’

  ‘I was at home, and then I visited my mother. She’s had a heart attack,’ says a worried Angelique.

  ‘Oh, you poor thing. I thought you didn’t want to see me. I hope your mother gets better.’ Tyler invites Angelique to come in.

  ‘Well, Tyler, of course I wanted to see you again, that’s why I gave you my phone number, but I had to leave so quickly as my mum is so ill,’ says Angelique.

  ‘What’s your mother’s name?’ asks Tyler. ‘I’d like to send some flowers to the hospital.’

  ‘Her name is Margaret’ replies Angelique.

  Later, after Tyler and Angelique return to his apartment from the florist, Angelique puts her flowers on the coffee table and says, ‘The other flowers should be delivered to the Alfred Hospital. I hope they’re as nice as the ones we picked out at Almond Street.’

  ‘Yes,’ says Tyler. ‘Sit down, Angelique. Would you like a drink?’

  ‘Okay, Tyler,’ says Angelique as she sits down on the couch.

  Tyler walks to the kitchen to make Angelique a drink and asks, ‘What drink would you like?’

  ‘I’ll have a glass of champagne please if you’ve got a bottle,’ Angelique says.

  ‘No worries, Angelique, I’ve got a bottle chilling in the fridge,’ says Tyler as he opens the fridge, takes out the bottle of champagne, and gets two glasses. He pops the cork and pours the champagne. Then he puts the champagne in an ice bucket, and takes the glasses and the ice bucket into the lounge room to sit down and have a drink with Angelique.

  ‘Here you go Angelique, it’s French.’

  ‘Thanks, Tyler,’ says Angelique.

  ‘You’re welcome’ says Tyler.

  They sip their drinks, staring into each other’s eyes, not having to speak, just knowing what the other is thinking.

  Tyler says, ‘What’s on for tonight?’

  ‘I don’t know. Should we go out for dinner again?’ asks Angelique.

  ‘We went to Dave’s Restaurant on Friday night, and then we went to the Italian restaurant last night. Which one could be next? Could it be the most famous restaurant in St Kilda?’ says Tyler.

  ‘No, Tyler, we better go to Dave’s Restaurant again. What do you think?’ asks Angelique.

  ‘Yeah,’ says Tyler. ‘We should book a table for two. Hopefully, we will get the table with the view of the ocean and we can watch the sunset and maybe the moonrise on the beach.’

  ‘Oh, Tyler, you’re such a romantic, that will be great,’ Angelique says in her soft and sexy voice.

  That night after Tyler and Angelique have dinner at Dave’s Restaurant, they watch the ocean and the sunset. Then they go for a walk on the beach holding hands.

  Tyler smiles and asks, ‘What do you think of the sunset, Angelique?’

  ‘Tyler, it’s beautiful,’ says Angelique, not realising how late it is as it is daylight saving time. ‘Do you think you’re smart?’

  ‘Uh maybe,’ says Tyler, and then he stops smiling ‘I don’t know if I’m smart because sometimes the world doesn’t understand.’

  ‘Tyler, I think you’re smart,’ says Angelique. ‘I know the world doesn’t always understand you, but I think I understand you.’

  They stop walking and Tyler holds Angelique close. He says as he hugs her, ‘Listen, Angelique, I think you’re right because I was just the loneliest guy in the world and you light up my life. I think I am falling in love with you.’

  ‘Tyler, my life was empty until you walked into it. I don’t know how I lived before I met you, you have brought sunshine into my life. I feel happy for the first time in years. Oh Tyler, we’re so lucky fate bought us together that night at Dave’s Restaurant.’

  ‘I know. I feel the same’ says Tyler.

  They keep walking along the beach, arm in arm.

  The next morning, Tyler decides to do a few laps of the pool before he has to start work. Peter is also doing laps. After they finish, they have a chat at the side of the pool.

  ‘Hi, Tyler, how are you today?’

  ‘Good thanks, Peter,’ says Tyler, ‘and you?’

  ‘Yeah not bad,’ says Peter. ‘How’s your love life with Angelique? Is she going alright?’

  ‘It’s going fine but her mother isn’t well,’ says Tyler.

  Peter stops smiling and says, ‘Oh, what’s wrong?’

  ‘She’s had a heart attack and she’s in hospital. Angelique and I went to the florist shop to get some flowers and then we had a few champagnes at home to help Angelique relax,’ says Tyler.

  ‘So what happened with you and Angelique? Did you go out for dinner again last night?’ asks Peter.

  ‘Well we had dinner at Dave’s Restaurant again, and after dinner we went for a walk on the beach. The problem is …’ Tyler pauses. ‘The world doesn’t understand me, but Angelique says that she does.’

  ‘What? What do you mean the world doesn’t understand you?’ says Peter. ‘Crikey, Tyler, she wants to know more about you and, hey, she loves you!’

  ‘I have to go to work. I’ll talk to you later,’ says Tyler.

  ‘I’ll join you for a drink later?’ asks Peter.

  ‘We’ll see’ says Tyler and then out of the corner of his eye he sees a person walking past the apartment block wearing the coat!

  Again, he isn’t sure if it’s a man or a woman. He turns to Peter and asks, ‘Did you see that coat?’

  ‘What coat?’

  ‘I just keep seeing it but I don’t know who it is,’ says Tyler.

  ‘All right, I’ll see you later at the Duke of York hotel at 5.30 and then we’ll investigate the coat while we’re having drinks,’ says Peter.

  ‘No worries’ says Tyler, and he and Peter walk their separate ways.

  CHAPTER 5

  A

  t the Duke of York Hotel, Tyler walks to the bar and enters the barman’s office.

  ‘Excuse me, mate, I need to use the phone.’

  ‘Sure, no worries,’ replies the barman on duty.

  When the barman leaves the office, Tyler picks up the phone. He takes the business card from his pocket and dials Dr Airhardt’s number.

  ‘Hello, Dr Airhardt’s office,’ a receptionist answers. ‘How may I help you?’

  ‘Hi, it’s Tyler Brown speaking. I would like to make an appointment with Dr Airhardt for tomorrow.’

  ‘Okay, what time?’

  ‘Um, maybe about 10.30 or 11 in the morning,’ says Tyler.

  ‘All right,’ says the voice on the other end of the phone. ‘Eleven o’clock. Tyler Brown, was it?’

  ‘Yes,’ Tyler says.

  The receptionist takes that number down, as well as some other personal details, including his date of birth, and a phone number.

  ‘Well see you tomorrow,’ she says when she finishes.

  ‘Thank you and goodbye,’ says Tyler and hangs up the phone. He walks out of the office and back to the bar.

  The next morning, Tyler walks to Dr Airhardt’s office holding a piece of paper with the details of the coat he has been seeing. At reception he introduces himself.

  ‘Hi, the name is Brown, Tyler Brown. I would like to talk to Dr Airhardt. I have an appointment.’

  ‘Go straight in,’ says the receptionist, who is a tall, slim, brunette and very elegantly dressed. ‘Dr Airhardt is waiting.’

  Tyler walks into
Dr Airhardt’s office and takes a seat. Dr Airhardt then enters the room. ‘Hello, my name is Dr Van Airhardt and I’m a psychiatrist and a private investigator. What can I help you with?’ He is short, a bit on the podgy side and wearing glasses. He is wearing an old fashioned suit and is quite plain to look at.

  ‘Hi. My name is Tyler Brown and this is my issue: it was three days ago and I was swimming in the pool at my apartment block as I’m trying to stay fit. Then I saw a mysterious person who was wearing a coat creeping around my apartment block late at night. I then saw the mysterious person again wearing the coat while I was having lunch at a cafe. When I arrived at the Duke of York Hotel, where I work, I saw the coat hanging on a hook and later during my shift, I saw the coat was gone. That same night I was swimming again when I heard something rustling in the bushes. I went over and saw a tiny bit of the coat sticking out of the bushes. When I looked closer, there was nothing there. I feel like I’m going crazy. This is the strangest thing I’ve ever experienced,’ says Tyler.

  ‘Hmmm, you are seeing a coat again and again, are you?’ says Dr Airhardt. ‘What do you do for a job?’

  ‘I’m a barman and wanna be private investigator,’ says Tyler.

  ‘Okay, okay, okay. What happened next?’ asks Dr Airhardt.

  ‘The next day when I was going to work, I saw the coat outside my apartment when I was looking out the balcony window for just a second but I didn’t have enough time to find out more because I was late for work,’ says Tyler.

  ‘That will bring us up to Sunday,’ says Dr Airhardt.

  ‘While I was making breakfast for my girlfriend, who I thought was still in bed, I walked to my bedroom and opened the door to find she was gone,’ says Tyler.

  ‘What’s your girlfriend’s name?’ asks Dr Airhardt.

  ‘Her name is Angelique,’ says Tyler.

  ‘Do you know why she left without saying anything?’ says Dr Airhardt.

  ‘She had to work and then, she was going to see her mother,’ says Tyler.

  ‘All right, after she’d left, did you see the coat again?’ asks Dr Airhardt.

  ‘Yes!’ says Tyler. ‘I saw that coat again outside my apartment, so I went to the police station to report to someone the mystery of this coat. I didn’t get close enough to the mysterious person who was wearing that coat to find out any more details.’

  ‘After you visited the police station, did you go back to your apartment block and what did you do?’ asks Dr Airhardt.

  ‘I put a sign on the front door,’ says Tyler.

  ‘What did the sign say?’

  ‘The sign said who is the mysterious person wearing that bloody coat?’ says Tyler.

  ‘What happened next?’

  ‘I was on the couch, dreaming about being a private eye, walking into the darkest street. I went to a mysterious house. I walked to the door and entered the room. I couldn’t see in the dark room so I turned the lights on and I saw a dark figure running out of the room and the person was wearing the coat. So that’s was the bad dream I had,’ says Tyler.

  ‘Yeah, I remember when I was investigating the dark streets and alleys at night when I was working as a bounty hunter in St Kilda a long time ago,’ says Dr Airhardt.

  ‘How many years did you work the streets of St Kilda?’ says Tyler.

  ‘About five years,’ says Dr Airhardt. ‘Some of them are weird people. They are bad, mean, dirty and mighty unclean.’

  ‘I get that,’ says Tyler.

  ‘Let’s get back to the coat. The next day was Labour Day, which was yesterday. Did you see the coat again?’ asks Dr Airhardt.

  ‘Yes,’ says Tyler. ‘I saw the coat out of the corner of my eye.’

  ‘So, did you have any witnesses that have seen the coat before?’ asks Dr Airhardt.

  ‘Witnesses? Damn, I think my mate Peter McGuire might have seen it because he was with me once by the pool, and we’re meeting up later to discuss it.’

  ‘If you have another witness, it would make your story a lot easier to understand,’ says Dr Airhardt.

  Tyler frowns, then starts getting angry. He bangs his fist on Dr Airhardt’s desk and says, ‘That’s enough! Is this freaky Friday or what?’

  ‘All right, all right, all right, just calm down and relax. It’s only a mix up,’ says Dr Airhardt.

  ‘Ah, a stupid trick,’ says Tyler.

  ‘It wasn’t a trick, I just got mixed up,’ says Dr Airhardt. ‘Mmm, I better find my assistant. He should be around somewhere.’

  ‘Where?’ asks Tyler.

  ‘I have an idea,’ says Dr Airhardt. ‘You stay here in my office and I’ll go to the kitchen to find my assistant.’

  Dr Airhardt stands up and walks to the door but Tyler says to him, ‘Hang on! Is anything wrong?’

  Dr Airhardt doesn’t give an answer to Tyler. He opens the door and walks out, shutting the door behind him.

  Tyler thinks to himself, Oh shivers, I’m not sure if this will be pleasurable or painful.

  CHAPTER 6

  I

  n Dr Airhardt’s office kitchen, there are two people drinking coffee. They are Leo, Dr Airhardt’s assistant, who is tall, dark, handsome, fit and wearing T-shirt and jeans; and his friend Roy, who is short with brown hair, average looking, average weight and wearing nondescript clothes.

  Dr Airhardt says, ‘I have a guest who’s visiting my office and he is talking about a mysterious person with a mysterious coat who he thinks is stalking him. I’m not sure whether this case will be much of a problem. I might need your opinion about it sometimes.’

  ‘Okay,’ says Leo.

  ‘Alright,’ says Dr Airhardt and as he walks from the kitchen, he says to Leo and Roy, ‘You guys keep talking and drinking coffee.’

  ‘Mmm alright,’ says Leo. ‘See you later.’

  ‘Yeah right,’ says Roy. ‘Not if I see you first.’

  They laugh at their own joke.

  At Dr Airhardt’s office, Tyler is having a nap because he is bored. When the door opens, Dr Airhardt walks in and says to Tyler, ‘Mr Brown, wake up.’

  Tyler wakes up, and asks, ‘What?’

  ‘I have some news,’ says Dr Airhardt.

  ‘What?’

  ‘I think it will be good idea if I teach you some private investigator skills so you can look for new leads about the person and the coat. I think it will help you get to the bottom of this mystery.’

  ‘How do I do that?’ says Tyler.

  Dr Airhardt walks to his desk, opens the drawer, takes a camera, notepad and pen, and puts them on his desk.

  ‘This stuff helps you to solve a mystery and you could become a spy.’

  ‘What would I wear if I was to be a spy?’ asks Tyler.

  ‘Just a suit, tie, pants and also, sunglasses, hat and trenchcoat,’ says Dr Airhardt, ‘and comfortable running shoes. You never know when you need to go on a crazy chase.’

  ‘What should I pretend to be?’ asks Tyler.

  ‘Pretend to be a businessman,’ says Dr Airhardt.

  ‘All right,’ says Tyler. ‘I’ll pretend to be a businessman.’

  ‘Good,’ says Dr Airhardt. ‘Now the plan is in action, go to the place where you work and if you see the coat, take a photo of it, and when you’re finished, give the camera back to me and I’ll develop the photos.’

  ‘Okay,’ says Tyler, and gets up from the chair. He takes the camera, notepad and pen and walks to the door.

  Then Dr Airhardt calls him back. ‘Mr Brown!’

  ‘What?’ asks Tyler.

  ‘If you have a problem about that coat again while you’re looking for clues, call me or come to my office. I’m here to help you,’ says Dr Airhardt.

  ‘Yes, Doctor,’ says Tyler. ‘I’ll see you next time. Goodbye.’

  Tyler leaves Dr Airhardt’s office.

  Later at Tyler’s apartment block, he is getting prepared for his investigation work when Peter enters and asks, ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘I’m getting ready to go down t
he street,’ says Tyler.

  ‘What are you going to do down the street?’ asks Peter

  ‘I’m going undercover and then taking photos of the mysterious coat to find out who’s wearing it,’ says Tyler.

  ‘Who’s wearing the coat?’ asks Peter.

  ‘I don’t know, Peter,’ says Tyler. ‘That’s why I’m going to investigate it. It’s fair dinkum.’

  A few minutes later, Tyler finishes in the shower and starts getting dressed. He puts on pants, shirt, tie, suit, socks and shoes. He is also wearing a trenchcoat and pulls his sunglasses out of his pocket. He walks to the lounge room and asks Peter, ‘Well, what do you think?’

  ‘Beauty,’ says Peter. ‘What about a hat?’

  ‘What?’ asks Tyler.

  ‘I said what about a hat?’

  ‘Oh no!’ says Tyler, ‘I forgot.’ He walks to his room and takes a hat out of the closet and returns to the lounge room.

  Peter says, ‘There you go! You’ve got a hat!’

  ‘It was in my closet,’ says Tyler.

  ‘Okay, Tyler, what’s next?’

  Tyler goes back to his room, picks up the camera, note pad and pen and puts them in his pocket and returns to the lounge room.

  ‘I’ve got the camera, notepad and pen.’

  ‘Where are they?’

  ‘They’re in the pocket of my trenchcoat,’ says Tyler.

  ‘All right, what are you doing tonight?’ says Peter.

  ‘First, I’m going to the restaurant to have a snack and later, I’m going to work and while I’m at work I will also spy on the coat. At work, I’m going to play a song called I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For by U2 on the jukebox. After work, I’m going to try to sort out all the evidence,’ says Tyler.

  ‘What about a song by Hall and Oates on the jukebox?’ asks Peter.

  ‘Which song?’

  ‘Private Eyes, of course! That’s because you’re a private eye.’

  ‘Okay, I’ll play that,’ says Tyler. ‘I’ll see you later.’

  Tyler walks to the door and leaves while Peter sits down on the couch, takes the remote control and turns on the TV.