The Mysterious Coat

by Nicholas Walsh

  ‘Good idea, Inspector,’ says Tyler. ‘I’ll talk to you later when Angelique arrives.’ So Tyler and Peter stand up from their chairs, walk to the door, open the door, and exit.

  At the Duke of York Hotel, there is a security room and inside, there are lots of screens for security guards working the control panel. They’re checking the footage of each room in case of incidents on the screens but Detective Sergeant Nick Baxter, with a group of plain-clothed policemen, and Mr Pluck arrive.

  As they enter, Nick says, ‘All right, men. This is the police. Can anybody bring the security footage of Robert Taylor and the mysterious coat to us please?’

  One of the security guards stands up and asks Nick, ‘Which footage do you want?’

  ‘Friday March 12, Tuesday March 16 and Friday March 19 please,’ replies Nick.

  ‘Okey dokey,’ says the security guard, so he searches for the footage of Friday March 12, Tuesday March 16 and Friday March 19.

  Nick says to Mr Pluck, ‘Well, Mr Pluck. The police would like to apologise to your hotel for a bit of a raid because we’re doing an investigation.’

  ‘That’s all right,’ says Mr Pluck. ‘We tried to find out about what happened because you guys were okay.’

  ‘Ha, yeah right,’ says Nick. ‘We’re helping this case and we’re going to do a good job about this case. We’re professionals.’

  ‘Oh, you’re professional, are you?’ asks Mr Pluck.

  ‘No, Mr Pluck, I mean, sort of,’ replies Nick. ‘We’re trying to be the best.’

  One of the security guards enters with three videos; one is Friday March 12, one is Tuesday March 16 and one is Friday March 19. They are in a plastic bag in his hand and he says to Nick when he gives him the plastic bag, ‘Here you go, sir. You can keep the videos and everything until your job is done.’

  ‘Thank you,’ says Nick. ‘Did you tape it?’

  ‘No, it was a surveillance person, he’s taped everything from every security camera,’ replies the security guard.

  ‘Where is he?’ asks Nick.

  ‘He’s in the surveillance room. He keeps the footage of everything from the security cameras in the archives. He’s been working in the surveillance room for five years and one day, he’s going to be a film collector.’

  ‘All right, I’ll check the footage at the police station because we have a TV set and a VCR in one of the rooms of the station so I’ll talk to you as soon as possible,’ says Nick.

  ‘Okay, goodbye,’ says the security guard, so he walk back to the control panel and Mr Pluck asks Nick, ‘Would you like to have a drink?’

  ‘Um, no thank you, Mr Pluck,’ replies Nick.

  ‘Oh, what do you mean?’ asks Mr Pluck.

  ‘Because I’m a policeman,’ replies Nick. ‘I want to look after my job as a cop and also, a detective sergeant and I don’t want to be a bloody idiot just like one of the drink driving commercials on television.’

  ‘All right, it’s up to you,’ says Mr Pluck.

  ‘It’s nice to meet you, Mr Pluck,’ says Nick. ‘I’ll see you soon and if there are any incidents in your hotel, just call the police.’

  ‘Okay,’ says Mr Pluck. ‘And good luck with your job and your case. Goodbye, sergeant.’

  ‘Bye, Mr Pluck,’ says Nick, so he and the group of plain-clothed policemen leave the security room to go back to the police station to check the security footage of how Robert Taylor went to the Duke of York Hotel and how the mysterious coat was left at the same hotel.

  At the secret hideout, which belonged to Robert Taylor, a group of uniformed cops are removing everything. Some of them are removing guns, some of them are removing knives, some of them are removing swords, some of them are removing hand grenades, some of them are removing cocktails, some of them are removing dynamite and some of them are removing other weapons while Constable Troy Williamson is watching them.

  One of the uniformed policemen enters with a box of Robert’s collection of military and weapons magazines in his two hands and says to Troy, ‘Hey, Troy. Look what we got.’

  ‘What is it, mate?’ asks Troy.

  ‘It’s a box of Robert Taylor’s collection of military and weapons magazines,’ replies the uniformed policemen. ‘The pages of the same magazines contain some military stuff and some weapons stuff; both the weapons are old and new.’

  ‘Yes, I see,’ says Troy.

  ‘It looks like he wrote his plans when he was reading military and weapons magazines at his place, day and night, every day, all year,’ says one of the uniformed policemen.

  ‘My God, that’s terrible,’ says Troy. ‘That sounds like a danger man.’

  One of the uniformed policemen leaves and then, another one of the uniformed policemen enters, this time with a box of Robert’s video and DVD collection in his two hands and says to Troy, ‘Look what we got. A violent fantasy. It’s got thirty violent videos and twenty-five violent DVDs but it doesn’t have any por-nographic videos and DVDs.’

  ‘Has it got Arnold Schwarzenegger?’ asks Troy.

  ‘Yes,’ replies the uniformed policemen.

  ‘Sylvester Stallone?’ asks Troy.

  ‘Yes,’ replies the uniformed policemen.

  ‘Jean-Claude Van Damme?’ asks Troy.

  ‘Yes,’ replies the uniformed policemen.

  ‘Dolph Lundgren?’ asks Troy.

  ‘Yes,’ replies the uniformed policemen.

  ‘And what about Steven Segal?’ asks Troy.

  ‘Yes, mate,’ replies the uniformed policemen. ‘One of the videos was Under Siege and it’s got a graphic gun massacre that makes Robert crazy when watching it over and over.’

  ‘All right, mate,’ says Troy. ‘Write a list of the videos and DVDs and then, send this box to the tip.’

  ‘Okay,’ says the uniformed policemen, so he leaves and exits from Robert’s secret hideout. But yet another uniformed policemen enters and this time, he’s got a box which has Robert’s writings about his plans, his diaries and his other stuff in his two hands.

  He says to Troy, ‘Hey, Constable.’

  ‘What is it?’ asks Troy.

  ‘It’s a box which contains Robert’s writings about his plans, his diaries and his other stuff,’ replies the uniformed policemen.

  ‘All right, I’ll put it in my police car so I’ll show this box to my boss later,’ says Troy.

  ‘Yep,’ says the uniformed policemen, so he gives the box to Troy and leaves to search for everything that Robert bought. Troy, who is now holding the box, watches his men searching for anything and everything, whether it could be violent or not violent.

  CHAPTER 23

  A

  t the police station, Tyler and Peter are standing near the police desk where a sergeant is working. Tyler and Peter are waiting for Angelique to come and meet them.

  ‘I’m bored, Tyler, what should we do now?’

  ‘I know what we can do,’ replies Tyler.

  ‘What?’ asks Peter.

  ‘We can talk to Robert Taylor,’ replies Tyler.

  ‘Yeah, that’s a good idea.’

  ‘Come on, Peter, let’s go to his cell,’ suggests Tyler.

  ‘Yeah I think his cell is locked. Maybe it’s just like a detention centre in the outback.’

  ‘Hmmm, I wonder how Robert feels,’ says Tyler, so he and Peter walk to the police cells. When they arrive at the cells, they walk to Robert’s – the mysterious person’s – cell and open the door latch.

  ‘Hello, Robert.’

  ‘Who the hell are you?’ yells Robert.

  ‘It’s Tyler Brown’ says Tyler, ‘I would like to have a chat with you.’

  ‘Oh crap!’

  ‘Hey, don’t be shy,’ says Tyler. ‘We want to talk to you.’

  ‘Whatever.’

  ‘I remember I saw you creeping around my apartment block during my swimming training at the swimming pool. What were you doing around my apartment block?’ asks Tyler.

  Robert doesn’t answer, so Tyler c
ontinues.

  ‘Then, I saw you walking past when I was having dinner at a cafe, and finally, when I was working at the Duke of York Hotel, I saw a mysterious coat in a dark corner. Do you wear this coat?’

  ‘Yes,’ Robert replies, ‘I do.’

  ‘And also, I saw you creeping around in the bushes outside, and creeping around the corner twice, plus you nearly took me hostage at your secret hideout, and do you know what?’ asks Tyler who is frowning and getting angry.

  ‘What?’

  ‘You made me crazy, you big drongo!’ replies Tyler.

  Suddenly, Tyler sees Robert coming towards him so he stops frowning and says to himself, Uh oh! He ducks his head down so Robert’s fist accidentally punches Peter in the face. Peter shouts, ‘Ouch!’

  Tyler spins around to Peter.

  ‘Are you all right, Peter?’

  ‘That idiot punched my face!’

  ‘Do you want to talk to Robert?’ asks Tyler.

  Peter frowns and says to Robert, ‘You punched my face, you mongrel!’

  ‘Stop calling me names and leave me alone!’

  ‘What are you going to do? Are you planning a suicide by hanging in your cell before your big announcement tomorrow?’ asks Peter.

  Robert doesn’t answer again so Peter teases, ‘Chicken!’

  ‘Be quiet, Peter,’ says Tyler. ‘He’s no good, he’s crazy.’

  ‘What, is he a schizophrenic?’ asks Peter.

  ‘I don’t know,’ replies Tyler, but he puts his head up and says to Robert, ‘I’ll see you later, Robert!’

  Tyler asks Peter, ‘Do you need help?’

  ‘I need to go to the doctor.’

  ‘Peter, there’s a police doctor here in the police station. Do you want to see that person?’

  ‘All right, just keep your hair on,’ replies Peter.

  ‘Okay,’ says Tyler, so he and Peter walk to see the police doctor while Robert is still in his cell upset.

  Still at the police station, Tyler and Peter are sitting on a bench and Peter is using a bag of ice from the police doctor’s fridge and nursing his face.

  ‘How is your face?’

  ‘Bad.’

  ‘Oh, that’s not good. Do you need help?’ asks Tyler.

  ‘I’m fine, Tyler’ replies Peter. ‘I know I’m going to get rid of mongrels like Robert but it’s driving me nuts, just like you.’

  ‘Yeah, we’re both upset, disappointed and of course, stressed,’ says Tyler. ‘Oh, by the way, when I jumped out of the swimming pool and ran over to the bushes …’

  ‘What?’ asks Peter

  ‘There was a tiny bit of material in the bushes and it stuck out. I’m not sure what it is. Can you find out what it is please?’ asks Tyler.

  Peter is thinking, but he stops thinking and says to Tyler, ‘All right, I’ll do it.’

  ‘Excellent!’

  Peter stops nursing his face, give the bag of ice to Tyler and says to him, ‘Here, Tyler, take this bag of ice back to the police doctor because my face is getting better.’ Peter gets up from the bench and leaves the police station. He goes to the swimming pool of the apartment block, while Tyler stands up from the bench and walks to the police doctor with the bag of ice.

  When Peter enters the swimming pool area of the apartment, he sees the bushes, so he runs over to them and sees a tiny bit of material. He takes the material out of the bushes, and leaves to go back to the police station.

  At the police station, Detective Sergeant Nick Baxter is turning on the TV set. He turns around and speaks to Inspector Mack Young.

  ‘Okay, Inspector, I’m going to get ready to show three security videos from the Duke of York Hotel to you so we can check the footage of the mysterious coat and Robert Taylor. This is going to be a ripper and a mystery.’

  He turns back, take the first security video out from the bag. The video says Friday March 12.

  Nick puts the video in the VCR and presses the PLAY button. The security footage shows the dark corner, and in the same footage, it shows Robert Taylor entering the dark corner wearing the mysterious coat. He walks to the hook, and takes the mysterious coat off to show a scruffy top and unwashed jeans. He puts the coat on the hook and walks to the secret room to watch the other dancers doing table-top dancing.

  Nick takes a short break from watching the security video.

  ‘You see, Robert Taylor is now using the mysterious coat when he enters the Duke of York Hotel and he’s also wearing a scruffy top and unwashed jeans because he didn’t go to the laundry in St Kilda before, since he was hiding somewhere in the same suburb.’

  ‘How old is he now?’ asks Mack.

  ‘Um, maybe in his early, mid or late-twenties I think,’ replies Nick.

  ‘What’s he doing at the Duke of York Hotel?’ asks Mack.

  ‘He’s visiting the secret room which has got beautiful, sexy and friendly girls doing table-top dancing,’ replies Nick.

  ‘Okay, can you check if and when Tyler saw the mysterious coat during his shift at the Duke of York Hotel?’ asks Mack.

  ‘Yes, Inspector,’ replies Nick as he turns back and starts the footage again. In the security footage it shows the mysterious coat is still hanging on the hook and when Tyler enters, he sees the coat hanging on the hook. Nick is watching but Mack asks him, ‘What the hell is he doing?’

  ‘He’s just watching the mysterious coat, Inspector,’ replies Nick.

  ‘Is this coat making Tyler crazy?’ asks Mack.

  ‘Yes,’ replies Nick.

  ‘All right, can you stop this video and put another video on please?’ asks Mack.

  ‘Yes, Inspector,’ replies Nick. He takes the second security video – Tuesday March 16 – out from the bag, and presses the PLAY button. The security footage shows the dark corner again and it shows the mysterious coat still hanging on the hook. Also in the same footage, it also shows Tyler who is wearing a trench coat and pants, entering the dark corner and seeing the coat. Nick is still watching closely and Mack asks him, ‘What’s Tyler doing at the dark corner again?’

  ‘He’s just dressed up as a private detective.’

  ‘And what’s he doing next?’

  ‘He’s taking a photo of the coat,’ replies Nick.

  ‘Oh my, he’s not trying to be a spy, is he?’ asks Mack.

  ‘Inspector, Tyler is doing his job with the coat. It makes him stressed, don’t you worry about that,’ replies Nick.

  ‘All right, whatever,’ says Mack. ‘Can you stop this video and put one more video on please?’

  Nick presses the STOP button and takes the third and final security video – Friday March 19 – out from the bag. The security footage shows the dark corner again and the mysterious coat is still hanging on the hook. In the same footage, Tyler has a sports bag in his left hand and a box of St John’s Wort under his right arm. He enters the dark corner and sees the coat. Nick is still watching and Mack asks him, ‘What’s Tyler got?’

  ‘He’s got a sports bag and a box of St John’s Wort because he’s on a mission about the coat,’ replies Nick.

  ‘And what’s he doing next?’ asks Mack.

  ‘He puts the box of St John’s Wort on the floor, walks to the hook, grabs the coat from the hook and throws the coat in his sports bag,’ replies Nick.

  ‘Anything else?’

  ‘He writes a note to his boss,’ replies Nick.

  ‘All right, that’s enough of the videos. No more.’

  ‘What did you think of the security footage, Inspector?’

  ‘It’s alright. We saw Robert Taylor wearing the mysterious coat, and tomorrow I’m going to ask him why he wears this coat,’ replies Mack.

  ‘Okay,’ says Nick. ‘May I speak to Tyler as well please?’

  ‘Yeah sure,’ replies Mack. ‘Just go and ask him about the mysterious coat.’

  ‘Yes, Inspector,’ says Nick as he walks to the door, but he turns around and says to Mack, ‘Oh, by the way, Inspector, what are you thinking now?’


  ‘I’m thinking about going back to Robert’s secret hideout later but I’m going to help somebody else first,’ replies Mack.

  Nick leaves the room while Mack walks to the three videos on the floor. He picks them up and puts them on the top of the VCR. He says to himself, Geez, I wish he would tidy up.

  Still at the police station, Tyler is sitting on a bench and reading a magazine when Detective Sergeant Nick Baxter enters.

  ‘Tyler?’

  ‘Yes, Sergeant?’

  ‘Can I have a word with you please?’ asks Nick.

  Tyler closes the magazine. ‘What do you want from me?’

  ‘Mack and I were checking the three security videos and we saw you watching the mysterious coat in the three videos,’ replies Nick.

  ‘What did I do?’ asks Tyler.

  ‘You just checked the mysterious coat hanging on the hook at the dark corner during your work at the Duke of York Hotel. But the problem is, why does the mysterious coat make you crazy?’

  ‘Because it’s makes me nuts! First, I saw the coat hanging on a hook at the dark corner during my work at the Duke of York Hotel. Then, I saw the coat again and took a photo of the coat when I dressed up as a private eye, and finally, I saw the coat again and took the coat from the hook and put it in my sports bag before I gave it to your boss at your workplace.’

  ‘Does this coat make you upset?’ asks Nick.

  ‘Yes,’ replies Tyler.

  ‘So you’re a private investigator, are you?’

  ‘Sort of, but I’m not a spy and I’m not a thief.’

  ‘Ohhh, who’s helping you to investigate the mysterious coat?’

  ‘Dr Airhardt’ replies Tyler.

  ‘What’s he doing for you?’

  ‘He’s getting me to take a photo of the mysterious coat, and then after I was rude to him, he wanted me to unmask the mysterious person to see if Robert Taylor is that person,’ replies Tyler.