The Mysterious Coat

by Nicholas Walsh

  ‘I’m going to the Paradeem Hotel in South Melbourne and I’ve got to go now,’ replies Dr Airhardt.

  ‘Do you want to have sex with me?’ asks the prostitute.

  ‘No thank you, I’m sorry!’ replies Dr Airhardt. ‘I’m married.’

  ‘Why not?’ asks the prostitute as she stops smiling wickedly.

  ‘Because I have a wife and children and if you’re going to annoy me one more time, I’ll call the police and the cops will charge you with seducing and destroying men, you bitch!’ replies Dr Airhardt as he is angry.

  ‘Oh!’ frowns the prostitute. She turns and walks to Dr Airhardt and slaps his face hard, but Dr Airhardt shouts, ‘Ouch!’ and when the prostitute leaves, Dr Airhardt thinks, Stupid bitch! He walks to the door, opens it, exits and leaves Grundy Street to search for a place to eat lunch in St Kilda before going to South Melbourne to visit The Paradeem Hotel.

  At the Alfred Hospital, Tyler, Angelique and Peter arrive and walk to the reception desk but the receptionist is surprised and says to Angelique, ‘Oh, there you are. Do you want to speak to your mother again?’

  ‘Yes, bring it on,’ replies Angelique.

  ‘All right, just go to Room 302,’ says the receptionist.

  ‘Thanks,’ says Angelique so she, Tyler and Peter walks to Room 302 but Tyler asks Angelique, ‘What was Dr Chasey doing with you today?’

  ‘Just having a chat,’ replies Angelique.

  ‘Oh, that’s okay,’ says Tyler.

  At Room 302 of the Alfred Hospital, Margaret is still in the hospital bed and she’s very well after the operation. When they knock at the door, she says, ‘Come in.’

  The door opens and Tyler, Angelique and Peter enter the room, but Angelique shuts the door, walks to Margaret, hugs her and says to her, ‘Thank God you’re alive, Mum.’

  ‘I know Angelique,’ says Margaret. ‘I’m so lucky.’

  Angelique stops hugging Margaret, walks to the wall, stands near the door and says to Tyler and Peter, ‘Carry on, boys. Talk to mamma.’

  Tyler and Peter walk to Margaret and Tyler says to her, ‘Hi, Margaret.’

  ‘Hello, Tyler,’ says Margaret.

  ‘How do you feel after the operation?’ asks Tyler.

  ‘I’m very well, Tyler,’ replies Margaret.

  ‘Oh, that’s good,’ says Tyler. ‘Oh, Margaret, I would like to introduce my mate, Peter McGuire.’

  ‘G’day, Margaret,’ says Peter.

  ‘Hello, Peter,’ says Margaret. ‘Are you related to Eddie?’

  ‘No, no, I’m not,’ replies Peter.

  ‘Why not?’ asks Margaret.

  ‘Because I’m not related to Eddie and I’m not a Collingwood supporter,’ replies Peter.

  ‘Oh, who do you barrack for?’ asks Margaret.

  ‘I barrack for Melbourne,’ replies Peter.

  ‘Really?’ asks Margaret.

  ‘Yes,’ replies Peter.

  ‘So, Tyler,’ says Margaret.

  ‘Yes, Margaret?’ says Tyler.

  ‘What did you and Peter do when my daughter was visiting me at the hospital again?’ asks Margaret.

  ‘We went to the police station and were being interviewed by the police about how we saw Robert Taylor,’ replies Tyler.

  ‘Who is Robert Taylor?’ asks Margaret.

  ‘He’s a mysterious person who wears the mysterious coat,’ replies Tyler.

  ‘Is that the person who nearly took you hostage at his secret hideout and made you have post-traumatic stress disorder?’ asks Margaret.

  ‘Yes,’ replies Tyler.

  ‘Oh no!’ says Margaret. ‘Is there any other news?’

  ‘Yes, tomorrow, the police are going to bring Robert Taylor to the public but I’ve got to make an emergency call so just hold on a minute,’ says Tyler, so he takes an alert button from under the hospital bed and presses the button. Tyler puts the alert button back under the hospital bed and Margaret asks Tyler, ‘What’s are you doing?’

  ‘I’m going to talk to a nurse about tomorrow and I’m going to save your life from another heart attack,’ replies Tyler.

  ‘Oh, all right, for heaven’s sake,’ says Margaret. ‘I’m going to be fine.’

  ‘No, no, no, Margaret,’ says Tyler. ‘This is an emergency for you, it’s a mission.’

  The door opens and there’s a nurse with long blonde hair wearing a nurse’s uniform and she looks like a nurse from the cover of Blink 182’s State Of The Enema album.

  The nurse walks to Tyler and asks him, ‘Is there something wrong?’

  ‘Yes,’ replies Tyler. ‘Now, tomorrow when Robert Taylor is going in front of the public for the first time, why don’t you pull the plug of a TV set, take the radio out from the room and please do not give or send newspapers to Margaret? Will you do it please?’

  ‘Yes, that’s a good idea,’ says the nurse. ‘I’ll do it.’

  ‘Good,’ says Tyler.

  The nurse walks to the door, exits and shut the door but Peter asks Tyler, ‘Is she normal or sexy?’

  ‘She’s just only a normal person, Peter,’ replies Tyler. ‘It’s no case for having sexual harassment.’

  ‘Are you all right, guys?’ asks Angelique.

  ‘I’m just letting your mum boycott reading newspapers, listen-ing to the radio and watching television because this is serious,’ replies Tyler.

  ‘Okay,’ says Angelique.

  ‘Hey, Margaret?’ asks Peter.

  ‘Yes, Peter?’ asks Margaret.

  ‘When you are released from hospital in just few weeks, I have a great idea for you,’ replies Peter.

  ‘What is it?’ asks Margaret.

  ‘I’m going to bring a personal trainer for you and he can help you. By going to the gym, you’ll lose weight, get fit and be strong,’ replies Peter.

  ‘Sounds interesting to me. Where’s the gym?’ asks Margaret.

  ‘In the apartment block if you like to visit Tyler’s flat,’ replies Peter.

  ‘Okay, I will try,’ asks Margaret.

  ‘Yes!’ says Peter, but the door opens and Dr Chasey who’s now wearing his doctor’s uniform is holding three documents. He walks to Margaret and says to her, ‘Madam, I’ve got three documents for you to help you in the future. The first one is a healthy plan which was written by both me and a nutritionist. The other is about stopping bad habits, and the other about your daughter’s wedding reception.’

  Dr Chasey put the three documents on the top of a small cupboard, but he sees Tyler and says to him, ‘Oh, hello.’

  ‘Hi, Doctor,’ says Tyler. ‘Have you been flirting with my fiancée?’

  ‘No, just chatting,’ replies Dr Chasey, so he walks to the door, exits and shuts the door but Tyler says aloud rudely, ‘Dickhead!’

  ‘What did you say?’ asks Margaret.

  ‘Nothing,’ replies Tyler.

  ‘Oh, I suppose you were lying to me,’ says Margaret.

  ‘No, I’m just upset with this doctor. He’s a liar,’ says Tyler.

  ‘All right,’ says Margaret.

  ‘Well, it’s nice to meet you again, Margaret,’ says Tyler. ‘I’ll see you next time when you visit my apartment block and I’ll organise you to do exercise at the gym, play tennis and swim at the swimming pool.’

  ‘Oh, goodbye and watch out for tomorrow, Tyler,’ says Margaret.

  ‘Bye,’ says Tyler.

  ‘Hoo roo,’ says Peter, so he and Tyler walk to the door, followed by Angelique, and they leave the hospital.

  CHAPTER 27

  A

  t Paradeem Corner in South Melbourne, a taxi stops and after Dr Airhardt pays money to the taxi driver, who is Italian, he steps out of the taxi, runs to a hotel named The Paradeem Hotel, opens the door and enters.

  He says to the barman, ‘Hi, my name is Dr Airhardt. I’m looking for a woman who’s been stalked and assaulted by Robert Taylor. Do you know where she is?’

  ‘She’s in the staff room of the bistro,’ says the barman.

&nb
sp; ‘What’s she doing?’ asks Dr Airhardt.

  ‘She’s taking a break from working in the bistro,’ replies the barman.

  ‘All right, I’ll go and see her, thank you very much,’ says Dr Airhardt.

  He knocks on the door of the staff room and a woman’s voice says, ‘Who is it?’

  ‘It’s Dr Airhardt,’ replies Dr Airhardt.

  ‘What do you want from me?’

  ‘I need to talk to you about Robert Taylor,’ replies Dr Airhardt.

  ‘All right, just come in.’

  Dr Airhardt opens the door and sees a woman who must be Fifi, sitting on a chair next to a table. She has black hair, a slim build, and is wearing a maid’s uniform.

  ‘Are you Fifi?’

  ‘Yes, but I’m not Fifi anymore.’

  ‘Well, what’s your real name?’ asks Dr Airhardt.

  ‘My real name is Ingrid Stewart. Come in.’

  Dr Airhardt enters the staff room and shuts the door. He sits down to talk to Ingrid. ‘So tell me Mrs Stewart, how many years were you been working as a prostitute in the streets of St Kilda?’

  ‘I had been working as a prostitute for five years because I desperately needed money to pay bills and other things, but not drugs,’ replies Ingrid.

  ‘Did you have safe sex during your sex work?’ asks Dr Airhardt.

  ‘Yes, my friends who were working as streetwalkers gave me the boxes of safe sex stuff which included condoms and lubricants because there’s an issue of HIV/AIDS and STDs,’ replies Ingrid.

  ‘So why did Robert Taylor stalk and assault you during your work as a prostitute in Grundy Street after midnight?’ asks Dr Airhardt.

  ‘Well, I was standing alone in Grundy Street and I was waiting for men to pay for sex, whether it could be for a half-hour, forty-five minutes, an hour, two or three hour sessions. I wondered if these men were walking or driving. Robert saw me, so he spied on me and watched me, but when I saw him and I thought he looked like such a freak and a lunatic. He ran towards me, stalking me and assaulting me which was sexual assault. He also punched my face and kicked my body but he didn’t rape me,’ replies Ingrid.

  ‘Then what next?’ asks Dr Airhardt.

  ‘After Robert ran away, I lay down on the road injured, and I saw a car was coming towards me and the car stopped. A male driver came to me, picked me up and took me to the hospital,’ replies Ingrid.

  ‘What happened to your face and your body?’ asks Dr Airhardt.

  ‘I got bruises on my face and I also got cuts and bruises on my body,’ replies Ingrid.

  ‘So how many days did you spend in the hospital?’ asks Dr Airhardt.

  ‘Two days,’ replies Ingrid.

  ‘After you survived this assault and left the hospital, what happened next?’

  ‘After I left the hospital, I started having post-traumatic stress disorder because I had a trauma after being stalked and assaulted by that weirdo person. So I quit my work as a prostitute, sold my house, which was my own brothel, and moved to South Melbourne,’ replies Ingrid.

  ‘Did you see him again when he was arrested and charged for stalking and assault?’ asks Dr Airhardt.

  ‘Yes, I saw him during his last trial when he got a one year jail sentence for stalking and assaulting me. I was not happy and very disappointed because women want rapists, murderers and other criminal types of men to be sentenced for life in jail with no parole for raping, assaulting, stalking, battering and murdering women!’ says Ingrid.

  ‘Why?’ asks Dr Airhardt.

  ‘Because men are bastards and they’re harming women. They are sex pigs!’ replies Ingrid.

  ‘Mrs Stewart, if Robert Taylor is sentenced for life without parole for kidnapping, assault, possession of weapons and explosives and attempted kidnapping and holding an innocent bystander hostage, do you want him to die in jail if he is found guilty again?’ asks Dr Airhardt.

  ‘I don’t know, Doctor,’ replies Ingrid. ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘Ummm, Mrs Stewart, I have got your private folder from a prostitute at your old house which is now a brothel called Temptation Whorehouse,’ says Dr Airhardt.

  ‘Oh, did I forget to take my private stuff?’ asks Ingrid.

  ‘Yes,’ replies Dr Airhardt, so he takes the folder from his suit, gives it to Ingrid and says, ‘Here, take this folder, and if you’re going to hide it, just go to the hardware store, buy a deadlock, go to your house, put the folder in a box with a deadlock, dig a hole in your backyard, put the deadlock and box inside and bury them, but please, do not tell your husband. Do you understand?’

  ‘Yes, I do,’ says Ingrid.

  ‘Good,’ says Dr Airhardt, so he takes his business card out of his pocket and gives it to her and says to her, ‘Here, take my card if you have a problem again.’

  ‘Thank you,’ says Ingrid. ‘It’s nice to meet you. You helped me to talk about my past.’

  ‘That’s all right, Mrs Stewart,’ says Dr Airhardt. ‘I’ll see you next time. Goodbye.’

  He stands up from the other chair, walks to the door, opens the door and exits.

  At a cafe in Fritzeg Street St Kilda, Tyler, Angelique and Peter are having coffee.

  ‘How do you feel, Angelique and Peter?’

  ‘Just okay, Tyler,’ replies Angelique.

  ‘Me too,’ replies Peter. ‘What about you?’

  ‘Hmmm, not bad, but it was very hard for me seeing Robert Taylor in a police cell,’ says Tyler.

  ‘What’s he looks like?’ asks Peter.

  ‘I don’t know,’ replies Tyler.

  ‘Is he handsome or ugly?’ asks Angelique.

  ‘I think he’s a bit of average, but I don’t know what his face looks like,’ replies Tyler.

  ‘Do you think he looked average?’ asks Peter.

  ‘No, I don’t think so, absolutely not,’ replies Tyler.

  ‘Well when Robert’s identity is made public tomorrow, what happens next?’ asks Angelique.

  ‘I don’t know,’ replies Tyler. ‘I haven’t decided yet.’

  ‘Tyler, if yours and Angelique’s wedding is going to be soon, who will look after your big event?’ asks Peter.

  ‘I think Leo and Roy will look after this wedding. I don’t care if there are any twists from the movies, television, soap operas and music videos in the wedding production,’ replies Tyler.

  ‘Yes, I remember Leo and Roy. They work as the doctor’s two helpers; the Laurel and Hardy of psychology,’ says Peter.

  ‘Peter, they’re assistants, okay?’ says Tyler.

  ‘Are you sure?’ asks Peter.

  ‘Yes,’ replies Tyler.

  ‘Now, Angelique,’ says Peter as he turns to Angelique.

  ‘Yes, Peter?’ asks Angelique.

  ‘I have spoken to Tyler about having an engagement party, but he’s told me that he wants a quiet dinner for two and a quiet dance. What do you think?’ replies Peter.

  ‘I don’t know, Peter,’ replies Angelique. ‘I’m not sure whether it could be naughty or nice.’

  ‘Don’t worry, Angelique,’ says Peter. ‘If you haven’t decided and don’t know, just wait and see if you want to have fun.’ He sips his cup of coffee, and Angelique asks Tyler, ‘Which one is the best, naughty or nice?’

  ‘Just nice,’ replies Tyler.

  At the police station, Dr Airhardt opens the door, enters Inspector Mack Young’s office, shuts the door and asks Mack, ‘Guess what I did, Inspector?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I went to the Paradeem Hotel at South Melbourne and guess who I saw,’ replies Dr Airhardt.

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Fifi, but that woman was not called Fifi anymore. Her real name is Ingrid Stewart,’ replies Dr Airhardt.

  ‘Oh, what’s she doing now?’ asks Mack.

  ‘She lives in the same suburb, working as a maid in the same hotel. She is married and has a child,’ replies Dr Airhardt.

  ‘Did you interview her about Robert Taylor?’ asks Mack.

  ‘Yes. After
being stalked and assaulted by Robert and then, having post-traumatic stress disorder, she then quit her job as a hooker, sold her house and moved to South Melbourne. She saw Robert again during his trial, but she’s not happy that he’s got a one year jail sentence, and she told me that women want bad men to be sentenced for life in jail with no parole for raping, assaulting, stalking, battering and murdering women,’ replies Dr Airhardt.

  ‘Oh, strewth!’ says Mack, ‘I’m not sure what type of legal system we have, whether it’s normal or corrupt.’

  ‘Well, you can call the legal service about people’s concerns with assault and abuse if you like,’ says Dr Airhardt.

  ‘All right. What happened next during your interview with Ingrid?’

  ‘I gave her a folder of her private stuff and I told her to bury it in the backyard of her house by hiding it and not telling her husband about it,’ replies Dr Airhardt.

  ‘Oh, it could be just like a secret past,’ says Mack.

  ‘Yes, exactly,’ says Dr Airhardt, but he is thinking about that Georgina lookalike from the whorehouse who slapped his face.

  Mack asks him, ‘What’s wrong, Doctor? Are you all right?’

  ‘Guess what someone did to me before I visited South Melbourne,’ replies Dr Airhardt.

  ‘What?’

  ‘I went to a house which is an illegal brothel where Fifi worked before as a prostitute and it’s been changed. It’s a brothel called Temptation Whorehouse. When I entered searching for information about Fifi, a prostitute annoyed me. Later after I got the information about Fifi, that bitch annoyed me again and she wanted to seduce me! I told her that I was married and she slapped my face hard so I was upset.’

  Mack is shocked, ‘Oh no!’

  ‘She’s a vamp, Inspector,’ says Dr Airhardt. ‘She is a temptress, seductress, femme fatale and man-eater.’

  ‘Should we arrest her for slapping you?’ asks Mack.

  ‘No no, don’t do that,’ replies Dr Airhardt.

  ‘Why not?’ asks Mack.

  ‘Because it’s corruption,’ replies Dr Airhardt. ‘Remember police corruption during the Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen era in Queensland?’

  ‘Yes,’ says Mack.

  ‘There were lots of crooked cops who were involved with prostitution and visited illegal brothels which were also known as massage parlours and strip clubs. It was controversy between legal, illegal and lawlessness,’ says Dr Airhardt.