The Mysterious Coat

by Nicholas Walsh

  ‘Can I have a piece of paper and borrow a pen please?’ says Tyler.

  ‘Certainly,’ says the waiter, and then, he leaves to get a piece of paper and a pen but Angelique says to Tyler, ‘You’re such a planner, Tyler.’

  ‘Yes, I am,’ says Tyler. ‘I am also worried about crime and criminals here in St Kilda.’

  ‘Don’t worry, Tyler,’ says Angelique. ‘Don’t stress.’

  ‘I’m not sure who wants my dead body,’ says Tyler. ‘Maybe I end up as dead meat.’

  ‘Tyler, please don’t get upset,’ says Angelique. ‘And also, don’t get sad.’

  ‘I know,’ says Tyler. ‘You look after me and I’ll look after you. It’s love and adventure.’

  A waiter with the piece of paper and a pen enters again and says to Tyler, ‘Here you go, sir. A piece of paper and a pen. Before you and your lady leave, please give back the pen.’ He puts the piece of paper and a pen next to Tyler’s meal and then, he leaves again, but Angelique says to Tyler, ‘Are you going to write it during the meal?’

  ‘Yes. What time does the Boulange Nightclub opens?’ says Tyler.

  ‘Um, maybe eleven o’clock,’ says Angelique.

  ‘All right, plenty of time,’ says Tyler, so he takes the pen and starts writing an emergency plan about tomorrow at the Duke of York Hotel. Angelique goes back to eating her meal because there will be a mission for the two lovers tomorrow.

  At the police station, Inspector Mack Young, Detective Sergeant Nick Baxter and Constable Troy Williamson are standing near one of the police cells containing Robert Taylor. Mack says to both Nick and Troy, ‘All right, Nick and Troy, we’ve got a plan about the result of the DNA test of the mysterious coat and then we’ll bring Robert Taylor to the public. So here’s the schedule …’ He coughs and says to them, ‘At ten o’clock, the media will arrive at the conference room and have another police press conference. Then at quarter past ten, Professor Jerry Bowie will announce the results of the DNA test of the mysterious coat and at half past ten, Constable Troy Williamson will escort Robert Taylor and show him to the media. Any questions?’

  ‘What about me?’ says Nick.

  ‘Well, you can join me at the police press conference if you like,’ says Mack.

  ‘But, Inspector?’ says Troy.

  ‘Yes, Constable?’ says Mack.

  ‘Before I escort Robert Taylor, what am I going to do before the announcement?’ says Troy.

  ‘Here’s the plan,’ says Mack. ‘At 9.50, you go to Robert’s cell, open the door of the cell and just stand inside of the cell. Then, you have to wait for a police officer with a restraining chair, and when he arrives at twenty past ten or twenty-five past ten, you take Robert from his cell, put him on the restraining chair, and tie him up, like Hannibal Lecter. If Robert doesn’t want to see the media, cover his eyes using a blindfold.’

  ‘I’m scared, Inspector,’ says Troy.

  ‘Why?’ says Mack.

  ‘Because I’m not sure what Robert looks like,’ says Troy. ‘If he’s scared of the media, he will go berserk again and escape from our custody, and if he goes back to doing crime, he may kill innocent people at random including us.’

  Nick spins around and says to Troy, ‘Just do something. Don’t be scared, just do it!’

  Troy takes a long pause, puzzled and says, ‘All right, I’ll do it!’

  ‘Good!’ says Mack. ‘See you tomorrow, goodbye.’ So he and Nick leave, but Troy opens the latch of the police cell door to check Robert but Robert’s voice growls, roars, and loudly shouts, ‘Don’t look at me!’ Troy is shocked and Robert’s voice says, ‘I heard that!’ Then Troy hears Robert start crying, so he shuts the latch of the police cell door quietly.

  At the Boulange Nightclub in South Melbourne, Tyler and Angelique enter and inside the nightclub there are lots of people, including celebrities, sport stars and models. Some of them are dancing, some of them are chatting and some of them are drinking so Tyler says to Angelique, ‘This is stylish.’

  ‘Yes, it could be just like Studio 54 or The Metro,’ says Angelique.

  ‘What about Twister and the Palace? It’s right here in St Kilda,’ says Tyler.

  ‘I’m not sure,’ says Angelique.

  ‘What type of dancing do they do in this nightclub?’ says Tyler.

  ‘Just modern,’ says Angelique.

  ‘How about we do a modern dance, romantic-style?’ says Tyler.

  ‘All right,’ says Angelique. ‘We’ll do it but no dirty dancing.’

  ‘Okay,’ says Tyler, so he and Angelique walk to the dance floor where some people are dancing, and start having a romantic style dance. Five minutes later, they are still dancing and later, they are doing salsa and tango while they are dancing. Everybody watches them. Another five minutes pass and a disc jockey starts playing other songs. When they finish dancing, everybody is clapping so the DJ’s voice says, ‘Wow, give a clap to the romantic couple!’ Everybody claps and Angelique says to Tyler, ‘Oh, Tyler, I’m worn out!’

  ‘Maybe I need skills from John Travolta or Paul Mercurio,’ says Tyler. ‘I feel like strutting.’

  ‘Come on, Tyler, let’s go and have a drink of water,’ says Angelique.

  ‘Are you sure?’ says Tyler.

  ‘Yes,’ says Angelique. ‘Water is the drink for me after finishing work.’

  ‘Okay, let’s go the bar,’ says Tyler, so he and Angelique leave the dance floor and walk to the bar to get a drink of water for two lovers to share as they were hot and sweaty.

  Later, at Tyler’s apartment in his bedroom, Tyler and Angelique are getting ready to hop into bed, as they’re getting ready for a big day tomorrow.

  Tyler says to Angelique, ‘Well, Angelique, we had an okay time during the day but we had a good time at both Dave’s Restaurant and Boulange Nightclub dancing all night. What do you think, sweetie?’

  ‘It’s good, Tyler,’ says Angelique. ‘You’re the most wonderful guy I’ve ever seen or met in my life.’

  ‘Thanks,’ says Tyler.

  ‘What were you going to say to me about tomorrow?’ says Angelique.

  ‘We will go together. You will be safe,’ says Tyler. He walks to Angelique, holds her and then, they close their eyes and have a long goodnight French kiss. After they stop kissing, Tyler says to Angelique, ‘Goodnight, my lovely.’

  ‘And goodnight to you, my lover,’ says Angelique. Tyler stops holding her and they lay down. Tyler pulls the sheets and covers over them and they sleep.

  CHAPTER 31

  T

  he next morning at Tyler’s apartment block, it’s seven o’clock and Tyler opens his eyes, wakes Angelique up and says to her, ‘Angelique, it’s time to wake up!’

  Angelique opens her eyes and says, ‘What is it, Tyler?’

  ‘There’s a big surprise here today and maybe an emergency,’ says Tyler.

  ‘All right,’ says Angelique, so she and Tyler leave the bed and go to have a shower.

  Later, after breakfast at Tyler’s apartment block, there’s a knock at the door and Tyler’s voice says, ‘Come in.’

  The door opens and Peter enters and walks to Tyler and Angelique, who are working out the emergency plan that Tyler wrote on the table during their dinner at Dave’s Restaurant last night.

  Peter says to them, ‘Hi, everybody. Have you decided it?’

  ‘Yes,’ says Tyler. ‘I decided to go to the Duke of York Hotel, but I have an emergency plan which I wrote by myself.’

  ‘What is your emergency plan about?’ says Peter.

  Tyler says, ‘It’s about you, me, Angelique, my boss, my colleagues …’

  ‘And other staff members and the other dancers too,’ interrupts Angelique.

  Tyler looks at Angelique and says to her, ‘Thanks, Angelique. You’re learning, love.’

  ‘Well, what’s going to happen to both us and the rest of the people?’ says Peter.

  Tyler looks at Peter again and says to him, ‘Look, mate. You, me, Angelique,
my boss, my colleagues, other staff members and the dancers will leave the Duke of York Hotel in case Robert Taylor comes to take over this building and takes all of us hostage, goes crazy, escapes from police custody and goes back to his crime-killing rampage!’

  ‘All right!’ says Peter. ‘Keep your head on. What’s going to happen to everyone who works at the Duke of York?’

  ‘We’ll end up at my flat safely!’ says Tyler. ‘This is not as dangerous as we give him credit for with my emergency plan, and we could be heroes just in one day!’

  ‘Okay,’ says Peter. ‘Will we have a swim at the flat?’

  ‘No,’ says Tyler.

  ‘What about you, Angelique?’ says Peter.

  ‘No,’ says Angelique.

  ‘Oh, okay,’ says Peter.

  ‘Excuse me, everybody,’ says Tyler. ‘I’m going to call Mr Pluck on the phone.’

  ‘Sure, go for it,’ says Angelique.

  Peter says to Tyler, ‘Just tell your boss we can help.’

  ‘I will,’ says Tyler, so he walks to his desk, picks up the phone and dials his boss, Mr Pluck.

  Pluck’s voice says, ‘Hello?’

  ‘Mr Pluck,’ says Tyler. ‘It’s me, Tyler Brown.’

  ‘Oh, hello, Mr Brown,’ Mr Pluck says. ‘What can I do for you?’

  ‘I have an emergency plan, Mr Pluck,’ says Tyler. ‘Call everyone and tell them, this is not a strike.’

  ‘All right, Mr Brown,’ Mr Pluck says, raising his voice a little bit. ‘I’ll do it. Got another plan if this one goes wrong?’

  ‘Meet me, Angelique, my mate Peter McGuire and the others at the outside of the Duke of York Hotel in Fritzeg Street at ten to nine,’ says Tyler.

  ‘Okay,’ Mr Pluck says. ‘I’ll be there too. See you later, goodbye.’

  ‘Bye, Mr Pluck,’ says Tyler as he hangs up the phone, leaves his desk and walks back to the table.

  Angelique says to him, ‘How is it going, Tyler?’

  ‘Mr Pluck will call the rest of the people from the Duke of York Hotel and tell them about my emergency plan,’ says Tyler. ‘He will also meet me, you, Peter and the others at the outside the pub at ten to nine.’

  ‘Wow, Tyler!’ says Angelique. ‘That’s incredible, I feel like Lara Croft!’

  ‘Do we have time for a swim?’ says Peter.

  ‘I told you I said no,’ says Tyler.

  ‘Oh, bugger!’ says Peter.

  ‘Mind your language, Peter,’ says Angelique.

  ‘Sorry, Angelique,’ says Peter.

  ‘So before we go to the pub, we will stay at my flat and then, will go for a walk at the beach before going to the pub at half past eight,’ says Tyler.

  ‘Yes, that’s a good idea, Tyler,’ says Angelique.

  So when Angelique and Peter stand up, Tyler takes the piece of paper which has his emergency plan on it. He folds the piece of paper and puts it in his pocket pants and then leaves the table and joins Angelique and Peter.

  At the Alfred Hospital, a doctor who is a tall, dark and handsome wonders what women think of him being a bronzed-oily doctor. He pulls the plug off a TV set, and takes a radio out from the top drawer in Margaret’s room. At the same time, a nurse is talking to Margaret and she says to her, ‘Madam, we are afraid you will be upset by the bad news on the television and radio, so we are going to unplug the TV set and remove the radio. We will also not be sending newspapers to you for the rest of the day.’

  ‘I just want to be fine,’ says Margaret. ‘I’m okay now, what should I do?’

  ‘You can read books. If you like, there’s a bookcase in the patients’ reading room which has books and magazines.’

  Margaret is upset and says to herself, ‘Christ!’

  Outside of the Duke of York Hotel, it’s ten to nine and Tyler, Angelique and Peter are standing near the entrance waiting for Mr Pluck. The staff members and other workers are waiting too.

  Peter says to Tyler, ‘You better tell all the staff members of your plan before Mr Pluck arrives.’

  ‘I don’t know, Peter,’ says Tyler. ‘I think I have made a mistake.’

  ‘Don’t worry, Tyler,’ says Angelique. ‘You haven’t made a mistake, it’s all right.’

  ‘Look, everybody!’ says Tyler. ‘Here comes Mr Pluck.’

  Tyler says, ‘Um, good morning, Mr Pluck.’

  ‘Morning, Mr Brown,’ says Mr Pluck. ‘Have you got the emergency plan?’

  ‘Yes, it is in my pocket,’ says Tyler.

  ‘Excellent,’ says Mr Pluck, so he walks to the door and takes one of the keys out of his pocket of his jacket, unlocks the lock and opens the door. He says to Tyler, Angelique, Peter and the rest of the people, ‘I’m afraid the spectators will not be arriving until eleven o’clock. That’s the time the pub opens, so we have to do early work, like an early day shift.’

  He enters the hotel and Tyler says to Angelique, Peter and the rest of the people, ‘Come on, everybody. Let’s go inside. There will be plenty of time to explain what going on.’

  Tyler, Angelique and Peter, followed by the rest of the staff, walk in the pub.

  Ten minutes later at the pub, Mr Pluck and Tyler stand and lean on the chairs. Angelique, Peter and the rest of the staff are sitting at the boardroom and Mr Pluck is addressing Angelique, Peter and the rest of the staff. He says to them, ‘Good morning, everybody.’

  ‘Good morning, Mr Pluck,’ says Angelique, Peter and all of the staff.

  ‘We’re in crisis and there’s something wrong about Robert Taylor, the suspect. He has attempted to take one of our staff members, Tyler Brown, hostage at his secret hideout and also, he is the mysterious person who wears the mysterious coat that has been driving Tyler crazy. We are going to make this news public today, but Tyler has made an emergency plan which will help to keep everyone safe. So here is Tyler’s plan.’

  Angelique and Peter are clapping their hands towards Tyler who is addressing these two important people in his life. The rest of the staff gather around and he says to them, ‘Morning, everybody.’

  ‘Morning,’ says Angelique, Peter and all of the staff.

  ‘How are you today? Are you excited about my plan?’ says Tyler.

  ‘Fine,’ says Angelique, Peter and all of the staff.

  ‘That’s good,’ says Tyler. ‘Now, I wrote the plan during my dinner with Angelique at Dave’s Restaurant because I was worried, and my life was in crisis last night, so here is the plan I wrote.’ Tyler takes out a piece of paper. ‘The emergency plan is if Robert Taylor goes crazy and escapes from police custody and starts shooting, he’s going to call the Duke of York Hotel from the telephone booth, and when the barman picks up the phone at the hotel, Robert Taylor is going to tell the barman that’s he going to take over our building and take us hostage. The barman will talk to Mr Pluck about Robert’s plan, and then Mr Pluck will order me, Angelique, my mate Peter and the rest of the staff to leave the pub before Robert Taylor comes to the pub. Angelique, Peter, the barman, Mr Pluck, the rest of the staff and I will leave the building, and walk safely to my flat. I’ll have another plan if we make it.’

  Everybody claps their hands. Tyler stops reading and says to Peter, ‘And for you, my mate, if you take any of the dancers home safely, one-by-one, don’t get them to do a show for you and your mates.’

  ‘I will promise, Tyler,’ says Peter. ‘We will not get the dancers to do a show.’

  ‘Thank you, Peter,’ says Tyler. ‘Anyhow, if you have a problem about Robert Taylor, talk to me or Mr Pluck, because no one is going to be threatening me, you, or anyone else. Thank you.’

  Everybody claps again, and Mr Pluck says to Angelique, Peter and the rest of the staff, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you. You can start work early before the spectators arrive at eleven o’clock, and so, meeting dismissed.’ So the rest of the staff stands up from the chairs and leave to go to start work early, and Mr Pluck says to Tyler, ‘Thank you, Mr Brown.’

  ‘That’s okay, Mr Pluck,’ says Tyler.

&
nbsp; ‘If you have a problem, just call me if you like,’ says Mr Pluck, so he left. Then, Tyler says to both Angelique and Peter, ‘Is there anything we can do today?’

  ‘Maybe you can get Peter to check out and see if the secret room is secure,’ says Angelique.

  ‘Are you going back to do dancing?’ asks Peter.

  ‘Well, I’ll think about it, Peter,’ replies Angelique. ‘But I wonder who is going to have a turn performing and dancing on stage?

  Could it be me or just my colleagues?’

  ‘I’m only just a staff member, Angelique,’ says Tyler. ‘I’m not allowed to work in this room and other rooms.’

  ‘Okay,’ says Angelique, so she and Peter stand up and Tyler walks to them.

  He says to them, ‘All for one and one for all.’

  ‘Yeah!’ says Peter.

  ‘Let’s go, everybody,’ says Tyler so he, Angelique and Peter walk and leave the boardroom and walk to the secret room. Angelique is not sure if she going to do a brief comeback, performing and dancing, before marrying Tyler.

  CHAPTER 32

  A

  t 9.50am at the police station, in Robert Taylor’s cell, he is sitting alone and his face is on his knees, his arms holding his legs. He’s six-foot tall with black hair and a solid build, and he’s still wearing a scruffy top and unwashed jeans. He hears the lock being unlocked, his cell door opens slowly and there are loud steps stomping on the floor, just like a giant, but Constable Troy Williamson’s voice says to Robert as he walks in, ‘Robert Taylor?’

  Robert’s face is pale, drawn and gaunt. He spins to face Troy in a different and scary voice and he says, ‘Yes?’

  ‘It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for,’ says Troy. ‘This is the big day for you.’

  ‘What the bloody hell is this about?’ says Robert.

  ‘It’s about the result of the DNA test of the mysterious coat. After the announcement, a police officer is going to take you and put you on a restraining chair at twenty-five past ten and at half past ten, he going to bring you down and show you off to the public,’ says Troy.