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Behind The Smile...

Guest WYN100

By Guest WYN100
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WYN100

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**PART FIVE**

Ric's demeanour had changed from thoroughly bewildered to frustrated to its current state of simmering and barely repressed anger.

Breathing hard through his nose, he made a fist of his right hand and started grinding the knuckles testily into the hard bare wood of the table that formed the centrepiece of the sparsely furnished interrogation room just behind the reception desk at the Yabbie Creek Police station.

Recycling a statement he's expressed on regular and considerable occasions since being brought there he snapped at Fitzy who was shuffling paperwork at her desk in the corner ,

"Fitzy , when in the hell is something going to HAPPEN here ? Oh yes, your guys rock up within seconds of the scream being out of that mad girl's MOUTH - but now I'm HERE it's all stop and flamin' reverse gear !! Anyway, this is all just CRAZY, I mean..."

Fitzy pushed her document to one side, took a deep breath in, and turning round towards Ric, said patiently "Ric I've already told you - we can't start questioning you yet, McGrath's like a grizzly bear with toothache today and he's charging around to try and find Jack, Harper's off on some traffic exercise, and right now there's no-one else senior enough to start the questions - rest assured, as soon as there is, you'll be the very first to know.!"

That particular kind promise predictably failed to gladden Ric's heart, and he relapsed into some Muttley-style under-his-breath style muttering while drawing the fingernails of one hand angrily down the palm of the other. This newly re-installed stalemate lasted around a further ten minutes until one of the junior constables knocked and entered the room simultaneously going across to Fitzy and sharing a brief conversation in low, measured tones. That exchange saw them both dart quick glances over at Ric that he in his preoccupied state failed to notice, then both headed over to the door, Fitzy pausing to say "Ric, there's apparently someone here who says they may be able to help you regarding today's situation- I can let you have five minutes with her, but no more, ok...?"

Ric looked vaguely curious- but only vaguely - at this development, assuming as he slumped his head into his open hands on the table, he assumed the arrival must be Morag, having heard about his problem on the Summer Bay grapevine, perhaps..?

His head remained in his hands as he heard the door open and Fitzy's voice repeat the reminder "Five minutes, ok Ric..?"

Without lifting his head, he intoned wearily "Well Morag, I hope you have more luck with this lot than I have, could they BE any slower ??..."

Not receiving any answer , he slowly craned up his head and saw someone that most decidedly was NOT Morag.....but Viv Anderson, clad in a pale pink jacket -fixing him with an inscrutable stare.....and her hand rested lightly on the top handle of a baby buggy .....complete with one sleeping inhabitant.....

Ric's eyes widened incredulously.....

The air in Annie's oxygen pipe at the operating table was becoming filled with a series of small bubbles and her breath had started to become slightly stunted and shallow - and still Rachel seemed marooned in the subreality zone where she'd been propelled by the insidious cocktail of the painkillers and the searing discomfort they were intended to treat - though without doubt the order in which they'd figured in her day had definitely been a case of cart before the horse !

The atmosphere in the operating theatre had now reached suffocation pitch with Annie's fate hanging in the balance as any extra morphine would most certainly have begun to take an irreparable hold in her system. Lewington was preparing to make the final relocation of the troublesome rib, and had bent over the equipment table to select precisely the correct scalpel for the exercise. Time had- both literally and figuratively seemed to stand still - - until - - Nurse Julie, standing directly next to Rachel - suddenly noticed Rachel's mistake from the corner of her eye. There were surely just fractions of seconds remaining until Lewington turned round, so without time to fully audit her moral responsibilities about alerting the doctor, she jabbed her thumb in Rachel's rib, and answered the vague, questioning look she got in return by gesturing urgently at the morphine tube , accompanied by an almost imperceptible shake of the head. Emerging somewhow from her semi-trance, Rachel found her heart thundering like a kettle drum solo performing an orchestra crescendo, and was able with huge internal gratitude to her colleague, to replace the morphine with the correct adrenaline pump no more than a heartbeat before Lewington swivelled round and was ready to continue the final proceedure.

An hour or so later a now stable but still critical Annie was wheeled away to spend some time in intensive care , and Rachel was whispering her heartfelt thanks to her colleague as they walked down the passage towards the post-op area.

"Thank you SO much Julie - I can't tell you how much I appreciate that ! =- he could SO easily have noticed what I did - and who KNOWS what would have happened then !!"

Julie looked as if - like Rachel - she knew very well what would have happened, replying "Well Rachel, I did what I had to do- but are you ok ?? You looked so - weird ?"

Colouring slightly, Rachel nodded gravely and said "I know, I know - it was just one of those - but you won't see me like that again ! " she promised gravely.

Relenting a little, Julie smiled and said quietly "Well, at least you got away with it - this time !!"

Rachel was giving a coy nod as the pair simultaneously stiffened at the sound of a familiar , purposeful malr tread behind them. Moving to one side to allow Lewington past, he gave the barest of nods to both, proceeded another dozen steps or so before stopping. He did a three-quarter turn and , stroking his chin thoughtfully, said in short, clipped tones, "Doctor Armstrong - my office, 3 this afternoon .." - then with a fractionally sneering air as it seemed to the girls "You're not DOING anything then, are you ?"

"N-no, " she replied hoarsely, shooting an anxious sideways glance at Julie - it seemed that maybe Rachel HADN'T 'got away with it' after all....

Miles Copeland was feeling a warm contented inner air as he strolled along the side of the caravan park towards the main house. An involuntary smile crept across his lips as he heard what seemed to be a well-orchestrated quartet of throatily cheerful birdsong from high above him. They seemed to be echoing his own current mood of "how much better does it get than this ..?" A day off work, everyone else dispersed far and wide in their own chosen directions for the day - - - and HIM with (he almost licked his lips in anticipation of the prospect) a wide and appealing selection of viewing lined up on the TV Planner .

There were the cricket highlights of the day's play just finished over in the UK, that week's Australian Idol -(because yes - he confessed it - he was a fan and he didn't CARE who knew it !!! - though admittedly starting a discussion with Martin Bartlett about last week yelling match between Marcia and Ian at the judging table may prove a TAD uncomfortable...) ANYWAY, he thought as the smile grew wider, there was ALSO that two hour season opener of 'Lost' from last night too ! Approaching the main door, his personal on-board feelgood factor suddenly propelled him into an involunary and imaginary basketball-style leap - -"Slam-DUNK !!" he yelled to the slight disconcernment of a rather low-flying seagull. He punched the air with both fists in celebratory mode having returned to terra firma and began fumbling for his key. His TV Heaven was calling, and to ice an already highly alluring cake, he remembered with a renewed happy glow that he'd still got that family-sized pack of CinemaSweey butter toffee popcorn to accompany it all !! Such all-round and complete luxury was surely illegally decadent ? , he smiled to himself. In any event he was headed THATAWAY - just glimpsing the top of the big, comfortable armchsair, and there was NO-thing and NO-one that was going to stop him, THAT was for sure !!!....

"YOOOO-HOO !! = AWWNLY me !!"

Were the publishers of any new dictionary or guide to everyday words and phrases seeking a definition of "tempting fate" then Miles would have sworn there could be no closer or more aggravatingly precise choice than a photo of Colleen Smart.

He stood as if frozen with one arm up against the doorframe - his back still turned to the owner of the grating caterwaul thad provided this ominous and highly unwelcome threat to his day-long mental pass to the TV and junk food theme park he'd been so craving

"Ex-cuuze me, Mr Copeland, or Miles, - I CAN call you Miles can't I ?? Though I hope I'm never a one to take liberties, after all..."

Miles turned slowly., the palm of his right hand extended towards his unscripted gatecrasher. He also noticed with a minor degree of curiosity that she was carrying a teapot - who could possibly imagine the outlandish reason why ?

"Enough already Colleen !!" he said wearily "..and yes, I think according to a little-known Australia m act of Parliament in 1899 the need for greeting strangers with Olde Worlde Jane Austen -style titles expires 200 days after you first break bread at their table..."

Colleen's brow furrowed as she donned a slightly offended expression- "Well - I don't like to think of you calling me a STRANGER that's for sure, and about breaking your bread well I never even enter your kitchen without being SPECEEFICALLY invited..."

With the screech having returned at full throttle and Colleen drawing herself up to her full height for another onslaught, Miles quickly decided humour was unlikely to gain him any headway, so, patting her gently on the shoulder to defuse the next outburst he said weakly "I mean, yes Colleen - you CAN call me M iles ! Now, "...jerking his eyes quesyioningly at the teapot, "how can I help you Colleen ?"

The smile spreading back across her face, Colleen said - as if she was doing him a great favour - you come with me to my little garden and I'll explain..!!"

Rightly assessing that resistance would be futile, Miles dragged unwilling feet the minute or two's walk to what Colleen described as "her garden"

In fairness, despite being set in a degree of shade along the main outer west wall which separated the caravan park from the surrounding bushland and woods, the section Colleen had adopted for herself looked very well kept - rows of flowers at the front, then some smaller bushes, and a series of larger flowering bushes running along the wall at the rear, up to an angled corner where the larger wall jutted into a nother, smaller one.

Colleen hadn't stopped talking the entire time, but as Miles zoned back in, he could hear "...so you SEE, Madge Wilkingv read in her Town and Country paper that - imagine it - old TEA-LEAVES are wonderful for helping the lemon Myrtle grow and as you can see (he couldn't, but still...), they're the two RIGHT at the back, and with tha t Summer Bay top Garden award sending people around in the next few wee ks, I just wondered , what with my arthritis..(she pulled a dramatic face apparently registering high agony..) and them being all the way..."

"Dear Lady, say no more !!..." - Miles executed a theatrical bow, took the teapot from her grasp, and levering himself over the small border wall that seemingly her aching joints had seemingly also wanted to miss , and with the flickering vision of his TV Heaven to still drive him on, headed for the back row, and under Colleen's shrill andv enthusiastic instruction, deposited copious doses over the lemon myrtle bushes he would personally have struggled to distinguish from a throng of yellow carnations, but hey, twisting a nd turning with a trowel amid a backdrop of earth and nus had never rated highest on his leisure list. Having started along the front of the bushes, he raised a triumphant thumb to the excitable horticulturalist, and decided to deposit the remaining leaves along the back of the bushes. Squeezing past the smaller wall he wondered idly if Madge's dramatic new discovery would actually herald triumph for Colleen but anyway, it kept her happy..."Oww !!" - he emitted the inmvoluntary cry bhaving tripped awkwardly against a solid ly distinct v bump in the earth neneath him. Having narrowly escaped banging his face intp the back wall, he dropped to his knees to investigate, hearing as he did "Miles ..?? MILES !! - are you alright ?? You be careful ! - I bever bormally get round there, so... MILES !!!"

At the rear of the lemon myrtle bush in the permanent semi-secluded corner - the blood in the crouching Miles's veins was beginning to turn cold. Having investigated the bump and done a little more pulling, he'd quickly determined the object had been a hand - leading to an arm....and there onward with grim inevitability to the body to which it belonged...

"Oh, Man..." breathed Miles - now just how did he handle THIS ?? , with all the other residents so close by, and..

"Oh Miles ! - thank the Lord you're OK ! when YOU DIDN'T ANSWER, I...."

"Oh -Colleen ! , he said with a start, looking up. "Now listen, it's very important that you...."

It was however- predictably - too late. The precision radar system that was Colleen's eyesight had spotted the grim discovery Miles had made just moments previously before dropping it back partly into the shallow earth where the body had seemingly been placed and semi-buried.

The earlier screeching had been pale by comparison - - this was full foghorn mode ,

"OH MY !! OH LORD !!! AHHH !!!, POLICE, AMMBULANCE== MUUURDER !!!"

Miles slowly placed his hand over his eyes in despair - so much for keeping this shock turn of events under wraps !!, he thought. - - But Colleen's final cry had indeed scored a direct hit on the truth target - with related shockwaves set to pound the Bay now the grim discovery had been made

WYN100 Member

WYN100

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:wink: Thanks so much for the replies, really appreciate them and hope u can keep enjoying it !

**PART 6**

The news of the unidentified body being discovered at the caravan park had yet to percolate to the beach house where Belle had swept into full-scale preparations to follow up the jaw-dropping news Lucas had earlier floated her way and had been such an eye-opener on the whole Jas and Dom

situation that had so dominated her day so far.

She knew where she was headed next, and though she wasn't at all sure how it would work out, this needed investigating and it needed investigating now. She'd been concerned about Irene's response to all that had been happening, but that concern had been plucked from her hands when there'd been a call about some problem with Annie - - - it had all been too quick and garbled for her to get the sense and the details, but before she knew it, Irene was gone....and so was she - but without Drew for company, - and that had been a conscious decision. She'd left him ranting about Dom, and for all she knew, he probably still was. As she drove, her mind drifted back over the whole intense and complicated situation and she talked out loud - as we've all done - as she attempted to once again flatten a bump in her mind that had been so uncomfortably - and sharply- re-inflated by the day's events-

"No - I NEVER had the hots for Dom - I did NOT !! - So WHAT if I told him I loved him - ? He was sick - and I didn't MEAN it that way - right !!!- RIGHT !!!!! - and as for Drew - he should have KNOWN that...!!!"

Her fractionally less than 100 per cent convincing explanation was cut short as she had to lunge at the brake at the bottom of a small hill that connected with the main road into the city. Because - that's indeed where she was headed. Dom had mentioned to her the apartment block in which he was now living, - highly upmarket too ! - and, for whatever tapestry of reasons the cared to admit - she'd decided it was only fair he knew that Jas was well and truly "up to something", quite probably at his expense. Belle had by now become part of a long queue of traffic snaking its way into the city's first - and rather exclusive- shopping area as approached from the west. Progress was slow and she "WHOA... what the...??" The involuntary exclamation came as the car in front of her halted in almost driving test "emergency stop" mode, due to a ca r driving the other way down the street veered rather recklessly to claim a parking space outside a very popular "Coffee Culture" cafe branch that Belle had just driven past. Forming her lips into the almost obligatory silent cursed condemnation of the motoring miscreant she froze on full alert as at once she recognized the sports car that had earlier driven into the town hall car park and of course the person driving it.

With the queue in which Belle was sitting still frozen to a stop she was able to crane her neck back and see Jas emerge quickly from the car, look left and right over her shoulders as if checking whether she was being watched, then dart into the coffee shop. Her crusading zeal having been renewed by this development she impatiently inched forward in the traffic queue before securing a parking space of her own before sprinting back to Coffee Culture. Having got there she stopped, carefully slipped through the front door, and in as casual a mode as possible began to wander around in search of her prey. Becoming a little frustrated at having no immediate success, she paused on noticing the rear portion of the shop was divided into separate individual table-cubicles as in the diner, raised slightly from floor level and blocked from immediate view by a connecting, shiny pine-effect wall panel. Selecting a table on the main floor just below, Belle ordered a cappuccino from the friendly-looking male waiter that arrived within a few moments, then -her ears strained to home in on a most familiar voice drifting down from above . It was saying "Well, when I got your text I thought why not let's hook up ! And - in answer to your question, no he doesn't suspect a thing !! After all, as you well know - plenty of ways to keep a guy distracted !!"

Straining ever harder above the general buzz of customer chat, Belle , with rising disappointment, didn't recognize the laugh that floated back in response to that loaded comment = nor even the voice that produced it which then moved into conversational mode.

BUT - it was without doubt that if Irene's day had allowed HER to be there, then SHE would have most DEFINITELY have recognized who the voice belonged to - - - and with NO great pleasure - - THAT was for sure.......

Any words of response seemed to have stuck long and stubbornly in Ric's throat - but when they did shake free and complete their delayed journey - they certainly weren't gilded with bouquets of welcome for the recently entered Viv. Shaping his voice into a low aggressive hiss, he demanded angrily "Just what the HELL are YOU doing here ?? This whole stinking mess with the crazy girl on the linkroad's bad enough - YOU back in my life is just what I DON'T need,,,," clearly torn momentarily between unloading his feelings on Viv and his desire to acknowledge the other occupant of the room - he pointed as casually as he could manage at the buggy and in similar fashion enquired "I assume that's my child you've chosen to let see me like this...?"

Shifting a little anxiously from foot to foot, Viv made a thin, slightly nervous smile, before saying quietly ,

"Yes, Alice...."

Despite everything, Ric managed a smile as he continued to stare even closer at the tiny girl, before his eyes narrowed again, and curtly demanded of Viv "Ok then - so what's the story ..? Fitzy'll be back in soon about all the garbage with that basket case.."

Still holding him with the same intent if slightly uneasy stare she seemed as if some huge internal battle was being fought within her, she pulled the baby buggy a shade in front of her, took a deep breath and said

"Now you have to let me finish Ric, ok ?...."

He nodded reluctantly.

"That girl is my cousin Helene..."

"Whaa.."

"Ric, you said you'd let me finish...she's my cousin, and yes, I put her up to it...I'd noticed over the weeks the kind of time you left for the racetrack, and I just KNEW you wouldn't drive past her without stopping - - I know, I know, you're thinking why - and the reason why is, I want to be with you - I want US to be with you - - I can't be anywhere near Noel any more or I won't be responsible for my actions- I want to be with you, I want Alice to have a father, and it was the only thing I could think of, as I knew you wouldn't talk to me otherwise. If I explain everything to them out there, I assure you everything to do with this will just disappear. But ONLY if you leave here with me and we both go away and disappear with the baby. If you don't agree to that, then I'll say nothing to them, - but then I'LL disappear with Alice, and believe me, you'll NEVER see her again if that happens....so ?...."

Ric stood up rapidly, jammed the palms of both hands on the interview table and spat "Now look, I can't just....!!"

They both looked to one side as the door handle began to turn..

"Well Ric, what's it to be...?"

It was an easy guess that the answer to that particular 50-50 option WASN'T exactly on the tip of his tongue....

Sergeant Darren McGrath's earlier "Hunt the Jack" priority for his day had altered very rapidly once he'd heard news of Miles's shock discovery at the Caravan Park. Having barked out orders via his squad car intercom radio to various officers about reshuffling their day's duties, he headed to the scene of the body's discovery himself. Sighing ruefully as he parked outside the main house, he mentally registered the large mobile-home sized incident room that had already been set up by the guys from the city. He'd always found working out of the police station did him fine, even in high profile cases, but he sighed - he supposed this was what was called progress !

He climbed the two wooden steps that had been placed outside the large van, and quickly realized Detective Chief Inspector Norris as the man in charge , or "No-nonsense Norris" as he was known among the middle -ranking officers throughout the region - "Afternoon Sir, I take it your being here means we're not looking at some derelict curling up in the earth to die ?"

"Oh no Sergeant" came the clipped, businesslike reply - "I'm all but certain this is murder, and I 'm waiting for the preliminary medical report to firm up my ideas on who our unfortunate victim is.."

McGrath nodded reflectively, stroking his chin thoughtfully with his forefinger " that is quick work, but I know some of these cases can just fall together.."

"Can't they just !..." responded Norris.."Clearly I'm assuming you'll be able to line up you officers to circulate and do the neccessary questioning...?"

"Oh...yes...quite..." replied McGrath, wondering with mounting internal annoyance exactly WHERE one of those officers - a certain Constable Jack Holden actually WAS at that moment...

"Any problem, Sergeant McGrath ?"

"Oh..oh no -um - do you have any thoughts on who the victim might actually BE ?..."

"There are always ideas Sergeant- - but yes, I do have a name in mind, and if I'm anywhere near the mark, the locals here will most definitely have some searching questions to answer as it's certainly a name they'll know too....but I'll wait for that report if you don't mind - it may not show cause of death just yet, but the DNA will be a clincher..."

"Of course sir, of course..."- McGrath nodded deferentially, wondering himself who it could actually be that would git the criteria Norris had just mentioned.

Neither officer had long to wait however, as a short tap on the door and call by Norris to enter saw a young female constable enter, give a brief nod to McGrath and pass the document that was clearly the much-awaited preliminary medical report over to Norris.

Having taken the document, scanned it briefly, and written some quick notes at the side of one of the pages, he looked up, handed it to McGrath and said "So Sergeant - as you can see, just as I thought, a name with which I believe you ARE familiar....?"

Looking up from his own brief examination of the sheet within the A4 folder, McGrath looked up, digesting what he'd just seen - his face registering an element of distinct surprise he was thinking "....so THAT'S who it is !!" - - the murder hunt had suddenly stepped up a significant gear......

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