Lucifer's Apostles

Lucifer's Apostles Episode 30

Snake was the only customer in the shop, so he immediately gave the woman his order. He gave the woman, Jacko, Tommy, and Krishna’s orders, including a coffee for himself. When he went to sit down, he noticed an A4 poster with Sally’s photo on it with MISSING in large letters on top. It had her name and listed her age as twenty-five, not twenty-four. He turned back and went back to the counter. “You look remarkably like the girl in the photo”, he said, trying to sound casual.

“That’s my twin sister. I don’t understand why she would take off. I’m so worried about her”, the woman said. “We’re identical”. Why hadn’t Sally mentioned that she had a twin?

“I met her here one night. She seemed like a nice girl. I’m a private investigator in Southern Palms. I’ll look around for you and let you know if I find anything”, he said.

“I don’t work in here that often. Hang on a minute”, she said and went over to take the buns out of the toaster. She resumed talking while she put the bacon and egg rolls together, “Can I talk to you when I’ve finished putting your order together? I’m not as quick as the others that work here. The times that I do work here, I usually only make the coffees”.

“Sure, don’t rush. I’ve got time”, Snake told her. After finishing the bacon and egg rolls, she wrapped the toasted sandwiches and made the coffee. “It’s a lot of work for one person. I thought there would be at least two of you here”.

When she finished all the orders, she packed them into a box. She tallied the total on the cash register, and he handed her a hundred-dollar note and told her to keep the change as a tip. She tried to refuse, but he insisted because it was Ruby’s money.

“Now I can talk. As I was saying, I don’t work here that often. I only help out when they’re desperate. There’s a family emergency with one of their kids. It was either me or shut. I wasn’t doing anything. I live upstairs, and they take it off my rent. You said you might look into it”, she asked. “I can pay you something if you like. I didn’t know we had private eyes in Australia”.

“I can’t promise anything, so I won’t take your money. I can make a few enquiries and see if anybody has seen or heard anything. Do you have a copy of your poster? If you don’t, I will take a photo of it and show it around”, Snake said.

“I don’t have one here. I do upstairs. I can’t leave the shop. I can give you one if you want to come back after lunch. You go up the alley beside the shop, climb the stairs and knock on the door. I should be up there around three. What’s your name?” she asked.

“Don’t hold it against me. Everyone calls me Snake”, he told her.

“I won’t hold it against you. I hope you’re not one. My name’s Steph. I am Pleased to meet you. I hope you enjoy your breakfast. I might see you this afternoon”, Steph said to him.

Snake drove back to the house, wondering if he had just found a way for Sally to escape. The thought quickly faded from his mind. If she had made him take her dog back, she would surely have been upset if he had stolen her sister instead.

***

Ned had investigated Doctor Nigel Tarver, discovering he was 31 years old. He and Juliette had been married for seven years and had a rocky relationship with all their posts. Three months ago, they had separated, which was not a shock to their friends, some of whom posted that it was about time. Juliette had been cheating for years, and no one seemed sure who the father to her two children was. The mother of two had been having affairs since before they were married. When Nigel finally found out, he moved out and into a bedsitter. He would sleep on the floor when his children came to stay. Juliette had been sleeping with her sister Caitlyn’s husband, Jaxon.

Caitlyn kicked Jaxon out, and he moved in with Juliette, causing Nigel to lose control and ultimately confront Jaxon, who beat Nigel mercilessly and put the man in hospital. That led to Jaxon being charged with aggravated assault and battery. He was granted bail and is awaiting trial.

That made Juliette far from happy with Jaxon, who mowed lawns for a living. Her lifestyle changes from being a doctor’s wife, would have been too significant. She told Jaxon he had to leave and wooed Nigel back into her bed. Caitlyn was not as forgiving as Jaxon, nor was she with Juliette. She did not speak to Juliette until the day she was taken and has never spoken to her ex-husband.

Nigel and Jaxon were working the day Juliette went missing, and Caitlyn looked after her sick mother. All three had solid alibis for the night that Juliette was murdered. There was no chance that any of them could have been involved.

Ned followed Louise into the briefing room, where Bill Clements stood at the front next to Tank. Clements stepped forward. “I know you are all doing the best you can. It’s not easy investigating while you’re grieving. Marty, you have been cleared to return to work immediately, and you’ll need counselling over the coming weeks. Tank has kept me current on all matters concerning the case. I don’t need to give you all a pep talk. You aren’t a football team. You’re all doing your best, so keep up the excellent work”.

Tank stepped forward, and as always, all eyes were on him. “Ned, I need you to investigate anyone that Nadine Kerr is associated with in Sydney. She’s over from Port Adelaide, her husband is flying over as we speak. Nadine has been looking after her sick sister for the last fortnight, she had a brain embolism and isn’t well. Nadine took the family dog for a play in the park; the dog returned without her”.

“Our discussion with Nigel Tarver didn’t go as well as hoped. I believe he’s innocent of all knowledge of Juliette’s disappearance and death. Louise, how are you getting on with the new profile”?

Louise stood up and cleared her throat, “Ned and I have compiled a better one than last time Tank. We are dealing with a Satanic cult or church. Ned has scoured the internet for web pages that might lead us in a general direction, none to be found in Sydney or surrounding areas”. Louise had taken the website down and any searches that led to the site had an error message page instead. “The leader of the cult, as with all cults, is a religious zealot who is only interested in cash”. She looked up before continuing, “High ranking politicians, doctors, lawyers and even police officers participate in the cult’s everyday workings. Ned has found a grimoire on the internet. I will let him inform you of his findings. The cult does not follow the modern-day Satanic rules. It is based more on medieval beliefs and sprinklings of black magic. The unsub k********g the sacrificial women is a professional in medicine and has an offsider in law enforcement. A woman helps with the make-up and concealer”. Louise finished and sat back down. Snake was Louise’s cousin. She had no intentions of putting a spotlight on him.

As Ned stood, he looked around the room and saw all eyes were on him. Not being a confident person, he always found it difficult to speak in public. “I found a remnant of a grimoire on a medieval site about paganism and the occult. A grimoire is a book of magic spells, invocations, and rituals. I haven’t found the actual book yet. When I do, from the information on the internet, I believe it will be a ritual where a young woman is defiled and sacrificed for each of the fallen angels cast out of heaven. I will send you all a copy of the ritual when I find it in its entirety. It’s called "The Destruction of Religious Conviction”.

“Percy Moore had been arrested for urinating in public and resisting arrest. While in lock-up, he told an officer that he would be sorry because his saviour Satan would smite him. The officer was intrigued and asked him how that would happen. There was no such entity as Satan. Percy disagreed, telling him that he worshipped Satan at a church in South Docks. The officer then replied that there were no churches in South Docks. Percy told him it was in a large shed in an older man’s backyard. When questioned about the incident the next morning, Percy had no recollection of anything he said. Also, Nadia Shahi’s partner Yasmine Afshar had her life support turned off at 8 p.m. last night and passed peacefully”. Ned finished and sat down.

Tank said, “I say it every time, Ned. Impressive work. You have found a new home in the homicide squad when this is over if you will accept it. Tom, did you find anything at the park”?

It was Tom Williams’s turn to talk, although he did not stand. “The same assailant abducted the woman at the park as the one from the school. The same boot and sneaker print and size as the ones we found at the church were present in the dirt. A large body had also been lying on the ground. We found a chocolate bar wrapper and a foil pie container. We have sent both off to the lab, awaiting results on those and the gum and piece of cloth at the school. There must be trace DNA on at least one of the objects. We took a mould of the tyre tread marks. We may be able to narrow down the model and make of the van”. Tom sat back and interlocked his fingers on top of his head.