Lucifer's Apostles

Lucifer's Apostles Episode 22

“That’s one thing that I refuse to do. I’m no assassin. I hate killing ants”, Snake confessed, “I feel for you, Maria. I wish it were Helena in here, not you. I just checked in to see how you were. You look drained. You should have a nap”.

Maria nodded her head. There was no chance she would tell him why she looked that way. Instead, she replied, “You look tired too”. He was. He left her to rest.

***

Bill Clements walked into Tank’s office and sat down. He looked at Tank, who was in conversation with a young woman that Bill had never seen before. She was explaining something to Tank that Bill had no idea of. She was a lively little ray of sunshine. She had bleached blonde hair with blue and pink streaks. She was as skinny as a broom handle. When she raised her arm, Bill noticed she had forgotten to bleach her underarm hair.

When she finished what she was saying, she turned to Bill with a ‘Who are you look on her face?’. Her face and body needed a good feed, a bath, and some deodorant. She reached out her skeleton-like fingers for a handshake and said, “Hi, I’m Kypoira. You can call me Ky”. Bill wondered if she would even hit forty kilograms on the scales.

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Inspector Clements”, he said. “I don’t want to sound rude, but I need to talk to Tank for a few moments alone”.

“That’s not rude. I’ve seen rude, and it’s a little different, trust me”. Kypoira turned back to Tank and said, “It sounds difficult. Trust me, it’s not. I’ll have whoever it is in your arms as soon as I chuck out a net to catch them. Nice to have met ya, Tank, you too, Clemmo. I’ll catch ya round like a doughnut. Don’t get caught in the hole”. That said, Kypoira walked out the door and shut it as she went.

Tank looked after her in astonishment, “You have just met a bogan hippy”, he said, starting to laugh. Bill laughed with him. They both knew it was not a day for laughter. Some things were funny. “I don’t want to sound nasty. I was glad you got here when you did. Her body odour was horrid”.

“What happened today, Tank? Four dead bodies, including two of our own, the press is all over it. There’s no media blackout anymore. We need to make a statement. I got swarmed coming in here. I asked them to give me half an hour, and we’ll hold a press conference”. Bill stopped, composed himself and continued, “Do you want to do it or me”?

Tank walked around his desk before sitting in the chair that Kypoira had just occupied. “It depends on what you want them to hear, Bill. I’m not going to tell them everything we know”.

“What do we know?” Bill asked him. Tank told him everything that had transpired today, finishing with the suspicion of a mole. “You are serious? Tank a mole in the task force and one in Wollongong”?

“I didn’t say in the task force, nor did I accuse anyone at Wollongong. That’s what Ky was here for. She’s going to set a trap. Ned Patterson gave me her name. I asked him for help even though I knew he would refuse. Not because he didn’t want to but because of his loyalty to Louise. Ned gave me Kypoira’s number, I called her, and here we are”, Tank said.

Bill looked a little bewildered for a man in his position. “You think it’s Louise?” he asked. Before Tank could answer, he said, “In a process of elimination, it’s not me, nor is it you. It’s not Pete. I would rather him a living suspect. It’s not Marty. He nearly copped a bullet himself. Lisa Blythe was with you the whole time. That leaves Tom Williams, Deng, Mary, Katie, Louise, and Ned Patterson. Did I miss anyone”?

“Owen O’Donnell and Chief Superintendent Hawkins” Tank answered. “Katie didn’t know, no one had told her”.

“That leaves seven. I’ve known everyone for years except Louise Harrigan and Ned Patterson”, Bill said, “Joe Hawkins and I came through the academy together. He’s godfather to my eldest daughter Charlene. I have overseen you, Deng, Mary, Pete, and Marty for years. I have co-operated with Tom on countless cases, and we play golf every chance we get. I know you and Katie are close. I often think what a fabulous couple you would make. I keep forgetting Owen O’Donnell. I met him for the first time yesterday”.

“I hadn’t met Owen before yesterday either. He’s never around when I need him, and suddenly, he shows up. He had asked if he could come in after lunch. He wanted to watch his son play tennis. I needed him in here. He said his sister could take him. He’s having problems at home. I made sure Katie and Tom were at the school. I need them on this case. If there is a body every two days, we have less than forty-eight hours before we find the next one. You know as much as I do now, I’m not sure how much you tell Chief Superintendent Hastings. I’ll leave that up to you. You can do the press conference. You’ve always been better at public speaking than me”, Tank said without much emotion.

“I’ll tell Joe everything, Tank. I trust him as you trust me. You know you don’t need to be formal with Joe or myself. Only in front of other officers do we expect to be called sir. Louise got the profile wrong the first time. Even geniuses can make mistakes. Ned worked out the algorithm that put everything into progress. As a process of elimination and not an assumption, I would keep an eye on Owen O’Donnell and whoever sent him over from missing persons. Joe did tell me he wanted Louise on the task force. I trust his judgement”, Bill said as he was standing. He turned and gave Tank a two-fingered salute to his forehead as he left.

Tank stayed in the chair he had been sitting in, thinking, Owen O’Donnell. If it was good enough for Bill, it should be good enough for him. Except for this instance, it was not.

*****

Snake had an idea, and he needed Jacko for this one. He messaged him to say they would have to move fast before the new help arrived. Jacko met him at the van, “Could you move any slower?” Snake asked him when he got there.

“I could. I was going flat out”, Jacko replied. Snake thought of the English comedian Benny Hill, who would hit a little bald man on the top of his head with a hat. He would like to beat Jacko like that a lot of the time. Snake’s father would watch Benny Hill DVDs for hours, laughing so hard Snake worried he would have a heart attack.

“Get in the van,” Snake told him.

“Where are we going, Boss?” Jacko asked.

“We’re going to the running track I showed you. The one Maria would run around. It’s Saturday. There must be at least one woman there. If we don’t find someone, I will pick up a hooker tonight”, Snake confided.

“If you’re gonna get a hooker, can I come? Tipsy’s on tonight. She can manage by herself and the two newies or whatever you said. They’ll be around too”. Jacko sounded sad, Snake thought.

“I said newbies, not newies. We have to prove to Ruby we can do this”, Snake was being honest. He had told Ruby the same thing. “We need to show them all that we’re not expendable”.

“I liked that movie”, Jacko said. They drove the rest of the way, discussing the best action movies they had each watched. When they got to the track, a woman was stretching. There was also a woman playing with her dog and another with two little ones and a pram strolling across the green grass. It was too risky, so he asked Jacko to drive them to a corner shop he had found earlier in the week. They both got ice cold drinks, chocolate bars and an ice cream while Jacko bought two large packets of potato chips as well.