Abacus

get something for you tomorrow.”
    “N ice,” Randall said, enjoying his straightforwardness.
    “Where are we up to with missing p ersons, Georgie?” Jesse asked eagerly.
    Georgie G adjus ted his tie before he commenced. “We have shortlisted recent missing persons throughout the city and outskirts who had similar identifiable features, to about six. We are in the process of collecting DNA profiles from the relatives of those six. Leanne has arranged for the head to be tidied up to allow for a presentable photo to be taken. This photo will be shown to family members of those missing people.”
    “Al l right. We’re done,” Jesse said, abruptly closing the briefing.
    * * *
    Back in his office, Randall opened up the carefully folded newspaper, leant back in his chair, and flicked through it. On page two, he saw their current homicide investigation was the feature article. REMAINS FOUND IN BOTANY RIVER. He read through the article and laughed to himself at how the reporter was able to fill half a page with total waffle. It was a true gift. The reporter had little to no information and just filled the article with comments from local residents. As he tossed the paper into the bin, the landline phone on his desk rang.
    “Detective Sergeant Randall speaking.”
    “ Detective, this is Warden Clarrie Hall from Corrective Services speaking.”
    “Yes,” he said eagerly.
    “We are ringing to let you know that the inmate Terry Jenkins has had a Court Ordered Parole Order made against him, meaning the Parole Board will meet next week to consider his release date, regardless of his wishes.”
    “Okay ,” Randall said, trying to hide his enthusiasm.
    “As the surviving victim , the board requires your thoughts on his release in writing.”
    “ Warden, you will have that by day’s end. There is no way I will stand in the way of his release. He has paid the price for the murders and he should be allowed to be free back into the community. All is forgiven.”
    “Okay, D etective, you can email [email protected] if you’d like to and we will let you know the day the board is sitting. That is if you would like to be present.”
    “T hank you for letting me know, warden, it is much appreciated.”
    Randall hung up the phone, got to his feet , punched the air and yelled, “Yeessssss!” He walked around his room in circles with a huge smile on his face. He was overjoyed. Finally Jenkins was to be released. This was the news he had been waiting to hear for over thirty years, which meant he now had some serious planning to do. Sitting down, he leant back and looked up at the ceiling; he couldn’t believe the day of his release was finally close.
    An invigorated and high-spirited Randall marched from the Fishbowl and into the Task Force office where he joined Jesse who was working his way through a high pile of paperwork. “What do you have there, Jesse?”
    “Bloody Crime Stopper letters from the public , hundreds of them.”
    Randall picked up a letter and read it. Shaking his head he said, “I don’t know why, but whenever there is a call for public assistance it is a signal for every mad bastard in the community to become a super sleuth. Sure, there may be the odd useful one here, but for every good one there are two hundred I wouldn’t wipe my backside with.” Jesse nodded. “You might have to get the analyst to go through these once he identifies that phone number,” Randall suggested subtly.
    “Yeah , you’re right. I just had a spare minute and was having a quick flick to see what we had here. I haven’t seen anything groundbreaking yet.”
    “Spea k of the devil,” Randall said.
    An outwardly happy Michael walked in reading a piece of paper. “What? Did you get a shag last night or something?” Jesse asked.
    “Better than that,” he said a little uncomfortably.
    “What could possibly be better than a shag?” Randall asked , trying to further embarrass him.
    “I’m sure I have tracked down the rest of the phone number found in the bag.”
    “How do we know it is right?” Randall asked.
    “We go t down to the final two numbers. I called one of them and spoke to a woman who is a university student at the Sydney University. She says that her mobile phone number is a new one, and she had written down her number to a few of her friends. When we explained the situation and gave her a description of the victim, she said that it sounded like a friend named Tony Briggs. Tony had been