Abacus

has ever been a patient at Gladesville Psychiatric Ward?”
    “I sure can. Won’t be a minute, I’ve just got to go to the other room.” Both detectives followed every move of the confident woman as she left the room.
    Once she was out of hearing , Randall leaned back against the wall, put his arm around Hobbs’s shoulder, and gave some fatherly advice. “Big fella, I know you’re young, muscular and do all right with most young fillies, but sometimes the ladies with a bit more class are looking for a little more out of life. Along with the physical appeal, these women are looking for the intellectual stimulus that only a man who possesses strong character, weathered good looks and life experience can provide. Capiche?”
    Hobbs smiled, which gradually progressed into a chuckle, then to a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Looking up at the ceiling, he tried to compose himself, then repeated the words, “Weathered good looks,” which set him off again. He wiped the tears, which were now welling in his eyes and slowly gained control. In order to prevent a further relapse, he looked all over the room, anywhere except at Randall.
    “What?” Randall said.
    “Please don’t talk again, you’re going to set me off.”
    “Just some fatherly advice, mate, take it or leave it.”
    While waiting for her to return, Randall sat and thought about the possible psych ward connection between Nurse Florence and Cheung. He would have liked to have asked her if she knew Cheung, but knew it was too early in the investigation to do so. He didn’t want to run the risk of Cheung being tipped off.
    Hobbs looked up at the various certificates on the wall behind the desk. “She’s forty-one, boss.”
    Randall looked at her degree on display. “I guessed about that.”
    “You would n’t pick it, though, would you?”
    “I did.”
    Hobbs gave him a look of disbelief. “What do you reckon about this mad guy, boss?”
    R andall looked out into the ward. “Don’t know, big fella. I thought if he had been at Gladesville Hospital there may have been a slight chance he might have met Cheung, or even the victim, for that matter. Chances are that he read the same article the nurse has, and may have written himself into the lead role. Anyway, when she comes back, get all the details, then we’ll go back and do a bit of background on him and take it from there.”
    “No , fellas, Mr. Terrence McGlynn has only been here once before, for a similar problem,” she announced, reading from a folder.
    “Thanks for that,” Hobbs said. “What we propose to do is get some details of your conversation with him and his personal details. Then we will go back and do a bit of background on him and we will let you know what happens from there.” Nurse Florence handed Hobbs the file with the personal details of the patient, which he transcribed into his notebook.
    Now that Hobbs was occupied, Randall started with a little harmless chat. “So how long have you been a nurse, Helen?”
    “Oh, I’m a bit embarrassed to say, it gives my age away,” she replied coyly.
    C’mon, love, I know you’re forty-one .
    After a moment ’s silence, she relented. “All right, twenty years, but I started training quite young.”
    “Well , I’ve been at this for twenty-five years myself,” he said, drawn to her beautiful bright eyes.
    “Well , they say you can’t beat experience, don’t they?” she said with a smile.
    Randall felt very much at ease talking with her. As she looked down at Hobbs writing, he quickly took the opportunity t o look again at her ring finger. He was pleased to see there was no obvious white tan mark or indentation to indicate that she wore a wedding band away from work.
    When Hobbs finished his writing, he confidently slid his business card across the table and explained, “Well, this is my card, Helen, I will be in contact. If you have any further info, give me a call, okay?”
    “Well , if you are not available, do you have a card, Detective?” she said, looking innocently at Randall.
    “I sure do,” he said, pulling a card from his wallet and placing it directly on top of Hobbs’s. “Of course, you can always get me on my mobile for a little chat.”
    “Thanks,” she said , picking up Randall’s card to read, leaving Hobbs’s on the table.
    “Well , we’d better get going then,” Randall said, looking into the ward. “Any sign of Harold out there, big fella?”
    “No… I think the coast is clear if we