Abacus

too carried away at this early stage. We will look at it as a missing person to start with, and if the need arises we will up the ante.”
    Georgie G fidgeted awkwardly in his seat. “Boss, there is something else I haven’t told you and I don’t think you are going to like it.”
    “What’s that? ” Randall asked cautiously, sucking the coffee from his moustache.
    Georgie G pulled a small red diary from his top pocket and placed it on the table in front of him. “I found his diary in the unit.”
    Randall looked at the diary. He wasn’t sure how the innocuous book could be of any interest.
    “In the diary he says you bashed him in the toilet of the Edinburgh pub and tried to drown him in the urinal and that you’re gonna kill him.”
    Randall sipped his coffee and thought about his next move. If he admitted the bashing, he was effectively a suspect in Georgie G’s eyes. If he said n othing, he was a suspect with questionable credibility. After some consideration he asked craftily, “Well, what do you think happened, Georgie?”
    Georgie G lo oked out the window momentarily, then back at Randall. “Well, if you did, he bloody deserves a lot more than that.”
    Seeing that Georgie G was open to his side of the story, Randall decided to come clean. He hoped that their long association would hold him in good stead. “Yeah, Georgie, after you told me about the court matter, I gave him a touch up. But only because he was chatting up two women in the pub, and I thought he was going to get up to his old tricks and rape them. But once it was over I left him on the tiled floor, he was very much alive and that was it. That is the truth.”
    Georgie G ran his finger around the rim of the cup as he again looked out the window. “Well , boss, if he is missing and we eventually have a murder investigation on our hands, that diary there is going to cause all sorts of shit for everyone.” The room fell quiet while they both looked down at the diary.
    “Georgie, it’ s up to you what happens from here on in. I’m in your hands. I can’t advise you either way. All I can say is that he was alive and kicking when I left him, otherwise how could he have made the diary entry?”
    Georgie took the last sip from his cup and threw it in the bin. Sliding the diary across the table to Randall, he said, “Boss, I am the only one who knows about its existence. But from this point on it never existed and we never had this conversation.”
    Georgie G left the room as Randall look ed out into the hall before taking hold of the diary and slipping it into his jacket pocket. Getting up from his seat, he again looked along the hall before walking out. Shit … this diary has to go , he thought.
    * * *
    Later that morning, Jesse popped his head through the doorway to the Fishbowl. “Boss, you got a sec?”
    “Sure , come in, mate,” he said, waving him in.
    Jesse looked at Randall with a concerned expression. “Boss, you all right? You don’t look a hundred percent.”
    “No , I’m all right. I’ve been seeing a new girl and we had a huge night a couple of days ago. She’s been a bit of a handful, but in a good way, if you know what I mean.”
    “I see,” he said, grinning.
    “ I’ve had a couple of days off but probably need a few more. I must be getting a bit old for it all,” he said with a tired smile. “Anyway, how can I help you?”
    Jesse lowered himself into the seat opposite. “Well, surveillance have not come up with anything for Cheung or Hoskings, however we do know their movements. He is currently on a job site locally, and she is working a twelve-hour block roster at the hospital.”
    “Okay ,” Randall said attentively.
    “So, now that we have managed to get the listening device warrant, and have the Enmore house wired up, I’m thinking the time is right to get Cheung and lover boy in. What do you think?”
    Randall sp un side on and looked towards the cactus. “Well, Jesse, we do have ongoing surveillance in place, haven’t we?” Jesse nodded. “I think it’s a perfect time to get a version from them. They are probably expecting a visit sooner or later anyway.”
    “I will make a call,” Jesse said. “See if we can get them in this afternoon. Do you want to sit in on the interviews?”
    “S ure, mate, just let me know when and I will leave this afternoon free.”
    Randall felt the outline of the red diary through the outside of his jacket. Whilst it was worrying, he needed to put the