Abacus

was my boyfriend. I’m sorry. Maybe later.” She got to her feet, picked up her handbag, and rushed from the room towards the counter area where her obedient lapdog waited.
    As the teary Cheung embraced Hoskings, Randall held out his business card. “Karen, when you feel up to it, we really need some information from you. Can you give me a ring? The sooner the better.”
    “Why ? What happened in there, love?” Hoskings asked. Removing her handkerchief again, she held it to her mouth, muffling her voice.
    “ You know my ex Tony? He was killed. I’m too upset to talk about it,” she mumbled under the handkerchief. Ms Cheung hesitantly took the card from Randall and carelessly stuffed it into her handbag.
    “Well , if you’re too upset to give us some information, we would like to speak with you also, Peter,” Randall said, fishing for a reaction.
    Cheung look ed at Hoskings and ordered, “Peter, this is very upsetting for me, we really must go. You need to take me home.” With that, Hoskings obediently jumped to his feet and held the station door open, allowing her to exit.
    “Sorry to meet under these circumstances,” Randall said.
    On his way out Hoskings turned and nodded to the detectives, while Cheung looked straight ahead without acknowledging them.
    Once they were gone, Randall put his arm around Jesse’s shoulder as they walked back to the office. “I think that went quite well, Jesse. What do you think?”
    Jesse nodded. “I think we may just have a firm suspect. She couldn’t wait to get out of here, and she definitely made sure he wasn’t saying anything.”
    Entering his office, Randall lowered himself behind his desk. “What was interesting, Jess, was how obedient he was. She said ‘go’ and he jumped.”
    “Y ou got to look at it from his point of view, he is an average-looking guy, and to be honest, she is quite a younger, attractive woman,” Jesse pointed out.
    “I t would appear that it is her way or the highway if he wants to keep her.”
    Jesse stood up and leant on the doorframe. “The murder, dismembering and dumping is too big a job for a woman working alone. If she is the offender, I think our friend Peter has some serious questions to answer.”
    “If they are the offenders,” Randall said , clasping his hands behind his head, “it will be interesting to see just how in love they really are when the chips are down.”
    * * *
    At home that evening, with beer in hand and steel poker in the other, Randall gently stoked the coals of his wood-fired BBQ. Looking around the yard, he could see the fire’s glow illuminate the weathered timber boundary fencing.
    He loved the calming, hypnotic effect that fire had on him. Putting down the poker, he pulled the small red diary from his trouser pocket. This was the first o pportunity he’d had to privately read what Digby had written about him.
    Flicking through the pages to the corresponding date, he read the entry. Last night Detective Sergeant Bob Randall bashed me in the toilet of the Edinburgh Hotel. I was an innocent victim and he punched me and held my head underwater in the piss tray. I thought I was going to drown. He let me up and pushed my head under a second time. I thought I was going to die. He was angry because I got off at court. I am writing this because I think he will kill me. He is crazy and I am very scared.
    “Bloody hell,” Randall whispered. H e wondered what Georgie G must have thought when he first read it. Georgie G had certainly shown great faith in him, even though he thought Digby was dead. His loyalty to Randall was unquestionable. Ripping the pages from the diary, Randall slowly fed the fire, which surged brilliantly with each sheet. Once all the evidence was consumed he watched the glowing embers as they changed colour from red to orange to yellow, then back to red again. The diary was no longer a problem for him, but with the passing of time Georgie G’s suspicions could be.

CHAPTER 17 -LISTEN IN

    “I’m sure you will be very happy with the unit, Mr. Simpson,” the eager real estate salesman spruiked, unlocking the front door and pushing it open for Randall. After walking across the open-plan lounge room he pulled the vertical blinds apart to reveal a balcony with expansive one eighty degree views. Sliding the glass doors open, both men walked out into the brilliant morning sunshine.
    “You get great vie ws here on the tenth floor. Looking to the south you can see Botany Bay and to