Abacus

murderer was only taking out the garbage for him.
    He closed the small book, looked out into the office to ensure he wasn’t being watched and slid it back in the same place, between the folders. He wasn’t sure what to do with it, but he certainly didn’t want to tip off the killer by removing it. His primary concern was the unwanted attention this could generate for DL and himself. He didn’t want to raise it with DL until he found out more. It had to be business as usual until he decided what his next move was to be.
    Later in the afternoon he was in the Fishbowl enjoying his eighties music on his beaten and terribly uncool clock radio. He looked up to see Jesse at his door. “Come in, mate.”
    Looking at the old clock radio , Jesse smiled. “Nice tunes. You really spare no expense when it comes to your music, do you?”
    “W hat’s wrong with it? I’ve had it for about ten years now, and it still does the job.”
    “Look at it; it’s got paint and crap all over it.”
    “Yeah , I take it home when I’m doing renos, it’s quite versatile.”
    Jesse nodded his head to the beat of the music. “You’re big on your eighties, aren’t you?”
    “Isn’t everyone ?”
    “ You know, with your busy lifestyle you should go for a bit of calming music, maybe a little classical stuff. It helps me to relax when I get out of here.”
    “Class ical music, are you fair dinkum?” Randall asked, a little shocked that Jesse had a shred of sophistication about him.
    “Yeah , I was going out with a girl who was right into it. She used to play it all the time and I got hooked. I’ll bring some in for you if you like.”
    “No, no , mate, thanks for the offer, but I am a meat and potatoes man when it comes to my tunes. You can keep that fancy stuff to yourself.”
    As they discussed the brief of evidence against Cheung and Hoskings, Randall found himself looking at Jesse with some suspicion. He was no longer sure who to trust in the office. The black lines had really rattled him. “Now the fun begins,” he said, leaning back in his chair.
    “Yeah , as they are both bail refused they want me to serve a mini brief of evidence in the next fortnight.”
    “Well , the background and police ones are pretty straightforward. You might have to ride the forensic guys, though, with their workload. I don’t think two weeks will be enough,” Randall said, trying his best to be positive.
    “ And they really are the important ones,” Jesse said, rocking back in his chair. At that moment, Hobbs appeared in the doorway.
    “Well , if it isn’t the giant. Fee, fi, fo, fum. Come in, Hobbsy,” Randall called out merrily. Randall watched as Hobbs entered the room.
    Surely it couldn’t be the giant. H e’s a bible basher. But he is a big strong bastard with a quick temper.
    “I hope I am not interfering or anything,” Hobbs said apologetically.
    “No, no , you’re right,” Jesse said. “We were just talking about serving the brief for the lovebirds.”
    “Well , I have some news on Nurse Helen.”
    “G o ahead,” Randall said, hoping for the best.
    “S he has gone O.S.”
    “O.S? Where to?” Jesse inquired.
    “Sh e has gone to Vietnam, on a one-way ticket.”
    Randall sat silently. “What are you thinking about, boss?” Jesse asked.
    “There is no extradition treaty with Vietnam ,” he said, raising his eyebrows.
    “Well , I didn’t think about that, but you know it is a pretty popular destination these days. It may be nothing.”
    “But to travel to a country with no extradition treaty on a one-way ticket is very sus,” Jesse added.
    “It just gets fucking better and better,” Randall said angrily.
    “Listen , boss, I’ll ring the jail, see if we can have a chat to Hoskings about Helen, he might just give us some more info,” Jesse offered.
    “Ok ay,” Randall replied, looking out the window. “But don’t rely on Helen’s innocence or guilt on the fact that the lovebirds didn’t talk about her at the listening post.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because they were onto us,” Hobbs said firmly.
    “How do you know? ” Jess asked.
    “Long story , but we are sure she was the cat purring into the microphone. Cheung does not own a cat, there was no cat bowl at home when we arrested her, and she was dressed as a cat when I rooted her. So she was onto us and was playing her crazy games at our expense.”
    Jesse shook his head. “For real.”
    “Yep, it appears that way.”
    “She is mad as a