Scorpio's Lot (87 page)

‘I’ll phone the Esplanade now.’
He picked up the phone.

‘Hello, Esplanade Hotel, may I
help you?’

‘Yes, my name is Detective Paul
Marsh. I wish to speak with Piochsa.’

‘One moment please.’

At the request of Forbes, Marsh
put the phone on speakerphone. Following a wait of around twenty seconds, the
irresistible voice of the Hungarian barmaid broke the silence.

‘Hello, Paul. Another nightcap
perhaps?’

‘Hi Piochsa, I’m phoning about
police business.’ Marsh was embarrassed to see his boss’s eyebrows rise.

‘Oh, no Sambuca. How
disappointing,’ she teased.

‘Seriously, I need to see George,
the person you live with. And by the way, you’re on loudspeaker.’

‘George would be at his office
now. What’s this all about, Paul?’ enquired a puzzled Piochsa.

‘I’m hoping he has access to
computer mapping to assist the police.’

‘I have no idea. Do you want me
to phone and find out?’

‘Yes, please. And if he can assist,
would it be possible to see him this afternoon?’

‘One moment and I’ll find out.’

Paul Marsh detected that Piochsa’s
emotional state had made some headway. Unlike Thursday night, her voice now
sounded composed and alert. Perhaps time itself is a healing factor, he
pondered. His observation was best kept to himself, he decided. It wouldn’t
serve any purpose to share this with present company, particularly Forbes.

Still they waited for her return.
Two minutes became three. Forbes paced the length of the office, unable to keep
still. He was the type to keep other people waiting and not be subjected to
this reverse role. His watch read two pm.

‘What’s keeping that woman?’ he
muttered.

Finally they heard Piochsa’s
voice. ‘Are you there, Paul?’

‘Yes.’

‘George can help you but he’s
busy for the next two hours. He suggested you call by his Pitt Street office at
four o’clock.’

‘Thanks, Piochsa. I owe you a
Sambuca,’ offered Marsh and then hung up.

‘Paul, I’ll accompany you at
four,’ said Forbes.

~ * ~

Forbes
and Marsh entered the offices of George Franklin and Associates slightly ahead
of schedule. A bubbly young woman whose bleached hair went in every which
direction greeted the officers at reception. She had huge expressive eyes that
sat below two large streaks of bright orange eyeshadow. The use of heavy black
mascara seemed to emphasise her light-blue eyes. It was as if her eyes were
about to speak before her mouth opened. Looking almost comical, she was a sight
to behold.

‘Can I help you gentlemen?’

‘Detectives Forbes and Marsh to
see Mr Franklin please.’

‘I’ll alert his lordship that the
police have arrived,’ she replied in a chirpy manner.

Chewing away on a piece of gum
she unexpectedly blew a big bubble that burst on reaching its maximum size. The
sound was exceedingly loud, which startled an unappreciative Forbes. By
contrast Marsh was highly amused by her flamboyance. He nudged his superior in
the side to lighten up.

Her big eyes looked at Marsh
after she replaced the phone piece. ‘Georgie won’t be long - about five
minutes. I hope he hasn’t been a naughty boy.’

‘Not at all. We’re here to seek
his help,’ offered the grinning detective.

‘Boy, that’s a relief. I do worry
about Pickles.’

‘Pickles?’

‘I give Georgie a different
nickname for each day of the week. It helps create a happy environment. Today’s
Friday so of course I call him Pickles.’

‘Of course,’ replied a highly
amused Marsh.

Forbes simply glared at the
receptionist, believing her to be some nutcase who was probably no more than
thirty cents in the dollar.

She continued with the theatrics.
A pencil now drawn to her mouth was swirling the gum within. She tried to blow
another bubble, but with the extra effort both pencil and gum were discharged
from her mouth and came to rest on the desk in front of Forbes. Marsh burst out
laughing at his superior’s astonished expression.

‘Sorry about that,’ she said. ‘I
do get carried away at times. My mum always tells me I should concentrate on
one thing at a time.’

Marsh nudged Forbes, as if to
imply this was not the time to respond angrily.

‘No harm done,’ Marsh
acknowledged.

The receptionist continued. Her
mass of bleached hair and bright eyeshadow seem to emphasise her whacky
character.

‘Now let me get this right,
because I’ve been known to mix up the days and names. Monday is Punky Pooh,
Tuesday’s Bugaboo, ah ... Wednesday’s Poopsie, um ... and Thursday’s Moochie.
There, I got them all right! What do you think of -’ She was cut short by the
sound of approaching steps.

A slim man of around forty
stepped forth with an outstretched arm. He wore a grandfather top with
rolled-up sleeves that was heavily printed with computer jargon. He seemed
genuinely pleased to see the two policemen and offered a welcoming smile. He
led Forbes and Marsh through to a rear office. When he closed the door Paul
spoke for both he and Forbes.

‘What was
that?’

‘That was Suzie. She’s a bit
eccentric, but the public loves her. They’re entertained while they’re waiting
for me to show my ugly face.’

‘You can say that again,’ said
Marsh.

‘Who? Suzie or my ugly face?’
asked Franklin with a wide grin.

Forbes had had enough of the
nonsense. He wanted to get straight down to business. ‘Mr Franklin, thank you
for seeing us at such short notice.’

‘Cut the mister crap. Call me
George - everyone else does.’

‘Certainly... George,’ replied
Marsh.

‘So you’re the copper that
Piochsa talks about,’ George said to Marsh. ‘I must say, she’s a good catch if
ever there was one. Both intelligent and downright gorgeous.’

‘Couldn’t agree more,’ said
Marsh.

‘Pity she doesn’t see anything in
this computer nerd. Now, Piochsa mentioned something about computer mapping, so
in what way can I help the force?’

‘Do you have access to this sort
of software?’ queried Forbes.

‘Yes, I can download a program I’ve
kept from my city days.’

‘Good. But in seeking your help
we need to first inform you of some confidential information. This is highly
classified and our discussion must be kept within these walls, understand?’
said the stilted and dramatic Forbes.

‘My word said the bird!’
responded George, trying to keep the matter lighthearted.

Forbes discussed at some length
the submerged three-pointed star and its relevance to the subterranean
passageways. He went on to explain that the site served as Scorpio’s southern
headquarters and incorporated drug storage and a penal institution for those
who threatened the organisation. Marsh was surprised at his superior’s tell-all
approach.

‘Therefore the objective of this
demonstration is to gain some idea where the three entrances may be found,’
Forbes explained.

‘And to think it was some fabled
bullshit,’ said George, taking the mickey out of the pompous Forbes.

‘Okay, so what have we got,
George?’ asked Marsh.

‘This particular program is
called Map Focus and runs on Microsoft Windows,’ he stated, booting up his
laptop. ‘The technology is around five years old, but it should serve the
purpose of highlighting Pedley in all its present-day structure. It’s very
user-friendly and has a multitude of functions, including the ability to add
data to an existing map.’

‘In what way?’ asked Marsh.

‘Let’s say I wanted to know where
bread could be purchased in Pedley. The system will respond by listing known
bakeries and their respective addresses. We can produce maps of the entire town
or specific regions as required. There is also the ability to zoom in and out,
or in other words adjust the map to the preferred scale. We can focus on
landmarks, street intersections, historic sites, water features and so on. The list
is endless.’

Forbes asked, ‘Can you introduce
circles onto the street map?’

‘Certainly, including squares,
oblongs, triangles or whatever it is you wish.’

‘Excellent,’ acknowledged Forbes.

‘So let’s begin. First I need to
enter a postcode to enable Pedley to come up on the screen. Now we’ll search by
way of the intersection you have spoken of.’

George entered Pitt and the
cross-street Williams to locate the desired intersection. To the surprise of
Forbes and Marsh, it suddenly materialised on the monitor. With the
intersection now centralised onscreen, it incorporated the remainder of Pedley
in all four directions.

‘Now what was the scale you
mentioned before?’

Marsh gave him the figures.

‘Good, it works! I was a little
afraid it may only recognise a metric measurement and not imperial,’ declared
George.

‘That’s clever of you.’ said
Forbes.

‘You flatter me, detective. The
system can be operated by a ten year old. Alrighty, what do you want next?’

Forbes produced a template of the
three-pointed star. ‘For the purpose of this exercise the triangle is to the
same scale as the map. I need you to duplicate this exact size and place it
over the map.’

George took a measurement of the
template and following a series of calculations he reproduced an exact replica
on the screen. Under instructions from Forbes, he placed point four at the
precise centre of the intersection and transcribed a circle from one of its
triangular corners.

The three men studied the path of
the ring. It encompassed the main CBD area. The circle was inscribed on a
number of local landmarks, including the TGE Insurance building, Cunningham’s
Nursery and Walters Pharmacy.

‘Keep in mind that point four in
this example is most likely incorrect,’ said Forbes. ‘Remember the clue stated
that it was alongside the intersection and not dead central. Therefore we need
to move our star and circle to one side, but in which direction is anyone’s
guess.’

George moved the superimposed
geometric drawing ever so slightly to the left side of the intersection,
together with a turn of the star. To everyone’s surprise the circle took on a
whole new relevance. Gone were the previous sites, now replaced by a further
set of landmarks. These included O’Riley’s Inn, the Pedley Showgrounds and Hill’s
Automotive Repairs.

‘Bloody hell, it’s frustrating,’
Forbes said. ‘It wasn’t supposed to do that!’

‘Fair suck of the sav, detective.
I’m only moving this star where you’re directing me.’

George was slightly annoyed with
the policeman’s frustration. He again repositioned the central star well and
predictably the circle displayed yet another new set of addresses.

‘We may be close to this point
four,’ stated an observant George, ‘but locations one, two and three present a
new set of challenges. One thing we do know is the first three points are of
equal distance apart.’