Get Charlie Noah

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER TEN

'Detective Inspector Croft isn't here at this time but I can spare a few minutes of my time,' said Detective Senior Constable Meghan Gordon. 'Would you care to follow me?'

'Alright,' said Ben.

'What's in the bag?'

'A small gas powered spear gun,' said Ben.

'Perhaps you should give that to me,' said Meghan.

Ben handed her the green shopping bag containing the spear gun. He followed her down a short hallway. The way her arse moved as she walked was almost hypnotic. Ben forced his eyes away and kept them focused on the thick blond hair in a pony tail at the back of her head. It wasn't in a bun this time. She opened the door to an office and stood aside to let him past. Come into my parlour said the spider to the fly... Ben wondered why that particular saying from his childhood would buzz through his head at this particular time. He walked into the office and sat down on a chair which faced a timber desk. A small vase containing yellow flowers sat on the desk alongside the carved figure of a Balinese fishing man with a net and a spear. Ben had one at his home and they looked almost identical. The Balinese craftsman could churn these things out in less than a day although by the time they were sold to a tourist; many others had taken their cut along the way including the Indonesian police.

Meghan took the small spear gun out of the bag and examined it. 'I don't know much about these things.'

'The spear is missing and I would suggest that it created the blood left behind at Charlie Noah's rented pole house.'

'Would you mind telling me how you got hold of the spear gun?'

'I checked with the hire car companies at Cairns airport and Hertz came up trumps. She left the spear gun in the back of her car.'

'So it wasn't her that got shot?'

'The girl at the Hertz counter says she didn't appear wounded but looked a little apprehensive. The receptionist is Catherine by the way...in case you want to speak with her.'

'Yes,' said Meghan. 'I'll do that. So who got shot?'

'At a rough guess I'd say that Charlie's husband hired someone to get her and he ran into the spear instead.'

'Well he was arrested some hours ago but he didn't stay in custody for too long and he wasn't saying anything. He's out on fairly substantial bail.'

'Has anyone obtained his phone and computer records?' asked Ben.

'I gather that's been done and an analyst will be examining those records when they deal with the injunction.'

'What injunction?'

'Noah went to the Supreme Court after he was released from police custody and had the effect of the search warrant for his records put on hold. He's claiming an invasion of privacy as well as police brutality.'

'What a load of shit,' said Ben.

'He can only stall for so long,' said Meghan. 'If at some stage Reginald Noah can be linked to the attack on Rick Turner he'll be back in custody so fast he won't have time to tie his shoe laces.'

'So it's likely that Charlie Noah has taken off somewhere and a hit man is severely wounded.'

'I'll have all the hospitals and medical centres circulated immediately,' said Meghan getting to her feet. 'This has been very helpful.'

'My pleasure,' said Ben also standing up. 'The spear gun belongs to Rick Turner. He hired it to Charlie Noah.'

'We'll hang onto it for the time being,' said Meghan. 'What do you intend to do now?'