CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Ben sat in his car staring at Anna’s front door. Through
the lounge room window he could see the glow of the
television, soft streams of multi coloured light danced
around the room, bounc-ing off one wall before hitting
another. A million thoughts crowded his head, confusing
him. The ‚Foetus Snatcher‛ had claimed yet another victim
and he was still no closer to solving the murders of the
first two women. No matter how he thought it through,
no matter how he twisted it around, all leads kept
returning to the wellness clinic and Anna.
She worked for them, she counselled all their clients and
had intimate knowledge of them. Had she seen Marla
too? Surely she would have mentioned it if she had? Anna
had been evasive and wasn’t exactly forth coming with any
significant details to date, and Ben couldn’t help but think
that she knew more than she had been telling him. When
he had spoken with her yesterday she had skipped over
Tessa rather quickly, yet she didn’t seem quite as
concerned about Kylie-Anne. Nothing made sense to him,
but then nothing ever did with Anna.
He opened the car door and stepped out onto the street,
he knew it was late but what he needed from Anna
couldn’t wait. He wanted to strike while the iron was hot
and while Marla’s murder was fresh in his mind, driving
him to investigate. The door to his Chevy slammed shut
and without locking it, Ben strode to her gate, up her
front steps and he beat heavily on her door. It was time to
get some answers and he was determined that Anna was
going to give them to him.
Anna opened the door and flicked on the porch light.
"Ben…"
"Why didn’t you tell me Marla was a client?" he hissed at
her, no pleasantries exchanged.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
"Listen, Ben, I don’t have to take this from you…"
"Get your coat, Anna," he ordered.
"What?"
"I’m bringing you in for questioning, get your coat and
let’s go."
"Don’t be ridiculous, I’m not going anywhere with you."
Ben pulled his handcuffs from the holder on the side of
his belt and held them in one hand. “Anna Jameson, I am
placing you under arrest for…”
“Ben please, wait… Ok, ok.” she backed away and held the
door open for him to enter.
Relief washed over him, he had nothing to charge her with
and was doing his best to bluff a response from her. It
had worked.
“What is this about Marla? What has she got to do with
anything?” asked Anna, closing the door behind him. She
then walked back to the lounge, grabbed for the remote
control and switched off the television before sitting
down.
“Listen very hard, Anna. The lies stop now! This is not a
game and I am not playing… Do you understand me?”
“What’s going on, Ben? You’re scaring me.”
“Marla is dead and I know she was pregnant. Why didn’t
you tell me she was a client of yours?”
“No, no, no…” Anna rocked back and forth on the lounge
with her arms wrapped around herself. “What is going on
here? Why are my clients being picked off one by one?”
“You tell me, they’re your clients!” he said, seating himself
in a recliner opposite her. “There’s something you’re not
telling me, and I need to know what it is. More women will
die if you don’t start talking Anna.”
“I can’t… I don’t know any…”
“Damn it woman! Do you even care what is happening to
these girls?”
“Of course I care. But there’s nothing I can do about it, I’m
not killing them.”
“Did you bother to take another look at your case files?”
“Yes I took another look at them,” she spat back at him.
“And…”
“And I didn’t find anything helpful about Tessa or Kylie-
Anne.”
“What about Marla? What was her deal?”
“She was going to terminate and that’s all I know Ben,
truly it is. She was just out of an unsuccessful
relationship, the father of her baby didn’t know she was
expecting and that’s as much as she told me about that.”
Ben stared deep into her eyes, his gaze unabating. “What
does that mean? About that? Did she talk about
something else, is it something to do with Dr. Sugars
and the wellness clinic?”
Anna looked away, biting down hard on her lip.
“For God sake Anna, tell me what you know.”
She pulled her knees up tightly to her chest and cradled
them with her arms. “When she was leaving, Marla,
happened to mention the murders and how the police
had been to the clinic a few times asking questions… She
said it was making her nervous. When I asked her why,
she wouldn’t answer me.”
“Then what?” Ben pushed her for more details.
“I told her that I knew one of the detectives working on the
case and that if she wanted to tell them anything that he
would be the best one to speak to.”
“Did she say anything more?”
“She asked for the name of the policeman and I gave her
yours,” she said, gesturing towards him with her hand.
“She said that she had met you briefly and that she felt
that she couldn’t talk to you.”
“Why would she think that?”
“I don’t know, she wouldn’t elaborate. But I gave her your
mobile number anyway and told her to think about it.”
“Think hard Anna, when did you give her my number?”
“I saw her late yesterday afternoon.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this last night? If you knew she
wanted to talk to someone, don’t you think you should
have told me?” Ben’s anger was beginning to rise. “It’s
things like that Anna, that make it hard for me to trust
you or believe anything you say to me.”
“You make me sound like I am a suspect Ben,” she cried.
“You are a suspect!‛ He rose from his chair and paced the
floor. ‚Don’t you get it? Women are dying and you’re lying
to me.”
“I didn’t lie to you… I just didn’t tell you.”
“Don’t sugar coat it, omission is just deceit in disguise.
You don’t give me a hell of a lot of reason to trust you
anymore.” He stopped pacing and glared at her. “Marla
tried phoning me last night and I missed her call.”
“Oh Jesus,” whispered Anna.
“Now she’s dead, murdered, and I could have prevented it
if I had known earlier that she wanted to talk.”
“You don’t know that for certain Ben…”
“No? And neither do you.‛ he bent over and leaned in close
to her face, staring deep into her eyes. ‚I guess now we’ll
never know will we?”
Anna pushed him back and leapt from the lounge, tears
welling in her eyes. “Don’t you dare do that to me Ben,
that’s not fair and you know it.”
“Not fair? You withheld information from me that could
have saved her life and you’re talking to me about being
fair!”
She slapped his face hard, then pulled her hand back and
covered her mouth.
“I should have known what to expect from you Anna,
always looking out for yourself.” He walked to the door,
his face stinging from her attack. “Rest assured that I
know you are hiding something… And I am damn well
going to find out what it is!” He flung the front door open
so hard that it banged against the inside wall before
bouncing off, and closing shut after him.
Back in his Chevy, he pulled out his phone and dialed
Jay’s number.
“Benny, how are ya doing?” Jay’s cheery voice greeted
him.
“Well you certainly sound on top of the world. I guess your
date went well,” Jay replied, happy for his partner.
“Sure am and it sure did. Just dropped her home and I’m
heading home myself.”
“That’s great, Jay. I’m pleased for you.”
“Thanks mate, but how are you holding up? We got a time
for Marla’s autopsy yet?”
“I’m ok, a little frustrated maybe. These murders are
escalating, Marla’s the third victim in less than a month
and there’s no sign of the killer slowing down.” He sighed
heavily and adjusted his rear view mirror. “The autopsy is
pencilled in for eight am, you want me to take this one?”
“I’ll take it. I was there for Kylie-Anne’s autopsy. This one
won’t be much different.”
“Thanks, Jayy. I’m not much in the mood for more
gruesome sights after today.”
“Hey, No problem.” Jay chirped back.
“You sound awfully chipper, what’s up?” Ben asked.
“I have some big news for ya, are ya sit-ting down?”
Ben fell silent.
“You still there, Ben?”
“Yeah, I’m here. Sorry about that, what’s your news?”
“I’m gonna be a Daddy! Danni’s pregnant.”
“Really? Oh wow, that is big news. Congratulations are in
order then.”
“They sure are. Not the best time to be finding out
though, with this particular case and all, but I’m excited
just the same. You at home?”
“No, I’m sitting out the front at Anna’s. Turns out Marla
saw her yesterday and said she wanted to talk to
someone about the investigation. Anna didn’t feel it was
important enough to inform me of that little piece of
information when I questioned her last night!”
“Christ, Ben. There is something not right with her. I know
she’s your ex and all but…”
“But what?”
“Look, don’t hate me when I tell ya ok? You know I’d have
done the same with any other unco-operative suspect or
possible witness that was playing difficult with us.”
“Hell, Jayy, what have you done?” Ben’s tone was low and
steady.
“I had a background search done on her,” he blurted out.
Ben fell back against his seat and said nothing. “Why
would you do that? Go behind my back with it?”
“I didn’t mean for it to happen that way… I just thought
that if I did one without you knowing I could see that she
had nothing to hide and then I could save you all the
heartache of dredging up her past. I was trying to rule her
out without you getting hurt Ben, I’m sorry.”
He spoke icily, “So now you have ruled her out then?”
“Not exactly.”
“What does that mean?”
“I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, I only got the call
tonight to say it’s complete. I was gonna check it out in
the morning.”
“You do that Jay.”
“Ben, please… Don’t be like this, this is our job, not some
personal vendetta.”
“Isn’t it? You never liked Anna.”
“That’s true, I admit it. But I am grasping at straws here,
we both are. We need every little piece of information we
can get on just about everyone tied in with these killings,
that includes Anna!”
Ben switched the phone to his other ear and let out a
deep breath. “You’re right Jayy, I’m sorry. I know you
wouldn’t use police resources just because you have an
axe to grind with her. It’s just this case, it’s really getting
to me, y’know?”
“Yeah, I know.”
“You’ll be sure to let me know if there’s anything relevant
to the case in her file then?”
“Of course, Ben and I’ll be sure to let you know if there
isn’t. I’m sorry about going behind your back, it won’t
happen again.”
“I understand why you did, I probably would have done
the same.” He rubbed his throbbing temples and then
continued. “Anyhow, I can feel a brain-bleeder coming on,
I’m gonna shove off home and get some rest… See you
tomorrow?”
“Sure, I’ll be in touch after the autopsy. Night.”
Ben switched his phone off and threw it on the passenger
side seat. He turned the key in the ignition, looked out
into the darkness before him and switched on the
headlights.
“Bloody hell!” His heart jumped into his mouth and his
pulse raced. “Anna, you scared the shit out of me.”
Anna stood on the street in front of his Chevy, her hands
pressed flat on the bonnet. “There is something I found
today that may be important.”
Ben cut the engine and got out of the car, he walked over
to Anna and looked into her eyes, searching them for any
hint of untruth. He found nothing, she seemed genuine.
“Come on,” he said taking her by the arm, “Let’s go back
inside.”
Anna poured them both a strong cup of coffee and placed
hers on the dining room table, she stepped into her office
and emerged with a thin manila folder in her hand. She
passed it to Ben and began to speak.
“I don’t know if this is anything or not, so don’t go off half
cocked, interrogating Rose.”
“Ok. Tell me what you’re thinking.” Ben was now much
calmer and ready to listen.
“Rose referred a young homeless girl to me a while ago,
she was about six weeks pregnant and wanted a
termination. She turned up for her initial consult and told
me she was going to proceed with the abortion because
she was too young and couldn’t even support herself let
alone a baby.”
“How old was she?” Ben asked.
“She said seventeen, but I’m more inclined to believe she
was only about fifteen. At least that’s all she looked to be.”
“Go on.”
“She was scheduled in for her procedure the day after I
saw her and was due to come back to me for her follow up
consultation the next week. When she didn’t show I
became concerned and phoned the clinic to enquire
about her.”
“What happened?”
“Marla nearly bit my head off, that’s what happened! She
ranted and raved at me that I had no right to be checking
up on them and that if the girl didn’t return, it was no
longer my concern. She then told me to mind my own
business and just worry about the girls that do show up.”
“So she offered no explanation? Did she say whether the
girl had even undergone the termination?”
“She told me nothing. I have no idea what happened to
her. But a few days later Rose phoned me and acted all
concerned about the girl and said that she hadn’t arrived
for her procedure. She then went on to ask if I had seen
her again. I told her I hadn’t and then she instructed me
to allow the girl back in if she returned to my office and
she would pay the fee.”
“If she was a client of the clinic that would be normal
practice though wouldn’t it?”
“Normally yes, but usually the clinic will only spring for a
second consult after the termination had been carried
out. I’ve dealt with Rose for nearly a year now and that
little act of charity seemed very out of character or her.”
Anna lifted her coffee cup to her lips and took a sip. “I only
mention it because you said that anything trivial to me
could be a break for you. You don’t think this girl could
have been murdered too, do you?”
Ben held up the folder, “May I keep this?”
“Sure, I made that copy for you. There’s nothing about our
discussion in there, just her name and the name of the
homeless shelter she usually stays at.”
He flipped the jacket open and glanced at the crumbs of
information Anna had thrown to him. “Sarah Robertson?”
“Yes, that’s her. She’s about five foot, four inches, light
brown, shoulder length hair, green eyes and has one of
her front teeth missing.”
Ben looked up at her, his eyebrow raised.
“A fight over a blanket apparently,” Anna responded.
“Showsdale Youth Hostel is where she was last staying, I
don’t know if she’s still there though.”
He hadn’t touched the coffee Anna had made him, his
head was pounding way too much already to ingest
another additive. Closing the folder, Ben pushed his chair
back and got up.
“Thank you, I’ll see what pans out.‛ His demeanour was
still quite cool towards her and he had no intention of
playing into her game of "I’ll tell you what you want to
know if you be nice to me again.”
She had played that game with him once to often and he
didn’t like the rules. He rolled the folder into a cylinder,
stuffed it in the inside of his jacket and walked to the
door.
“Ben.” she cried after him.
He turned and faced her again. “Yeah, I know… You’re
sorry.”
He pulled the door open and left without another word.