ANGELS AND GHOSTS

Cathy

The following morning, Rachael and Mia sat at the table, tapping into the computer.

Rachael brought up the home page for Middleton High School came up, then she frowned. “Fuck, we have to register.” Rachael entered her details, and when they were accepted, she looked at Mia. “We don’t know what year they were in or how old these people are, although you did describe them as young men, so we’ll try the Senior year first.”

Mia nodded, and Rachael typed in; 1985 Yearbook.

The page came up and she entered; Senior year.

The page appeared slowly, forty-odd students smiling back at her.

“There’s a Catherine!” Mia said excitedly.

“She’s a blond dummy, and we’re looking for a dark-haired Catherine.”

“Ohhh there!” Mia pointed.

“Yeah, and another one; two dark-haired Catherine’s.”

Rachael jotted the names down; Katherine McGee, Catherine Clemens.

“So Johnno,” Mia said as she ran her eyes over the names. “John Morgan there and, and John Reilly.”

“Okay, two Johns,” Rachael said, then she shook her head. “You definitely said the Johnno one was a blond, and both of these are dark-haired.”

“Maybe he wasn’t in the same class.” Mia offered.

“For all we know, none of them could be in this class, although there’s one here, Steven Johnson and he has short blond hair.” Rachael noted.

“Okay, Johnson, Johnno.” Mia agreed, “So what next?”

“A short, stocky guy with dark hair.”

They both skimmed across the three rows, Mia shrugging her shoulders, “How short are we looking for?”

“No, not sure, so I’ll just record the names of all the short, dark-haired guys.” Rachael answered, then she counted them off. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven … jeez, a class full of short, dark-haired guys; read out their names.”

Rachael recorded them all down then faced Mia. “You getting anything, I mean do any of them look familiar?”

Mia hunched over as she said, “Rach, I don’t remember anything about it.”

“Okay, well I’ve got a few chores to do,” Rachael said as she stood. “Keep looking at the photo though, just in case something or someone jumps out at you, and also look at the two years below Senior level, and let me know if that triggers something.”

“Sure.”

Thirty minutes later, Rachael knocked on his door and then entered.

“Ohhh, Teriny, how art thou?”

“Get ya dick out.”

“What?”

“I need information quick smart, so you get an up-front blowie to get you motivated.”

“Ohhh yeah baby!” he cheered. “I’ll go and have a shower.”

“Don’t worry about it, just flop it out.”

Marco wheeled across to the couch and pulled himself up, then slid the track pants down. “This is exciting!”

“Did you wank last night?”

“No, no,” he replied timidly, then he said, “Actually, if the truth is what we’re after, I did.”

Twenty minutes later, Rachael rang Mia. “Marco is checking them all now, but who knows how long that’s going to take.”

“Yes, I appreciate that it won’t be easy.”

“Did you look at the other years?”

“Yes.”

“And?”

“Well I’m not getting anything.”

“Alright, maybe keep looking at the Senior year photo, and concentrate on the blond Johnno and the two Catherine’s.”

“I don’t think it’s helping, but I will.”

“I’ll ring you if I hear from Marco.”

“Good, and Rach …”

“What?”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to call in at the school and see if they can give me information about the teachers who would have taught that class.”

“I’m not sure I follow.”

“Well teachers would know which students hung out together, and they might know about nicknames that students had.”

“You’re very clever.”

“Mia, I work for a private detective, and my job revolves around spying on people.”

“Ummm, I thought you did information collection or surveillance work.”

Shit … “Errr, it’s kinda like the same thing.”

*

Rachael hit a few roadblocks at the school; two of the teachers from that year had passed away, and the school had contact details for the only teacher still living in Middleton, although they weren’t prepared to give out the details, “Leave me your contact details Miss Terina, and if the person wishes to contact you, so be it.”

By late afternoon, she called in to see Marco. “How’s it going?”

“Slowly, although the chicks are sorted.”

“Yeah?”

“Katherine Anne McGee is now Katherine Anne Fleming, and she lives in California.”

“Fuck.”

“But Catherine Elizabeth Clemens is still Catherine Elizabeth Clemens, and she still lives in Middleton.”

“You got an address?”

“Of course.”

“Okay, well there’s my starting point.”

“What’s this about?”

Rachael gazed at him, running it through her mind, then she shook her head and replied, “It’s too complicated to explain, but thanks, and keep working on the guys.”

“Will do.”

After she’d got to her apartment and kicked her trainers off, Rachael rang Mia. “Marco got me the addresses of the Catherine’s, and one of them lives in Middleton, so we’ll go and see her tomorrow.”

“Ohhh, you want me to come?”

“I think you should, I mean you might see her in the flesh, and the voice or whatever might go … arhhh …” she paused, then said, “Well shit, yeah, I think you should come.”

“What time?”

“I’ll pick you up at one o’clock.”

*

By one-thirty the next afternoon, Rachael pulled up outside the house.

The property was in the south-east section of Middleton, an area that Rachael wasn’t familiar with. Most country towns had a run-down, slum area, and this part of town was Middleton’s. The houses in this street were crammed together on small blocks, most houses looking like they needed a paint, or repairs, or a bulldozer. Rachael stood at the gate of number 15, waiting for Mia to get out of the car. The front fence was two-foot-high cyclone fencing which Rachael assumed would collapse with a single kick. Along with most properties in the street, the frontage was lucky to be fifty feet, and the weatherboard houses were narrow and small. Number 15 had been painted in a light cream, but after years of neglect, the paint was peeling off most boards. It had single windows on both sides of the front door, and the dirty, faded curtains were closed.

Rachael and Mia walked up on to the portico, and not seeing any buzzer, Rachael went to pull the security door open, but it was locked. She knocked on the weatherboards and called out, “Hello!”

Rachael could hear shuffling footsteps, then the front door opened.

“What you want?” a woman asked.

Rachael couldn’t see her properly through the meshed security door, and she asked brightly, “Hi, we’d like to speak to Catherine Clemens.”

“Wasting ya time girly, I ain’t interested.”

“Sorry?”

“I ain’t interested in whatever ya selling.”

“Ohhh no, we’re not selling anything, we just need to speak to Catherine Clemens.”

“Why?”

“Can we come in?”

“No.”

Rachael was surprised, but regathered quickly. “Are you Catherine Clemens?”

“Who are you?” came the quick reply.

“My name is Rachael, and this is Mia, and we need to speak to Catherine Clemens.”

“I ask again, why?”

“We believe that Catherine can help us with a project we’re working on.”

“What do you mean?”

“Can we come in, and then we’ll tell you about it.”

“You can tell me just as good from where you are.”

Rachael sucked her bottom lip, then said, “Okay, we need to speak to Catherine about an incident that took place in 1985.”

Silence.

Rachael cursed under her breath. She needed to see the woman’s reaction when the year was thrown up, but all she could see was her outline.

“You cops?” the woman asked.

“No, we’re investigators.”

“Investigators, who for?”

“Let us in and we’ll tell you.”

“If ya ain’t cops, ya can clear off!”

“Ummm, Miss, we’re not going anywhere until we speak to Catherine.”

“Is that so?” the woman huffed. “I might just ring the cops and they can come down and drag you away!”

The woman started to close the door, and Rachael said loudly, “Ohhh yes, what a good idea; let’s involve the cops in the 1985 incident!”

The door stopped, the woman appearing to shake her head as she said, “I got no idea what you talking about!”

“Miss Clemens, we’re from an investigation firm which is looking into an incident that occurred in 1985, and we are simply speaking to people as part of our elimination process.”

“Okay, well you spoke to me, so goodbye!”

The door started closing again, and Rachael bellowed, “Her name was Jenny!”

The door stopped.

From Rachael’s point of view, the woman already had a black mark against her name because she was an unco-operative pain in the ass, but the second black mark was more important. The door had stopped closing immediately after Rachael had said the name. “Are you going to let us in?”

“No, I’m gunna ring the cops!”

“Fine, we’ll wait here!”

The woman seemed to bristle as she asked, “So what you doing, interviewing people so’s you can eliminate them from your investigation?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“Okay, you seen me, so now you can eliminate me!”

“Yes, I’m sure that will happen after we’ve asked you a few questions.”

The woman’s face seemed to bow, then she asked, “How long this gunna take?”

“Ten minutes, and we’re gone.”

The woman unlocked the door and pushed it open.

Rachael walked in and looked at her. The woman they were interested in would be approaching fifty, although this one looked older. Her dark hair was pulled back in an untidy ponytail, grey streaks prominent through the hair. She wore unfashionable spectacles, the spectacles magnifying the dull brown eyes. She was probably taller than Rachael, although her shoulders hunched noticeably.

Rachael walked into the first room which she assumed was the living room, and she glanced around. The smell of urine hit her immediately, and she saw a ginger cat on the sofa, and another black and white cat by the front window. The ginger cat looked up lazily, then nestled back down as Rachael sat down next to it.

Rachael saw the cat’s food bowls by the hallway wall, both empty. Both cats had obviously munched their lunch down, and now they probably wanted to chill out a bit and let their tummy’s settle. “Fucking cats.” Rachael mumbled.

Mia sat next to her, then Rachael looked at the woman and asked politely, “Are you going to sit?”

The woman folded her arms and huffed, “Just get on with it!”

“Certainly; are you Catherine Elizabeth Clemens?”

“What if I am?”

“To move forward ma’am, I would like an answer to my very simple question; are you Catherine Elizabeth Clemens?”

“Yes.”

“Thank-you; did you go to Middleton High School?”

“Yes.”

“Who were your friends in your final year?”

The woman shook her head and blurted out, “Crapper, what’s this about?”

“It’s a simple question; who were your friends in your final year?”

“I ain’t telling you!”

The woman’s attitude was getting right up Rachael’s nose, and she glared at her as she asked briskly, “Do you read the local papers?”

“Sometimes.”

“Did you read about the bones being discovered in the State Forest?”

Rachael watched her, saw her stiffen, saw her expression change. She didn’t even know whether they had the right class, let alone the right Catherine; although this woman was displaying a range of guilty mannerisms.

“I mostly just read the headlines.” the woman muttered.

“The discovery was on the front page, so I’ll assume that you read that headline,” Rachael began, “The authorities suspect that the bones belonged to a young female, but seeing as how the incident occurred so long ago, the police don’t really have any leads at this stage of their investigation.”

Rachael watched as the woman lowered her gaze to the floor, then she said blandly, “The police don’t have any leads, but I do.”

The head snapped back up, the woman staring at her, her eyes darting about.

Rachael looked straight at her as she said, “Can I ask you a question?”

“What?”

“Do you have any idea what the maximum jail term is for being an accessory to murder?”

The woman’s left arm raised and pointed at the door as she said angrily, “Get out!”

Rachael pushed off the sofa and stood toe-to-toe with her, snarling, “Listen Darling, you’re going to tell me what I want to know, or else I’m going to rip that fucking cat’s tail off and shove it down your throat!”

Mia was alarmed at the sudden display of aggression, and so was the woman. Trembling, she asked, “You threatening me?”

“Yes, I am!” Rachael boomed, “So go over there and sit down!”

The woman stared at her for a moment, her chest heaving, a Mexican stand-off brewing, until Rachael hustled back over and patted the cat.

“Hello Kitty, you like your tail?”

“Wait, what the Hell you doing?”

Rachael continued patting, then she said sweetly, “Hey Kitty-Kitty, your tail is just about to get ripped off and shoved down Momma’s throat; you okay with that?”

The woman huffed, then dropped her head and shuffled across to a single chair.

“Okay, good.” Rachael said, as she ran things through her mind. This woman had shown enough defensive and evasive signs to prompt Rachael to turn the heat up. Rachael pulled the drape open to let a little light into the gloomy room, then she moved over and sat next to Mia, staring at the woman. “Right at this moment, I have you as the number one suspect in the murder of that girl, so you better start talking.”

“Murder, you never said nothing about no murder!” the woman protested.

“Yeah, well I’m saying it now, and you Sweet-Heart are the number one suspect!”

“Show me your badge!” the woman hollered.

“I’m not a cop idiot, I’m an investigator and I want the names of the two men who killed that girl!”

The woman flopped back into the chair and shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Rachael pursed her lips, then she said bluntly, “Let me spell it out for you in simple terms; my team has discovered that the recently recovered bones from the State Forest belonged to a sixteen-year-old girl named … hey, hey, look at me!” Rachael roared as she noticed the head bowing. “Listen lady,” Rachael began quietly, “If you take your eyes off me again, I’m going to start slapping you around; you clear on that?”

Mia was uncomfortable about everything, and she tapped Rachael on the arm, “Rach, I think you’re jumping to conclusions.”

“Uh, uh, this bitch is as guilty as all fuck!” she blew out as she focussed on the woman again. “So listen lady, I’ll present all the facts we have uncovered, and then you, if you know what’s good for you, better start talking.” Rachael drew in a breath and then said, “The bones belonged to a sixteen-year-old girl named Jenny …”

Rachael saw her flinch, and she continued, “It is believed that she was stripped off and tied to a tree …”

Staring at her, Rachael saw her eyes darting about, confusion evident in the eyes now. “And she was raped by a short, stocky, dark-haired man, and she was also raped by a blond-haired man called Johnno …”

Lips sealing, her hands clutching the arms of the chair tightly.

“And then the dark-haired man beat the girl, beat sixteen-year-old Jenny to death.”

The gaze lowering …

“Look at me!” Rachael screamed, then she sprang up and squatted before the woman, staring into her eyes. “And then they buried the girl and stacked rocks on the grave …”

Trembling now.

Rachael had no doubt now, she was the one; so she drew in a breath then said coldly, “And watching it happen, watching every single moment of this sickening, violent murder, was a young woman, a dark-haired woman named Cathy …”

The head bowed again, and Rachael let it hang this time, because she assumed the woman needed time to run everything through her mind.

The woman let out a wheezing sigh, then Rachael grabbed her jaw and tilted the woman’s head up, glaring at her as she asked, “Were you that woman?”

Mia was stunned; everything had happened too quickly for her to comprehend.

The woman shook her jaw free from Rachael’s grasp, then muttered, “Can you move away, give me some room?”

Rachael went and sat next to Mia, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees.