“Good move.”

A loud bout of laughter came from below.

“Someone’s cracked a joke.” Jack pulled out his notebook and referred to some notes. “We’ll need to visit the real estate offices to check out lettings over the weekend, and get someone to investigate online rentals and the like.”

“I’m glad it’s not a huge island. I’ll get someone back in the office on to it,” Catherine said. 

“It’s big enough.”

“It is. Did you sleep okay? No dreams of demons or anything?”

“I slept fine.” Jack gave his arms another rub. “What about you?”

“I noticed on the witness report that Shoana lives not far from me, so I went and checked out the house. Just sat outside in the car for a while, seeing if I could pick up any vibes.”

Vibes. Good vibrations. He thought of Erica.

“Are you for real?” Jack asked.

“Yep. No vibes, but a black cat did run across the road in front of me and made me wonder about what we’ve got ourselves into.” She gave a smirk. “Shoana also had a visitor. Looked a bit old to be her partner, so maybe it was her dad. I got his number plate.”

“Are you also checking to see if he has a boat registered in his name?”

“Yes. Great minds think alike.”

“You’re a good detective.”

<°)))><

After the forensic team and the SES volunteers disembarked from the police barge, Jack waved Churchie and Wally onto the barge as they needed to take a short trip. They were hesitant, as if the barge was the mouth of a crocodile. Then again, maybe Churchie saw an army of demons march onto the barge. Or off. Jack preferred the latter idea.

Jack had researched Churchie, and now understood why he lived on the island. His ability to see the invisible world had attracted all types of people putting demands on him to help with lottery numbers or the races, and even to contact departed loved ones. 

Jack had found Churchie’s ability to see things wasn’t impossible, due to advances in technology to control brainwaves with headsets, and people being able to control technology with eye movement. It was all about tapping into the brains’ electrical signals. And it seemed Churchie had that talent due to some mishap. Jack wasn’t sure if it was a talent he would want.

The Islands Ferries Office was on another island, not more than a stone’s throw from the main island but separated by a deep channel. The office lay hidden behind a clump of palm trees, and the office entrance blended in with the island atmosphere with aged multicoloured plastic strips hanging in the doorway.

Jack seated Churchie and Wally on a bench by a weathered picnic table near the entrance to the office. 

He chuckled as he parted the dangling plastic strips and entered the office. He hadn’t seen one of these fly stoppers for a long time. He held the strips to one side while Catherine walked into the small office. It held a service desk, and more plastic strips hanging on the doorway behind the desk. 

A shop bell sat on the desk.

Jack rang the bell and a man dressed in a red Hawaiian shirt with white hairs trying to escape through the top of his shirt appeared. His white baseball cap had a sweat stain around the rim.

“Hi, how can I help you people?”

“I’m Detective Sergeant Jack Kinnaird and this is my partner Detective Catherine York. We made arrangements to come and view some CCTV footage.”

The man behind the counter gave them a vague look and then took his phone out of his trouser pocket. He fingers worked over the phone’s surface.

“Sorry, bit slow. Monday, takes forever for the brain to kick in.” The man looked at his phone. “Yep, got the message here. If you give me a few moments, I’ll go retrieve the recording. They’ve loaded it on a USB drive for you.”

A USB drive would do the trick. Better than the four of them crowding into this tiny office to view CCTV footage.

They found a shady picnic area near the water and sat down. The gentle sound of the water washing over the sand added to Jack’s holiday mood.

He was glad Churchie could be specific in relation to the time they needed to view the recording, although he knew they’d have to examine it all as Churchie’s evidence was only one lead, and not built on any concrete evidence.

They used Catherine’s tablet device and viewed the passengers disembarking the island ferry at 3.03 p.m. Wally ribbed Churchie when he saw himself walking off.

“Who’s that goose?” asked Churchie, pointing at Wally on the recording.

“You’ve lost it, Churchie. There are no geese coming off the ferry. They’re people.” Wally shook his head at Jack and pointed his thumb towards Churchie. “This man is not going to be a good witness.”

“I agree, Wally.” Holiday mood in full swing.

“See the lady with the black cap?” Churchie said. “She’s the one with the large demon beside her. It’s one of the largest I’ve seen. I’d say it’s evil, and that lady is feeding it.”

“You get a screen shot of her, Cath.”

“Done.”

“There’s another large one floating around too. It appears to be accompanying this girl.” Churchie pointed to the person. “And I think there is some kind of connection between her and the lady.”

Jack looked at his partner and nodded.

It was Shoana.

Jack stared out into the water, over at the ferry terminal. Some men were fishing, their lines vanishing into the water. They couldn’t see what lay beneath them, as it was hidden by a veil of water. Just like Jack couldn’t see what lay before them, hidden also by a mysterious veil.

“The good news is Ruby and her friend appear not to be influenced by any demon beings. This could be because they are covered in prayer, or have strong morals and are hard to influence.” Churchie said.

Jack rubbed his right eyebrow. “Churchie, I don’t really want to ask you this but are there any demons around us?”

“You mean, around you and Catherine?” Churchie asked.

Jack nodded.

“All good, they tend to avoid us, so people in our vicinity are reasonably clean.”

“Not sure if I am comforted by that, Churchie,” Catherine said. “What happens when you go?”

“Just pay attention to your thoughts and your self-talk. Don’t let fear get a foothold,” Churchie said. “And it would do you both good to get to know the Lord. In fact, you should because I believe the last days are upon us. Seek him. He stands at the door and knocks.”

Another religious fanatic? Jack didn’t know what to think. He’d come across a few. Some drug users believed they were on a mission from God, so over time he’d developed a certain attitude towards religion. But this was different. What if what this man saw was true? 

He looked at the lady with the black cap and tried to see a big green frog standing next to her. He just couldn’t.