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.
22 – We are being watched
THEY RETURNED TO THE MAIN ISLAND. Jack parked the 4WD at the island’s police station after dropping Churchie and Wally off. Wally advised he’d be leaving the island later that day. All good. They had his details and would contact him if need be.
Technology helped. CCTV recordings and electronic tickets had made the life of an investigator easier. Others considered CCTV an invasion of privacy but those people normally had something to hide. It still astounded him what some people did in front of the cameras. But Jack liked the eyes in the high places. Maybe God was recording events too. He dismissed the thought as quickly as it came. It was all getting too religious.
Electronic ticketing allowed appropriate authorities to track the movement of people on public transport. Jack had sent off an approved request to the transport authority and was waiting for details on a listing of those who disembarked the 2.45 p.m. ferry at the island.
They made their way to the station’s meeting room.
“Should we focus on that woman as our prime suspect, Jack?” Catherine asked.
“We don’t have any other leads. We’ll follow this one for as long as there’s no reason to discount her as a suspect.”
Jack looked at the plant in the corner. It’d been rejuvenated since the last time they were here. He looked at the map of the island on the wall and visualised a boat leaving the incident scene. Which route did it take?
“If the woman in question stayed or left the island in another boat there should be no record of her leaving the island on the transit card.” Catherine said.
“Possibly.”
A beep came from Jack’s tablet device. An email from the transport authority. Jack opened the attachment.
“Think we’ll need to align this list with the CCTV footage.”
Using the CCTV footage, they named the people departing the ferry as they swiped their travel cards over the reader.
A few ignored the red lights indicating no credit on their card. Some even tried to cover the indicator in a subtle way. Baddies everywhere, but he knew that.
“Jill Spencer. That’s her name.” Catherine said.
“Good. Let’s record the other names as well. We may need to follow up with some of them.”
“Seemed to be a ferry for the ‘J’s’. There’s another Jill, a John, a Julia, a Jessie. It’s a wonder you weren’t on it.” She smiled and continued to scan the list. “Jack, one small issue.”
“Yep, what is it?”
“Jill Spencer also disembarked on a return trip.”
Jack wandered outside to the back of the police station while Catherine went to make herself a cup of tea. Palm trees and bamboo surrounded the yard. He picked up the scent of the ocean and realised he’d slipped out of holiday mode. He willed it to return. No chance, as he’d now slipped well and truly into investigator mode.
What did Jill Spencer doing the return trip tell them? Jill Spencer stayed on the island after she supposedly attempted to murder someone? She would’ve known the girl would have been reported missing on Sunday morning. Maybe Sunday afternoon after her friends went looking for her.
Movement. Was that a figure amongst the palms and other greenery surrounding the back lawn? A shadowy figure. Yes. He was curious and it was in his blood to investigate, so he walked towards the shadow, a hooded figure who hurried away. Jack followed. He parted the greenery and found a track snaking through the shrubs and grassland. The hooded figure was ahead and turned briefly to look at Jack. He couldn’t make out the face, only the eyes. He half-expected them to be red and glowing, but they looked yellow.
“Hey, could you hold for a tick.” Jack yelled.
The figure turned off the path and was gone.
Jack rushed and looked down where the person had turned. Nothing. There were a number of other tracks. Just a person out on a walk, wearing a hood to protect themselves from the chill in the air. Maybe someone who was deaf and didn’t hear him. He returned to the police station.
Catherine stood on the back porch, watching him emerge from the greenery. Her hands grasped a cup of tea with steam swirling into the air. She moved the cup to near her mouth and gave some soft blows.
“Aha! The creature from the deep has returned.”
“Funny.” Jack wondered now if every hooded person he saw was going to be mistaken for a high priestess.
“Where did you go?”
He came and leaned on a rail next to Catherine. “Just saw someone snooping, so I went and checked.”
