Chapter 6

Phryne saw Bert and Cec arrive and she hastened to finish the conversation she was having with an overly emotional woman, who had little to no information that was of any use to her. Apart from the fact that the victim was clearly a well liked character. She had been attempting to move in on a suspicious character that was trying far too hard to blend in and look like he belonged.

"Thank you so much for your information. I have one last question, can you possibly tell me who that man is over there?" She pointed towards the suspicious man. The woman shook her head and sniffed,

"Can't say I do miss, I'm sorry"

"Thank you so much for your time, I really must go speak with my colleague" The woman nodded, clearly not fond of losing her newfound friend.

Phryne walked back over to Jack, who was exchanging notes with Hugh, she wanted to make sure he spoke to the suspicious character, before anyone spooked him, Hugh, bless him, wouldn't pick up on his odd behaviour and she wanted to hear what Cec and Bert had found out. She walked over to Jack.

"Jack, do me a favour, go speak to that bloke over there" She pointed him out, to make sure he knew exactly who she was talking about. "His co-workers don't seem to recognize him, and he seems to be trying far to hard to look like he fits in around here, I would love to go speak to him, but I think Cec and Bert would be a little less willing to tell you how they got their information and where."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Well I suppose your gut tents to be right in these situations, and I honestly don't want to know how your two red-raggers get their information." He walked off and winked at her, enjoying the tension created between the two of them as they behaved like their relationship hadn't changed.

"Miss Fisher" Cec and Bert took their hats off as they approached Phryne, "everyone at the docks are talking about Squizzy Taylor, it seems he is back in town. He needs money fast, he's been underground for so long from the sound of it, he's looking to start his dealing business back up. No one knows or is talking about whether or not he had anything to do with this, but folks around the docks are getting nervous" Cec explained.

"Yeah, they told us to bugger off, and stop being so bloody nosy—the cheek, we were one of them not too long ago, bastards" Bert added in his usual disdainful tone.

"Thank you boys, I have another favour to ask you two, when Jack is done interviewing that man over there, keep an eye on him, follow him around, carefully, I don't want to spook him, but there is something up with him, I'm just not sure if it pertains to our case or not. I'll see you back at the house tonight though, for Jane's official welcome home gathering."

"Of course Miss, we wouldn't miss it for the world, would we Bert"

"Nah, 'course not" Bert replied. And with that they were off to their next mission, leaving the building immediately so as not to arise suspicion from Phryne's suspect.

Jack walked back over after having interviewed everyone that Hugh had missed to compare notes with Phryne.

"Miss Fisher, how did you get along, any useful information from your sources?"

"Yes, actually," She replied, "Apparently news of Squizzy Taylor's resurface is all over the docks, he needs fast cash, and he is apparently making quite a few people nervous. What about you, any useful information from his colleagues?"

"Well as usual, you were right, that man is very suspicious, he dodged any questions about the how he victim and what he does here. He was much more interested in what happened and how much I know. The name he gave me is no doubt not his real name, but I don't have enough information to bring him in for more questioning"

"Don't worry about that Jack, I've set Cec and Bert on his trail, for the rest of the afternoon, we will see what he gets up to and why he is acting so strange."

"So what's next Jack, we have to speak to the victim's family I assume? See if he has any connection to Squizzy, and then we will have to head home early, so you can ravish me before Jane's celebration."

"Phryne, you know I have to go home eventually if only to get a change of clothes."

"Nonsense Jack you look fine, but if you are that concerned I'll send Mr B over there now to pick up whatever you need."

Jack, knowing he couldn't say no to her, didn't argue, especially as this meant he could spend more time with Phryne.

They drove over to the victim's house in Phryne's car. Both Jack and Dot white knuckled it all the way there, as Phryne sped around turns, and barely missed pedestrians as they finished crossing the street.

When they arrived at the house it was not what they were expecting for a bank manager. It was a small house, well kept, but definitely under the budget of someone who worked at a bank.

They went to knock on the door, expecting a wife or a sibling; instead, a woman who looked much like his mother answered the door. Jack looked down at his notes; he saw that his next of kin was his mother, whom someone had mentioned he lived with.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked, a confused look on her face.

"Yes, my name is Inspector Jack Robinson, and these are my associates, may we come in?"

"What is going on, we've done nothing wrong, what do you need we've done nothing wrong"

Jack broke the news to her as kindly as he could, something he reminded himself he should start making Hugh do this, build his character. He always hated this part; it was the hardest part of his job to tell a family their loved one had died. He envied Phryne her job sometimes; people usually came to her after their loved one had died, or she usually intervened in an investigation where it was his job to do it.

When his mother recovered from the shock (after Phryne had poured her a glass of whiskey) she gave him little more information than they already had.