A Pathway of Adversity
Chapter 39
"It's a pure disgrace! That woman, Joey Collins, is still free and walking our streets!" Colleen Smart cried as she held court at Angelo's Diner.
Leah Pattison had kindly agreed to take on the running of the eating establishment while Angelo was in Sydney.
"For crying out loud, Colleen! Give it a rest, can't ya? All I've heard for days, is your tongue, wagging and carrying on about Joey Collins! There must be a reason why they haven't arrested her yet – if there was one in first place!" Leah pointed out as she carried meals in from the kitchen.
"What do you mean, reason? Of course there's reason! My brother is emphatic about it!" Colleen cried in astonishment.
"Yeah, and you're not doing so bad yourself! You know bugger-all about the case, Colleen, so why don't you keep your big, fat mouth shut before you put your big, fat-foot in it!"
"How dare you!" Colleen hissed, glaring at Leah; affronted.
"You know, you look amazingly evil when you're stirring the pot, Colleen!"
"Every word I have uttered is complete truth, Leah Pattison! Joey Collins brutally murdered my best friend, Irene Roberts, just so she could get her filthy, perverted hands on Irene's money!"
"Since when was Irene your best mate?" Leah laughed.
"Irene, God bless her soul, was always my best friend!" Colleen replied, stoutly. "And how dare you contradict me!"
Leah shook her head in despair.
"Colleen! You can't go around accusing people of murder! Why don't you just let the Police do their job and stop bad-mouthing Joey around town?"
"Anything I say about Joey Collins is true!" Colleen said, standing up and gesturing to the people in the restaurant. "Joey Collins is a murderess! She convinced Irene Roberts to make her sole beneficiary of her last will and testament and then coldly bludgeoned her to death... and Irene, one of the nicest people you could ever wish to meet!" She said, twinkling away a false tear. "I said to Irene, 'Pet, don't be taken in by this wonton! There's bad written all over her and she's only out for what she can get, just like the rest of her filthy family!'"
Several couples sitting in the restaurant stared at the hysterical woman, ranting and waving her arms about in the middle of the dining area.
"Colleen, please be quiet and sit down, or I shall have to remove you!" Leah hissed as she flicked her tea-towel at the older woman. "That's a complete lie and you know it!"
"So, is Joey Collins still at large?" A pompous looking gentlemen who sat alone in the corner asked. "If this young woman is as dangerous as you say, why aren't the Police doing something about it?"
"That's right! Our streets aren't fit to walk, with people like Collins about! I remember her brother Brett; he was a bad lot too! Dirty, rotten scum-bags; the pair of them!" Another diner chirped.
"Yeah, and she's a filthy dyke, too!" A third put in.
"Disgusting!"
Leah was beginning to despair! Suddenly, the quiet restaurant had become a noisy, Greek arena; baying for blood and demanding that Joey Collins be made a sacrifice to the lions.
"Dear God!" She murmured worriedly.
Angelo Rosetta sighed with relief as he journeyed home to Summer Bay. His visit to Sydney had been an overwhelming success and the fellows at H.Q. were making immediate plans to crush Hugo Austin and bring in 'Big C'. When this was done, Angelo had been promised full reinstatement back into the Police force and with the added bonus of promotion to detective, but his advancement would take him far away from Summer Bay, all his friends... and Charlie.
It was as Angelo pictured Charlie Buckton's beautiful face that it happened... A tyre burst and his car, which was travelling at high speed, swerved and went off the road, colliding with a tree.
A sizable crowd collected outside Angelo's Diner; men, women and teenagers, who for the most were only interested in sizing each other up and flirting. Their elders mused audibly over the current situation of Joey Collins; Irene Roberts' murderer, still being at large.
"There's no justice left in this state! If there was, Joey Collins would be locked up! Irene Roberts was a decent woman; always ready to lend a hand and a good friend to the community. What bloody idiot is allowing Collins to walk the streets while that good woman is lying cold in the morgue?"
Colleen Smart watched from a little distance as point after point was forcefully made by ordinary Summer Bay folk who had been whipped up into a frenzy about the injustices of life.
"I say we search her out and force the cops to arrest her!" A man shouted from the back of the crowd. "They can't ignore all of us! They'll have to do something if we all stand together!"
"Don't be a bloody idiot! You can't demand that they arrest the girl. You don't even know she had anything to do with Irene's murder!" Leah Pattiston shouted, but was jostled to the back of the crowd and almost fell over.
A smile crept over Colleen's face as she watched Leah stumble.
Leah glanced about her and noticed Colleen.
"This is all your fault, Colleen! If you hadn't opened your mouth, this would never have happened! Now this lot are like a pack of wolves!"
"The people have a right to air their views." Colleen responded, calmly.
"Airing their views is one thing, but they are acting like a lynch mob!"
"Not a bad idea! Maybe I'll suggest it!" Colleen said, moving forward towards the crowd.
"Colleen!" Leah shrieked.
She stood hopelessly as Colleen elbowed her way through the crowd to get a better position to speak. Leah ran back into the restaurant and dialled the telephone number of the Police.
"Let me speak to Sergeant Buckton, please! Its urgent!"
After a few moments, Leah heard Charlie's voice.
"Charlie! It's Leah! Look mate, you've got to get down to Angelo's Diner as soon as possible! There's a crowd here and they're talking about finding Joey Collins and lynching her! I've never seen anything so scary in my life! You've got to do something! I don't know if this girl has done anything wrong, but whatever, she isn't gonna get justice from this mob!"
Charlie stopped breathing. She had feared this might be the outcome and thanked her good senses for having hidden Joey many miles away out of harms reach.
"Okay, Leah! We're on our way!"
Four Police vehicles, including two 'meat-wagons' with flashing blue lights and sirens blazing, pulled up at the pier; it's officer-content spilling out and immediately putting into action 'crowd control' procedures. Sirens and emergency lights had been left on as the Police tried to calm down the mass of people.
Sergeant Charlie Buckton watched from a safe distance. She itched to be in the throng of the trouble, but she was off the Roberts case and this crowd's actions were directly associated with Joey. Charlie could see her officers, led by Constable Watson. Watson was more than capable of handling the discontented crowd. Several people were pulled to one side for questioning and three, who had got a little too boisterous, were taken and ushered into the meat-wagons to cool down.
Colleen slunk away but not before Charlie noticed her.
"You bitch!" Charlie muttered with hatred. "If I could get my hands around your neck..."
"You'd escort her home safely, I hope, Sergeant Buckton!"
Charlie jumped; not realising that Detective Arnold was standing just behind her.
"Sir... I..."
"It's my opinion that the sooner Head Office act in this matter, the sooner the streets of Summer Bay will be peaceful again."
"I'm scared for Joey, Richard! What if... What if..."
"What if they find and hurt her?" Richard suggested, watching the disgruntled mob.
Charlie nodded.
"I don't know what to do." She murmured softly.
"I think you're doing pretty well, Sergeant Buckton. You've organised your officers and they seem to have the crowd in hand now. I think your Joey will be okay where she is."
Charlie looked up into the senior officer's face.
"I hope you're right."
"Will you visit her again soon?" The detective asked.
"Am I allowed to?" Charlie replied, with a frown.
"I think if you disappeared off for a few hours... after all, it's within the rule book for an officer to visit someone in a safe house; I guess this is where she is?"
Charlie slowly nodded.
"Perhaps you'd better warn her a little of what's been going on?" The detective suggested.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Charlie cried in astonishment.
"Charlie, the media will get hold of this story soon, if they haven't already! It will be covered in the local and national news bulletins; if Joey sees it, all alone out in the back of beyond, how do you think she'll feel?"
Charlie could see the sense of his words.
"I'd certainly better go."
"Get off now. I'll cover for you. I'll say you've been called out on a family matter." Richard smiled.
"Thanks Sir. I'll get going immediately. Is there anything I should say to her in particular?"
"I think you'll find the words. Just emphasize the dangers of taking risks but try to reassure her of her safety within the safe house."
"Yes, sir. Thank you for your understanding."
"I suggest you waste no more time, Sergeant."
Charlie jumped into her car and sped off towards the highway.