Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all enjoyed Christmas and that you brought in 2018 happily. I hope 2017 was a great year for each of you and that this year is even more wonderful. I'd like to dedicate this chapter in particular to Thane. Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Four Hundred and Seventy Two
Charlie and Watson arrived to a bleak scene at the hotel that morning. They were in Penn Graham's hotel room. His bed was unmade and there seemed to have been a scuffle of some kind. A lamp was on its side and there was a pool of blood on the floor.
"What do you think, Charlie?" Watson asked unhappily.
Officers were quick to work around them, gathering evidence, examining the scene, taking samples and searching for clues as to what had happened.
"I don't know," Charlie said. "But whatever it was, it wasn't a polite conversation taking place here last night."
Watson nodded.
"Where do you think he is?"
Charlie shrugged. She turned and looked around the room, rummaging in the drawers by the bed, disappointed to find Penn's wallet and phone in there. That wasn't what she wanted to find.
"Wherever he's gone, I'm guessing it wasn't by choice," she sighed. "Blood. Phone and wallet left behind."
Watson went over to the door. She pulled the key card out of the light control switch and showed Charlie.
"Agreed," she said grimly. "Now what you are thinking? Murder?"
"Too premature," Charlie said. "I hope."
The day moved on slowly and Charlie knew it would be the first of many like these. Summer Bay's most hated man was missing. Unfortunately, he was hated by some of her most loved and dearest friends. They were automatically going to be suspects and she did not want to be the one who had to interview them. But she knew she had to be. Firstly, she wanted to do it right and secondly, she didn't want to hide away from her responsibilities.
Gossip was rushing around town like wildfire. Everyone was talking in corners, wondering what had happened to Penn and who might have been involved. Ruby, Nicole and Claire were at the Diner, on a break for lunch.
"Oh, you must be all over the place!" Colleen crowed when she came to take their order.
"What do you mean?" Nicole said, although she knew exactly what the older woman was talking about.
"Well, with that horrible Penn Graham missing," Colleen said. "He could be anywhere, doing anything. And now Irene's fretting because Will has gone walkabout too! I just don't know what is going on round here these days! It's madness! Madness!"
"Anyway," Ruby said, concerned that Nicole would get upset about it all. "Can we place our order please, Colleen?"
"What? Oh, yes, of course. What can I get you?"
"Blood results are in," Watson said, appearing in the doorway of Charlie's office.
Charlie closed her laptop, offering her colleague her full attention.
"Exactly what we suspected," Watson said. "A full match to Penn Graham. Whatever the extent of what happened last night in that hotel room, Penn got hurt pretty badly."
Charlie sighed heavily.
"Where do we start?" she asked. "The CCTV at the hotel is shit. No prints in the room. What?"
She threw up her hands in despair.
"Start speaking to enemies?"
"So that'll take about a week then!" Charlie scoffed.
Watson half laughed.
"We should though," Charlie conceded. "At least try and work out what his movements were yesterday. Start asking around. It's not like it's not already made its way around the Bay. I've had to put someone on the front desk just to field calls about it."
Watson agreed.
"How about we head over to the restaurant?" Charlie said, standing up. "Alf and Angelo had quite a few run ins with him. They might be a good place to start. Shotgun, you get Angelo."
"Hey! That's not fair!" Watson protested, as they walked out.
"You just need to get a bit quicker!" Charlie grinned, grateful to be able to laugh about something today.
Angelo was serving tables when the police officers arrived. Alf was behind the bar with Joey and they had lots of customers to serve. Joey couldn't help but take a second to check out her girlfriend in uniform. She never tired of that sight, even on a day like this. Stepping out from behind the bar, she stole a quick kiss.
"I'm guessing you're not here on a social visit," she said.
"Afraid not," Charlie said. "Can I have a quick word with Alf?"
"Sure," Joey said. "Why don't you go to the office?"
She didn't want her friend to be embarrassed at being seen speaking to the police, even if it was Charlie.
"And I need a quick word with Angelo," Watson said.
"Why me?" Angelo asked defensively, catching the tail end of the conversation.
"Just routine," Watson said. "You know how it goes."
"I didn't have anything to do with anything," Angelo snapped.
Charlie headed through to the office, catching Alf's attention along the way.
"I'm sure you didn't," Watson said, guiding Angelo over to the one free table in the window. "But you know how it goes. We need to talk to everyone. And you're someone that had a bit of an issue with Penn."
"Everyone had an issue with Penn," Angelo said anxiously. "Alf, Miles, Sid, Joey even."
"And we'll talk to all those people," Watson said. "We just need to try and work out what Penn's movements were yesterday. Did you see him at all yesterday?"
Angelo thought back to their vigilante meeting. He didn't know what to do.
"Not that I remember," he lied. "I generally tried to stay away from him. He was a jerk."
Watson nodded.
"When was the last time you saw him or spoke to him?" she asked.
"I don't know," Angelo asked, stressed. "Probably when Ruby and I had that car accident. But we didn't speak to him. He just ran off before we could even check he was okay."
He looked panicked.
"You don't think there was an after effect of what happened?" he asked.
"No," she said. "Try not to worry."
He breathed a sigh of relief.
In the office, Charlie was asking the same questions.
"I haven't done anything to Penn Graham," Alf insisted.
"Honestly, we're not saying you have," Charlie assured him. "We just need to ask everyone the same thing to try and piece together who saw him and spoke to him and what he did yesterday, leading up to his disappearance."
"Well, you can see why I'm edgy," Alf said gruffly. "Last time he ended up in hospital, I was wrongly charged."
"I understand," Charlie said. "But you know that I will always do whatever it takes to get the right answer. And you know I always have your best interests in my heart. I just want to find out what happened to him. I just want to get to the truth."
"I know that, Charlie," Alf said. "I trust you. Just not necessarily everyone else."
"So, did you see him yesterday?"
Alf hesitated.
"Briefly," he admitted. "I was talking with a few of the guys and he came along and jeered at us, you know the way he does. A few words were said. Just snapping. Telling him to get out of town and leave us all be. That kind of thing. Then he left and we went back to our lives. Miles and I went home. I think Angelo went back to work. Sid… I don't know where he went. Work. Home, maybe."
"Okay," Charlie said. "Thank you. That's very helpful."
She made some notes.
"What time was this?" she asked.
"The afternoon," he said. "Around four maybe?"
"Great," Charlie said. "And that was all the contact you had with him yesterday? No calls, texts?"
"I don't have his number," Alf said. "And I don't know how to text. The kids have tried to show me but I can't get the hang of it. It annoys them."
Charlie chuckled and nodded, putting her notebook away.
"Thank you for your help," she said. "And I promise I will do my very best to get this resolved really quickly, Alf. I know exactly what Penn is like."
"Thank you, love," Alf said, squeezing her hand.
"But… if he shows up dead… I mean, if… you and him… I can't…"
"I know," Alf said. "I know."
Back at the station, Charlie and Watson shared the outcomes of their interviews.
"Well, obviously I don't think Alf is guilty. I didn't think that from the start. But he's pretty scared. Pretty stressed. He said that he, Angelo, Sid and Miles briefly saw Penn yesterday. He was giving them some hassle."
"Interesting," Watson said. "Angelo didn't admit that."
Charlie half laughed and shook her head. Why did that man always have to be such an idiot and make himself look guilty?
"Noted," she said.
"So, what do you think?" Watson asked.
Charlie sighed.
"I have no idea," she said. "Except that a man has gone missing, blood left in his place and the obvious suspects are some of our best friends."
It was coming to the end of a long, long day. Charlie was sat, staring at the phone, not wanting to make the call to the city that she knew she had to make. But this was likely to be a murder investigation with masses of conflicts of interest. It was bigger than their small force could handle. They needed reinforcements, even if they didn't want them. She had to make the call.
Charlie was exhausted when she got home and felt extremely grateful when Joey had her dinner on the table, ready and waiting for her. Ruby was also home, looking a little tense.
"How was your day, dare I ask?" said Joey.
"Long," Charlie sighed, tucking into the delicious Mexican meal her partner has prepared. "Confusing. Upsetting."
"Charlie?" Ruby asked. "What's happened… it's nothing to do with the car accident, is it?"
Charlie put her hand atop her daughter's.
"Of course not," she promised. "It's completely unrelated."
Ruby breathed a sigh of relief.
"Was he… killed?" she asked.
"We don't know for sure," Charlie said. "But…"
She sighed heavily.
"Any suspects?" Joey asked.
Charlie looked a little helpless."
"Sorry," Joey said. "I know. Confidential."
"Sorry," Charlie said. "Let's just say… I'm worried and I'm stressed. I just hope for everyone's sake the people tell the truth about everything they did last night."
She was suddenly interrupted by her phone. She apologised and took the call in the bedroom. She reappeared a few minutes later, looking unhappy.
"What's wrong?" Ruby and Joey asked in unison.
"Detective Robertson is on his way to the Bay," she said. "He's going to lead the investigation into Penn's disappearance."
Next time… Detective Robertson returns to Summer Bay, Alf is scared and Ruby and Dex both have new crushes…
