Chapter 1: The Case of the Pet Disappearances

Chapter 1: The Case of the Pet Disappearances

“Is he dead?” I heard Jade whisper as I entered the hospital room.

“No darling, he’s just sleeping.”

“Where’s the nurse?’ remarked Dad, obviously hearing the comment. ‘Oh, here he comes.”

As I fully entered the room I glanced behind me, expecting to see the nurse. It was, in fact, me Dad was referring to, incorrectly. I’m no nurse, I’m just one of those overly anxious boys.

Dad’s jaw dropped, then set rigid.

“Where’s the nurse?” he repeated, louder this time.

Mum placed her hand on his, as though she was stroking our cat Tinkles. I came closer to the bed and tugged at the white sheets. They smelt clean, with a dull lavender taste left at the back of my throat.

“What happened?”

“Daddy was shot,” piped my sister.

“Shot!”

“Yeah, he was shot by a baddie. He nearly died.”

“Hush, Jade, stop being so dramatic.”

“That’s right, Jade, listen to your mother,’ said Dad. He turned to me, jaw still clenched, ‘it’s okay, it only skimmed my knee.”

It wasn’t okay, as we soon found out when the nurse and doctor came back with the news. The knee has shattered.

“He’ll have to take time off work.”

“What’s he going to do? He has to work.”

“Doesn’t the police have some work compensation system?”

“Yes, I’ll have to find out about that. I’ll call his boss for the forms.” With that Mum left the room, her tiny hand already pressing the green button on her phone and raising it to her ear. The doctor continued talking with Dad about surgery and something about recuperation and rehabilitation, which means Dad needed plenty of time to rest his knee. Jade lost interest immediately and sauntered over to the nearest chair with Dad’s phone, looking for a game to play.

“Dad, you were gonna teach me how to kick the torp tomorrow!”

“Pipe down, Kingsley!” Dad half-glared at me, his eyes narrowed like an oval-shaped soup spoon. This wasn’t like Dad. Something was wrong, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I stormed off, trying to find Will. He’d taken me to the toilets but had stormed off to find a vending machine. I figured I knew my way back to Dad’s room; I started creating a code in my head of all the numbers and letters on the signs. Dr, or the shortened word, had two letters. The next sign had many fours on it, while the next sign had 6 words on it.

I searched, half for Will, half for a clue linked to the number eight, when I saw my older brother returning, a Twix in his hand.

“For Dad,” he stated, though I noticed there was another wrapper tucked into his back pocket �" the red wrapper of a Cherry Ripe. I wanted one too. My stomach wasn’t up to eating, though. The thought of Dad’s knee being smashed to smithereens was almost too much to bear. I mean, normally I love gross stuff.

This was different.

We slowly walked back towards Dad’s room, following the even-numbered clues, when we saw Mum chattering into the phone.

“What do you mean, it’s not work compensation!”

Will hurried me past Mum. He gripped me at the back of my shoulder, the spot where he’d hit me with the cricket ball yesterday.

“Ouch!”

I stumbled beside him, trying to keep my head up to follow the clues. There it was. The word Dr. Will hurried on, though.

“The room is back there,”

“No, it’s up here, dummy.”

“I’m telling you, it was Room 246.”

I couldn’t tell him how I knew.

“You sure?”

“Yep.”

“Fine.”

We turned like a car on the tiniest of roundabouts and entered Room 246. The stale air hit me: my urgency last time made me miss this. It was like entering a changeroom at the Aquatic Centre, expecting the chlorine smell to hit you and instead it was Grandma’s lavender scent rolling up your nostrils. Will wrinkled his nose, still grasping my shirt. I tried my one karate move.

“Don’t go all Jackie Chan on me.”

“Who’s Jackie Chan?”

The doctor glanced up from their chart and smiled at us. Will pointed at me as he released.

“No karate business in here,” the doctor half-giggled. I did not respond.

“How old are you two?” the doctor continued.

“Fourteen.”

“And Kingsley is twelve,” piped Dad.

“Just like my girls, two years apart. These two fight much?”

“Constantly.”

“It’s only because we love each other so much,” chimed Will, and he started grabbing me in a headlock.

The doctor stepped towards us. “No monkey business here. There’s lots of dangerous equipment around here.”

“And you might knock my leg too.”

Will released. I still had my elbow targeted at his stomach. It was the only defensive move I knew, at this stage. I couldn’t wait for the sensei to teach me more.

“I was only joking.”

I walked around the far side of the bed, far enough from Will.

“How long will Dad be in here?”

“Looks like he’ll be here til Easter. We’ll try to get him out in time to join you for an Easter egg hunt on Sunday.”

“We do it on Friday. It’s the only day Dad gets off work.”

“Ah right, maybe we’ll see what we can do. No guarantees, though.”

“That’s ages! Dad, you were going to teach me the checkside.”

“I thought it was the torp.”

“Both.”

“I’ll teach you,” said Will.

“You can’t checkside to save your life. Remember the final last year?”

Will glared at me. His hand rubbed the side of his hip. I stopped immediately. I shouldn’t have brought that up again.

“What happened in the final last year?” asked the doctor. My breath paused, dreading what was about to come.

Mum saved us, particularly Will, by entering the room. Her eyes were ablaze, her cheeks reddened as though they were tomatoes being squeezed by the pressure of a knife.

“Those…those…”

She finished with a grunt. I knew she didn’t want to swear.

“What’s up, honey?”

“I just called your superior, he wished you every recovery.”

“Good to hear.”

“But because the accident happened off duty, he’s doubtful the insurance company would pay for your op.”

“What!”

“Exactly.”

“But we can’t afford…”

“Exactly. That…idiot!”

“Calm down, Mum.”

Mum took a moment to glance at Will, then took in air. She opened her mouth, her whitened teeth shining behind those small lips. Out came a long breath, slower than morning traffic.

“I think, Sam, I’ll give you guys a few minutes. I’ll return a bit later with your precise meds.” The doctor stepped out.

“Thanks,” said Mum.

“It’s going to be okay, dear.”

“It’s just…” her breath inwards sounded wet.

“Don’t worry, Mum. We’ll work something out.”

“Yeah, Kingsley’s right. We’ll find a way.”

“I hope so. Look, it’s nearly two hours up at the carpark. I’m going to sort that out. Will, you wanna come?”

“Okay.”

I pulled my chair closer to the bed. Dad was busying himself with getting comfortable. He half-bit his upper lip, breathing in through his nose slowly, then releasing it as he leant back to guide his legs directly under the sheets. His left foot snuck out from the white. I stood to adjust it for him. He nodded in assurance.

“How did Will react?” I asked.

“When the gun went off?”

“Yeah.”

“He was fine. No drama from him. Used his first aid knowledge quite well. You would’ve done the same, no doubt.”

I blushed.

“Yeah right, Dad.”

“Honest, both of you boys have your heads screwed on right.” He glanced towards Jade, still engrossed in her game.

I wondered what he meant by that.

Dad must have noticed. “What I mean is, you are street smart.”

I didn’t respond.

“Never mind, I’ll explain when I’m off the drugs.”

I nodded.

“What’s Mum talking about that we can’t afford it?”

“The surgery.”

“But we live in Australia. Can’t Medicare take care of it?”

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll work something out. It’s more than the surgery, though.”

“What is it?”

“We have a lot of bills.”

“So, we’re in deep, what’s the word? Debt?”

“Yep. But you can help me.”

“How? I have exactly $45.57 in my bank account. What’ll that cover?”

“I don’t mean your money. I need you to do something for me.”

“What is it? Anything!”

He paused and leaned closer, his voice lowered.

“I want you to go to work and get the ‘Pet Disappearances’ file.”

“The Pet Disappearances? You told me you weren’t on that case.”

“Well, I am, but I won’t be for much longer. They’ll hand it over to someone else. But I have to solve it.”

“Why?”

“I’m glad you asked. You know Mrs Goodes?”

“Yeah.”

“She’s offered a hundred thousand dollar reward for the return of her pet Chihuahua.”

“A hundred grand?”

One hundred thousand and forty-five dollars and fifty-seven cents! That sounds so much nicer.

“And if anyone from the station finds the dog, my boss said that they’ll get 15% of that.

15% of $100,000. My head searched for the calculator.

Don’t I just take off two zeros...?

Dad saw my eyes leaning upwards, searching my brain, with my forefinger tapping the edge of the chair. He waited.

“$15 grand!”

“Exactly. That’ll pay for the debt and a nice little holiday. Mum will need that after…”

“After what?”

“After the stress I’ve caused.”

“It’s ok, it happens to all of us.”

“Not like this, son.”

“Ok, so what do you want me to do?”

“Head to the station and get into my office. Sergeant Jenkins will let you in, I’m sure. Tell him I left my reading glasses or something like that.”

“You want me to lie?”

“Not exactly, but I don’t want any bad blood to come back to you. I need those files. If I have them and someone comes looking for them, I’ll say I collected them on Friday and took them home to work on them.”

“Why can’t Will do it? He’s a good liar.”

“He’s been through enough today. And that’s not nice, saying that about your brother.”

“It’s true, though.”

“Truth or not, there’s a point to withholding it. You’ll end up hurting someone’s feelings with your blunt comments.”

He didn’t realise I did on a weekly basis at school. Mum knew, but she had enough sense to inform Dad of my behaviour at school when it was really serious. He had enough to worry about.

“Can you do this for me?”

“Okay.” I wasn’t, though.

“Good, get the keys in my pants over there. Head there before church.”

“Why can’t I do it now?”

“It’s too late.”

“Okay.” This time it came out stronger, bolder, more confident.

“Good. I’ll see you after church. Make sure you get everything under the label ‘Pet Disappearances’.”