No Way Out – Chapter 6.
The day had finally arrived, after eight and a half years Peter was a free man. No parole, no restrictions, he was out and free to rejoin society but of course he wasn’t really, he had a Police record and was on a sex offenders list.
He walked out the front door of the prison into a car park, it was a nice feeling. The prison had called him a taxi and it was waiting for him so he opened the back door of the taxi and through his bag in before getting into the front seat.
“My goodness it’s great to be free,” said Peter.
“A long stretch?” asked the taxi driver.
“Eight and a half years, I’m never going to get that back,” said Peter.
“I know just the place for you, they have some great looking women there,” replied the taxi driver.
Peter just looked at him, a look the taxi driver understood straight away.
“Where would you like to go?” asked the taxi driver.
Peter handed him a piece of paper and said, “take me to this address.”
The taxi driver did not say anything more during the trip and Peter just looked out the window, enjoying the moment. Some things had changed like cars and fashion but a lot had stayed the same. Peter could not help himself, he found himself thinking about eight and a half years lost, eight and a half years that he would not see again. He was a different man than the one that entered prison all those years ago, could he turn the last eight and a half year off and go back to an earlier him. Or is the die cast, is he just a paper boat in the gutter during a thunder store, powerless to change course.
Reg had organized a flat for Peter, just one of many things Reg had looked after for Peter during his time in jail. Like Peter, Reg’s life had changed considerable in the last eight and a half years, the boredom of conveyancing was a thing of the past, his practise involved mostly defending in the criminal courts. His life was a lot more interesting now, than it was just a few years ago and he was glad of it.
The taxi pulled up outside a block of flats, Peter payed the driver and started walking towards the flats when he heard Reg call out from the balcony of one of the flats.
“Up here Peter, just follow the stairs to flat two, called Reg.
Peter waved and made his way to the flat. Reg was standing in the front doorway with a big smile on his face.
“Come on in, how is it to be finally out?” asked Reg.
“Great, just great,” said Peter.
“It’s not much of a flat but I know you didn’t want much,” replied Reg.
“It looks just right, thanks Reg,” said Peter.
Peter and Reg sat down on some old lounge chairs facing each other, there was a coffee table between them with Reg’s brief case on it.
Reg then said, “would you like a cup of tea?”
“No thanks mate, I’m still coming to terms with being out. You know Reg after all that time in prison you would think that I would have some great plan for when I got out but I don’t. When you are in prison you sort of live in a cocoon, day to day, the future is another country so it might take a bit of readjusting,” said Peter.
“You’ll work it out,” replied Reg and then added, “would you like to get the business side of things out of the way first?”
“That sound pretty good,” said Peter.
Reg opened his brief case and started getting papers out which he lay around the coffee table.
“OK,” said Reg before picking up some papers and then continuing, “this flat is leased in your name for three months with monthly extensions after that, as you can see it comes fully furnished, there is and inventory attached.”
“How much?” asked Peter.
“$500 a week,” replied Reg.
“Bloody hell,” said Peter.
“That’s cheep, really cheep,” replied Reg.
“Bloody hell,” said Peter.
“I withdrew $10,000 in cash, as instructed, that’s here,” said Reg as he picked up a large brown envelope and put it back down and then continued, “you have $70,000 in your investment account which is on a three month cycle. So if you need money you will need to work that out three months in advance or the bank will charge a fee.”
“I was a banker Reg,” said Peter.
“Yer, sorry, now I have made a list of employment agents that support the banking sector,” said Reg while holding up a piece of paper he then continued, “but I don’t think you will get very far there, you know Police record. But you might get something with the low end, doggy finance companies, but I didn’t think you would want to work for them but the list is there if you want it.”
“I don’t want to work in the banking sector,” replied Peter.
“There is another list of employment agents,” said Reg while holding another piece of paper before continuing, “this list is for agents that cover,” Reg paused for a moment as he tried to find the right word but before he could Peter interrupted.
“Shit work, donkey work, repetitive work but lets be nice about it and call it, blue collar work, that’s all I am good for now,” said Peter and then added, “but there is nothing wrong with working for a living, it fact I think its more honest work. Think about it, if I didn’t do my old job well nothing would happen no one would even notice. But if a truck driver doesn’t drive well the supermarket want get deliveries and that leads to people not having anything to eat.”
“I don’t know how you will go as you don’t have any experience with blue collar work,” said Reg.
“You forget, I just spent eight and a half years doing course after course, all of which were blue collar work,” replied Peter.
“Off course you did, what was I thinking?” said Reg he then added, “it’s hard to know what sort of impact the Police record will have until you try.
“I’ll soon find out,” replied Peter.
Reg held up yet another piece of paper and said, “this is a list of things you will need to do, like the first thing, drivers licence. You will have to brush up on the road rules, may be even take some driving lessons before organizing a driving test.”
“Driving lessons, I’ve been driving for years,” said Peter.
“But not for eight and a half years, a lot has changed in that time and if you have lessons you can then use the driving school car to do the test. Once you get your licence it would be a lot easier to buy a car.” replied Reg.
“That makes cense,” said Peter.
“All this will keep you busy for the next week or so, and you will notice, a lot has changed since you have been away. Some for the better and some not for the better.” replied Reg.
“Makes it sound like I’ve been on an extended holiday,” said Peter.
“You will find that just about everything is done on computer or your phone, oh you will need a phone,” said Reg while adding, ‘buy a phone’ to the list of things to do.
“I will work it out, I’m sure,” said Peter.
“I’m sure you will, and one more thing, a note from Sandra,” said Reg as he handed it to Peter.
Peter opened the note wondering what she might have to say after all he had not heard from her in a very long time. May be she had remembered, he opened the note with some apprehension.
Peter
Welcome back to the world I hope this finds you
happy and looking to the future. I’m a manager now
have my own branch. I’m writing to tell you that
over the last few months I have started having bad
dreams about ‘that night’ and these dreams might
lead to me remembering. As per my promise to you
I will let you know if I remember anything even if
its bad new. Part of me hopes I don’t remember as
I was not traumatized by it due to me not
remembering. But it does trouble me that there is
part of my life that is blank to me. I hope your new
life works out for you.
Sandra
Peter folded the note up and placed it back in its envelope before asking Reg, “can you get a note to Sandra?”
“Yes,” replied Reg.
“Do you have a pad and pen?” asked Peter.
Reg rummaged around in his brief case and said, “I should have a pad in here somewhere, oh here it is.” he then handed it to Peter.
“Not much good without a pen,” said Peter.
“Funny that,” replied Reg as he handed Peter a pen.
Peter wrote a short note back to Sandra.
Sandra
It makes me happy to hear that you have your own
branch but it makes me sad to hear you are having
bad dreams. For your sake I hope your memory
does not come back. I think to would be easier
to live with a missing day than the violence. Look
after yourself and best wishes for your future.
Peter.
Peter handed Reg the note and said, “How will you get this to her?”
“Through her Solicitor,” replied Reg.
“Thanks Reg, for all your help over the years it’s been great, I don’t know how things would of turned out without you,” said Peter.
“It has been one hell of a ride,” replied Reg and then continued, “I better be on my way and leave you to organize your week, there is a lot for you to do.”
They both stud up, shook hands and Reg walked towards the front door before stopping and taking some keys out of his pocket and saying, “better not forget these, keys to the flat.”
“Thanks mate, see you soon,” said Peter.
Peter closed the door after Reg and then sat on the lounge and took a big breath. He spent the rest of the day organizing what needed to be done and in what order. By the time he had finished it was time for dinner and even though he was not a great take away food person having not had any for eight and a half years he decided to go out and get some take away.
It was a very odd feeling walking down the street to buy some take away, being out made him feel like he was doing something wrong, like he was in a ‘no go zone’ in the prison.
Over the next few weeks Peter got use to life out of prison and slowly worked his way through his list of thing to do. He got his driving licence, bought a car, bought a phone and a computer, had the internet connected and generally got himself ready for the next step, finding a job.
He registered with a number of employment agents, some were negative about his chances, given his Police record but others thought it would not make much difference. Ethically he had a big problem with employment agents, he saw them as parasites on workers. They would take a percentage of his pay for ever and the only thing they did was find him the job in the first place. He understood a fee for finding him the job but paying for the whole time he was employed seemed a bit excessive. Money for nothing seemed to cover it, but there was no way around it so he would have live with it for now.
After a few weeks of nothing, the phone rang, it was one of the employment agents who offered him a job in a warehouse, picking parts. Basically he would wonder around a warehouse making up orders of car parts. He did not think about it to long, he just took it as he could always through it in if he did not like it. The pay was not that great and the working conditions were none excitant, no holiday pay, and no sick pay. He felt at home working in a warehouse as it was a bit like being in prison except he could go home at the end of the day. He had little contact with his co-workers as there was only one break during the day and that was stagged so it was like working alone even though there were many people working there.
After a few months Peter had fallen into a routine but there was something missing. His life was not that much different from his banking days, the work was different but not his life but he was having trouble settling. Prison had changed him and in some ways for the better, he now wanted more from life then routine, he wanted happiness. Not all the changes were good, he had become accustom to being feared, to having power over people. When faced with injustice he struggled with the temptation to do something about it, as his idea of doing something about would involve thumping someone he had to resist.
It was six o’clock on a Sunday morning and Peter was fast asleep in bed when he was woken by someone banging on his front door, calling out, “Police open up.” Peter, still half asleep made his way to the front door as the call of, “Police open up,” continued. As he opened the front door a horrible thought flashed through his head, ‘not again.’ Standing at the front door were two uniformed Police officers and two plain cloths Police. One of the plain cloths officers said, “are you Peter Law?”
“Yes officer,” replied Peter.
“We have some questions can we come in?” asked one of the officers.
“Not until you identify yourselves,” replied Peter.
“I’m Detective Sargent Brian Walsh and this is Detective Constable John Lester,” said Detective Sargent Brian Walsh.
“There you go all you have to do is play by the rules to get co-operation,” replied Peter but he then said to the uniformed officers, “only the Detectives, you two can wait outside.”
“You don’t get to make demands,” said the Detective Sargent.
“Oh in that case you can all stay out, unless you have a warrant,” replied Peter.
The two Detectives looked at each other and said to the uniformed officers, “you two wait here.”
The two Detectives walked in and Peter said, “have a seat, would you like a cup of tea?” said Peter before adding, “I draw your attention to this sign.”
Peter pointed to a sign hanging on the wall which read.
Under constant video surveillance.
Peter then pressed the record button on a video camera which was on a tripod in one corner of the room.
“You can’t video us,” said Detective Constable John Lester.
“Oh my goodness, lying on tape you must of scored top of you class, tell him Brian,” said Peter.
“Where were you between 9.00 and 12.00 last night?” asked Detective Sargent Brian Walsh.
“Here alone,” said Peter.
“So no alerbuy,” replied Detective Constable John Lester.
“Well there is this,” said Peter. He then walked to the front door and pointed towards a trail camera hanging on the wall, filming the front door.
“That is movement activated, would you like to see what it has recorded,” said Peter.
“That’s not proof of anything , you could of turned it off,” replied Detective Constable John Lester.
“My goodness where did you get this one Brian?” said Peter before explaining, “it stores in its memory when it is on or off and I don’t think it can be played around with. If you want to show me how to, be my guest. Do you want to see what it has recorded?”
“Yes,” replied Detective Constable John Lester.
Peter took the trail camera of the wall and walked over to his computer but before he got any further Detective Sargent Brian Walsh’s phone rang.
He answered the phone and said, “Detective Sargent Brian Walsh.” and then after a few moments added, “thanks we are on our way.” He then hung up the phone and said to Detective Constable John Lester, “someone has been arrested.”
“But shouldn’t we check these pictures anyway,” replied Detective Constable John Lester.
“No, it’s her boy friend and he has made a complete confession,” said Detective Sargent Brian Walsh.
The two detectives walked to the front door and left without saying another word.
Peter went out onto the balcony and as the detective walked to there car he called out to then, “what no ‘I sorry sir’ or ‘we made a mistake’ your just going to walk away, such professional behaviour it’s astonishing.”
About a week later the employment agent contacted him to tell him that he was not needed at the warehouse any more due to a turn down in orders, even though they had taken on more staff the week earlier because of the an increase in orders.
The following week he was given a months notice on his flat as the three months lease was up.
Peter decided to move to a different area so he had to go through the process of finding somewhere to live and another job. He searcher real estate web sites and attended open days which are a bit of a misnomer as they should be call open hour. Then there is the approval process which is hard to meet as Peter did not have things like references but he did have money in the bank. As time ticked away with no success he had to resort to giving the real estate agent a brown envelope of money in order to secure a flat.
Once ensconced in his new flat getting a new job become the priority. This whole process cost a tidy amount of money, between bribe money and not working plus other costs it all added up. After a few weeks one of the employment agents contacted him with a job offer, it was a job driving a carrier van. Again the pay was not much good and it was a contract job so no conditions like sick pay or holiday pay, not even super contributions. But it was a job that Peter took to and quite enjoyed, it was nothing like his banking job but he liked driving and the days when quickly.
He had only been in this flat for three weeks and the job for one week when early one morning there was a knock at the door. It was a Saturday morning and he was having breakfast and just thinking about what he had to do that day. He opened the door to find and man and a woman, the man had a clip board in his hand and they were both well dressed.
“Can I help you, if your Seven Day Adventists don’t bother as I’m beyond help,” said Peter.
“I Detective Sergent Mary Quincy and this Detective Constable Ben Johnson, can we come in and ask you some question?” replied the Detective Sergent Mary Quincy.
“Yes of course,” said Peter and then added, “come in, I’m just having breakfast would you like something?
“No thank you,” replied Detective Sergent Mary Quincy.
“Oh and I have only been here for a few weeks so I haven’t had time to hang this, so I will have to show you,” said Peter as he held up a sign that read.
Under constant video surveillance.
Peter pressed the record button on a video camera situated on a tripod in one corner of the room. He then sat down on one of the lounge chairs and said, “take a seat, what can I do for you?”
“Where were you last night between 10.00 and 12.00?” asked Detective Constable Ben Johnson.
“I spent the last eight and a half year in jail and I have only been out for around five months, I have no friends so the answer to that question is predictably, here all along,” replied Peter.
“No one saw you? May be a neighbour,” asked Detective Sergent Mary Quincy.
“No,” replied Peter but then added, “there is a moment activated trail camera set up at the front door and as this is a second floor flat it’s the only way out. Would you like to have a look at what it has recorded?”
“Yes please,” said Detective Sergent Mary Quincy.
Peter went and got the trail camera and placed it on the coffee table in front of the lounge where the Detectives were sitting. He then got his lap top from the kitchen table and placed it on the coffee table.
“So you two can see that this is all above board, can I just sit between you two so you can see exactly what I am doing so there can be no doubt.” said Peter.
“OK,” replied Detective Sergent Mary Quincy.
Peter sat down between them, turned on the computer and then removed the SD card from the trail camera and inserted it into the computer. He opened the only file on the SD card and showed the Detectives the recording in reverse order. The first clip was Peter answering the door to the Detectives, the next clip was of Peter coming home from work on Friday at 6.03. The last clip he showed them was of him leaving for work on Thursday.
“Would you like a copy of what’s on this SD card, it will be for the whole week as I download the SD card every Sunday,” asked Peter.
“That would be good,” replied Detective Sergent Mary Quincy.
“Do you have a flash drive or do I have to donate one?” asked Peter.
Detective Constable Ben Johnson handed Peter a flash drive and said, “can I do it? It just.”
But before he could say anything more Peter said, “yes no problem.” He then stud up and sat back down in the arm chair.
Detective Constable Ben Johnson then copied the file and removed the flash drive and closed the lap tops screen. Both Detectives then stud up and said, “thank you for your co-operation.” They then walked towards the door when Peter said, “Guys, I’ve only been here for three weeks and in the job for one week, can you not do what you are going to do?”
“I’m sorry I don’t know what you mean,” said Detective Sergent Mary Quincy.
“You know, tell my employer and landlord that I’m not a good person and not to be trusted,” replied Peter.
“We are professionals, we would never do such a thing,” said Detective Sergent Mary Quincy.
“I come from a professional back ground, I know just how corrupt the professionals classes are.” replied Peter.
“I can assure you we will not be talking to your employer or your landlord,” said Detective Sergent Mary Quincy.
“You know why I was so good at my old job working as an embezzlement hunter with the bank?” said Peter he then paused and just looked at the Detective for a moment and then continued, “It was because I can see when someone is lying.”
The Detectives started walking away.
“I guess I better start looking for somewhere else to live then. Next time I get a visit from you guys I’m not going to co-operate.” said Peter.
Peter closed the door, walked back to the lounge chair and sat down and said to himself, “this is going to be harder than I thought.” He spent a good part of the week end searching the internet for a possible new place to live. On Monday he went to work as usual and by the end of the week he was starting to think that he may of miss judged Detective Sergent Mary Quincy. May be he was loosing his ability to tell when people are lying but no, he still had it. When he got home on Friday night there was a notice to quite in the mail so he would need to find somewhere new to live. And on Monday when he went to work he was told that this would be his last week.
This become a paten for the next months, move to a new flat, find a new job, then the cops would show up and not long after he would loose his job and be evicted.
Peter could see no point in brooding about it. This is the way it is, so its time to put your head down and bum up and just get on with it, move forward and don’t look back. He decided that it might be a good idea to try a new area completely so he started looking for somewhere to live two hours away on the other side of the city.
It took a while but he eventually found a flat that suited him down to the ground. Unlike the others this one was a private rental, no agent, he dealt directly with the land lord and if Peter read the land lord correctly, this guy was doggy. After all those years in prison Peter could tell an ex con when he met one and there was no doubt about this guy. In fact going by the look of his neighbours, the whole block of flats was full of ex cons. Now there were good and bad points to this, he was unlikely to be evicted next time the Police show up but living amount ex con was not a very good situation.
It didn’t take long for Peter to settle in to his new home, it was like being back in jail as all the other residents treated him with respect or may be it was fear. For the first time since being released he felt at ease but he knew it was not a good thing, it was a bit like a drug. It may well make you feel good but in the long term it was very counterproductive.
Peter did not rush into looking for a new job he just lived of his investment but he knew he could not do that for long.
After about two months Peter finally decided it was time to do something about looking for work. He notice one of his neighbours driving a Uber taxi, now Peter new that to drive a Uper taxi, you could not have a criminal record, as he had already looked into it. So how was his neighbour getting around it? He asked his neighbour, who at first was reluctant to talk about it but due to fear of Peter he explained how it worked. He bought a stolen identity from the local bikey gang and then used it to get an Uber licence. With some persuasion he agreed to introduce Peter to the head of the bikey gang.
The next day Peter and his neighbour went to visit the Bikey gang at their head quarters in an industrial estate not all that far away. There was some danger in this as bikey gangs can be unpredictable but with an introduction from his neighbour it should be alright. And if they checked they would discover Peter had a repatriation but that in it’s self could bring on some trouble.
As they walked towards the bikey gangs head quarters Peter’s neighbour was becoming noticeably uneasy. Even though he was an ex con her had only spent a few years in a low security prison farm so he did not have much experience with the top end of the criminal classes.
“Relax,” said Peter he then paused before adding, “what’s your name?
“Nick,” replied the neighbour.
“Don’t worry about these guys,” said Peter.
“You don’t know what there like,” replied Nick.
“I know exactly what there like,” said Peter, he then added, “just tell them who I am and then leave the rest to me.”
They both walked into an industrial building through an opened roller door stopped and looked around. There were two bikey working on a bike in one corner and another three sitting on some old lounge chairs around a coffee table. Nick continued walking toward the three sitting on the lounge chairs and said to one of them, “hi this is Peter and he’s after an ID.”
One of the bikey’s said, “what’s your name?”
“Peter,” replied Peter.
“Do you know who I am?” said one of the bikey’s who was obversely the leader.
“No idea,” replied Peter, he then added, “but I do no him.” Peter pointed, without looking, towards one of the bikey’s working on a bike.
“Hey Tim,” called the leader and then, “do you know this guy?”
But before he answered Peter said, “not him the other one.”
“Greg do you know this bloke?” said the Leader.
The two bikey’s who were working on a bike walked towards Peter, one had a pronounced limp, then one of them said, “Yes I know him he broke my leg.” He then lunged towards Peter who jabbed him in the throat, and he went straight down. The second bikey came at Peter who without hardly moving dispatched him to the floor.
Peter then put his hands up and said, “I’m here to do some business not get involved with petty historical scores with minions.”
“You two, go back and work on the bike,” said the leader.
The two bikey’s struggled to their feet and Greg said, “But he broke my leg.”
“Do you want it broken again?” said the Leader.
The two bikey’s reluctantly walked away.
“Your friend seems to have run away,” continued the Leader.
“No surprise there,” replied Peter.
“So your after a clean ID, don’t tell me you want to drive a Uber taxi like your friend?” said the Leader.
“Does it matter why I want it?” replied Peter.
“Greg told me how he got his leg broken, did you really take down six blokes by yourself and break their legs?” asked the leader and then
added , “why brake their legs?”
“So they don’t get up, now how much for a clean ID?” asked Peter.
“Why’s a bloke like you want to drive an Uber, don’t tell me you want to go straight.” said the leader, he paused for a moment and then continued, “they want let you, you know that don’t you.”
“My plans are irrelevant, how about that ID?” asked Peter.
“I could use a bloke like you and you could make a lot more money working for me than driving an Uber,” said the leader.
“I just need an ID,” replied Peter.
“OK, $1,000 dollars,” said the leader.
Peter got a wad of money out of his shirt pocket, counted out $1,000 in hundreds and placed it on the coffee table in front of the leader. The bikey leader motioned to a younger bikey who was sitting on a lounge opposite the coffee table to go and find the ID’s. Peter just stud there motionless waiting.
The younger bikey returned with a shoe box and placed it on the coffee table. The leader sat forward in the chair and flipped through the contents of the shoe box.
He removed an envelope and said, “you look like a Mathew Fraser.” He then handed the envelope to Peter.
Peter took the envelope, turned and started to walk away when the leader call out to him, “next time I see you I going to enjoy saying, ‘I told you so’ as you want last driving an Uber.”
Peter continued walking out of the building towards his car, where he found Nick hiding behind the car.
“What are you doing, get in,” said Peter.
The next day Peter filled out forms and submitted an application to Uber. The following day Uber sent him a contract which he signed and returned. He was now an Uber driver.
He now felt a bit more secure, the Police would still drop in to question him every time there was any sort of sex crime in the area. But with the land lord being a criminal Peter was save from being evicted as the Police had no influence. And as long as he could keep from the Police the fact that he was driving an Uber taxi under a false name, he would no longer have work problems.
The down side of all this was that he was living in a block of flats full of criminals and he was driving an Uber taxi, not one of life’s great fulfilling jobs. He still had hope that now he could get into a routine he would be able to come up with a way to make life better, may be even get back to the way life was before it all unravelled.
It did not take long before there was a knock at the door and the Police wanted Peter to answer a few questions.
As Peter opened the front door he recognized one of the officers.
“I’m,” said one of the officers but before she could finish Peter said, “your Detective Sergent Mary,” he paused for a moment, then the Detective said, “Quincy.”
“That’s it,” said Peter.
“This Detective Sargent John Smith,” said Detective Sergent Mary Quincy.
“John Smith, come on your pulling my leg, I’ve got to see some ID, you can’t be called John Smith,” said Peter.
The officer showed Peter some ID and Peter said, “you poor basted.”
“Can we come in and ask you some questions,” said Detective Sergent Mary Quincy.
“Now I seem to remember that last time we spoke I told you that I would no longer co-operate with the Police if you got me evicted and sacked so seeing I was evicted and sacked a few days after we talked, why on earth should I talk to you?” said Peter.
“I had nothing to do with that,” replied Detective Sergent Mary Quincy.
“Mary, Mary my goodness when will you learn, you can’t lie to me,” replied Peter, he then added, directed at John, “you know your colleague has no and I mean ‘no’ talent for lying. But as I am starved for company, you can come in and ask me some questions. Oh and I direct you to the sign on the wall.” The sign read,
Under constant video surveillance.
Peter then walked to a video camera on a tripod in one corner of the room and pressed the record button.
The lounge room was small and lacking in any sort of style. The flat came furnished and looked like something from the fifties. Peter said, “before you say ‘it’s a nice place you have here’ its not, it’s a dump.”
“I would say take a seat but I would not recommend it,” said Peter.
“Where were you between 8.00 and 11.00 last night?” asked Detective Sergent Mary Quincy.
“As I said earlier, I am no longer co-operating with the Police,” replied Peter.
“In that case I am arresting you on suspicion of sexual assault on or about the evening of 26th day of March, you are not obliged to say or do anything unless you wish to do so but whatever you say or do may be used in evidence, do you understand?” said Detective Sergent Mary Quincy.
“Your not serious, you’re setting yourself up for a fall,” replied Peter.
“Do you understand?” repeated Detective Sergent Mary Quincy.
“Yes,” said Peter.
Peter was hand cuffed and taken to the Police Station by two uniformed officers while the two detectives remained to search his flat.
As Peter was being taken out of the flat he call out to the two detectives, “You two better behave yourselves, no planting evidence and don’t turn that video camera off.”
At the Police station Peter was placed in a cell but he was allowed to make his phone call. He rang Reg and asked him to go to the flat and once the Police left, collect the motion activated trail cameras that were hidden around the flat as well as the video camera in the lounge room. He told Reg that some of the cameras were in plain sight but others were hidden. He gave Reg detailed instructions on there location and asked Reg to take someone with him so they could video him collecting the cameras.
After a few hours in the cells waiting Peter was taken to an interview room. And after another wait, Detective Sergent Mary Quincy and Detective Sargent John Smith came into the room. They sat down opposite Peter and turned a tape recorder on. After it made a beeping sound the officers introduced each other to the tape and asked Peter to do the same.
“Interview commencing at 11.05 am, now Peter can you tell us where you were between 8.00 and 11.00 last night?” asked Detective Sergent Mary Quincy.
“I will not be answering any questions until my Solicitor gets here, he shouldn’t be too much longer,” said Peter.
“It’s only a matter of time, as soon as the forensic evidence comes in you will be back to jail,” said Detective Sargent John Smith.
“I will not be answering any questions until my Solicitor gets here, he shouldn’t be too much longer,” said Peter.
“Interview suspended at 11.15 am,” said “Detective Sergent Mary Quincy.
The two detectives left the room and as they walked along the corridor they met a uniformed officer escorting Reg to the interview room.
“This is the suspects Solicitor, Reg Strong,” said the uniformed officer.
“You can have ten minutes with your client before we will be back to conduct an official interview,” said Detective Sergent Mary Quincy.
Reg was escorted into the interview room by a uniformed officer who then left. Reg sat down at the table opposite Peter and said, “feels a bit like deja vu.”
“It does a bit, did you find the cameras?” asked Peter.
“Only the hidden ones,” replied Reg.
“The Police must have the others, they can’t of looked at them yet, otherwise they would of let me go by now, have you looked at the videos?” asked Peter.
“Yes and they make interesting viewing,” said Reg.
The two Detectives came into the room so Reg had to move and sit next to Peter, the two Detectives sat down opposite. Detective Sergent Mary Quincy started the tape recorder and then said, “Interview recommenced at 12.05 pm, present Detective Sargent John Smith, Detective Sergent Mary Quincy, Peter Law and Solicitor Reg Strong.
“We found some interesting evidence at your place Peter, some women’s underwear that match underwear taken from our assault victim, I bet when tested they have her DNA on them,” said Detective Sargent John Smith.
“Have you looked at the video from the trail cameras in my clients flat?” asked Reg.
“We did not find any trail cameras,” said Detective Sargent John Smith.
Reg opened his lap top and placed it at the end of the table so they could all see.
“Before you go any further Detectives I think you should watch this,” said Reg as he push the play button on the lap top. Video started to play, the first clip from a camera in Peter’s lounge room showed Detective Sergent Mary Quincy placing a video camera and tripod into a bag. The second clip from a camera in Peter’s bed room showed Detective Sargent John Smith placing what looked like women’s underwear under Peter’s bed.
“There is a whole lot more but I think you get the idea, would you like me to show these to you superiors or are you going to release my client without charge with an apology, said Reg.
“Interview suspended at 12.24 pm,” said Detective Sergent Mary Quincy, she then pushed the stop button on the tape recorder and removed the tapes. Both Detectives stud up and started to walk out of the room when Reg said, “I think one of those tapes belongs to us.”
Detective Sergent Mary Quincy with great reluctance handed one of the tapes to Reg.
“Could you return my video cameras as well?” asked Peter.
“And you better hope Peter and I don’t have any accidences or bad health as I have made a number of copy’s of those videos and if anything happens to either of us, well I’m sure you can guess what will happen,” said Reg.
“You’re free to go, no charge,” said Detective Sergent Mary Quincy.
Both Detectives walked out of the room, Peter got up and went to the door and call out to them, “you forgot the apology and you better mean it.”
The Detectives stoped and turned around and in front of a number of uniformed officers said, “I’m sorry for any inconvenience Sir, we made a mistake, you are not involved in this crime.” they then turned and walked away.
“Don’t forget those video cameras, before the weekend,” said Peter.
Peter and Reg were then escorted from the building by a uniformed officer. Once outside Reg said, “I’m not sure we did the right thing there, may be we should have reported them.”
“May be but it was just so much fun,” said Peter.
“I think you pushed your luck a bit there,” replied Reg.
“Reg, it was so much fun,” said Peter.
“Why did you move out of that place I got you to that dump?” asked Reg.
“I have moved five or six times since then, the cops keep interviewing me and then I loose my job and get evicted,” replied Peter.
“Why didn’t you tell me I might have been able to do something?” asked Reg.
“You have done so much for me over the years I didn’t want to burden you any more,” replied Peter.
Reg took an envelope out of his brief case and handed it to Peter.
“What’s this your bill?” said Peter.
“I posted this to your old address and it came back, it’s a note from Sandra,” said Reg.
“Do you have the time for me to read this in case I want to send her a reply?” asked Peter.
“Yes of course,” said Reg.
The note read,
Peter
The bad dreams I was having got worse so I went to see
a hipmetist. I now remember everything and it makes
me happy to say, ‘my attacker was not you’ but you were
there. You were laying on the bed next to me but I think
you were drugged just like me. I urge you to see a hipmistist.
Let me know how it goes, please
Sandra
“How long ago did you send this to me?” asked Peter.
“I don’t know, months,” replied Reg.
“Lend me your pad and pen,” said Peter and then asked, “can you still get a reply to her?”
Reg handed Peter his pad and pen and said, “yes no problem.”
Peter wrong Sandra a quick note.
Sandra
Are you alright? I hope the memories are not coursing
you unhappiness. Sorry for taking so long to answer
but I only just got your note. I have been moving a lot
due to thinks beyond my control and neglected to
change my address with Reg. I have to say that it a
great relief to know that I was not your attacker. I will
find a hipmertips as soon as I can
Peter
Peter handed Reg his pad and pen and said, “she has remembered and it wasn’t me.”
“Well what a great bit of news,” replied Reg and then added, “congratulations, my goodness, my goodness.”
They shook hands and then hugged and just looked at each other and smiles but the smile on Peter’s face soon turned to a frown.
“You know Reg, this is great news but it doesn’t change anything, I’m still a convicted rapist, I still have to live with all this,” said Peter as he pointed towards the Police Station.
“But you know you didn’t do it,” replied Reg.
“Yes there is that,” said Peter.
“We could launch an appeal and get your name cleared,” said Reg.
“Good on you Reg, I think it is just wonderful that you can still believe in the system after all these years. If being hipmertised worked for Sandra may be it will work for me, so I’m off to find a hipmertist. Thanks Reg I will be in touch.” replied Peter as he walked away.
“Don’t you want to celebrate,” asked Reg.
“Yer, I’ll call you and we will do something, replied Peter as he kept walking away.
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jimpope@westnet.com.au