Chapter 8

Zane climbed into the cruiser and swore as he looked at the courthouse. He had always had a good working relationship with Judge Borth but their discussion left him feeling uneasy.

Judge Borth had seemed to be less than his usual self this morning. Maybe he had gotten out of the wrong side of the bed.

Whatever the reason, Judge Borth had not been himself. He had been distant and cold. Zane pondered what to do. There was no point going back to the station. He picked up the files of the kids he had tossed on the front passenger seat and went through them.

James O’Reilly, sixteen, Lamar Pendleton, sixteen, Barry Jaxon, seventeen, George Hartly – eighteen. He didn’t check further. He looked at James’ address and decided to visit him. He was just on the outskirts of town.

Thirty minutes later Zane pulled up outside a timber house. The house needed a lot of work but, he suspected, the family didn’t have the money to fix it or they were simply renting and the landlord couldn’t be bothered. He watched the house a few moments before leaving the cruiser.

He approached the front door and knocked.

An elderly lady answered the door eyeing him suspiciously.

“Yes, officer?”

“Good day Ma’am. I’m here to see James.”

“What about?” the old lady asked.

“Just a couple of questions about something he witnessed yesterday.”

“You mean questions about his drug pushing arrest yesterday?” the lady asked her voice rising in pitch. She opened the screen door and let Zane in.

“Come in.” She turned and yelled at the top of her voice, “James!”

James appeared a short while later and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Zane.

“Good morning James,” Zane said, “I’ve come to ask you a few questions about yesterday if you don’t mind. They’re not really about you but rather about the woman who was at the warehouse.”

James relaxed visibly when he heard Zane wasn’t there to ask questions about him.

“You mean Flamingo?”

“Yes, Flamingo.”

“Can I getcha a cuppa tea?” the old lady asked.

“Sure, thanks Mom,” James said as he entered the lounge.

“I wasn’t talking to you boy,” his mother fired back.

“And I wasn’t thanking you for me. I was thanking you on behalf of Chief Zane. I’m sure he would like a cuppa.”

“Thanks, that would be nice,” Zane quickly replied before a question about a simple cup of tea could escalate into an argument between mother and child.

Zane sat down and James sat opposite him on the rickety sofas that furnished the living room. The décor was seventies style and Zane thought it was quite quaint.

“I want to talk to you about Flamingo.”

James nodded nervously, “Okay.”

“Where did you meet her? How do you contact her or how does she contact you?”

James hesitated briefly, considering his reply. “I was told that there was an interview being done in the warehouse where we were caught yesterday. The interview was a few days back, not yesterday.”

“Okay. Who interviewed you?”

“Flamingo.”

“What did she promise you or tell you?”

“Well, she was quite convincing. She said she was starting a new business in town. She said she had decided on Hurstville ‘cos she knew there are poor kids here and she likes helping poor kids for education and works to make their lives better.”

James’ mother brought in the tea and biscuits and Zane thanked her before she left.

“Okay. What did she say the work was?”

“Packing stuff. Packing merchandise.”

“She didn’t tell you what?”

“Nope. We just assumed it would be like toys or something simple. Food even. The pay was good. Hell, any pay is good around here seeing as jobs are so hard to come by. We all accepted the work and were told to report in a few days. We only had to give our names and contact numbers. We didn’t even have to fill in forms. We were told we’d be paid cash.

Then, the day before yesterday, we got a call saying we needed to report for work yesterday. So we did. An’ that’s when we all got arrested for packing marijuana.”

‘What you do when you realized you had to pack marijuana?”

“Well, we just figured we’d be okay. None of us liked it, but we figured we just wouldn’t turn up the next day. We were all afraid that if we wanted to leave they might do something to us. None of my friends were planning to go back the next day. But instead, we all got caught.”

“What do you know about Flamingo?”

“Well, she gave us all a long talk on how we shouldn’t do drugs. That it’s not good for us and all. That was before we were told to report and realized we were packing the stuff. When we reported for work she told us the same thing. She told us we were only packin’ it and shouldn’t be tempted to try and steal any of it. She told us that she would pay our

schooling fees, buy stationery, give us lunch money, everything. As long as we kept quiet about what we were doing and reported for work every day.”

“Did you know all of the other boys who were there?”

“Some. Not all of them.”

“And were there any kids that never showed up for work after the interview?”

“There was Andy. He went to the interview and then never showed for work. I know him. He’s my friend. When I realized we were packin’ drugs I sent him a message and told him.”

“Really? What did he say?”

“He told me to get the hell out of there.”

“Okay,” Zane said taking notes hoping that James wasn’t making the possible connections he was making.

“What did you think about Flamingo?”

“She seemed nice. We all thought she was being sincere and when she made all these promises and we wanted to have help with money for studies so we were all keen on what she offered. She even showed us videos of kids from other places who told us what she had done for them. They showed us how they had struggled before she came along and what their lives were like now. It was awesome. We all want the kind of life those kids are living.”

“You believed her? Even though they were just videos?”

“Sure. She seemed sincere enough. Besides, we all wanna believe in the greater good.”

“Did she tell you why she’s called Flamingo?”

“Yeah, she told us it means kindness and it’s not about the bird but the Flamingo flower…”

Zane nodded. “And what did you think?”

“As I said, she seemed genuine and sincere. She showed us the videos of the other kids…”

Zane nodded indicating he was aware of what James was telling him.

“Where can I find Andy?”

James told Zane where to find him and Zane thanked him. As Zane prepared to leave, he finished his tea and then asked one more question.

“Did she tell you how to contact her?”

James hesitated and Zane waited patiently. Finally, he nodded. “Chief, I don’t know if you still can contact her after yesterday. Maybe she’s shut it down now ‘cos she’s afraid one of us will talk....”

“Yes?” Zane waited eagerly.

“She said we can meet her out at the Old Mill on Tuesdays and Thursdays, strictly at three pm. No phone contact. We just have to be there, wait thirty minutes and she’ll turn up. I don’t know if she’s going to bother since we got busted on our first day. But please Chief, don’t tell anyone I told you.”

“I won’t,” Zane replied. “You’ve been a great help and you’ve done the right thing.”

Zane greeted James and his mother and left.

Zane thought about the Old Mill and a plan began to form in his mind. He was sure that she wouldn’t turn up at the Old Mill if he went but if he could get one of the boys to turn up she might arrive and then he could catch her.

His only concern with the trap was that he would have to use a youth as bait. Nevertheless, it could work.