Losing an eye at age five would be a problem for most people. Leo’s cheery disposition allowed him to deal with it better than anyone would have expected. Kids are cruel at the best of times and he could have been damaged psychologically, as well as visually. Not Leo, he considered himself special. The patch became part of his persona. He made friends and didn’t back away from bullies. His sharp tongue and straight left jab served him well. Leo was comfortable with his patch through his teens. Of course, it had to be black. With a tall frame and thick dark wavy hair girls found him more than interesting. A boy who’d lost an eye had to be a seriously excitingly bad.
Leo was almost disappointed when prosthetic technology became too hard to resist. His new left eye was indistinguishable from the real thing. It even moved at the appropriate times. Leo found the main drawback was when he drank alcohol to excess. One eye looked bleary and the other clear, or the next day one was bloodshot and one clear. Given this minor inconvenience, now 45 years old he was convinced that his growing years had prepared him well. His failed marriage had left no scars and no kids. His relationship with lady friend Lucy was loving and satisfying. His inner-city apartment living arrangement with his Burmese cat Andre gave him the independence that he needed. Most importantly, it has all led to Leo’s new career as Leo H Budge, Private Investigator.
Maryanne York gazed around Leo’s sparsely decorated home office. A slim mature woman in her sixties, she had an aura of wealth. Leo felt underdressed as he appreciated her meticulous makeup, short styled blonde hair and crisp dark pants suit. He had promised himself that he would present himself to clients in a professional manner but the jeans and AC/DC tee-shirt were just more him.
“Mrs York, can I get you tea or coffee before we start?” Leo thought that using her first name would be a little presumptuous considering her imposing appearance.
“Call me Maryanne please Leo…no thanks I’m fine,” she replied.
Leo couldn’t help but wonder why she had picked him from all the private investigators in town.
“Can I ask how you found me Maryanne?” Leo sounded like he was checking the success of his marketing strategies but he really wanted to know how an apparently well to do private person would pick a little known inexperienced investigator.
“I had a recommendation from a friend of yours. Lucy… she’s my personal trainer,” she said.
Leo raised his eyebrows. “Really, Lucy, she didn’t say anything.”
“She doesn’t know I made an appointment. She has spoken highly about you Leo as an investigator and it just so happens that I’m in need of one.”
That’s my girl, Leo thought with a flush of affection.
“Great…well what can I do for you?” Leo asked.
“I need you to find my husband Denis. He has been missing for almost two weeks.”
The alarm bells in Leo’s head were ringing. His Certificate 3 in Investigative Services course had specifically warned about the perils of taking on missing person cases. Often the persons who were missing did not want to be found. There had been a recent case of an investigator finding someone who was subsequently killed by the client. How do you live with that on your conscience? Leo needed more details.
“Can you give me more information Maryanne?” Leo poised his pen over his notebook. “Firstly, have the police investigated?”
“Yes, of course, they are still investigating. He disappeared from our house while I was away one morning – just vanished. No one has heard anything since. It doesn’t make any sense.” Maryanne clasped her jewellery laden fingers together as if in prayer and pressed them to her lips.
Leo could see the pain glistening in her soft eyes. “I’m sorry to hear that,” Leo said. “You don’t think the police are doing enough?” he asked.
“No, they’re not taking it seriously,” Maryanne paused and looked up. “There’s something else.”
Leo looked at her in anticipation.
“I saw him two days ago at Maleny.”
Leo straightened in his chair. He knew that he was a good judge of people – emotional intelligence was it? Maryanne appeared to be a stable sort of personality from his early assessment – not eccentric. She cared about her missing husband – better dig a bit more.
“You saw him?” Leo asked. “Are you sure it was him?”
“I saw him in the street in the village. I was about twenty metres away. It was him. He was wearing his bomber jacket – the one that he was wearing that day. He went into an arcade. I ran down and he was gone.” The look of pain returned to her face.
“Have you reported this to authorities?”
“No, I want to be positive before I report anything.”
Leo was sure that Maryanne was genuine. She was in distress and it was possible she had seen what she wanted to see. He decided that he’d help her.
“Ok, I’ll get a few more details Maryanne and then I can see what I can do to find Denis.”
In the following hour or so with Maryanne, Leo expanded his knowledge on the circumstances surrounding Denis’s disappearance. Maryanne had left to go shopping on Saturday morning, leaving Denis alone - they had no children. She returned home in around two hours. Denis was not at home. He left no message and there were no signs of a crime. The Jenkins, neighbours across the road, recalled seeing a dark coloured vehicle parked near the house for a time. Jerry from next door said he saw nothing unusual. Maryanne confirmed that their relationship was cordial, if not all that affectionate, and he was in good spirits, though on medication for depression and anxiety. A check of phone and computer records did not show anything untoward. Not much to work with, Leo thought as he completed his notes.
Leo had decided the first task was to go to Maryanne’s house. He thought that some piece of evidence may be hiding undetected. The police are professionals but with the pressure of work, and when a case seems clear cut, they can miss clues.
“This is Denis’s work area,” Maryanne said, as she showed Leo into the study. The room had a double glass window with a view across the mountains. Most of the rooms in the large Queensland style house had spectacular views across their own land and the surrounds. A large polished timber desk with office chair sat in the middle of the room with a laptop computer.
Leo stood at the front of the desk and gazed around the room. There were photos on the low bookcase against the back wall. Two small framed prints were happy couple shots with Denis and Maryanne, one older couple - parents perhaps and one photo of a young man.
“Is that Denis when he was younger?” Leo asked.
“That’s his son from a previous relationship,” Maryanne said. “He connected with him or the first time only about a year ago. His name’s Ken.” Maryanne paused. “I’ve never met him. Apparently, his mother passed away a while ago. She had cancer or something.”
“He looks a lot like Denis, doesn’t he?” Leo asked as he peered at the photo.
“Yes, I suppose he does,” Maryanne replied.
“Did the police talk to Ken?” Leo asked as he pulled out his notebook.
“I don’t know. They didn’t mention him to me. Do you think he could be involved?”
“I have no idea… but I’d like to have a chat with him,” Leo said. “Have you got his surname and address?” Leo was hopeful that Ken was the critical lead in this case.
Ken, a student in his twenties, lived in a unit block in South Brisbane with two other young people. Leo rang Ken and explained he was an investigator. He could sense Ken’s reluctance to meet when he mentioned his father. The local coffee shop near Ken’s unit was Leo’s choice of venue for what he hoped would be a relaxed conversation.
“I am trying to locate your dad. Have you heard from him recently?” Leo asked as the waiter placed the two coffees on the table. The shop looked more like a country museum than a café with old furniture and artefacts – the atmosphere was all important.
“I have seen him once in the last year. We don’t have a close relationship.” Ken replied with a stern look on his face. “Why are you looking for him?”
“He’s been missing for over two weeks.” Leo didn’t get the look of surprise from Ken that he was expecting. “No one had heard from him and his wife is extremely concerned.”
“Well, I haven’t heard anything. To be honest, I wouldn’t expect to. Like I said I’m not close to my father.” Ken sipped his coffee.
“So you haven’t been to Montville or Maleny recently?” Leo asked.
“No, and actually I’ve never been to my dad’s house.”
Leo could feel the tension. This was a touchy subject. What the hell… Leo needed to know.
“Is there any bad blood between you and your father?”
“Well if you mean am I angry about him abandoning me and Mum - not giving us money - probably being the cause of Mum’s death – yes I am.”
Leo had touched the nerve. He knew the meeting was going badly but pressed on.
“Do you own a vehicle Ken?” Leo asked.
“Yes, a Mazda two.”
“What colour is it?”
“Brown, why do you want to know?” Ken replied with a scowl.
“A vehicle was seen near your dad’s house at the time of his disappearance – Saturday morning two weeks ago,” Leo replied.
“I’ve already told you I wasn’t up there and I work Saturday mornings. Check if you like,” Ken said with genuine anger in his voice. “Look I don’t know anything and I don’t want to know.” He stood pushing his chair back, turned and walked out of the shop.
Leo pulled out his notebook and jotted the detail of the conversation before finishing his coffee. He would like to come back here. He was impressed by the ambience.
Ken definitely had the motive to harm his father but looked to have an alibi. Leo decided to check further with Maryanne’s neighbours. Jerry Martin, who lived alone in a timber cabin style home next door to the York’s, agreed to meet with Leo the following morning.
Jerry’s décor was unusual, to say the least. A huge beaten copper sun hung imposingly over the fireplace. Small Aztec type artefacts sat on furniture and shelves around the room. The open timber ceiling gave the place a feeling of warmth. Jerry’s personal attributes were as unique as his decorating style. Dressed in jeans and white tee-shirt, he had a bushy salt and pepper beard and a long grey ponytail. He looked to be in his fifties – it was hard to tell. His piercing grey eyes made Leo uncomfortable.
“Can I ask a few questions about the disappearance of Denis York, if you don’t mind Jerry?” Leo asked as he sat down and gazed around the room with unbridled interest.
“No problem,” Jerry replied.
Leo couldn’t help but ask. “Are you into archaeology?”
“Not exactly, I believe the Mayans knew the secrets of life,” he said smiling. “Did you know that Kinich Ahau, the Mayan Sun God transformed into the Christian God.”
Okay… looks like Jerry’s a weirdo, Leo thought.
“No, that’s interesting.” Leo wanted to get back to reality.
“Did you see Denis the morning he disappeared?” Leo asked with his notebook out and pen poised.
“Police have already asked about this,” Jerry said, still smiling.
“Yes I know but I need to confirm the details,” Leo said.
“I was down the back of the property, doing some clearing. So no, I didn’t see him.”
“What about vehicles, did you notice any in the area?”
“No, I was down the back,” Jerry said tersely.
Jerry leaned forward. “Denis had some strange views you know.”
“Really,” Leo replied. The irony didn’t escape him.
“Yeah, he was an atheist. How bad is that? Even Satanists believe in something. I told the poor man he would pay in the next life.”
“Yeah well everyone is entitled to their point of view Jerry,” Leo said, thinking that wherever Jerry went he would have a lot of company.
“Anyway, thanks for your time. I’ll be in touch if I need more information.” Leo was keen to get out and headed for the door. Jerry’s odd behaviour had convinced Leo that he should investigate the man thoroughly.
The daylight was fading, it was getting cold and Leo parked his yellow Suzuki well away from Jerry Martin’s cabin. Concealed by the cover of darkness he walked to the property front boundary and down the side of the building. There was no fence that he could see and like the York’s property next door, it was likely in excess of twenty acres. Leo positioned himself, with an infrared camera in hand, on a large rock obscured by bushes about ten metres to the side of the cabin back door. He could observe any comings or goings at the front or back from this spot. He waited. This was the boring part of investigative work that Leo hated. He could sit here for a night, or many nights, with no result. He had a feeling that something would happen tonight. It was the winter solstice.
The back door opened and light flooded out onto the grassy yard area. It was 11.30pm. Leo had been waiting for about four hours. Jerry stepped out in jeans and jacket and with a backpack slung over one shoulder. He had a flashlight in his hand and walked directly to an opening in the line of trees behind the yard. Leo darted over through the opening before Jerry got too far away. He could see the flashlight flickering and moving in the bush ahead. Having only one good eye was not going to make this any easier. Jerry was following a rough track through the long grass and scattered gum trees. Leo used his infrared camera to find his way and follow Jerry’s heat signature. Jerry moved steadily along a path zigzagging its way down the bushy hillside with Leo following.
Where the hell is he going? Leo asked himself.
Leo was thinking it mustn’t be much further to the bottom of the hill when the flashlight disappeared.
Bloody hell, where’s he gone?
Leo tried to hurry without losing his footing. The track curved around an outcrop of large boulders. Leo stopped. Directly in front of him was a small solid looking timber cabin. It reminded Leo of a Canadian log cabin with a front porch and small glass windows. A light was on inside. Leo crept up to the side window and surreptitiously looked inside. He was not prepared for what he saw. Denis York was lying spread-eagled on a table in the middle of the room. He was dressed in shorts and a long sleeve shirt. His eyes were open but he wasn’t moving. He looked drugged. Mayan symbols adorned the cabin. Jerry was standing at a bench built on to the wall. He was opening a small bottle. Leo’s heart started thumping when he saw a long blade knife on the bench. He knew the Mayans practised human sacrifice. The door was bolted on the inside.
I need to get in there now but I’m not up to breaking the door down, Leo thought. I have no weapon and if Jerry’s a homicidal maniac I’m in trouble.
Leo considered his options and decided that if he couldn’t get in then he would get Jerry to come out - hopefully before he killed Denis. Leo stepped around to the front of the cabin and stood at the front of the porch wishing he had a taser.
“Jerry, it’s Leo Budge, come out,” Leo called loudly. Leo heard the door bolt sliding across. The wooden door opened. Jerry stood motionless with the light streaming from behind him.
“Leo, what the hell are you doing here?”
“I’m stopping you from killing Denis York,” Leo said sternly. “The police are on their way Jerry.”
“Come inside, it’s cold out here.”
“What have you done to Denis?” As Leo tried to look intimidating Denis York stepped onto the porch.
“What’s going on?” Denis asked.
“Leo, here thinks I’m going to kill you,” Jerry said calmly.
“Well, what the hell are you doing, with the knife and him on the table?” Leo asked.
“Denis is being initiated into the Mayan Order of the Solar Temple. He has decided to be one of us and shun all his worldly possessions and previous relationships. This winter solstice ceremony involves a small amount of a calming drug and the sign of Kinich Ahau cut onto the shoulder.” Jerry paused. “Like this,” he opened the neck of his shirt to show the sun symbol scar.
Leo looked at Denis with bewilderment.
“So why don’t you just piss off,” Denis said.