searched thoroughly under the bed and surroundings to ensure she didn’t miss any of them. Then she dressed in dark trousers and a black top with long sleeves and left the house through the door at the back careful not to meet with anyone and especially with whoever was following her. It was very risky for her to get out of her house tonight because of the recent events but Alex felt that the matter could not be postponed till tomorrow. She had to get rid of the incriminating artifacts tonight. Someone wanted her dead or in prison for a long time and none of these options appealed to Rose.
From behind her house she followed the path that lead to a street a few blocks away and from there she hailed a cab to a nearby shopping centre. They had a Police station there and Rose was planning to drop the content of plastic bag without being noticed.
The plan seemed to work easily, although Rose could not be a hundred percent sure that her delivery was not caught on camera. She returned home the same way but with a different cab. Mission accomplished. She wondered if she had underestimated Alex’s place in her life. Now with his help she’d be alright for a while.
Facing the wishful thinking of others
It was an early sunny morning and Rose was just finishing her first cup of coffee for the day. It was her little vice. She was sitting in her lovely garden leafing through a glossy magazine. Target, the cat, was by her side again. They were both entertained by some vivacious and noisy kookaburra from a nearby large gum tree. The three birds had colorful feathers and moved slightly on the big tree branch while singing slightly out of tune with each other. Rose was mesmerized by them and considered herself lucky to be able to enjoy their free recital.
Target’s line of thinking was entirely different and was reflected in his body posture and movements. Looking at him one could see the slight movement of his jaws and hear the small noise he was making at times while his tail was moving frantically. That being said, however Target was well behaved and remained seated. Somehow he realized that Rose liked the birds. Or maybe he just knew that they were outside his action range and not easily to catch. For whatever the reason he had in his mind, Target, always pragmatic, chose to hang out with his current companion and was a bit annoyed when their reverie was suddenly brought to an end by powerful knocking noises at the front door. Target was not a fickle cat but he didn’t like to find himself at the mercy of people and silent as a shadow he left the comfy cushion, sliding under the bench. Then, as Rose was rising from her chair, two large and strongly built police officers appeared at the garden door. The front door knocking was still going on. Rose looked at the officers and then glanced back to the house. She pointed towards the house and asked in a small voice:
‘What’s happening officer? ’ They were two and she did not know their names. They looked at each other and again at the scene in front of them. Then one of them talked briefly on his walkie-talkie and the front door noise stopped at once. They still had not answered her question and somehow now they looked a bit embarrassed. By then another two officers joined them; probably the ones that were earlier beating out the dust on her front door, assumed Rose realistically.
‘Can we have a chat inside the house ma’am? ’ one of the officers opened the conversation after briefly showing her his badge.
His first name was Christopher and he was a well-built bloke with salt-and-pepper hair like the famous actor George Clooney. Probably in his late forties, Rose guessed. No obvious air of aggression emanated from him and at the same time no particular kindness either. Was he Angela’s friend, Rose thought? She briefly wondered if she should appeal to Angela for help but then she did not know her very well. They all went inside and Rose offered them a cup of coffee which they all immediately declined, sternly sending her the message that they meant business. When everyone was seated a tensed atmosphere was noticeable and it was possible that they had counted on that effect to intimidate her. Rose was not a faint-hearted, spiritless person, someone who got frightened easily especially during the day. She did not like horror movies and was not familiar with guns but otherwise she was pretty much well centered. However the current atmosphere was a bit creepy even for her, who had almost nothing to hide. She admitted to herself that she felt a bit uncomfortable.
That was till, in the solemn and tense atmosphere, strolled casually the neighbors’ cat, Target, with a languid walk and a strong purring followed by a questioning meow as if asking them why he was left behind. At that stage Rose burst into a hysterical laugh while talking to the cat:
‘I’m sorry Target. We totally forgot about you. Please do join us, ’ and she pointed to his favorite place near her chair that he obediently and graciously took continuing his strong purring. The only times when Target did that was when he hadn’t seen Rose for some time and he found her busy, not entirely available to him, recalled Rose. Rose was wondering if she could detect some male jealousy in Target’s behavior or was he a psychic. Did he realize that Rose needed some help? The little distraction offered by Target was precious and gave Rose time to recover from the initial shock.
When Rose finally turned back to address the officers she noticed the change in the air. Some of the officers were trying to hide their smile and everyone seemed to mellow a bit. The strong purring from Target continued to everyone’s amazement and the interview started on that background. Rose told herself that things couldn’t really be as bad as they seemed. Probably a storm in a glass of water, she convinced herself gathering some courage.
From the start it became perfectly clear to Rose that this team was on a mission to find something. It was really easy to assume that after she was informed that they had a permission to search her house. She could have won the bet that she knew what they were trying to find, she thought with an inside smile. You are late, she wanted to say. Could it be possible that she did not find all the pieces and some are missing? Or are they trying to locate something else?
She found herself asking the same questions again. Who would want to incriminate her in such matters? Who would stand to benefit from it? The only obvious answer to that was that someone was not happy with her inheriting the house. But who was that person? The lawyers had a few other relatives on their list but none of them handmade any application to question the will left by Adrian. From her point of view she had no enemies, or not anyone that she was aware of.
While Rose was using her little brain cells to reflect on the situation at hand, the officers were making their way through the house, turning every room into a seemingly war zone. The content of the drawers were taken out, the mattresses were turned and checked on both sides. Likely they did not cut them open, Rose thought with horror, wondering how much time she would have to dedicate now to returning everything to its place. She felt unable to watch the unnecessary vandalism and went to sit in the garden. She wondered if the artifacts she returned to Police fell into the wrong hands and could not stop a shudder of horror.
When she looked up she saw a female officer watching her. It wasn’t Angela and briefly Rose was strongly tempted again to contact Angela for advice. Then she realized that the officer was talking to her and tried to concentrate.
‘Are you feeling OK ma’am? ’ the officer was asking Rose.
‘Yes, yes officer. Just a bit overwhelmed by all of this, ’ said Rose gesturing graciously towards her house where the fervent activity was taking place. ‘It took me about ten months to clean up this house and it seems like now I have to start from the beginning again. ’ Rose said with deep sadness to her voice. The officer just nodded and Rose was not sure that she understood the situation at all.
‘Sorry ma’am just doing our job, ’ the officer replied in a low soothing voice. At least she did not appear to enjoy the destruction, Rose said to herself.
‘What are they hopping to find? ’ Rose now asked, shaking her head towards the house where the other officers were still stirring up the dust searching through her personal belongings. They were both startled a few minutes later when they heard a bla
st of a whistle, and then they saw the men pouring out. Rose wasn’t sure what to expect; did they found something or they had just finished the searching. She guessed the answer when she noticed that the female officer was leaving, and then Christopher, the officer in charge approached her.
‘Thanks ma’am for your cooperation. We finished the search and we are leaving you now. Sorry for the trouble. We had to act on some information provided anonymously, ’ and as Rose just listened as he continued his speech. ‘Someone out there doesn’t like you ma’am. Be careful, ’ he finished cautioning Rose and everyone sauntered out of her house. To her dismay Target was also gone. Rose smiled thinking that poor cat might have also been tired and possibly hungry and went home for a bite.
All this took nearly two hours, Rose realized with surprise when glancing at her hand watch. She was now feeling tired too. It was time for another cup of coffee and something to eat but with all the dust floating in the air Stefano’s place seemed the ideal spot for such a treat. Stefano was the person that she needed at this moment, as there was usually a joy of life about him. She felt that when she was around