Ellen's Tale Pt. 02

Ellen was about to reply when Tabitha appeared at the door.

"Well, I gotta get this little one into bed," she stepped forward, "until tomorrow."

"Thanks," Anna grabbed her elbow lightly, "for being honest."

"No worries," she smiled.

It was only later as she slipped in between the sheets that she thought about the conversation at the front door.

Is she sending a message or am I reading too much into it?

***

There were no further hints dropped over the next few days. The few times they saw each other they exchanged pleasantries. Anna had to go back to the house on Friday to pick up some extra things and collect the mail, some of the letters were for Ritchie and when Ellen and Tabitha stepped into Gitti's kitchen she found Anna at the bench sorting through the mail. She picked one up and weighed it briefly.

"Oh, this is the one he doesn't want to get."

"Why not?" Gitti turned around to look at her.

"It's from his employer," she turned it over, "kind of thick as well."

"What do you think it says?" Gitti flicked the switch on the kettle.

"At a guess I'd say it's his termination notice, they'll have his superannuation summary as well. He can't go to work because he's still locked up on remand."

"Are you going to send it on or take it in?" Gitti turned around to face her.

"I'm not sure what to do," she frowned, "I don't want to see him but he needs to get this mail. What is the routine here?"

"You can either send it to the remand centre in Melbourne or his parents. They can take letters in and just leave them in his property, sometimes the guards will let them take certain letters straight into the visitor room."

"Can you do that?"

"Sure, they'll open every letter anyway, just to check it but he's on remand," Gitti looked down as Tabitha placed an apple pie on the bench.

"For you," she looked up at her.

"For me?" Gitti put a hand to her breast, "wow, how can I eat all that?"

"Maybe mum and Anna can have some too."

"Okay," Gitti smiled, "well, it looks like you and mum are staying for dinner tonight."

"Ms Wood helped me," she wandered over to the breakfast counter and climbed up onto the stool, "she's mum's age and she's single."

"Gee, thanks, Tab," Ellen folded her arms, "my daughter, the matchmaker," she joined her at the bench and glanced at the box of items, "whose is this stuff?"

"Mine," Anna murmured as she flicked a finger over her phone, "excuse me, I have to make a call," she left the room a moment later and Ellen glanced down at the letters.

"She's deciding on where to send his mail seeing as he's a guest of her Majesty," Gitti murmured, "she doesn't want any further contact with him so it looks like his parents have to um, be parents for a change."

"Ah, so," she put her palms on the bench.

"And you are staying for dinner?" Gitti ran an eye over her, "now that you're dressed to kill."

"Hah, I wore this to work," she ran a hand over the black satin blouse Julie had made her, "but, Tab did supply the dessert."

"So it's a yes then."

"Sure, why not?"

Ellen sat down next to her daughter, "this'll be two nights in a row for you," she nudged her with an elbow and glanced at the door leading to the corridor, "I've been thinking of some way I can help."

"As in?"

"Anna," she murmured, "I could use a bit of help for the Thursday night classes, maybe?"

"You could ask her, she'll either say yes or no but why her?"

"It might help to take her mind of certain things," she replied, "I know what it was like when my marriage ended, I was bouncing from one wall to the other. Sometimes you just need an outlet to break the cycle."

"Sure go ahead although she was talking about getting back into yoga again."

Nevertheless, Ellen felt a little edgy when Anna returned some five minutes later. She looked a little tense as she pocketed her phone.

"Well?" Gitti spoke without turning around.

"I'll send these letters onto his parents," she replied, "they've got a spare key anyway, so they can drop by every couple of days but things aren't good between us and I know as soon as I'm sitting opposite him in a visitor's room he's going to try the soft touch. He's a good judge of character and he knows my weak points, and right now I need distance between us and maybe a distraction," she glanced at Ellen.

"They're not blaming you, are they?" Ellen looked up.

"Well they can't blame their only child," she pulled a wry grin, "he's always been a good boy and if only I could put in for the bail money he'd be out and walking around."

"I thought they had money?" Gitti glanced over her shoulder.

"They do but it's tied up in investments. My father in law is a paid up member of the Liberal Party and he's got his portfolio to worry about, I kind of said I'd think about it but to be honest I just want to walk away and let them deal with their son. We're never getting back together, so why should I put my money forward?"

"God, I wish I had a portfolio," Ellen smiled crookedly.

"What's a portfolio?" Tabitha asked.

Ellen was just about to reply when the doorbell rang.

"Can you get that for me, please?" Gitti glanced over her shoulder.

"Sure thing," Ellen slid off the stool and padded through to the front door. How the hell was she going to explain a portfolio to Tabitha?

She opened the door and stared at the man and woman standing on the front porch. Even before they produced their police IDs she knew they were detectives.

"I'm Sergeant Angie Dickson," the woman smiled, "and this is my colleague, Senior Detective Tom Harris, we'd like to see Anna Norris about something. Is she here?"

"She's um, hang on," she stepped back, "Gitti," she called out, "it's the police for Anna."

Gitti appeared a few moments later as Ellen unlocked the flywire door.

"Oh, hiya," Gitti smiled at Sergeant Dickson, "long time no see. How's it going?"

"Onwards and upwards," she returned the smile, "we've come to see Anna, a name popped up in our inquiries and we need to clarify some information."

"Sure, come on in," she nodded, "I'll just get Anna, take them through to the living room," she took a step back.

Ellen took the two detectives through to the living room whilst Gitti went to fetch Anna and when she came into the room there was a moment's hesitation.

"I'll um, leave you in peace," Ellen retreated.

Gitti was in the kitchen and the two women looked at each other.

"Everything all right?" Gitti asked.

"Yeah, I just you know, old habits."

"Don't worry about it," she shrugged, "he might have changed his statement and they have to check with his wife to confirm certain things."

"They said a name popped up."

"Probably the guy who sold him the handguns," she replied, "it's the carrot and stick approach, you let them sit on remand for a few days just so as they can get used to a prison environment and then you offer them an exit. If you take the carrot and give them a name they'll take that into account when they take their brief to the DPP. He's probably been in the Assessment centre in the city but he might have been moved to the actual Remand centre where he'll be thrown in amongst murderers, drug dealers and other pillars of criminal society."

Despite the simple explanation, Ellen found herself venturing off into fantasy land. What if she'd been involved all along and just playing a game? It wouldn't be the first time and she'd certainly known of illegal activities when she'd been in the club. The police had known only too well that she had information but because she'd been a victim and in danger of losing her life if she turned dog on the club they'd wisely stepped around certain subjects.

She was aroused from her reverie when the two detectives and Anna came back into the room, Anna was speaking to Sergeant Dickson.

"I only knew him as Roy but I never saw anything changing hands. As far as I knew Ritchie was just setting up a portfolio for him."

Ellen blinked as the face rose in her mind's eye.

Roy? Surely not?

"That's fine, we're not suggesting you knew anything."

"I knew he was a cop though," Anna replied, "but that's about all I knew."

Jesus!

Ellen spun around with the potato in one hand and a peeler in the other.

"This Roy? His last name isn't McNally, is it?"

The two detectives stared at her and then each other and finally Dickson nodded.

"Do you know Roy McNally?"

"Yeah, he um, he used to come to the clubhouse."

"The clubhouse?" Harris moved forward.

"Tabitha," Gitti spoke up, "how's about we go into the office, I have a surprise for you."

"Sure, Auntie Gitti," Tabitha slid off the stool and stared up at Senior Detective Harris, "you're cute."

Ellen waited until they'd left the room before approaching the breakfast bar where Dickson had set her tablet down.

"Can we tape this?" Dickson took out her phone.

"No worries," she undid her top button and loosened the tie while Dickson tapped the Record button on an app.

"I'm speaking to Ellen Jensen, for the record, I'm showing her a picture of former detective Roy McNally," she pushed the tablet forward and tapped the home button.

The face on the screen was instantly recognisable.

"That's Roy the Nom," she nodded.

"He was a Nominee?"

"Not officially," she replied, "he used to come to a few of the Ghost Rider parties, everyone knew he was a cop but because he was best mates with the president and our sergeant at arms nobody dared touch him, he liked a drink."

"How long ago was this?"

"We're going back a few years," she replied, "the last time I saw him was at an Anzac Day party, it was a week before my ex husband put me in hospital. He turned up to the party and our sergeant at arms, Barra went out to the car with him and a few other guys. They fucked off for about half an hour and when they came back you knew something had gone down."

"What do you mean?"

"Barra said something to the president and about fifteen minutes later they stood Roy in the middle of a ring of guys. The president made some speech about service and loyalty, and then they poured beer over his head. That's where the president gave him his name Roy the Nom," she straightened up as she stared past them at the wall.

"A nominee had to stay standing for at least five minutes while guys beat the shit out of him, after that they poured beer on him and gave him his nom badge. Roy never got the nom badge as far as I know although I was out of the club for good about a week later."

"So, he was best friends with the sergeant at arms and the president?"

"For sure, he'd stay for hours on end just drinking and talking shit, he was coming to our parties for about a year or so before that incident I told you about."

"Did you overhear any conversations?" Dickson asked her.

"A couple of times I'd overhear him saying that something had been brushed under the carpet. I just assumed it had something to do with outstanding warrants or speeding fines."

"Did you ever see anything changing hands."

"Such as?"

"Drugs or guns?"

"If there was it was discreet. A couple of guys would always walk him out to the car and sometimes they'd go for a short drive, we had a few associates at the clubhouse and the members were always coy about discussing criminal activities in front of them until they'd proved their loyalty."

"Interesting," Dickson murmured, "after his visit did you notice anything different? We suspect he was selling drugs and guns."

"That's more than likely," she replied, "the only reason the big knobs at the club would be talking to a cop was if there was some benefit. They hated all cops but Roy was always welcome at the club, he was one of the untouchables but a couple of weeks after one of his visits my ex husband came out with a Colt Forty Five. When I asked where he'd bought it he said that if he told me he'd have to kill me."

"And you're sure it was a Colt?"

"Yeah, he told me what it was. Apparently it was the same pistol the Americans used in Vietnam and the Second World War. He kept spinning it around in his hand and doing his Dirty Harry thing, I wanted nothing to do with guns."

"When was this?"

"Tabitha had just turned four," she frowned and tapped her phone, she opened the calendar app and tapped it a couple of times and then turned the phone around.

"Fourteenth of September," she went on, "it was a Sunday, my mum's birthday was the day before and I'd gone to see her with Tabitha. We stayed overnight and when we got back home he had this Colt and the rest I've told you about."

There was a long silence and Ellen shifted on her feet.

"Look, I'm okay talking to you, but I'm not sure about standing up in court. If this gets back to the club then they'll come looking for me."

"A formal statement might not be necessary," Dickson mused, "so did Roy come to a party a few days or weeks before your ex husband produced this pistol?"

"There was a party the previous weekend," she replied, "it was nothing special, just the usual Friday night piss up. Roy rocked up with some bird he was screwing. She looked like some office type and Roy sent her over to our table while he talked business with Barra. They went outside for about half an hour or so," she frowned.

"Her name was Melissa and she was a solicitor. She was an attractive woman and I reckon that just about every man mentally undressed her but none of them came near her because she was Roy's bird and he was untouchable."

Dickson didn't reply as she tapped her tablet and soon she found a screen filled with pictures, she tapped one resolutely and turned the tablet around.

"Was this her?"

"Yeah, that's Melissa," she looked up, "you said was?"

"She was found dead six months ago, a suspected suicide but the coroner ruled an open verdict because of the way the body was found."

"Okay," Ellen winced, "that's worrying."

"Excuse me," Dickson took the phone out of her pocket.

A few moments later she left the room and headed for the front door. She was there for the better part of five minutes and when she returned she had a serious look on her face.

"Would you be prepared to make a statement about the time Roy turned up with Melissa? It would be submitted as evidence but if you're called in court we can arrange for a telephone link. We have scrambling software to disguise your voice but it might not come to that in the end," she folded her arms and looked past her for a moment.

"Without giving much away, we've been looking at Roy for some time now but he's covered his tracks quite well, which isn't hard if you're an ex cop and at the time of Melissa's death he was still on the force. It was Roy who found the body after an anonymous tip but..."

"You think he didn't receive any anonymous tip after all," Ellen broke in.

"Something like that."

"And if he was responsible for her death?"

"We're talking life without the possibility of parole," she replied, "twenty to thirty years and then there are the gun running charges and drug charges."

"Okay but I want to stay anonymous," Ellen leaned against the bench, "I like living here, Tabitha is settled and I don't want to be given some secret identity and spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder or worrying every time someone hangs up suddenly."

"It may not even come to that," Dickson replied, "if you can place Melissa in Roy's company at the clubhouse on a certain day we can use that to put pressure on certain individuals, like your former friends at the club and other people of interest."

"No worries," she bit her lip, "so, when?"

"We'll get back to you and Anna next week," Dickson glanced at her colleague, "we've got to do some more checking first."

Ellen nodded and as she led them back through to the living room she felt as if someone had just walked over her grave. She hadn't consciously thought of the club members for years and in the blink of an eye it had all come back to her. Anna was sitting on the edge of her seat with a pensive look in her eyes and then she smiled nervously.

"It looks like we have a mutual acquaintance," Ellen smiled tightly.

It wasn't until Gitti stepped outside with the two detectives that Ellen spoke quietly to Anna.

"It's a small fucking world."

"What did you tell them? About this Roy?"

Ellen gave her the short version, which wasn't that short because she was still talking about him when Gitti came inside again and they all migrated to the kitchen, leaving Tabitha in the living room playing her favourite game on the X box.

"You've certainly gotten their interest," Gitti replied, "Roy has always claimed he only talked to Melissa at work or in a police station, but your testimony could unravel his defence."

"I don't want to go into a witness protection program, I told them that," Ellen bit her lip.

"It may not get to that in the end," Gitti replied, "Roy's a bad boy, he's played both sides and our side wants to jail him but the other side want to kill him. Death threats are a powerful motivation and he's fast running out of friends."

"They said they had to do some more checking first," Ellen replied.

"That's police talk for strategic planning," Gitti replied, "they'll have other leads to follow but they have to decide which line to push. They've got some club members in jail already and they might be prepared to roll over to help convict an ex cop in return for time off their sentence and then of course they have your husband sitting on remand."

"I can't imagine my ex husband surviving jail," Anna winced, "he might be macho in front of me but if it came down to some of the guys who are inside I wouldn't see him lasting."

"I can't imagine any club member turning dog on Roy," Ellen replied.

"A reduced sentence can be a powerful motivation," Gitti replied, "never underestimate that one, I've seen career criminals suddenly change tack and agree to cooperate with police. Out here they might be important but inside they're just another bare bum in the showers and more importantly, everyone has some enemies or rivals who want to take a scalp. I'm going to give my own statement by the way but it's only hearsay evidence. Roy was one of those cops who'd tax the people he busted," she paused for effect.

"He might find a cache of eleven unregistered guns at a house, he'd keep one and hand ten over for evidence but in order to manage that you need to have uniformed cops willing to turn a blind eye for a small percentage of the resale value. No crook is going to put their hand up for eleven guns when there's only ten in evidence and the gun he took was usually the most expensive."

"So much for serving and protecting," Anna sighed.

"Oh, Roy served and protected all right," Gitti smiled, "mostly himself and his interests but back in the day he was apparently a decent cop until he went off the rails and was talked into taking an early retirement package."

"I never had much to do with him," Anna replied, "he came into the house once to see Ritchie but the other times he just met Ritchie outside and they'd often go to the pub," she fiddled with her wedding ring.

"I never thought much of it," she continued, "even after the cops arrested him, but they've done some digging into our accounts and whilst mine are fine, there are several larger deposits in his accounts that can't be explained," she looked up at Gitti.

The older woman shifted on her feet and looked out the window as she replied in a low voice that almost seemed as if it was coming from some other time and place.

"They suspect he was probably the middle man in a gun running and drug trafficking ring, he'd have taken his cut and fed it into his account in small amounts to try and escape scrutiny and it did work until you spoke out. He'll have been given a deal, either give us a name or spend the next few years picking up the soap in jail, I can't see your ex husband lasting long in jail, those guys play for keeps."