KIMMY'S LIST

CHAPTER 10

Following Jax’s phone calls, the large dam on the quiet country farm, usually reserved for livestock to rehydrate, had transformed into an active crime scene.

Several police vehicles, marked and unmarked now occupied the immediate vicinity.

Jax stood on the bank of the dam chatting to the third member of the search and rescue team.

‘Do you want us to bag her before we bring her up?’ he asked.

‘For evidence preservation…?’ Jax asked.

‘Mainly…’

‘I understand she’s been tethered to car batteries by wire…We’ll need photos of that before she’s transported,’ Jax said.

‘That’s OK. We can just bring her to the side and lay her out with the batteries beside her, for forensics to photograph.’

‘Yeah, let’s do that,’ Jax said.

The land based search and rescue member instructed his dive team, while Jax moved away to call his boss, to update him on the find.

When he returned to the water’s edge, Sarah’s heavily bloated, ashen body had been removed from the dam. Forensics officer snapped photographic evidence.

Jax regarded his swollen victim with a tinge of sympathy. This was undoubtedly Sarah Moon. From her distinctive ginger red hair, to the clothing she last wore, as described by her colleagues.

Due to the lengthy time spent underwater, she was unrecognisable, facially. He would have to wait for DNA confirmation, which would be a mere formality.

He squatted down to examine the thick gauge wires, embedded deep into Sarah’s bloated torso.

The wire was attached to the two old car batteries, now positioned beside her body.

‘She clearly wasn’t meant to be found….’ Jax said to anyone listening.

He sighed heavily as he pushed himself back to his feet. Finding one of his missing persons was always bitter - sweet, particularly when it involved a murder.

Locating the body was just the first step of many he must now tread, to try and find out who did this and why.

It was late afternoon by the time Sarah’s remains were loaded into the Coroner’s van, en-route to the next stage of investigation - the autopsy.

Following his return from recovering Sarah Moon’s body from the Winchester dam, Jax and his boss Jeff Fry discussed the next course of action. Jeff was black and white. To him the next step was straight forward. Jax was more shades of grey. To him he still wasn’t convinced he had his murderer.

‘Whichever way you look at it, Higgo…,’ Jeff said, ‘This woman told you where to find the body of a murder victim, more specifically, the body of your missing person, Sarah Moon…’

Jeff gestured to Sarah’s photograph. ‘You have no choice. Ya have to bring her in…’

Jax silently eyed Sarah’s photograph with the words, ‘LOCATED DECEASED’ written above her photo, in red capital letters.

‘I’m not convinced, Boss.’

‘She knew where the body was… How much more proof of her involvement do you need,’ Jeff said.

‘And don’t give me that shit about talking to dead people. That Crap won’t hold up in any court in this land. You know it. I know it.’

‘We have no evidence to place her in, or around Benny’s Bar on the night Sarah disappeared. We don’t have a weapon and we have no evidence linking Kimberly to Sarah’s body.’

‘Bullshit!’ Jeff blurted.

‘You have the evidence that she knew exactly where the body was dumped…’ Jeff said. He glared his disagreement at Jax.

‘Well, it wasn’t exactly. But apart from that…We have nothing else linking her to the murder. I need more to roll that dice…’

‘What more do you need. She provided you with the location of a body that only the offender, or an accomplice would know… If you want more, search her home, search her car. Bring her in and give her an old fashioned grilling.’ Jeff said.

Jax shook his head.

‘I’m not convinced she’s involved. Think about it logically. Only an idiot would come forward and implicate herself in something she’d got away with. It’s illogical and she doesn’t strike me as an idiot.’

‘Maybe she wanted to watch her work get recognised on the evening news after all this time. Who-the-hell-knows what these psychos think.’

Jax lifted Kimmy’s list and read from it. His eyes lifted to photo number four on his whiteboard.

‘Take this Lance Edwards…’

Jax gestured to the photo. ‘Left his home in Blythe on the 8th of April, 2017, to go for an evening jog. Never been seen since,’ Jax said.

‘This list says, Lance Edward’s ghost apparently told Kimberly his body is in a disused factory in North Coast. Why Don’t we go and see if this list remains credible?’

‘I can’t believe I’m even asking this but, does this so called ghost give a street name for this factory?’ Jeff said.

Jax re-checked the list. ‘No. The list just refers to a disused factory in North Coast.’

‘That area is a huge industrial ‘haystack’ filled with factories,’ Jeff said.

‘Good Luck finding that needle.’

Jax slowly rolled his car along Bayview Circle in North Coast, an industrial street that snaked around the shores of Blythe, in Oolong’s North.

Factories of all sizes lined both sides of the lengthy street, each one secured at it boundary by a high cyclone wire fence and gate.

These days, a head barely turned at the presence of a police car in the northern suburbs industrial estate, it was so commonplace. The area was notorious for chop shops, drugs, fencing stolen property and numerous other criminal activities.

A couple of streets over, the fortified clubhouse of a Oolong based chapter of a notorious outlaw motor cycle club that sat nestled between factories, also brought regular heat to the area.

During his previous visits to this estate, it was not unusual for Jax to stare helplessly through a cyclone wire fence at the snarling jowls of a ferocious guard dog, when trying to enter a property visitors were not welcome.

But Jax wasn’t there because of the area’s crime reputation. None of that interested him today. He was there in search of the factory located at number ninety - eight.

After convincing his boss last week that the next course of action was to follow up on another name on Kimberly’s list, Jax visited the offices of the Oolong City Council.

Lance Edwards had been missing since April 2017. According to Kimberly’s List, Lance’s body was dumped in a disused factory in North Coast.

All he had to do was search council records for factory ownership and tenancy in the North Coast industrial estate, searching for any factory that closed prior to April 2017 and remained closed today.

With access to data bases and up-to-date technology, he assumed it would be a straight forward process. How wrong he was.

He soon found out over three hundred factories occupied the North Coast industrial estate, spread across several street blocks.

After hours of visiting the relevant records for each property, then calling the property owner to check if the factory still operated, Jax struck gold.

The two hundred and seventy - sixth property he checked - a factory at number ninety - eight Bayview Circle….matched the criteria.

The factory used to operate as a motor mechanic workshop. When the owner unexpectedly passed away in February 2017, the factory ownership, which had seen the factory remain closed to this day.

Following a recent amicable settlement among the siblings, the factory was due to be listed for sale and would be managed by Northern Suburbs Real Estate Agents.

To facilitate his access to the factory, Jax arranged to meet the managing real estate agent at the property at 10AM this morning.

As Jax rolled along Bayview Circle, searching for number ninety - eight, he noticed a black BMW SUV parked up ahead, outside a factory with a large ‘FOR SALE’ sign attached to the front cyclone wire fence.

Jax pulled up behind the Bimmer. This was the factory he sought. The entire cyclone - wire front boundary fence was lined internally with light green opaque plastic.

With the brief introductions out of the way, the real estate agent moved to unlock the cyclone wire gate, secured by padlock and chain. The agent lifted the padlock. He paused.

‘This padlock is open… unlocked.’ He held the padlock for Jax to examine.

The padlock looped through the heavy chain links, but had not been secured shut into its housing.

‘Have you, or any of your team been inside the factory recently?’ Jax asked.

‘No. No-one. I only just put the FOR SALE sign up while I waited for you. I intended to inspect the factory for listing purposes when we are finished here today.’

‘So you haven’t been into the property yet…?’

‘Not yet, no.’

‘OK. Let’s go in…’ Jax said.

The estate agent unhooked the heavy chain and shoved opened the gate. The single - fronted, corrugated iron clad factory had a high pitched roof line.

A wide, twenty meter long driveway stopped at a large roller door. ‘To the left of the door was an office. Parking spaces occupied the property’s front apron area.

To the right was a two meter wide, side access to the rear of the property. Jax made his way down the side of the building. The estate agent followed.

‘Are you looking for anything in particular, Detective?’

‘No. Just looking.’ Jax was intentionally brief. He also focused where he trod as they navigated the uneven grounds and rusting car parts, down the side of the fifty - meter long building.

When he reached the rear, Jax paused to scan the back yard. The large area was scattered with rust - riddled engines, various car parts and derelict car bodies, devoid of windows and wheels.

‘What a mess…’ Jax blurted. ‘Where do I start?’ He asked himself rhetorically.

The estate agent watched on as Jax conducted a methodical search of the rear junk yard, checking anything that could likely contain the body of Lance Edwards.

After checking through, under and around piles of rusting junk, he moved to one of the car bodies; a maroon Holden Commodore. The bonnet was missing. The doors were either ajar, or missing, and all glass from the windows was smashed or removed.

Jax moved to the boot. The boot lid sat slightly ajar. He lifted it and glanced inside. Nothing but rusting junk metal parts.

He moved to the next car located to the side of the yard. This too was an early model Holden Commodore. Like the previous car, it was a rusting shell, with brick stacks where the wheels used to be. He fumbled for the boot latch. This lid was also unsecured.

Jax lifted the lid and glanced inside. Four wheels with bald tyres took up most of the boot space. He dropped the lid.

Jax surveyed the junk yard, mentally checking off each area he had searched. Thirty minutes of rummaging through car parts and under piles of rust - riddled junk, failed to locate anything. Maybe the offender had access to the workshop, there’s nothing here, he thought.

He flipped open his folder and read from Kimberly’s list. The list recorded Lance Edward’s body was in an abandoned factory in North Coast. Jax’s eyes lifted from the notes. ’In an abandoned factory,’ he said to himself, processing what he read. ’Does that mean inside the factory, or inside the factory’s boundaries…?’ He said, thinking out loud.

‘Are you looking for a particular car part, or something Detective?’

‘No. No it’s all good. I had information that something may have been stashed here, but I’m not having any luck.’

‘Is the item sizeable, or small?’

‘Sizeable.’

‘I only ask because you didn’t check the boot of the car over there,’ the real estate agent gestured towards a derelict Toyota Camry.

Jax glared at the car. He frowned. There were three car bodies in total spread across the yard.

‘Didn’t I check that one…?’ He asked with a puzzled gaze.

‘No. Definitely not. You checked the front and back seats and boot of those two…’ The real estate agent flicked a finger at the Holden Commodores.

‘But you skipped the boot of that one…’ He again indicated the white Toyota, nestled deep in the yard, against the rear fence.

Jax flicked his chin stubble. ’OK,’ he said. ’I was sure I checked it.’ His focus shifted to the white, heavily rusted Toyota Camry, the last of the car bodies in the rear yard.

When he tried to lift the rear boot, the lid was secured. He moved to the driver’s door and lifted the floor lever. The boot lid popped. He returned to the rear and lifted the lid.

Jax startled slightly when he noticed the large, black industrial garbage bag that filled the boot space. The top of the bag had been sealed with grey duct tape.

He gently prodded the bag to get a feel through the plastic for what was inside.

‘Do you think that’s a body?’ The real estate agent asked.

‘I’m not sure,’ Jax said. Truth was, Jax was certain the body of Lance Edwards was in the garbage bag.

‘We’re going to have to move back out to the street,’ Jax said. ’This is now a crime scene.

‘OK…So you do think it’s a body?’ The real estate agent asked, as they made their way to the street.

‘Could be. I need to get the experts down here to safely open the bag.

Within twenty - minutes, police vehicles had lined the industrial street. Uniform police secured the factory entry with crime scene tape. A lone, bored cop stood like a sentry at the gate.

Inside the property, forensic officers, dressed in full body Hazmat suits, looking more like astronauts than cops, worked to recover the body from the car boot.

Out front, Jax impatiently leaned against the bonnet of his vehicle, with his arms crossed, while he waited for an update. It would be thirty minutes before he learned anything.

One of the forensic officers exited the property and approached Jax. His Hazmat hood had been removed. He carried a digital camera.

‘You probably already know, but we recovered the body of a male. No ID. The remains are in advanced stages of decomp.’ the forensic cop said.

He pushed some buttons on the rear viewing screen of his camera.

‘In order to preserve potential evidence, the body has to be transported in the garbage bag. But this is the guy in the bag.’ He turned the camera to Jax. ’Is he known to you?’

Jax glanced at the close up photo of the body’s head, exposed from the bag. He opened his folder and lifted the photo of Lance Edwards and compared it to the camera image.

‘Looks like him, doesn’t it?’ The forensic cop said.

‘Yeah, it does. I think you’re right,’ Jax said.

‘Good. I’ll let transport know it’s good to go. We’ll get these photos to you when we’re done,’ the forensic officer said.

Three hours after arriving at number ninety - eight Bayview Circle, Jax was clear to return to his office. His mission was accomplished. Kimberly’s List had once again bore fruit, boasting two from two. More importantly, the second of his long-term missing persons had been located.