KIMMY'S LIST

CHAPTER 8

The butterflies in Kimmy’s stomach kicked in when she noticed the time was 12:25PM. It was almost time for her lunch break. The last time she felt this nervous was when Molly Williamson dragged her up on stage in front of all those people at the medium seminar.

She was divided in her thoughts. Part of her wanted to tell the cops what she knew to help them locate these missing people. The other part of her was cautious as to how it would be received.

Kimmy startled when Naomi stuck her head around the front of the partition wall. ‘Ready…?’ Naomi said.

‘Yep..’ Kimmy said. She locked her computer screen, folded her notes and placed them into her handbag. ‘Let’s do this…’ She shouldered her handbag as she moved to exit her office.

Following a short stroll through Oolong’s CDB, Kimmy and Naomi arrived at the Oolong Police Station. The public inquiry counter was occupied by three cops taking reports from other people.

Kimmy and Naomi stood back waiting their turn. It wasn’t long before a young male cop squeezed in beside the other cops and beckoned Kimmy and Naomi towards him.

‘How can I help you ladies?’ He asked. The cop was personable, with a warm smile. Kimmy felt at ease as she approached the desk. She read his name tag. Constable Brandon Coates.

‘Hi.. I have some information that you might find useful in relation to some missing people,’ Kimmy said. She removed her notes from her handbag.

‘OK…’ Constable Coates said. He dragged a note pad closer and removed a pen from his shirt pocket.

‘Let’s start with your name…’

‘Ah, Kimberly Davis…’

The cop scribbled on his pad. ‘And your address, Kimberly…?’

Kimmy frowned nervously at Naomi. ‘Ah, fourteen Wentworth Court, Belmonte.’

The cop scribbled her response. ‘Do you have a mobile number?’

Kimmy nodded. She glanced at the other people at the counter.

‘I’ll write it for you.’ She accepted the pen from the cop and jotted down her mobile number, then handed the pen back to the cop.

Constable Coates read the number. ‘Now, what is the information you have for us…?’

Kimmy unfolded her notes and placed them on the counter. ‘I have some information on the whereabouts of some people that have been missing for some time.’

‘Oh, OK.’ The cop’s eyes dropped to Kimmy’s list. He gestured to it. ‘Is that the information there…’

Kimmy nodded.

‘May I have a look at it…?’

‘Please….’ Kimmy handed her notes to the cop. He leaned on his elbows as he read the list. Kimmy watched on.

The cop frowned. His eyes lifted to Kimmy. ‘There are seven names on here… Which one do you have information on?’

‘All of them…’

Constable Coates stood upright as he regarded Kimmy. An awkward pause ensued. ‘You have information on the whereabouts of All Seven of these missing persons…?’ The cop asked.

‘That’s right.’

‘How do you know this information?’

Kimmy and Naomi exchanged a brief glance. Naomi gave a reassuring jab of her head towards the cop. Kimmy took a breath and said, ‘I have the ability to communicate with people who have passed on…’ She paused when the cop’s shoulders noticeably dropped. ‘I am what is called a medium and these people told me where they are located.’

Constable Coates exchanged a brief glance with a colleague standing beside him. The other cop rolled his eyes before returning to his own report.

Constable Coates’ questioning eyes flicked from Kimmy to Naomi and back again. ‘You believe that each of the people on this list are dead and they visited you and told you where their bodies are…?’ Coates said.

A woman to Kimmy’s right scoffed loudly. Kimmy was too embarrassed to look in the woman’s direction. The Kimmy of old would probably have shared the same cynical scoff, if she heard those very same words uttered by the cop.

‘That’s right,’ Kimmy said.

‘Look. I know how strange this sounds, but I -----’

‘I appreciate you coming down here today, Ms…’ the cop read from his notes. ’Davis…But I’m afraid we need something more substantial than what you have to offer, for us to act on the information relating to a missing person. I’m sure you understand…’

Kimmy glanced around the public reception area. Everyone, including the cops on the other side of the counter all stared at her, judging her, or so she felt.

‘OK..’ Kimmy said. She wasn’t going to argue with the cop who just politely informed her, she was a nut and he was not interested in what she had to say.

Kimmy tapped Naomi on the arm then gestured towards the exit door.

‘Thank you for your time,’ she said then quickly exited the foyer. Naomi followed behind.

Kimmy’s stride was long and fast. Naomi jogged to keep up. ’I told you they would think I was a nut… I told you Nomes,’ Kimmy said. She cupped her forehead. ’My God that was embarrassing. Did you see those people looking at me…?’

‘At least you tried, Kim. You Can’t control what the cops think.’

‘I can’t blame them, Nomes… I would think the same, if all this wasn’t happening to me.’

Naomi placed a reassuring arm around Kimmy as they walked.

‘It’s OK, Kim.. don’t let them get to you. You’re not a nutter. At least you tried. Let’s get some lunch. My treat.

Constable Coates watched Kimmy and Naomi storm from the public reception area. His puzzled gaze met a colleague’s standing beside him. The colleague rotated a finger beside his ear, then returned to his report.

With no one else waiting to be served, Constable Coates checked his watch.

He lifted his notes and Kimmy’s list from the counter and moved away from public view, into the watch house. He re-read Kimmy’s List.

When he finished he shook his head and scrunched the papers into a tight ball and lobbed them into a bin. ‘I’m going for some lunch, Sarge,’ he said to his supervising officer.

The sergeant checked his watch. ‘Enjoy…’ he said.

Constable Coates sat in the large police station meals room enjoying his sandwich when his cynical colleague from the front counter wandered in with his own lunch. The arriving cop slid into a chair next to Coates.

‘How was that nutter you served, bro…?’ The second cop said with a chuckle.

Coates shook his head.

‘Unbelievable. I can’t understand why they let these people walk around unsupervised.’

‘I never heard the full story…’ the second cop said. ‘What was she saying … dead people visit her, or something…?’

‘Yeah, that’s right. She had a list with her which she said she compiled from visits she had from dead people who are missing persons….’

Jax Higgins sat alone in the corner enjoying a quiet feed. His ears pricked up when he heard the words. ‘missing persons.’

Coates continued. ‘I read her list after she stormed out… Hey, how’s the way she practically ran from the reception area…?’ Both cops laughed out loud.

‘I read from her list after she’d gone,’ Coates continued. ‘And it was filled with notes about the supposed locations these ghosts told her, as to where their bodies were…’ Both cops laughed as they dined.

Coates continued his recollection of reading Kimmy’s notes. ‘The first one on her list … This Sarah someone. Apparently the ghost of this Sarah told this nutter her body is in a dam near Winchester. Yeah right…’ the cop said.

Jax heard enough to pique his interest. He approached the two cynical cops. ‘I only caught part of what you were saying then .. Something about someone knowing the whereabouts of a missing person…?’

‘Oh, Hey, Higgo…’ Coates said. ‘Yeah that’s right. I just had a female nut case come in to the watch house and tell me she knows the whereabouts of seven missing persons…’

‘What…?’

‘Don’t get too excited… She said their ghosts visited her and told her where their bodies were…’ He scoffed.

‘Do you believe that shit…?’

‘What was it you said there before, something about a Sarah? I have a Sarah Moon as one of missing person cases.’

Coates scoffed. ‘Like I said, I wouldn’t get too excited, mate… I think she was on lunch time leave from the looney bin ward of the psyche hospital.’

‘Yeah. I got that part… What did she say about this Sarah. Was her name Sarah Moon?’

‘That’s it, Sarah Moon. Yeah. But she didn’t say anything. She had a note with her with seven names on it. The top of the list was this Sarah Moon.

In her notes she wrote the body was apparently in a dam near Winchester. Do you believe that shit…?’

Jax’s firm expression held the grinning cop’s gaze. ’Where’s the list …?’

The cop waved the back of his hand. ’I threw it in the bin in the watch house…’

Jax gestured towards the kitchen door. ’Come with me an get that list…’

The young cop glared at Jax. He frowned.

‘Surely you’re not believing this nut job, Jax…’

‘I’m not believing anything. I just want to see this list you’re speaking about…’

The cop stood from his chair.

‘What’s got you interested in this list?’ He said. He scooped up his lunch rubbish and dumped it into a bin.

‘The location of the body…’ Jax said. Both men exited the kitchen, en-route to the watch house.

‘What … In a dam near Winchester…? She probably saw this Sarah Moon went missing from around that area and made the rest up…’

‘Sarah Moon went missing from the Oolong CBD. Her car was found burnt out near Winchester a few weeks later…’

‘There ya go… She probably read that on the website, or saw it on the news…’

‘None of that information about Sarah’s car and its whereabouts had been released… So how did your nut job know Sarah Moon’s body is in a dam near Winchester…?’

The young cop’s face tightened.

Jax followed the young cop into the watch house and watched him retrieve some screwed up paper from a bin. Constable Coates unfolded the paper and handed it to Jax.

‘That’s the list she brought in with her…’

Jax accepted the list and commenced to read from it.

‘This is her writing… it’s not yours…?’ Jax said as a question.

‘Correct.’

Jax glared at the young cop.

‘What…?’ The cop said.

‘All seven of these names are long - term missing persons and each is one of my case files…’ Jax said.

‘So, she probably visited the missing person’s website and got the names from there…’

‘Is that right…?’ Jax said with his own hint of cynicism. He gestured to the names at numbers six and seven -- Malcolm Denver and Dale Cartwright.

‘Tell me how she knew about these two missing persons…’

The young cop shrugged.

Before he could answer, Jax continued.

‘Their names are yet to be published on the missing person’s website…’ Jax held a firm glare at the cop.

‘So, how could she know they were missing and more importantly, where their bodies are supposed to be located?’

The cop’s open - mouthed stare at the list was enough of a response for Jax.

‘Did you get this woman’s name…? Please tell me you at least got her name.’

The young cop dived a hand into the bin and retrieved another crumpled up page, which he handed Jax. Jax opened it up.

‘Is this her…?’ The woman who brought in this list…’

‘Yep, that’s her. That’s her mobile phone number on the top there…Why the sudden interest in this nut job?’

‘Because this nut job just gave you information that only the offender, or an accomplice would know about…Or, she was telling you the truth about being psychic.. Do you know which one she is…?’ Jax said, again with cynicism that was unfortunately lost on the young cop.

‘No. I don’t know.’

‘Neither do I… ’ Jax said.

‘But I’m going to find out…’ With a disapproving shake of his head, Jax marched out of the watch house.

Jax’s inquiries into what was known about Kimberly Davis came up empty. She was twenty – eight and no criminal record. She held a current Oolong driver’s licence. She and her husband, Boyd Davis owned their home at fourteen Wentworth Court, Belmonte.

Boyd Davis was also not known to police.

Jax had long hoped for a breakthrough in one of the cases. But this woman claimed to have information on all seven. Could he be so lucky? It was time to contact this enigma that is Kimberly Davis.

He dialled the number written on Constable Coates’ notes. A female voice answered.

‘Hello. My name is Detective Sergeant Jax Higgins. I was hoping to speak with Kimberly Davis Please…’

‘This is Kimberly. What’s this about?’

‘Good Afternoon, Kimberly. I understand you visited the Oolong Police Station earlier today. I was hoping to chat with you about your visit. Do you have a spare minute of two, now?’

‘That was so embarrassing. I know he didn’t mean to, but that young cop made me feel like such an idiot…’

‘Let me apologies for that. I’m terribly sorry. That should not have happened the way it did. But I am interested in the list of names you brought in with you though. Where did you get that list?’

‘I prepared it. The people came to me…’ Kimmy paused. She knew the words that were to follow were unconvincing. They would certainly sound like the ramblings of a crazy woman.

‘Look, I’m not sure it’s worth me even trying to explain all this to you. You’ll just think I’m a raving nut case, so…’

‘With all due respect, Ms. Davis…’ Jax began. ‘I think you should let me decide what I think. As a matter of fact I am very interested in what you have to say…probably more than you realise…’

‘Why….?’

‘Because I lead the missing persons squad here in Oolong and the names on your list are all of my cases…’

‘Oh. OK. Good. If you promise not to judge me, I’ll continue.’

‘No judgement. I promise.’

‘I learned recently, as recent as around six to eight months ago that I have this ability to communicate with people who have passed on…’

‘You mean, who have died…?’

‘Correct. I know how that sounds, but over a period of time, these people all came to me one-by-one and asked me for help in locating them. I wrote them on a list, which I assume you have there with you…’

‘I do… Tell me, how did you know they were missing person? Did they tell you they were missing?’

‘No. My friend, Naomi looked up the missing persons on the police website and showed me. I recognised some of the faces on there as being the people who visited me.’

‘I see. Why do you think they asked you for help?’

‘I wish I knew…Nearly all of them wanted closure for their loved ones and asked me to help find them.’

‘I find this incredibly intriguing. Ms. Davis. I was wondering …Are you free later tonight after your work? I would love to visit you and hear more about your visits from these people.’

‘Um. OK. Sure.’

‘Would 8PM suit you?’

‘Yes. 8PM is fine…’

‘Great. I have your address from your visit today as fourteen Wentworth Court, Belmonte…’

‘That’s correct.’

‘Excellent. I’ll see you then…’ Jax said, then ended his call.

He dropped his phone onto the desk. He rubbed a hand across his  mouth as he read Kimberly’s list of names. This will be an interesting visit, he thought…