Blood Sunset

25



WE DROVE TO A SHADED Elwood street lined with neat lawns and hundred-year-old maple trees. Most of the homes were old money, solid and secure, with intricate fretwork bordering full-length verandas.
‘Halfway down,’ said Sparks. ‘Double-storey joint, big as a pub.’
I eased off the accelerator as a beautifully restored Tudorstyle home appeared behind a picket fence.
‘That’s it,’ said Sparks, sinking low in the back seat.
‘No car in the drive,’ said Cassie. ‘Maybe he never got the Beamer back. Either that or no one’s home.’
I drove on and pulled up behind a Bentley.
‘I don’t like this,’ Sparks said. ‘Can ya take me back to St Kilda? Think I’ve done enough.’
‘Relax,’ Cassie said. ‘If he’s home, we’ll just make something up, tell him there’s been a few burgs in the street. Besides, he can’t exactly see you from here, can he?’
Sparks slumped against the seat, resigned, hugging his dog. I followed Cassie along the footpath to a paved driveway. The Sunday newspaper had yet to be retrieved and all the blinds were drawn. Our feet creaked on the porch as we stepped up to a towering front door.
‘Recognise the door?’ Cassie murmured.
‘Yeah, the school kids movie with Dallas and Tammy,’ I whispered back, then pressed a brass buzzer on the wall and waited. After a moment I pressed it again but again no one answered.
Cassie checked the letterbox; it was empty. I pulled out my phone and called Mark Finetti on his mobile. More than one way to skin a cat.
‘What’s up, Bad Boy?’ I said when he answered. ‘You still on two legs?’
‘Nope, we’re on a split rotation. I’m in the tank till eleven, babysitting the drunks.’
Good, right where I wanted him.
‘Listen, I need one more favour.’
‘Oh man.’
‘Then we’re even.’
‘Whatever.’
‘I just need a name to match an address and any vehicle registrations that go with it.’
Finetti groaned and I pictured him in the watch-house, his feet up on the bench, watching the CCTV screens with a bowl of pasta, a napkin over his shirt.
‘Look, we’re on the wave here. Sparks gave us a good one, could go all the way. Just run an address then we’re square.’
‘Yeah, square as a peg. What is it?’
I doubled-checked the letterbox and gave him the address, then told him to check for the registration of a late-model BMW, or any other vehicles that might be listed at the address. I also told him how Sparks had broken into the house, stolen the car keys and returned later to steal the car.
‘Yeah, righto,’ Finetti said. ‘I’ll go with the car first. Let me call you back.’
Cassie and I went back to the car while Finetti went to work. Sparks had unwound the window for his dog, which had slobbered all over the back pillar. I was annoyed but didn’t let on.
‘Where’d you get him?’ I asked instead, nodding at the dog.
‘Found him on the beach,’ Sparks said. ‘About three months ago. No lead or collar, nobody around, just another runaway. Like me, I s’pose. I could tell he was just a pup, so I played with him a bit, even gave him some chips, and he followed me back to the squat. I tried to make him go away, but he wouldn’t leave me alone. Anyhow, I knew he wasn’t gonna survive on his own in the streets, and I don’t really like bein’ on me own either, so I started lookin’ after him. Even in summer it gets cold sometimes in the squat, especially at night.’ He gave the dog a vigorous pat and it licked his face. ‘We keep each other warm, don’t we, mate?’
‘More loyalty and faithfulness in one dog than in a hundred men,’ Cassie said, stepping in beside me to pat the dog.
‘Shit yeah,’ said Sparks. ‘Hooch doesn’t care about what I look like or whether I’ve got any money. He just cares if I’m around.’
I smiled, unsure whether the story was a happy or sad one, then stepped away from the car to call Ella and cancel dinner. Finetti called back as I was dialling her number.
‘Not gonna believe this, mate,’ he said. ‘I ran the address and got a hit.’
‘Right, and?’
‘Cop this. Comes up with a 2006 M5 Beamer, navy blue in colour, registered to a Karl Vitazul,’ he said, then waited for me to place the name.
It took a moment, but then the familiarity hit me like a jab in the nose.
‘You’re shittin’ me,’ I said out loud, looking at Cassie. ‘It’s Vitazul, the café owner who found the body.’
‘Still there, man?’ Finetti said after a second.
‘I want a full set on this guy, Mark. Get on LEAP and check all variations to his name. Also, get on to the Feds and see what –’
‘Done all that, McCauley. When the name came up, I recognised it as the guy who found Dallas Boyd in the first place. And since he specifically said he didn’t know the kid, I’m thinking he’s got something major to hide. Like, whoever smelt it dealt it.’
‘What’s his sheet say?’
‘I’ve got it up on the screen right now and that’s the thing. Nada.’
‘Nothing at all?’
‘Well, according to his driver’s licence, Vitazul was born in 1915, which doesn’t gel with the guy we saw at the café. So I checked his licence photo through VicRoads and guess what, it’s not our guy. The guy on the licence is older than dirt.’
I tried to think it through. Either we were talking about two different people with the same name who just happened to be connected to the same murder, or the name Vitazul was bullshit.
‘What about the address?’ I asked. ‘Any crime reports, maybe a burg or stolen car?’
‘Sweet bugger all. This Vitazul character, or whoever the hell he is, didn’t report his car stolen or the break-in. Maybe your kid’s telling porkies about where he got the laptop.’
I looked at Sparks sitting hunched up in the back seat. ‘He’s telling the truth.’
‘All right, man. Want me to put a KALOF out on this guy?’
‘No, I know where to find him,’ I said. I hung up before Finetti said anything else, then filled Cassie in on the details.
‘Whoever Vitazul is, he’s hiding something,’ she said. ‘Maybe we should call Homicide, give them the news and get a posse going?’
I didn’t need to think about a response. ‘No, I want to talk to this guy myself. And anyway, all I’m going to do is bring this prick in on the kiddie porn and see what shakes out. No need to mention anything about Dallas Boyd or the Talbot Reserve job last night.’
‘And therefore no need to call Homicide?’ she finished.
I smiled at her across the roof of the Falcon. ‘Now you’re with me.’
‘You’re as shifty as a shithouse rat, you know that?’
‘One of Victoria’s finest.’