Evil in Arcadia

Nicole & Dave - Flashing Lights

Red and blue flashing lights streamed through the windows. Dave stood at the door to Phil’s study and watched the paramedics work on his neighbour.  As they rolled him over he heard one gasp. The other scurried over and they covered his face with a long piece of white plastic.

A young patrolman stood nearby, his female partner already stationed in the kitchen with Jo, Nicole and the baby. Dave had given the policeman a statement but the gravity of the situation meant they had to wait for more senior officials to be called in.  A pair of homicide detectives and a forensic team had been dispatched from Parramatta. He glanced at the officer. There wasn’t much being said between them. The young man saw him looking and gestured towards the body.

‘Did you know Mr. ah … ‘ he looked down at his notes.

‘Harper,’ said Dave, ‘Phil Harper.’

‘Yes, did you know Mr. Harper well?’

‘No, I wouldn’t say that. About as well as a neighbour should I guess: well enough to get on with but not well enough to give him advice on his love life.’

‘Yeah, right.’ The officer looked pointedly at the wheelchair. ‘Can you think of any reason anyone would do this to Mr. Harper?’

Dave shook his head.

‘Did Mr. and Mrs. Harper get on well. Were there any problems, disputes that you knew of?’

‘You said there were more cops coming didn’t you?’

‘Yes, Forensics and Homicide are on their way here now.’ 

‘Well if it’s all the same to you I’ll just wait until they get here before I say anything more. Save me saying things over and over again.’

‘That’s fine Mr. Pirozzi. They like us to take witness statements as soon as possible after an event like this. Get the details while they are fresh in people’s minds. But you’ve done that now, so no problem if you want to wait for the others before you say anything more.’

Despite what he said, the young officer didn’t look happy. Trying to earn brownie points with your superiors by setting me up for a fall are you? Thought Dave. Take down everything I have to say now so you can throw it back in my face when I don’t repeat everything word for word to your superiors.

The officer nodded his head down the hall. ‘Why don’t you come with me and we’ll see how the others are getting on.’

It wasn’t a request.

In the kitchen the female constable had her notebook out and she was gazing earnestly at Nicole.

‘Right, so you were next door when this happened were you Nic?’

First name basis already thought Dave. I’ll have to watch this one. Nic saw him come in and instantly crossed the room depositing Daniel on his shoulder. The scent of the little guy had a calming effect on him.

Nicole sat back down in front of the constable. ‘That’s right Fiona, like Jo said, she came and knocked on our door to see what was going on.’

‘And why did you do that Jo?’ the constable asked, turning towards their neighbour.

Jo went white and paused for second. ‘I, I saw the lights on over here and I thought I heard something…’ She rushed the words out in garbled mess.

‘Oh okay, so why did you turn the lights on Nic?’ The officer made sure she came across as relaxed and informal.

‘Well…,’ Nicole pulled at her hair and looked over at Daniel perched contentedly on Dave’s shoulder. ‘I was having trouble sleeping and then I heard something out in the yard so I got up and turned on the lights which apparently …’

‘No, no, it started when you got that message on your phone from that weird cleaner guy.’

Dave saw the look on his wife’s face and fell silent. 

‘I thought I heard sounds out in my yard too,’ said Jo. 

They all turned and looked at her. The constable picked up her notepad.

‘I went to the window in the spare room and I could see all the lights in their house were on.’ Her voice was soft and subdued. ‘Then I saw Dave come out and go down to the back yard. I wondered what was going on so I went over and knocked on their front door. We only had a quick chat didn’t we Nic?’ She sounded incredulous.

Nicole nodded. ‘Yeah, it wouldn’t have been more than a couple of minutes.’ 

‘And your husband—Phil, he was alive when you left?’ The constable had a look of deep concern on her face.

‘As far as I know. We sleep in separate rooms you see. If he wants me he rings a bell… ‘ Jo broke down in tears and Nic moved across the room to put an arm around her shoulders.

When the tears had stopped flowing the constable pushed on. ‘So then you came back here?’ She prompted.

‘Yes, ‘ sniffed Jo. ‘Then I came back here and … and—I found him lying there.’ Her voice started to crack again.

The constable leaned forward and patted her hand. ‘It’s going to be okay Jo. You don’t have to say anymore.’

‘Well at least not until the D’s arrive.’ The young officer next to Dave checked his watch. ‘They won’t be far away, not much traffic this time of night.’