were here with the body. Anyway, we didn’t want them skipping the scene so we got Homicide on to them real quick.’
That ruled out any option of me being able to talk to them.
‘What do you make of the transvestite angle? Real or staged?’
Kim chuckled. ‘All you heteros are the same, if you ask me. Wouldn’t know shit from shine when it comes to our side of the fence. My guess is your guy, Mr Fatty or whatever the hell they’ve called him, put on a bit of lippy and a wig, slipped into a dress and there you go: an overweight transvestite.’
I nodded slowly. ‘Yeah, like you say, not out of place in St Kilda.’
‘Nothing’s out of place in St Kilda. Come with me,’ she said, leading me across the street to a white panel van with a cage on the back, a Port Phillip Council emblem on the doors.
‘Dog catchers,’ she explained, pointing to the dog in the rear cabin. ‘The kid had a mutt. Some kind of pit bull by the look of it. It wouldn’t let us or the ambos near the body so we had to get a dog catcher out. Poor bastard had to ignore the body while trying to catch the dog. In the end he caught the dog then puked his guts up.’ Kim laughed. ‘Bloody ambos had to treat him for shock. Guess he’s still not well enough to drive.’
I didn’t find the story amusing. The dog was asleep on a blanket, probably in shock too. Sparks had had little to offer the dog but he was still loyal enough to defend his master.
‘Hooch,’ I said, easing away from the window.
‘What’s that?’
‘The dog’s name’s Hooch. He’s a bull mastiff. Not a pit bull.’
‘Not going to be anything for long. Not once they get him in the pound.’
I looked around for Cassie and saw Eckles step under the tape and stride towards me.
‘What the hell are you doing here, McCauley?’ he snarled. ‘Are you trying to give me a fucking heart attack?’
‘Don’t even start,’ I said. ‘This is Kirzek’s handiwork, which to me is one hell of a mystery since you were supposed to arrest him. They even had his face plastered all over the news. What the hell happened?’
‘It’s not your concern, McCauley. Go home before I –’
‘Not my concern? Mate, my informant’s dead. Killed by the same prick you and Stello took off to arrest an hour ago. What happened?’
When Eckles didn’t reply I knew there’d been a screw-up.
‘Let me guess,’ I said. ‘Somebody tipped off the media that an arrest was imminent, then when you realised Kirzek wasn’t where he was supposed to be, you decided to cover your arse. Who was in the back seat of the arrest car?’
He didn’t answer.
‘I wouldn’t be surprised if you put one of our guys in there just for show.’
‘Hey, we got a righteous bust,’ Eckles blustered. ‘The guy was driving Kirzek’s Beamer. He even has photos of him in his apartment. From what I can see, they’re mates or something and this guy just played the red herring so Kirzek could take a walk.’
‘So who is he then?’
Eckles looked away but I wasn’t having it.
‘Don’t ignore me, Ben. Sparks was helping me . . . helping us. Kirzek killed him and he’s still out there, making us look like idiots. Who the hell have you got?’
‘Some priest named Miles Jorgensen, works for Back Outside. You know, the kiddie prison program.’
I didn’t recognise either the name or the program, and thought about ringing Will Novak to ask what he knew about it, but there wasn’t time.
‘We tried to sweat this guy right off the top but he flexed his silent rights,’ Eckles said. ‘The cheeky son of a bitch even started praying in the interrogation room. Asked the Lord to forgive us, can you believe that shit?’
I looked up at the sky. It was a dark and murky red with no stars and no moon, the city still encased in smoke. The priest under arrest only served to twist the knot in my gut even tighter. Kirzek was playing with us, stalling us. There could be only one reason for that. I studied the strain in my boss’s eyes and realised he’d reached the same conclusion.
‘You want my help or not?’ I said.
He kicked at rubble on the ground and said, ‘Just do what you have to do to catch this prick.’