595

A few minutes later, the freeways started to climb up into the highlands.  A police car with its siren going and lights flashing passed them doing at least 130 kilometres per hour.

“Stupid fucks!” Keith was angry.  “They’ll frighten the killer and then he’ll kill Lou and Cody.”

“Calm down, Key.  Maybe it’s just for now,” said Esmé.  “We’re half an hour behind them. Maybe they’ll use the siren until they get closer and then turn it off.”

Keith didn’t answer.  A minute or two after that, they heard the sound of a chopper going by fast.  It flew overhead, a few hundred metres up, and its noise for a moment was so loud that even if they’d spoken they wouldn’t have heard each other.

As the sound diminished, Keith said, “Well, at least they’ve taken it seriously.”

“They’ll be too late!” Jason answered, agonised.  “Lou and them must be there by now!”

“If they’re still alive!” replied Keith grimly.

“He always killed his victims on Mt Macedon, didn’t he?  The newspaper article I read said that.  But obviously he lived in the city.  So maybe the Mt Macedon thing is necessary to him in some way.  He has to do his killing there.”  Esmé’s voice was reasonable, calm.  But when Jason looked at her he could see the strain in her face and posture.

“Perhaps he’ll change his routine,” growled Keith.

“No.  They don’t.  I know.  I know it very well.  Maybe they change incrementally.  A slightly different modus operandi each time.  But I think he’ll want to be where he was before.  Even though the situation is different this time.  Where he does it means something to him.  Mt Macedon is important, for some reason.”

Keith flicked her a quick glance, then turned his eyes back to the road.  “Okay.” 

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594

“What did they say? asked Esmé, when he reached them on the ground floor outside the flats.

“Nothing useful. What did the Mt Macedon policeman say, Key?”

“They’re going to call out the police chopper.  But they need to know the details of Lou’s car to follow it.”

“We don’t have that.  But I s’pose they can get it from the computer records.  I’m sure they have access.”

“What shall we do?”  asked Esmé.

“I want to drive up to Mt Macedon.  I know we’ll get there too late, but I can’t, I can’t, hang around here helplessly.” Jason was anguished.  “I know we can’t save them, but I feel ….”

“… that we should be close,” answered Esmé.  “Yes.  I feel that too.”

“Have you got a lecture or anything on this morning?”

“Nah.  Nothing important.  This is more important.  And anyway, how could I pay attention during the lecture when all this is going on?”

Keith nodded.  “I’ll ring Tom and tell him what’s happened.  Let’s go.”

They got into Keith’s car, and Keith drove towards the freeway.

They didn’t speak.  Traffic was still light, but already much more than when they made their mad dash though the darkened streets towards Luigi’s flat.  Within 25 minutes, they were passing the BP service station on the Calder Highway. 

“That’s where Lou phoned from,” Keith observed as they sped past.

“So we’re half an hour behind them.”

“Yes.  But I’m not going to speed.  If we get stopped by a police car we’ll be delayed.”  He looked at the speedo.  They’d just passed a speed sign which raised the limit to 110 kilometres per hour.  He pressed down the accelerator, and the car’s heater sped up as it did randomly and a gush of hot plastic-smelling air poured into the car.  Nobody complained. They stared intently through the windscreen as if somehow they could by sheer will make the journey time shorten.

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593

Jason was so irritated with the languid pace of the lift he almost ran up the stairs instead.  At last the lift reached Luigi’s floor and the door opened.  He ran along the access balcony to Luigi’s flat.  The door was still open.  A little breathless, he said, “Hey, Lou’s just phoned!”

“Who is Lou?” asked the same policemen that he’d quarrelled with. 

“The guy the Mt Macedon killer abducted.  He said he’s at the BP service station on the Calder Freeway, and that’s on the way to Mt Macedon.”

“How did he manage to make the call?” asked the policeman, sarcastically.

“How the fuck do I know?  But it was him and he rang my mobile.  So now you know where to look!”  And he turned on his heel and walked off.  This time he did use the stairs, racing down them to where the others were waiting.

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592

“That was Luigi!” said Jason.  “He said he’s at the BP service station on the Calder highway.  Where is that?”

“It’s on the way to Mt Macedon.  About halfway there,” answered Keith.

Jason stared at him for a moment.  “Right!” he said.  “I’ll go and tell that fool of a policeman upstairs.  You ring the policeman in Mt Macedon.  Better make sure we tell as many as possible.  I don’t trust them to get this right.”  He turned and marched off.

Keith selected his previous call to Colin from the phone log and redialled.  The phone rang briefly then diverted from the landline to the police station to another number.  Colin picked up at the other end.

“Hi, Colin, it’s mey again.  Lou has just phoned us to say they’re at the BP service station on the Calder.  I think we were roight.  He is goin’ to Mt Macedon.”

“I’m here at the turnoff from the main road, watching the cars coming up the mount from Melbourne.  What make and colour is his car?”

“Dunno.  Can’t the police pull that from VicRoads’ files?”

“Yeah, but it would take too long.”

“I’ll ask Jace and get back to you.”

“Right.  If he’s at the BP station now, he’s about 30 minutes away.  If he is in fact coming here.”

“What else can we do?  Where else can we go?”  Keith asked in despair.

“I think I might call one of the police choppers out.  There’s a risk.  But we’d be able to follow them from the air.  To do that, I need the car’s details.”

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591

The Killer was staring at him, suspicious.   And angry.

“What were you doing?”

“Nothing.  Just checking the water.  She leaks a bit, so if I drive a long way she can get overheated and I can’t afford to buy a new car.”  Luigi tried to present an unfazed demeanour.

The Killer stared at him and then giggled.  It was remarkably unpleasant.  He stuck his head forward and hissed at Luigi, “It won’t be your problem!”  And then he cackled again.

“It won’t be your problem,” he repeated with another high-pitched giggle.  His eyes were no longer cold, but looking into them, Luigi knew with absolute certainty that the Killer was demented.

Of course, thought Luigi.  Anybody who kills for pleasure ….  But it hadn’t seemed real before.  You might say, “he must be mad!”  But it was only when he looked into the Killer’s eyes that he truly understood deep in his heart and soul what that meant.

Oddly enough, this realisation gave him renewed courage.  And it replaced his anger and fear with resolution.  He had been wondering whether he could talk the man down from his intentions.  Now he knew that the only way to make the world safe was to kill him, to stop him doing it again and again.  And he was ready to do it.  Like a rabid dog, the world would be a better and safer place without this inhuman and utterly mad person in it. 

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