Who Is It That's Stealing My food? - Part III

"So, let me understand this," Jacob said again. "You have no mother, you don’t know where your father is, and you’re living under my house?”

“This is incredible, but I am way too tired to deal with it tonight. Tomorrow’s problem.”

"You have some food now?” asked Jacob.

"Yes, sir," replied Luke.

“Do you wasn’t to sleep wherever it is that you sleep or do you want to sleep upstairs in the spare bedroom?”

“I would be happier in my own bed, thank you, Sir.”

"Okay, then let's get some sleep, and I will see you in the morning.” “You will be here tomorrow, won’t you? You are not going to run off, are you?”

"No, sir," Luke replied.

They both got up and went in different directions. Jacob hobbled toward the stairs. Luke slipped into the wall's hole and shut the panel. It closed with an eerie creak.

****

Jacob did not sleep, worrying about what he was going to do. He couldn't just leave the boy, and he didn't want to face the red tape that would complicate his simple life.

In the early hours of the morning, he planned out his day. He would not go to work. As soon as it was 8:00 am, he would call the doctor to look at his foot; it was an ugly shade of green, black, and blue. His second toe was about twice the size of the others and hurt like hell.

He also needed to figure out what he would do with Luke.

Jacob's best friend was a police officer. He would call Bob for advice. He had also been troubled by how Luke knew about what lay under his house. In fact, what was under his house? In the ten months he lived there, he never dreamed something could be under his house—like a bigger basement.

When he returned from the doctor, he would find out what was under his house.

He got dressed and hobbled downstairs to get himself a coffee. Luke was missing. He had closed the panel door. He decided to leave him alone. He was probably tired, and sleep would help him. He had so many questions buzzing around in his brain.

How did Luke know when he was there and when he wasn’t?

Did he have a peephole somewhere, and what else had he seen?

He thought about his one night of passion with Mary from up the road. I turned out to be a disaster. After drinking too much, they ran around the house naked. Then, they collapsed on the couch like a pair of coiled snakes.

Had he seen all that?

Did he have a shower down there, or did he sneak up and use his spare shower in the downstairs bedroom?

Jacob went into his study and opened his laptop. He wanted to see if he could trace who had owned the house before him. When he bought it, it was vacant; well, as far as he knew, it was vacant, but now he was unsure.

Come to think of it. The agent had been quite coy about its history.

He located the sales contract.

Previous Owner: Edward Ryan, but there was no forwarding address.

“Well, that was a start,” he said to himself. “Let’s see if dear Mr. Google has anything to say about Edward Ryan,” as he punched the name into a Google search.

There were thousands of entries, including Edward Ryan, the actor, and Edward Ryan, the Titanic survivor. Then, on the third page, one caught his eye.

November 23, 2020: Edward Ryan was murdered in Melbourne.

Melbourne, where his house was! It couldn’t be, could it?

The opening paragraph sent a chill right down his spine.

Authorities found Edward Ryan's body in an alley behind Spenser Street railway station. Someone had shot the notorious leader of the Melbourne Cup gang three times in the head. Police described the killing as ‘nothing short of a gangster killing.’

It went on:

Ryan, also known as Eddie, was behind the $400,000 robbery at the Glen Iris TAB. The theft occurred right after the Melbourne Cup race was run.

A search for his home on Chester Street in Glen Iris happened soon after Eddie and four others left the TAB. Unfortunately, it did not reveal any clues. They have never recovered the money.

Jacob sat in his chair. Motionless. His mouth had dropped so far it could have touched the floor.

24 Chester Street, Glen Iris, was his address.

Was Luke the son of a murdered bank robber?

Well, that is just wonderful. What do I do now?

****

You can read Part I and II here:

Coming soon - Part IV: What to do with Luke Ryan.

Till next time,

Calvin