Read Abacus for Free Online

finished their tea, Randall saw that she had relaxed her grip on her handbag.
    “So , Mrs. Campbell, I see here in the report you have had a break-in and had a lot of items stolen.” The old lady remained silent. Randall intuitively reached across the desk, cupped his hand over hers and gave it a gentle pat. “What is it?”
    She reached for a h andkerchief in her bag and dabbed the corners of her eyes. “The jewellery and other things mean very little to me. It’s the loss of my late Robert’s war medals that has really upset me. I don’t know what to do they meant everything to me. Every ANZAC Day our grandsons come to our house and collect the medals for the big march, it was a way of helping us all remember Robert. Now the medals are gone, I don’t know what to tell the boys.”
    He felt sorry for Mrs. Campbell, and at the same time a desire to physically hurt the thief responsible for upsetting her. Rising from his desk, he said confidently, “Right, Mrs. Campbell, let’s get these medals back for you.” Assisting her from her seat, he led her into the general office. “So how did you travel here today, Mrs. Campbell?” he asked, trying to cheer her up.
    “On the bus , love, the two seven three.”
    “Well , today you will be travelling home in style, in your own very special chauffer driven police car,” Randall said, draping his hand over her shoulder. “That should get the neighbours talking, eh?” he said with a wink. “Mrs. Campbell, I would like you to meet Detective Hobbs, he will be helping me with your investigation.” A surprised Hobbs raised his eyebrows before giving her an encouraging nod.
    “F irst thing’s first. Detective Hobbs will drive you home right now and have a look at your house for clues, okay?”
    “Thank you, Detective,” she said. “Could I just ask a little favour of you?”
    “Sure , ask away.”
    The o ld lady peeked over her glasses. “When you do get the thief, could you give him a good hiding for me? My Robert would have.”
    Randall smiled. He thought it was funny hearing the old lady talking tough. “Don’t worry, ma’am, we will give him what he deserves, won’t we, Detective?” Randall said, throwing his car keys to Hobbs.
    As Hobbs walked Mrs. Campbell towards the hall, he turned and called out, “Oh yeah, boss, and don’t forget our little appointment this arvo at the gym.”
    “Don’t worry , I haven’t forgotten, just make sure you’re there,” he said confidently.
    * * *
    Maybe I’m getting too old for this , Randall thought as a big right hand from Hobbs glanced his headgear and caught him on the side of the nose. He shook his head and backed away to gain his composure. A small trickle of blood meandered out of his nose into the crease of his cheek. Wiping it with his right glove, he smeared the blood across his face. He didn’t like to bleed, it was a sign of weakness.
    “You right ?” Hobbs asked.
    “You worry about yourself , sport. You’ll need God in your corner today, my friend,” Randall garbled, defiantly biting down hard on his mouthguard. Randall was no slouch with the gloves, and had an imposing muscular six-feet frame, but today it appeared Hobbs may have had the better of him. For a big man Hobbs was quite agile as he danced around the padded ring, peppering Randall’s head and body with neat, sharp blows. Randall could feel the blood-flow from his nose increase as the fight went on. Trying to hide the injury, he continued to wipe the blood with his gloves. Seizing on a concentration lapse by Hobbs, he got in close and checked him with a couple of short lefts to the head. Hobbs took the blows in his stride and slipped away comfortably.
    Randall, being a competitive bastard by nature, just didn’t want to survive the encounter nor did he want to give a good account of himself, he wanted to win. Ducking a couple of menacing swings from Hobbs, he realised his only chance was to get in nice and close and take Hobbs’s