Cursory

## Meta

**Timing:** 27 June 2022, after "Cavalry"

**Setting:** the 1st Darling-Jones house

## Text

A rap [from the foyer].

Charlie [gathers Baby to her chest, rises from the couch,] plods to the front (formerly) door.

A person in a neatly pressed police uniform waits on the stoop. "Mx Charlotte Darling?"

Charlie nods.

Person bows. "Detective Senior Constable Edward Gibson, he-him-his." Shows his credentials, presents Charlie with a business card. [Her peers over Charlie's shoulder, says,] "Is the emu inside?"

Blinks. "Wha?"

Gibson rubs his neck. "I was called out to your house when an emu cornered a burglar?"

"Oh." Pause. "No, Tilda's not here. Neither is my husband."

"Mmhmm." Takes a mini-tablet from a pocket, uses a stylus to poke about on-screen. "Is everything as you found it?"

"The door, yea. The shoe—" Swallows, points—

Gibson turns, takes a picture with the tablet's camera.

—continues quietly, "I had to take care of the babies." A beat. "I touched their things upstairs and in the family room." [Breath. "My mother-in-law's in the kitchen making supper for us."]

Gibson snaps away at the door, frame, stoop, humming.

Charlie watches, motionless.

[Baby yawns enormously.

Charlie strokes fuzzy hair.]

Gibson straightens. "Has your husband ever stepped out without notifying you before?"

Charlie bristles. "Jackson /**never** leaves when there's no one else to watch the babies."

"Mmhmm." Jots, steps inside and through the foyer, flicks his eyes over surfaces, comes to a stop in the kitchen.

[[[Book Darling-Jones|Book]] beams up at them from under a large pot worn as a hat, declares, "I'm helping Nanny!"

The corner of Gibson's mouth twitches up.

"You certainly are, dear." Nanny nods to Gibson, greets, "Officer." Stirs the pot on the stovetop; the smell of soup wafts through the air.

"In what condition was this room before you started cooking, ma'am?"

"Neat as a pin," replies Nanny. "Jackson hadn't started working on dinner."

"Mmhmm. Thank you, ma'am."

"You're welcome, Officer." Nanny turns back to the stove.

Gibson leads the way to] the home office[, pokes] the mouse with his stylus.

[The monitor flickers to life.]

"Recognize this?"

"It's [Jackson's current project]." A beat. "[They're dinosaurs."

"Your husband's an artist?"

Charlie nods. "He] designs models." Pause. "These are for the Rich Collection in Apollo Bay." [1]

Gibson jots. "I haven't heart of a, umm, museum there."

"It's a private exhibition."

"Ah."] Pokes his tablet. "Is anything missing from anywhere in the house?

"Just Jackson."

"Of course, Mx Darling." Taps. "Was he under a lot of stress? Any recent changes in his behaviour?"

["He started picking at his food three days ago. He does that when he's upset or stressed."

"Any ideas as to the cause?"]

"I recently started back at work after maternity leave."

"And Mr Jones was the primary caregiver for your [children?"

Charlie nods.

"Mmhmm."] Pokes, swipes, scans the screen. "How close is your husband to his brother?"

"Derek lives with us."

"I [mean] his other brother, Logan."

"We see him two or three times a— What does he have to do with Jackson being missing and my door being broken down?"

[Baby squawks.

Charlie forces her arms to relax.]

Gibson makes a placating gesture. "You're aware of your brother-in-law's criminal record?"

Charlie frowns. "I know he gets arrested every so often."

"There's a chance your husband's disappearance may have something to do with this Logan's activities. Maybe he stepped on the wrong toes." Gibson shrugs. "We'll follow up on that angle, of course."

"What are you going to do about Jackson being missing right now?"

"Well, it's not illegal for an adult to disappear—"

Charlie does not snarl.

"—but I'll tell the constables in the area to keep their eyes open and contact Emergency at the local hospitals to make sure he hasn't turned up there. If he hasn't turned up by the end of our waiting period, we'll begin a more in-depth investigation."

"But Jackson wouldn't leave his babies [alone]. /**Ever.** Something's happened to him."

"I understand you think so, Mx Darling, but it's much more likely he took a bump on the head in an accident [or interrupting ]a break-in, than [was] kidnapped." Smiles reassuringly, flips closed the tablet's case. "Middle class stay-at-home dads are not often taken for ransom." Digs in his pocket. "Odds are he'll be back in time to tuck in the kids."

"But—"

Hands her another card. "This's the repair place we usually use in [this kind of case]. If they can't get in tonight, give me a call and I'll send over a uniform to watch the place." Makes for the door. "Take care, Mx Darling. I'll be in contact if anything develops."

And he's out the door and gone.

.

[1] Apollo Bay is one of the towns nearest the Great Otways National Park, which is the site of Dinosaur Cove, one of the best dinosaur bone beds in Australia, most famously associated with a husband-and-wife team of paleontologists surnamed Rich.