Inspector Cohan felt some degree of relief that the Federal Police had been able to get back to the Alice Springs police as they continued to investigate what had started as simply a case for determining the ownership of a gold nugget left in the grass on the property of a local rancher. It started there, and seemed simple enough, but then began to expand as a visual image of the suspect was found, along with another gold nugget, this time left at a different spot on the same ranch. It had all come with other clues and ideas that the suspect had some interest in Animalia or its colonies, and that included the Alice Springs colony that was largely centered around the small zoo that Ben and Tyree ran. But while some local residents, Human and Animalian, might have recognized the face, they had no name to pair with it and had left the request being sent to Australia's Federal Police, and they'd sent Inspector Rebecca Harold with the added information that had been requested, which in its own way was helpful.
Though, the help soon also provided several other questions that no one had answers to. They'd started with no name for the mystery nugget suspect, and now they had several and from different areas. They had some from within Australia, John Snow in Canberra, Archibald Wavel in Sydny, and Sydny Green in Perth, and some from some of Animalia's colony cities, Jason Synfyl, Thor Lokison, and Ben Parsons. They went from no name to too many, and all over crimes that wouldn't be that serious with regard to what could legally be proven. The fact that their suspect was able to get around and had paid for things in cash also raised the issue that things were not as small as they seemed. For if the suspect's intentions were innocent, the multiple aliases and tricks played wouldn't be needed, and Inspector Cohan was beginning to have worries that this suspect had something sinister planned, that would either hurt Australia's Human population or its Animalian population. Though, they still needed to find and catch him first.
"And this is where he started?" Inspector Rebecca Harold asked him as they stood outside Archibald Walters' ranch. They had the neighbor with them, as Inspector Cohan was also bringing Inspector Rebecca Harold up to speed on all the other issues, they'd had with the mystery gold nugget suspect.
"This is where his activities in Alice Springs started," Inspector Cohan answered and then gestured to the rancher that was with them, "our suspect came our friend's ranch here before approaching Mr. Walters' ranch and leaving the gold nugget and then going to the other corner where he would be caught on Mr. Walters' security camera. After that he then went back the way he came and we did follow through in trying to track him down, which then provided the first sets of crimes that we could make stick... the trespassing charges on the Walkabout Ranch."
Inspector Rebecca Harold looked to the other man and nodded, "did the man harm you, sir?"
"No..." the man, Mr. Walkabout, answered, "in fact, I never even knew there was a guy there until our local police began tracking this guy's scent through my ranch and toward other properties in the area. A couple of my internal fences got bent up a little bit, which was probably where the guy climbed them... but a lot of what I found out about was all rather minor. And had the officers here not had a canine unit that was able to track the guy... I might have just written things up to the cattle or something else."
"And we tracked him for a while," Inspector Cohan picked up, "until we came on a creek and also nearly got bitten by an irritated snake."
"And which all shows that our guy, here, has to have some survival skills," Inspector Rebecca Harold said slowly, "as while in this area there aren't any major land predators to worry about... unless it's a pack of Dingoes... but a run in with a Taipan would ruin anyone's day."
"And that was enough to prevent us from going further," Inspecter Cohan sighed, "so, we never could find his camp. Though, by now, it's probably been cleaned out. I just thought that bringing you out here would provide a good summary of where we are and let you meet some of the local people in the area that might be of interest... or see if you have any new ideas."
"I'm not sure that there would be much to do," Inspector Rebecca Harold answered, "by now... any scent would have gone cold... simply due to time. Though..."
"Oh, we've all seen the pictures posted in the paper," Mr. Walkabout answered, "a peculiar looking man, if you ask me, but if I see anyone like that, you'll know. Trust me."
Both inspectors nodded at that, as that seemed to be about the best they could do for the moment at the site where the present case technically began. Inspector Cohan said a polite goodbye to Mr. Walkabout and the two made their way to his car, presently parked on the side of the road. Things were quiet as they took a few steps, though after a few moments, Inspector Cohan felt his phone ring and found it was the dispatch officers.
"Cohan here," Inspector Cohan spoke into the phone and then blinked as the answer came in, "Really?! We'll be right there."
"What do you have?" Inspector Rebecca Harold inquired.
"Apparently a couple of the hotels in Alice Springs have actually had our guy a guest and want to share some information," Inspector Cohan answered as he hung up and opened the driver's side door to his car, "we may not get a name... or at least not his real name, but we may get an address for his residence and the pattern of behavior with regard to booking these rooms."
"And I might be able to help out with tracking down addresses if it turns out it isn't an address here in Alice Springs," Inspector Rebecca Harold smiled.
"That'll probably be the thing... as if he were from this city... more people would know his name and where he lives, and particularly the Animalians, whom this guy seems to support in his own odd way."
They were soon on the road and drove back into town, and Inspector Cohan turned into a hotel on its west side. It was relatively modest and was likely built for those that came for the hiking and related trips to various camping sites in the territory. There was also some potential for low level music concerts and other things that drew in attention. There had been one or two new hotels that had been built after the first Animalian Colony was built up in Alice Springs, but they also weren't all that large. The two inspectors were ultimately lead into a conference room where they met with a Ms. Winston, who was the main manager for the hotel.
"We were told you might have some information for us," Inspector Cohan stated as he sat down in one chair while Inspector Rebecca Harold pulled back the chair to his right in that conference room.
"Yes... and we noticed it after noting the picture in the wanted ad in the paper," the hotel manager said slowly, "and this guy is doing something big?"
"That's what we suspect," Inspector Cohan answered with a nod, "what we can prove thus far has been minor, but the fact that there has been so many of these actions and that so much has been done to try and hide them... not to mention other things, that there has to be something big... and something that will not be good for anyone here... or for the Animalians, particularly if whatever scheme this guy has involves them..."
"But a lot of my business revolves around catering to the Animalians," the hotel manager gasped, "many of my guests have actually come from outside Alice Springs and have come to see Ben and Tyree's zoo!"
"And that's why we're here and have our questions with this," Inspector Rebecca Harold informed her, "for from what we have... we have the suspicion that whatever he ultimately has planned... the Animalians aren't aware of it, and likely would oppose it if they were."
"A few have even called my station to see if they could volunteer to help track our suspect down," Inspector Cohan added and noted the woman looking ever more relieved and letting a deep breath out.
"That's all good," the hotel manager spoke and then lifted up some pictures taken from the hotel's own security cameras and handed it to Inspector Cohan and Inspector Rebecca Harold.
Both inspectors looked at it and noted the face of the man matched what they had from Archibald Walters' security footage.
"He's been here off and on through the course of the past few years," the hotel manager continued, "and from the billing, he's paid in cash, but we have rules that require a home address so we know where to send it if he can't pay while at the hotel."
"Do you still have those records... or any indication of what alias he may be using here?" Inspector Rebecca Harold asked.
"Yes," the hotel manager spoke, and then pulled out a few papers and handed them to Inspector Cohan, "He said his name was Tall E Ban and he did give an address from Brisbane and I've never gotten a complaint when the formal bill has gone to the address."
That gave both of them some confirmation on where their suspect lived, which had him living in Brisbane. The fact that there was no stated complaint gave some sense of legitimacy, as if it was a fake address, there would be someone complaining about getting the bill. Though, given how many things had made the case difficult ever since the gold nugget was found on Archibald Walters' ranch, there was the potential that it might well also be some other kind of diversion that wasn't something that would be able to complain, or that this guy was also messing with the mail at that site.
"Has he had any pattern of behavior when coming to Alice Springs?" Inspector Cohan asked while looking over the papers, and noting that "Tal E Ban" had been in Alice Springs during the point when the gold nugget was first found and the second time it was left. This raised the potential that the man had never camped out in the areas outside the city and on the various ranches, which only further added to the trespassing charges that the suspect faced.
"Other than that he came here and would stay for about a week, no," the hotel manager spoke, "though, some of that did decrease after you started inspecting the gold nugget more closely after the second visit to Archibald Walters' property. Though, he might have also gone to other hotels after that. Some of that wasn't my business... though once you published the security camera footage from the ranch... I had to say something, as if a customer was causing trouble and had the potential to be causing major trouble..."
"You've done the right thing," Inspector Rebecca Harold assured the hotel manager. "For even if what this guy is up to isn't major... there is a lot that's still puzzling, which raises a lot of questions, and it would be best to get things in line... regardless of the seriousness."
The hotel manager nodded, and the two inspectors looked over things and eventually visited with the other hotels that made similar calls and found that the man had been there fairly frequently and had even been in Alice Springs after the investigation into the gold nugget mystery had begun. It was worrying, though, more because there were no added contacts with the police or actions related to the Alice Springs Animalian colony. He wasn't going to Ben and Tyree's zoo. he wasn't visiting Khan and Marla's gym, and he wasn't interacting with the Animalians, and was something that made no real sense given the possibility that he wanted the growth or enrichment of the Animalian colony. The big thing, though, that Inspector Cohan and Rebecca Harold found was that the man had used the same name, Tal E Ban and had the same billing address for the hotels. Thus, the Brisbane address could be the actual address of their suspect. They might not have a name... but they might finally have an address.