4338.213 · August 1, 2018 AD
Desk Duty
The morning after. Karl walks into the station hoping to maintain control, but Claiborne's summons shatters that illusion. Someone reported him fleeing Luke's house—gave his name specifically. Badge and gun surrendered, Karl sits at his desk, stripped of authority, drowning in suspicion. Then Detective Harding calls from Broken Hill about another missing man. Luke's brother. And Karl sees his opportunity: shift the blame, rewrite the narrative, survive.
"Detective Jenkins. A word in my office, please."
The body is still under the stairs. The Killerton card is still in Karl's pocket. And now someone has reported him fleeing Luke Smith's property.
Claiborne's face reveals nothing as he delivers the blow: anonymous tip, credible enough to bench Karl immediately. Badge. Gun. Desk duty. The humiliation is swift and absolute.
Karl's mind races: who saw him? Who knew? Sarah—it has to be Sarah. She's the only one who knew he was there. But her phone goes straight to voicemail, every call unanswered, every text ignored.
Then Detective Harding calls from Broken Hill. Paul Smith is missing—Luke's brother flew to Hobart over a week ago and vanished. Another disappearance. Another thread leading back to Luke.
When intel arrives that Luke caught the first flight to Adelaide this morning, Karl sees his lifeline: frame Luke as dangerous, unstable, a threat to his own family. One call to Adelaide CIB. One calculated lie.
The spotlight shifts.
Karl sits back in his chair, hollow and nauseated, understanding with sick certainty: this isn't strategy.
It's survival bought with someone else's destruction.
