Mike Dixon

CHAPTER 26
Barry
anet sat in the front bar of the Empire, sipping coke and
J sarsaparilla. The hotel was in one of Canberra‟s less sa-
lubrious suburbs and a well-known haunt of petty criminals.
She recognized a group in a corner and was amused to see
that one of was attired in the neat, nondescript casual sort of
garb donated by charitable organizations which specialized in
the rehabilitation of habitual offenders. From the man‟s wellscrubbed
look she guessed he had been let out of the nick
that very morning.
She was dressed in her junkie outfit – dirty singlet, tight
jeans, cloth bag and canvas shoes. The pinpricks on her arm
were real and had been made with a sterilized needle, fol-
lowed by an application of freshly cut chili. The unsightly skin
condition, affecting her neck and shoulders, was something
she had never tried before and she was pleased with the result.
She‟d used the skin of new potatoes, peeling it off with a
sharp knife and holding it in place with antihistamine cream.
The peelings had an uncanny resemblance to diseased hu-