A Tale of Two Cities by John Silvester

Author:John Silvester
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Floradale Productions and Sly Ink
Published: 2009-08-02T16:00:00+00:00

7

SHOT IN THE DARK

HOW MARRIAGE GOT A MAN MURDERED BY MISTAKE

The killers probably didn’t see

his face in the dark as they

approached from behind.

NORMAN McLeod was a good man. But that didn’t help him avoid a murder contract meant for somebody else.

McLeod’s only ‘crime’ was to be driving a car that had previously belonged to his brother-in-law Vinnie Mikkelsen, a gunman whose deadly but dumb enemies killed the wrong man because they didn’t do their homework.

Mikkelsen was one of a family of fourteen children. The odds were that one of them would run off the rails, and Vinnie was the one.

McLeod had known the Mikkelsens most of his life and had knocked around with Vinnie, who was a year younger, when they were kids. Later, in the spring of 1969, he had married one of Mikkelsen’s seven sisters, Lynette.

But McLeod proved a good worker, father and husband, and police never had any reason to link him to the criminal activities of his tough-guy brother-in-law, who was quick with his fists and reputedly even quicker with a gun.

When Vincent started to associate with some of the local tough teenagers such as Laurie Prendergast, McLeod chose hard work over easy money. He went into the meat business, initially working as a boner after completing year ten in school.

The young married couple knew some of the local gangsters but they didn’t fall for the underworld attitude towards work and saving money.

Norman and Lynette had two daughters and continued to save as they chased the suburban family dream of owning their own home. It took them ten years to put together the deposit for their first brick veneer house in the then new estate in Rockbank Court, Coolaroo, in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.

McLeod, 33, had a reputation as a good toiler and after the meatworks folded he soon got a job as a storeman at Berger Paints in Coburg. He was popular at work, a member of the social club committee, and organised many of the staff’s after-hours activities.

He had a small share in a trotting horse called Perfect Call, paying $10 a month to be in it with friends. The horse did not live up to its name, as it never raced.

McLeod’s only other outside interest was a monthly visit on a Saturday afternoon to the First and Last Hotel to have a few beers with his mates. This would happen only if he worked overtime in the morning and when he went to the pub, Lynette would pick him up around 5pm. For a pair of honest battlers, it was close to suburban bliss.

Vinnie Mikkelsen kept in regular touch with his sister – usually visiting the McLeods every few weeks. But then, in 1978, the visits suddenly stopped. He had more pressing matters on his mind.

Mikkelsen had plans to disappear to the other side of the country – a decision that coincided with the disappearance and murder of Les Kane.

He took his two children out of school in October 1978. In January 1979, Mikkelsen

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.