As the witching hour draws nigh in Darwin weird things often happen . F'rinstance , here is a spooky, puzzling story . About 11. 15 to 11.25 ,on a wet and dark night , a bunch of men were running around out the front of the TAB HQ and The Planet, Nightcliff , yelling,in turn being shouted at by a man with a loud hailer . Then , for some unknown reason, they ran to cars , jumped in and drove off at speed. The last vehicle to decamp contained the man with the megaphone who went to the rear of the car, the boot opened, he threw in the instrument and CLIMBED IN HIMSELF AND PULLED DOWN THE LID - LIKE COUNT YORGA JUST BEFORE DAWN . With a few whoops and hollers, the car took off with the body in the boot.
One bizarre suggestion for the event is that the odd bodkins were fans of the latest Alice in Wonderland movie in which naughty Johnny Depp plays the Mad Hatter . It will be recalled that Alice fell head first down a hole and met up with a neurotic bunny who was running late. Those people running about in Nightcliff were thus imitating the rabbit with the Swiss watch and a Swiss Navy knife in the fairy tale. The guy with the loud hailer , although not wearing a frock and a pinafore, was obviously taking the part of Alice disappearing down that magical chute.
