Challis - 01 - Dragon Man (33 page)

She looked at the floor. He said he
bought it.

In your heart of hearts, do you
think that was the truth?

No.

He stole it, dirty bugger. Killed
that girl and stole it.

He never! Youre always on at him.

Mrs Stokes faced her daughter. So?
Twice I know of hes been done for stealing.

She fished inside her handbag and
tossed a videotape across the desk at Challis. Plus hes a pervert. Tried to
make Megan watch this, people having sex with animals. No telling what sick
things hes capable of. She turned to her daughter again. You want your head
read, going out with a scumbag like him.

How would you know, you frigid cow.

Challis slammed his hand on the
desk. This is a murder inquiry. Theres nothing more serious on this earth.
Quit your arguing and answer my questions or Ill have you both in the lockup
so fast for obstruction, your heads will spin.

Mrs Stokes composed herself and
said, Carry on. Im ready.

Megan stared hotly at the floor.

For the moment, lets forget Danny.

Hard to forget that little bugger.

Mrs Stokes, Im warning you.

Sorry, sorry, Im all ears.

A backpack comes into your
possession, Megan. Where is it now?

Mum let it get stolen, didnt she?
Stupid cow.

I see. And how did that happen?

She let this gypsy into the house.

Mrs Stokes opened her arms. How was
I to know she was going to rob the place? She didnt take much. I didnt even
know she took the backpack till I saw the TV. I turn to Megan and I says, Thats
like yours. Then she tells me hers has been nicked. Not my fault.

It
is,
Megan said.

Shut up, both of you. Megan, listen
to me, do you think its possible that Danny stole the backpack from someone
and gave it to you?

He watched her. After a while, she
began to nod her head. Thats why I didnt report it when it got stolen from
me, especially I didnt tell Mum, you can see what shes like. Danny, you know,
he likes to give me things. I dont know how he can afford half the stuff he
gives me, unless he nicks it first. She looked up and said bravely, I want
him to make a new start. Hes got to stop nicking things.

* * * *

Challis
encountered Ellen Destry in the corridor, carrying her car keys. She looked
dishevelled, her mood distracted. He stopped and said softly, Hows things?

What do you think?

He took her arm. This will cheer
you up. He urged her toward the interview rooms.

She twisted away. Hal, Ive got
things to do. Phone calls. Has Scobie checked in yet? I want to keep an eye on
the search. A million things.

Were interviewing Danny Holsinger
again.

Im more interested in finding
Larrayne than who killed Clara Macris.

Bear with me. I can tie him to the
backpack.

A backpack. Like I said, there must
be dozens of them around.

He
stole
this particular
one. The label had been removed, either by him or before he stole it, Ive yet
to discover.

She closed her eyes. I pray to God
this is it.

* * * *

Danny,
did you remove the label after you stole the backpack, or had it already been
removed?

I didnt steal it, Mr Challis.
Sergeant Destry here knows I didnt.

I know no such thing, Danny.

You believed me when you and that
Pam Murphy had me in here.

I dont believe you now.

I bought it fair and square at one
of them seconds shops.

Prove it. Show us the receipt.

Paperwork. I dont generally hang
on to stuff like that.

Challis leaned forward. Danny, Im
not interested in your bullshit. Ill let you in on a secret, shall I? That
backpack? It belonged to Kymbly Abbott.

Who?

He seemed to be genuinely puzzled. She
was raped and murdered a couple of weeks before Christmas, Challis said. Dont
you read the papers, watch the news?

I dont know their names, Danny
muttered.

That sounds about right, Ellen
said. Theyre just meat to you, right? You rape them, kill them, dump their
bodies. Who cares what their names are?

His voice cracked, failing on the
high notes. I didnt kill nobody.

We have to solve this case, Danny,
Challis said. Youre the best lead weve got.

I can prove I didnt kill them

Got an alibi, have you? Boyd Jolic?
Whos going to believe him? Megan? She was at the front desk just now, making a
statement. It starts, Daniel Holsinger is a liar and a thief and likes to
watch illegal porn, and goes downhill from there.

Danny looked stricken. She never.

Youve got no friends, Danny.
No-ones going to alibi you. No-ones going to shed any tears when we shut you
away. Three life terms, youre going to get.

Ellen leaned forward and Challis saw
how hard it was for her to say:
Four
life terms. You see, Danny, my
daughters gone missing, and right now Im as inclined to throw the book at you
as at anyone else. Never hurt a copper, Danny, didnt any of your scumbag mates
ever teach you that?

He shot back in his chair. I never
touched your kid. I swear.

Challis said softly, The backpack,
Danny.

He slumped in his chair. Its like
you said, I took it. This house up near Frankston.

Challis stopped him. Danny, youre
officially still under caution. Im going to tape this, okay? Do you want a
lawyer present?

No.

For the benefit of the tape, Mr
Holsinger has admitted stealing a black leather backpack from a house near
Frankston. Danny, to continue, did you cut the label out?

It was already cut out, like you
see in seconds shops sometimes.

Did you steal anything else from
this house?

Might of. I forget. Cash and that.

Where did you find the backpack?

Danny smirked. Get thisbehind them
panel things around the bath. I was in this other house once? Accidentally
kicked the bath? The side falls off and theres a couple of rifles in there.
Now when I do over a house, thats the first place I look.

We might need the address of that
particular house, Danny, said Challis dryly. But he felt the old familiar
tingle of the hunt. This
had
to be Kymbly Abbotts backpack. It was a
souvenir, but not one that could be kept in plain sight.

Ellen got to her feet. Youre going
to show us where, Danny,
now.

Challis held up a hand. Just one
more minute. Danny, youve been questioned about an aggravated burglary on a
house near the racecourse, the subsequent theft and arson of a Mitsubishi
Pajero, and the arson murder of Clara Macris in Quarterhorse Lane. You denied
all knowledge of these crimes. Would you care to reconsider your position?

Danny dropped his head. The ag burg
was me.

And the other man involved?

Boyd Jolic

What about Mr Oliver?

Hal, come
on,
Ellen said.
She was frantic, stepping from foot to foot.

Challis held up his hand. Danny?

Craig come and pick us up after
Joll burnt the Pajero.

You admit to stealing it after the
aggravated burglary?

Me and Joll. It was all Jolls
idea.

And the pornographic video?

I didnt know what was on it.

Danny, Im only interested in where
you got it.

It was in the Pajero. There was
this cardboard box in the back, half a dozen videos, so I pinched one.

Good. Now, were you also involved
in a traffic incident with a white Mercedes sedan driven by a woman driver that
same afternoon? On Coolart Road? Whilst in the Pajero?

Yes.

Explain what happened.

This bird cuts Joll off, gives him
the finger. So he follows her home. He was that mad, said he was going to come
back and sort her out.

What did you take him to mean by
that?

I dont know. Hes a mad bugger. He
tried to get me to go with him.

To do what?

Sort her out.

Kill her? Burn her house down?

He didnt say. But I wasnt
surprised when I heard about the fire. Look, hes bad news. Scares the shit out
of me. You got to put him away.

In the corridor, Ellen spat, Precious
seconds, Hal, precious seconds.

Exactly, Challis said.

* * * *

Twenty-Six

anny
took them to a tract of housing that backed on to bushland between Frankston
and Baxter. Challis and Ellen were in the lead car with Danny, Challis driving.
Scobie Sutton and three uniformed officers were in the second car.

Okay, Danny, show us the house.

His pinched face screwed up in
worry. They all look the same.

It was true. Small brick houses with
tiled roofs, all about thirty years old. Native trees lined the streets. There
were no front fences. The cars in the driveways or on the nature strips
indicated modest incomes and aspirations. Challis slowed the car for a knot of
teenagers playing cricket. Otherwise the streets were deserted.

He turned, completing the block, and
started on the next. Then another.

Finally Danny said, It was sort of
like that one.

Like
that one, or was it that one?

That one.

Over-long grass and weeds, white
pebble-dashed walls and glazed tiles set it apart from the other houses, but
only just. What do you recognise about it?

I dunno. The walls, kind of thing.
Plus that thing on the roof.

A satellite dish.

Okay, lets go.

* * * *

Fifteen
minutes later, Challis said, How sure are you?

Fairly sure. It was night time.

Danny, this house is unoccupied. Its
been like that for some time.

In fact, Challis had found a To-Let
sign lying in the grass.

Wasnt when I broke in.

Then you must have broken into a
different house.

Challis glanced at Ellen. Her face
had fallen into lines of frustration and extreme anxiety. She blinked, letting
the tears splash. Hes got a new base. He could be anywhere.

Challis took Sutton aside. Check
with the neighbours. And see if you can get an after-hours number for the
agency handling the lease. We need to know who owns the place, who last rented
it, forwarding address, etcetera.

Right.

Challis looked at the sky. It was
almost dark. He could see the bluish flicker of television sets in a couple of
houses. There was a glow on the horizon, the lights of Melbourne.

He returned to the car. Okay,
Danny, were taking you home.

Home?

Ellen snarled, Your home for the
next little while, unless you get bail, you useless piece of shit.

Danny sniffed. He sniffed all the
way out of the little estate, as Challis took wrong turnings and found himself
in dead-end streets and on streets that wound back on themselves like the
entrails of a complicated organism. Danny might have kept on sniffing as
Challis finally found a street that would take them on to the highway if he
hadnt gone tense and pointed and said, There. Thats the house.

It was like the other in most
details, except that the grass was short, and there was a signboard advertising
a business name hammered into the grass, and a Jeep bearing the same sign
parked in the driveway. Trees and dense shrubbery screened the house from the
neighbours.

I remember the sign, Danny said.

Rhys Hartnett, Air-Conditioning
Specialist.

* * * *

Twenty-Seven

hallis
parked farther along the street and radioed for Sutton and his team. When they
arrived he directed one man to stand watch over the Jeep, and Sutton and the
other men he directed to the yard at the rear. Scobie, you wait by the back
door. Put one man at either corner, so he can watch for movement at any of the
windows along the sides of the house. Ellen and I will take the front.

He turned back to the car. Danny,
give me your wrist, please. I hate to do this, but . . .

He cuffed the thin, unresisting
wrist to the roof handle above the door. Not too tight?

Dannys eyes gleamed. Youre going
after him?

Yes, Danny, we are.

Ill watch.