Challis - 04 - Chain of Evidence (38 page)

Jarrett stared unseeingly at the
wall. He blinked. Am I under arrest?

Ellen thought about that. No. Just
a few more questionswhen your lawyer arrives, okay?

Sure.

* * * *

After
the interview, Ellen returned to the Victim Suite, catching Billy slipping the
DVD of
King Kong
down his jeans.

Billy.

You got me, Billy said. He put up
his wrists to be manacled.

Billy, Im afraid Ive got some bad
news.

What?

VanSergeant van Alphenwas
murdered last night.

Billy opened and closed his mouth,
then screwed up his face in emotion. Exactly what emotion, Ellen couldnt say,
but he did sigh and flop into one of the floral-print armchairs. Thank Christ
for that.

Ellen froze. She knew something bad
was coming. Billy?

Billy got to his feet again and
rummaged in the refrigerator. He took out and replaced one drink can after
another, finally settling on a Coke.

Did you have something to do with
his death, Billy? Ellen said, watching him closely. Is that why youre
relieved?

Me? Nah.

Then why arent you more surprised
or upset?

I was scared of the prick, Billy
said. We all were.

Ellen swallowed, then sat down
opposite him. Go on.

He told me what to say. Coached me
in how to answer questions. I never seen those guys in the photos before, but
he told me I had to say they abused me.

* * * *

48

Time
passed bewilderingly for Hal Challis. On Tuesday morning he contacted the
funeral director and the Uniting Church minister again, telling them he had
some repeat business for them, the joke falling flat. They settled on Saturday.
After that he was rarely away from the phone, or the front door, as people from
the town and the district dropped in or telephoned with their condolences.

Even McQuarrie called from Victoria.
Very sorry for your loss, inspector.

Ellen must have told him. Thank
you, sir.

Take as long as you like, but
things are in a turmoil here, and we cant afford to have you running an
independent inquiry in South Australia, now can we, Hal?

Nixon and Stormare told their boss,
Challis thought, who then made a few phone calls. Perhaps the super fears Ill
be even more uncontrollable now that my fathers dead. At another time he might
have used that to annoy McQuarrie in subtle ways, but he was too tired. No,
sir.

The day dragged on. Needing badly to
fill time, he began to bundle together his fathers clothing for the local
op-shop, but it was far too soon, and he lost heart. He went through his fathers
desk, paid some bills. Thats when he found the will. The old man had no shares
and only a few thousand dollars in the bank. Hed left his house to his
children and his car to Eve.

At 3.30, Challis parked the old
station wagon in the street outside Megs house. He checked in with her, then
returned to the car, tied a purple ribbon around it, and waited on the verandah
for Eve to come home from school. She appeared at 3.45, shuffling, head down,
all of her striding, knockabout humour gone. She spotted the car, and froze.
Challis called out to her.

She turned, shaded her eyes as he
crossed the lawn toward her. Uncle Hal.

He kissed her. As you can see, I
come bearing gifts.

Her eyes filled with tears. She
tried to hide it by turning wry and scoffing. You expect me to drive
that?
Ill
lose all street cred.

Challis drew himself up. Id be
proud to be seen in this car.

Eve was sniffing, blinking her eyes,
trying to smile. Mum said you lost your virginity in it.

Challiss jaw dropped comically.
Suddenly Eve was wailing, crumpling. Challis held her tight for a while. Hush,
he murmured.

I know he could be mean to you and
Mum, but he was great to me.

I know.

They stood like that. Eve sighed
raggedly. The Murray Challis memorial station wagon.

Thats the spirit.

They went inside. Meg was on the
sofa, making a list of hymns for the funeral. How about Abide With Me? she
said.

They both shuddered. No thanks.

They discussed the will. I dont
want the house, Challis said. You can have my share. Maybe you can live
there.

Mother and daughter were seated
together on the sofa. They turned to each other in silent communication and
then kissed. It was as if they had settled all doubts, and Challis, on the
edges of their lives here, realised that they were going to be all right. They
faced him resolutely. Meg smiled and said, Were happy here.

Then well sell the house and you
can have my share.

No, Hal. Equal shares.

I had a word with the real estate
agent. Its worth about $175,000, but he said potential buyers are thin on the
ground. People are leaving the district, not flocking into it.

We might have better luck finding
tenants, Meg said. The married housing on the sheep stations around here is
pretty basic.

* * * *

Challis
remembered Megs words when Lisa Joyce came to see him late afternoon. He
ushered her through to the kitchen, saying, You and Rex dont want to buy this
place for your stud manager, do you?

Lisa gazed around her. He began to
see how shabby everything was. Not right now, Hal, she said, smiling kindly
as though hed made a brave joke. I was really sorry to hear about your dad.
He was a lovely guy.

Challis doubted that Lisa had spent
more than five minutes with Murray Challis in her life, but he appreciated the
compliment. Thanks.

She said, with a hint of stronger
feelings, I suppose youll go back to Victoria pretty soon.

How to answer that? He was feeling
the little disturbances hed always felt when he was around her. Theres a lot
to do, he said lamely.

Her fingers lingered on his wrist as
she went out. It was affection, commiseration and the gesture of a woman who
had an unconscious excess of sexual energy.

* * * *

He
was bucked up to hear Ellen Destrys voice that evening, the kindness and
affection flowing from her, but shocked to hear that Kees van Alphen had been
shot dead. I should come back, he said.

You cant, Hal. Bury your father.

But

Youre better off out of it. Its
become a feeding frenzy for the media. McQuarrie keeps popping up in front of
the cameras. And any minute now, were going to have a team from Melbourne down
here, crawling all over us. Stay away, Halnot that I dont wish you were here.

I wish I was there, too.

The pause was awkward. It rang with
implications.

* * * *

49

On
Wednesday morning Pete Duyker was released on police bail. Ellen had charged
him with fraud, knowing nothing else would stick. She didnt like it, and, with
Scobie Sutton, stood outside the police station, watching Sam Lock usher Duyker
into his car. Lock gave them a complicated smile. Complicated, Ellen thought,
because the lawyer side of him had not seen more serious charges laid against
his client, and the father-of-young-children side of him was afraid that he was
aiding a paedophile.

Meanwhile, van Alphens will-o-the-wisp
evidence had been thoroughly discredited. She sighed and turned away,
overwhelmed. She wanted to find van Alphens killer, she wanted to put Duyker
away, and she wanted to console Hal Chains.

Scobie Sutton was saying something,
one hand shading his eyes against the sun. Masses of rain yesterday, masses of
sunshine today. She forced herself to concentrate, and heard him say, Everythings
clean, including his computer.

Maybe he wasnt involved in the
abduction, Ellen replied, or someone else borrowed his van, but I bet he was
at the house, I bet he made videos or took photos.

Scobie nodded. They stood there
glumly, the spring air mild and scented, imagining how the case would have
played out if Katie hadnt been found but killed by Duyker and her body
disposed of.

Back to work, Ellen said, and they
re-entered the station. Talk to the vice squad and missing persons. We might
be able to match faces in recent kiddie porn with those of children who have
gone missing or been abducted or found murdered in recent years. We might also
find visual clues that help identify the men involved, men like Clode and
Duyker.

But theyd sell that stuff to Asia,
Europe or the States.

Its global, Scobie.

They passed the Victim Suite. The
door was open, the room empty. Think well see Billy again?

Ellen shook her head. Hes long
gone. Hes either on the other side of the continent, running scared, or hes
been paid off, or hes dead.

Has he got a record?

Ellen had searched the databases. No.

They continued on to CIU. Have the
shooting board officers finished with you, Scobie?

He gave her a hunted look. Yes.

And?

It will go on my record, failure to
follow correct procedure.

What will their report say? They
cant do anything about van Alphen now, but will take action against Kellock?

Scobie said irritably, I dont
know, Ellen, all right? Im not privy to their findings.

Scobie, I dont want any messing up
of forensics in regard to the Blasko investigation.

You dont have to talk to me like
that, Scobie said chokingly, and he stalked off. When she reached CIU, he was
muttering covertly on the telephone.

* * * *

Shed
scarcely made a start on the paperwork cluttering her desk when Superintendent
McQuarrie called. I hear you let our cop killer go.

This aroused conflicting emotions in
Ellen. She twirled in her chair, the phone held to her ear. McQuarrie was too
neat and precise a man to use the term cop killer. He was trying out the
phrase, trying to sound tough or ingratiate himself. Also, his tone was
accusatory. Did he ever praise? Would he ever praise her? Had he ever praised
Hal Challis? Finally, the man had spies and cronies everywhere. She couldnt
blame Kellock: it was his job to keep his superiors abreast of things. Still,
McQuarries tone was reminding her yet again that the police force was made up
of many wheels. Her own was small and barely revolved, it seemed to her. It
didnt exist within, or intersect with, the wheels that mattered.

Sir, we didnt have enough evidence
to hold Mr Jarrett.

Gunshot residue?

None.

Then someone from his appalling
family carried it out.

They all have alibis, sir.

Good ones?

Yes, sir.

She was tired of calling him sir.

Jarrett could have washed off the
GSR. Hows his alibi?

Solid, sir. We have a witness who
heard a shot at eleven oclock last night and...

This fine, upstanding person didnt
think to report it?

Sir, its the estate. At the time
Sergeant van Alphen was shot, Laurie Jarretts daughter was being examined by a
doctor and a nurse in Casualty at the Waterloo hospital. Laurie was with her
the whole time. It checks out.

Convenient. What about Jarretts
wife, the kids mother?

Shes in a drug rehab clinic in
Perth, heroin addiction, court ordered after she was arrested for burglary and
shoplifting offences.

Divorced? Separated?

Never married. She left home when
Alysha was born.

Making Laurie a heroic single dad,
snarled McQuarrie. It makes me sick.

She suspected he meant the loose family
arrangements you found these days. She felt like reminding him that his own
family wasnt squeaky clean, that his own son had taken part in suburban sex
partiesthen reflected sourly that sex parties were probably seen as an
acceptable aberration of the upper classes, whereas children born out of
wedlock to addicts was seen as a condemnatory characteristic of the lower
classes.

She cast her mind back to her
interrogation with Laurie Jarrett. Deciding against a lawyer, hed opened up
finally, seeming almost genial. For the first time, Ellen glimpsed what it was
like for him. He was an old-style crim, who didnt use or condone drugs. He
stole to make money, an income, not to feed a drug habit, unlike his sons,
cousins, nephews, de facto...He was loyal to his family, bailed them out, but
sometimes that love must have been sorely tested.

He still could have ordered the
hit, McQuarrie was saying now.

Ordered the hit was another
expression that sat oddly in the super. Well keep checking, sir.

You sound doubtful. In fact, you
have doubtful outcomes mounting up all around you, Sergeant.

He sounded cocky and provocative. He
was the kind of man who hated and feared womenthe hate and the fear being one
and the same thing, really, for he hated women because they made him fear them.
She said nothing, but a kind of black light suffused her. If hed been there
with her shed have struck him. Instead, she hit him another way. Speaking of
doubtful outcomes, sir, she said, did you know that Sergeant van Alphen had
been coaching a witness, a street kid called Billy DaCosta, to give false
evidence against the men we suspect of abducting and abusing Katie Blasko?