Murderer's Thumb (11 page)

‘Bet the girls are onto you now, mate…' Mongrel declared, slapping Adam on the back.

Adam glanced at Snake.

‘Like I told you. I didn't say a thing,' Snake said.

Adam looked about the group, searching for Matt. He was under the shower with his back to everyone.

Loody was animated, recounting the incident again to the guy next to him.

‘What'cha feeding out to the cows now, Adam—skeleton grass?' one of the guys yelled.

Everyone cracked up.

‘Brings new meaning to the term “blood and bone”,' another player added just as Matt emerged from the shower.

Everyone grew silent, watching Matt approach the far bench where Adam sat.

Matt looked around and blushed.

A couple of people snorted. Someone coughed. People started to talk about other things.

Mongrel gripped Adam's shoulder. He spoke in low tones, ‘I heard you boys talking about that girl's diary. Course if you find it, there's people around here who'd want it, be willing to pay for it. You read me?'

‘And you'd be the last person we'd consider,' Snake said, his voice wavering.

‘Keep out of this, Patterson, ya poof,' Mongrel sneered. ‘Unless you want to step outside and make an issue of it.' He pushed Snake against the wall.

Snake flung his hands up in surrender.

Adam saw the way they looked at one another: sheer hatred. He grabbed Mongrel by the shoulder, spinning him around. ‘If you want a diary that bad you can get one at the newsagent,' he said.

Mongrel flinched. His piggy eyes glared at Adam as he shrugged him off. ‘Funny bastard, eh? You'll keep,' he snarled, and walked out of the change room.

TWELVE

Adam spent most of Wednesday night staring at the sky through his telescope, worrying about what had happened in the change rooms. Mongrel picked on Snake because he wasn't a macho prick like him.

Well, Adam had to admit, Snake's horse-riding had been a surprise, but there was nothing wrong with wanting to be a chef. It was clearly his uncoordinated style and over-the-top enthusiasm that set him apart for ridicule. Even so, the taunts and criticism didn't seem to bother him. Snake was pretty gutsy in his own way. The more Adam went over it, the more he thought he could trust Snake.

Mongrel, however, was a deadshit. A first class moron. Why else would he snap so quickly, bullying his own teammates? It must have taken real guts to confront Mongrel like Snake did. That was a true mate, someone who stood up for you. But he didn't have to. Adam could handle himself. His height alone cooled most arguments. Even if someone did come on all aggro Adam's turned eye unsettled them—he couldn't be eyeballed.

At school the next day as they walked back to their lockers at the beginning of recess, Adam quizzed Snake again.

‘So what's Mongrel's story? Why does he want Lina's diary?' Adam said.

Snake shrugged. ‘Reckons it's worth a bit. It's like a local legend. And he'd know where to get the best price too. He's always making a quick buck.'

‘Sounds like bullshit to me. It wouldn't be worth anything.'

‘Well Mongrel reckons heaps of people want to lay their hands on it.'

‘Yeah, right. I'll ask him about it Friday.'

Snake gave him a questioning look.

‘I'm going spotlighting.'

‘What? With that dickhead?'

‘I couldn't put him off.'

‘Oh come on!'

‘I'm not looking forward to it, but hey, it's something to do isn't it? It's pretty boring round here on weekends. Not much night life.'

‘He's a fair dinkum arsehole,' Snake said shaking his head.

‘I've worked that out. And I reckon he's full of shit. If heaps of people are after Lina's diary, how come they aren't digging up Falcon Ridge looking for it? And anyway, how does everyone know it exists?'

‘It's Loody. Lina told him about it and said she was going to hide it. Loody talks a bit.'

Adam nodded, recalling how animated Loody was in the change room when everyone had been talking about the body. What a prick he was too, making fun of him vomiting. If Snake was right, then Loody was the one he couldn't trust.

Snake continued his theory, ‘When people thought they'd both been killed everyone wanted to know where Lina's diary was. But it was obvious Lina had cleared off. The bus driver remembered her getting on the bus to the city with a backpack full of stuff, including the diary probably. That's what I reckon, anyway, otherwise someone would have found it.'

‘What did her relatives say?'

‘Apparently Jane was upset that Lina left but she couldn't stop her. She didn't know anything about a diary.'

‘Did the police try and contact Lina?'

‘No one knows where she went. She didn't write back or anything. Another missing person, Barry said.'

Adam took a deep breath. ‘I think I know where the diary is.'

Snake stared at him. ‘What do you mean?'

‘I've found it.'

‘Bullshit? Where?' Snake shouted.

‘Shh!' Alarmed, Adam looked around but no one seemed to be listening. Kids bumped past them, engrossed in their own conversations. He continued in a low voice, ‘In the house…kind of. Well…I've found part of it. From what I can work out, Lina must have known who killed Emma. She was terrifled of
that someone
coming after her, so she ran back to the city where she knew she could hide. But she left her diary on the farm in pieces, hoping someone would find it, then it would be proof…evidence of who killed Emma.'

Snake bounded beside him, ‘What's it say? Does she say like…who the murderer is?'

‘Not in the part I've got.'

‘So where is it? Give us a look!'

‘It's at home…safe.'

Snake grabbed Adam's shoulder, forcing him to stop. ‘Would you sell it to him?'

‘Who? Mongrel? Piss off! I want to find it all first. And anyway, it's like my first big investigation. Now I know what my grandfather must have felt like following clues. I want to find it myself!'

‘What was your grandfather's name anyway?'

‘Witold Statkus. He was tenacious. He definitely would have tracked it down.'

They continued walking.

‘The police probably want it,' Snake said.

‘When I find the whole thing, they can have it. But I've got to get it first.'

Snake sighed. ‘What I can't work out is why she didn't give it to the police in the first place?'

‘I bet she was scared because she didn't trust Barry. And she knew the murderer was watching her. Makes sense, doesn't it?'

They reached their lockers. Adam placed his books in order, from tallest to shortest, folders to the left, neat and upright. When he looked in Snake's locker he couldn't believe the mess: loose sheets of paper, textbooks, plastic food wrappers, magazines, folders and rulers, everything in a heap.

Snake rummaged around and found a crushed packet of chips. As he pulled it clear a textbook fell to the floor. He picked it up, threw it back on the pile and slammed the door. ‘So if it doesn't tell you the gory details, what does it say?' he said.

‘That's just it. It's just about the Thackerays and who Emma's been on with.'

‘Serious?'

‘Yeah, Lina was spying on her.'

‘Sick!' Snake said grimacing. ‘So how are you going to find the rest of it?'

‘I'm working on it. Come round this arvo and I'll show you what I reckon.' Adam would tell him about the clues later. They were his speciality, something Adam shared with Lina, his strength, and another reason why he wouldn't show the diary to the police. He was sure the cops would be too dumb to work out the cryptic clues. He could imagine them scratching their heads, trying to get the gist of them. The whole process would be stalled or worse, totally forgotten.

Even confiding in Snake was a risk, but he wanted to test him one more time, just to be sure. If the whole town learned that Adam had the diary, then he'd know Snake was a liability.

In the meantime there was still the latest clue to decipher. If he deleted the letter ‘i', the first person in ‘thirds', then he had the necessary letters to un-jumble. He'd tackle it in his spare period.

The boys trudged up the driveway in the afternoon glare. By the time they reached the old farmhouse Adam's back was drenched with sweat. They flung off their schoolbags, went inside and downed two glasses of water each before they shut themselves in Adam's room. He gave Snake the diary.

His friend sat on the floor, flicking through the pages, biting his bottom lip.

Adam leant forward on his chair, watching. Had he done the right thing?

Finally Snake looked up and smiled. ‘Fuck, this is brilliant,' he said. ‘It's genuine all right. If Mongrel knew about this he'd break your door down.'

‘That's why you don't say anything, right?' Adam said. His voice had a desperate ring to it. ‘If he finds out he could stuff up my chances of finding the rest of it.'

‘Don't worry. I won't give him the satisfaction, but maybe Barry Timothy…'

‘No way! I don't trust him. He did bugger all when Emma disappeared. As if he…he didn't care or didn't want to…maybe he was covering for someone.'

Snake looked shocked. ‘Piss off! He's a country copper. He's straight.'

Adam lowered his voice. ‘How do you know? How can anyone ever know if another person is trustworthy, even if they are a cop?'

‘You're just paranoid,' Snake scoffed. ‘So, how the hell do we find the next part when the clue's so weird? Race to thirds?'

‘It's cryptic.'

‘So what's it mean? You're Mr Puzzle Man, you must have worked it out by now.'

‘I have.'

‘So where do we start looking?'

‘In the buildings around here. The Mount of Venus is Lina's code for this part of the farm.'

‘How do you know that?'

‘That palmistry hand on the website, remember.'

Snake looked confused.

Adam laid his left hand flat in front of Snake. ‘The shape of this farm is basically a hand. Mount of Venus, here,' Adam said pointing to the base of his thumb. That's where the sheds are. The palm is the fields of Mars, where the dam is and most of the paddocks.'

‘I get it. And the road goes around your fingers.'

‘Yep.'

‘But if you want to search the sheds we can't pull everything apart in broad daylight.'

‘We can if you're the lookout. Everyone's milking—well Loody, Colin and Matt—it just leaves the Brolga we need to watch for.'

‘The Brolga—I like that. How am I going to keep an eye on her? And don't forget your mum.'

‘Stuff her. She won't know what's going on.' He opened the bedroom door. ‘Come here.' He led Snake into the spare room and pointed at the telescope. ‘We'll put this on the verandah. You can see down to Matt's house and if you move it one hundred and eighty degrees, like this,' he demonstrated by pulling a lever and swinging the tube around, ‘…you can see right inside the milking room door.'

‘Cool. Where'd you get it?'

‘Mum got it…some camera place. I said I'd only move to the bush if she bought me one. It's my chill out tube: relax and watch the stars!'

‘You are seriously weird,' Snake muttered.

Once the boys had the telescope set, Adam gave instructions. ‘I'll check out the tractor shed first. If you see anyone moving, shout as loud as you can.'

‘Sure,' Snake said peering through the eyepiece. ‘Hey, how come everything's upside down?'

‘It's refraction.' When Adam saw the confused expression on Snake's face he added, ‘Don't worry about it, just keep looking where I told you.'

He jogged up the road, his heart pounding. The cryptic clue had been easy to solve. The letters rearranged themselves to ‘tractor shed'. All he had to do was search quickly.

He made straight for the cupboard at the back. The words ‘with a cross' could only mean one thing: inside the cupboard with the cross burnt into it. He pulled open the door and took out a wad of exercise books, pamphlets and papers. He flicked through them: spraying programs, calibration sheets, a guide to farm poisons. A small exercise book with the title ‘Spray Diary' caught his attention. It didn't sit flat. There were folded scraps of notepaper inside. He rushed to open them, then sighed when he saw the contents: lists of bird species with dates of sightings. Must be Matt's scribblings. Adam put the papers back in the diary and continued to rummage, but couldn't recognise anything that Lina might have written.

Frustrated, he returned it all to the cupboard and shut the doors. He stared at the crooked calendar. What did she mean by ‘with a cross'? Unless it was an ‘x', not a Christian cross. He scanned the shed walls looking for an x, like on a pirate map.

‘Over here, over here!' he heard Snake shout.

Adam dashed from the shed and sprinted down the driveway. The Brolga had started up her car and was reversing out of the garage. Adam reached the verandah just as she drove past. She gave the boys an odd look.

‘Shit that was close!' Adam puffed.

‘Yeah, and don't look now,' Snake said with the telescope pointed at the milking shed. ‘Loody saw you leave the tractor shed. He was in the doorway of the milk room when I shouted. I swung the telescope round so it wasn't obvious I was perving at the Brolga, and he was right there, watching you run out. Did you find anything?'

Adam shook his head.

‘So what do we tell Loody if he asks?'

‘Say we're just mucking around with the telescope, an experiment… like…playing forty forty…you know, how you have to run to base and free the prisoners before you get seen.'

‘As if we're eight years old? Get real!'

‘Got any better ideas?'