The Family Cleaner, page 24
As he drove down to meet Smedhurst in Fairhaven his phone rang again.
“Prosser,” he answered.
There was a delay before he heard the reply. “Detective Prosser? You left a message. This is Amber Jackson.”
Prosser was tempted to remind her that he had left several messages but thought better of it.
“Amber, thanks for calling back. Can I call you back to save you the cost?”
“No, it’s okay. What is it you want?”
“We’re trying to find David Carter. He’s wanted by the police in several states concerning a series of serious matters.”
“What matters?”
“I don’t know how well you know David, but he’s wanted in relation to the disappearance and murder of his family members. In addition, we need to talk with him concerning several unexplained deaths around the Geelong area.”
Amber said nothing for a few seconds, then sighed, “I saw David at a surfing comp in Barra de la Cruz. He said hello out of the blue. We talked for maybe ten minutes, and he left. That’s all I know.”
“It’s critical that you advise us immediately if he makes any more contact with you. I can’t tell you how important it is, Amber.”
“Okay, I hear you,” she replied before ending the call.
He parked outside the address Smedhurst had sent and made notes about his conversation with Amber. Then he heaved himself out and stretched his back as he walked towards Smedhurst who was waiting on the veranda. A little vision of mauve-ness stood next to her. She looked like everybody’s favourite old aunt, mauve from head to toe.
“Hello, Miss Smith, how’s your day today? I am Detective Sergeant Prosser. Senior Constable Smedhurst here tells me you have some kids driving you a bit batty. Can we come in and talk?”
“Oh dear, I’ve been batty for years. But those boys have been making a terrible nuisance of themselves. She held out a frail bird-like hand. “Call me Ivy. Let’s go in and have a cuppa.”
Ivy’s lounge room was mauve, flowery and musty. Prosser sank deep into an old sofa that had seen better days. Ivy propped herself in the newish recliner situated in a sunny spot near the front window.
“That looks like a lovely chair there, Ivy,” Prosser said.
“David bought it for my last birthday, the naughty devil. He’s so good to me, I can’t tell you. And look what happens when I press this.” The delight was clear in her voice as the footrest came up and the back reclined. “Isn’t he a lovely boy?”
“So about the trouble you’ve been having ...”
“Those little tykes, they’ve been stealing my lemons and throwing them about. It’s the sheer waste that is so disappointing. Young people, I really don’t know. Oh, I offered you tea!”
“That’s okay, Ivy, I am sure the Senior Constable could sort that whilst I chat with you.”
Ivy relayed her story and told Prosser she was very sorry to cause such a fuss over some naughty boys.
“Ivy, is it okay if we have a look around in your garage? Those little devils may have been playing there.”
“David won’t like it if they’ve been in the shed. He asked me to not let anyone in. I hope they haven’t done something to his nice car.”
“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if we check. I have people outside who can do it very carefully. I’ll just tell them it’s okay to have a look, shall I?”
After an hour of scrapping, gathering, and bagging samples from every surface in the garage and vehicle, the forensic team left for Melbourne.
“I want that processed yesterday, and if anyone gets in your way, tell them to call Inspector Kleinberg from HQ,” Prosser said to the forensic lead, then joined Ivy and Smedhurst in the lounge room.
“Okay, Ivy, we are all done. If you hear from David, no need to worry him about this. I understand he’s away and we didn’t find anything damaged, so we should let him enjoy his holiday, eh?”
“Oh dear, I don’t speak to David. He just shows up when he shows up and he or his friend cut my lawns. No, I won’t hear from him.”
On the highway from Fairhaven, Prosser called Kleinberg and relayed the news.
“That is excellent news, please pass on my thanks to the Senior Constable. I’ll make sure the forensics are rushed. Even if we find something on your drug business suspicions we can drag his arse back here,” Kleinberg said.
Three days and several phone calls later, it was confirmed that the storage tins had traces of marijuana, most probably transferred from one hundred thousand in cash stored in the boxes they had recovered from the cupboard in the shed.
Prosser posted the forensic report on the document server and started preparing the information sheet for the prosecutor to decide what charges might have a chance to stick, should David ever reappear.
Chapter 28
Balmain, 25th March 2019
“I think we need to leave,” Sam said to Jessica.
“Because the police are sniffing around?” Jessica said.
“They’re more than sniffing around. Last week Detective Jefferson cornered me at work asking about that credit card slip. I could tell she didn’t believe me when I said the card was stolen.”
“Did she ask about anything else?”
“She asked whether we stayed in Gympie for the whole two days. And did we drive anywhere else?”
“You worried they might find out about that car rental?”
“I am. Even though we used that dodgy car place, what if that old codger remembers me?”
Jessica placed her hand on Sam’s arm. “I’d certainly remember you,” she said and kissed her on the cheek.
“I’m serious, Jess. I’m worried.”
“Sam, he was so pissed when you saw him. What’s he going to remember?”
“True, but you never know.”
“I’ll talk to someone and see if we can sort that out.”
“Who?”
“Someone, don’t worry.”
Sam was wringing the napkin she had been holding, like it was wet and she was trying to get the very last drop out.
“But they know we were up that way when your brother disappeared.”
“Sam, the police must prove we weren’t where we said we were, not the other way round. And how are they going to do that? Proximity isn’t proof. They must prove that we were actually where he was killed and that we had the means and the motive.”
“It’s not about proof, it’s the fact they think we’re involved.”
“They’re clutching, Sam. They have nothing.”
“Jess I know what you went through but has this all been worth it? You said they would never find the bodies. And they did.”
Jessica clenched her jaw and said through gritted teeth, “Sam, with respect, you have no idea what those animals did to me. If it all ended tomorrow it would still have been worth it for me.”
“But look what it’s done to David, he’s had to leave and give up his life.”
“David had his motivation to help and I can tell you those people aren’t the only reason he’s gone.”
Jessica went to the bar and poured herself a whisky.
“Are we going to do this now? Sam, are we really going to do this now? I could have left you out but you wanted to be involved. So here we are.”
Sam stood and walked towards Jessica, “I’m sorry love, I’m just so scared. You are used to this stuff. For me, it’s all new.”
Jessica gave Sam a perfunctory kiss on the cheek and returned to her chair.
Sam sat down and with her hands folded tightly in her lap said, “We could go. We’re all cashed up”.
“We can go at the drop of a hat. That’s why we sold up everything last year. But just not yet.”
“We’ve always said we wanted to live in Italy or Spain for a while. Why not do it now? Why wait till they are on our doorstep?”
“Not just yet Sam.”
Brownsill read Kleinberg’s email.
Subject: Weekly update. 27th March 2019
All,
I have been asked to head up a review of arrest protocols for Victoria Police. Consequently, I will be unable to continue to devote the time needed to lead the Chisholm investigations. The purpose of this email is to advise that I am suspending my involvement in the weekly video calls. Given the state of the investigations and in the interests of time I would like DS Brownsill to provide a weekly progress report. I will have those combined into a summary that I will email to each of you and place on the document server.
DS Brownsill will assume responsibility for running things until further notice.
Supt. Kleinberg.
Brownsill turned to Johnson. “I guess he’s over it.”
“Well, at least you get your office back. Would love a replay of his smart-arse comments when he waltzed in saying he was in charge. How can he drop out of the investigation now? We have five bodies and potentially three suspects,” Johnson said.
“Look at it this way, he won’t be up here running the thing and we can get on with it,” Brownsill said.
“Get on with what? Feels to me like we have a pile of circumstantial evidence, some theories, and very little else.”
“I think we have enough. We know it wasn’t Carter in the West. We have the Mathieson play, though I’m completely in the dark about what that’s about. Nevertheless, I don’t think we’re far away,” Brownsill said.
“Why did he use the Mathieson name? Was it to cover using the licence with the Geelong cops? And why even do that?”
“Maybe just as simple as running a blind lead to confuse anyone following.”
“Well, it bloody well worked. I’m stuffed if I know why he did that,” Johnson replied. “We need to find him.”
“That’s the easy part. Once we get a charge to support a warrant, we will.”
“I wish I had your confidence. I just don’t see it.”
“Watch me, Aaron, watch me. While we’re at it, anything more from the guys in the West?”
“Yeah, I put it on file. The detective got Jennings to admit he got five thousand in cash to take the trip.”
“Well, that’s it, we’ve got him.”
As Brownsill left the dentist’s rooms, jaw aching from a wisdom tooth extraction, he listened to the three messages from Jefferson, each increasingly urgent.
He dialled her. “Lauren, what’s biting you in the arse?”
“Where have you been? I’ve been leaving messages all over.”
“Just been to the dentist with a rotten bloody tooth. What’s up?”
“Jessica and her wife are going overseas. She told me with everything that’s been going on, and with the loss of her family, they need to get away.”
“We have to stop them,” Brownsill said.
“How do we do that? We don’t have any more than we did before, and your prosecutor is saying that isn’t enough. They’re going to get away with this, I tell you. Once they’re overseas we’ll have lost them.”
“Calm down. If we can find enough to get an arrest warrant it doesn’t matter if they are around the corner or overseas, we can get her arrested. Assuming they are somewhere we have a treaty with.”
“Jessica is way too smart for that. No way they would go somewhere with an extradition agreement.”
“We just needed a couple of breaks, and we have one now.”
“What, the Mathieson thing? I just read the note.”
“We know Carter paid someone to impersonate him using one of his aliases. We know someone impersonated him in the Margaret River area as well.”
“That’s Carter, not Jessica.”
“One leads to the other. Why are you so snaky about this, Lauren?”
“You haven’t had to deal with her. She thinks she’s so clever. I want to bring her down. Anything more from Queensland? Feels to me like Smyth holds the key to this. Did he get anywhere with Carter’s flights?”
“Not yet. I’ll call him when I get back to the office,” Brownsill said and ended the call.
“Didn’t think I’d see you today,” Johnson said as Brownsill entered the office.
“Need to call Smyth; Lauren has a bee in her bum about the sister and her wife. They are going overseas. I need to call him.”
Holding an ice pack on his face Brownsill dialled DS Smyth. “Hey, Roger, any news?”
“Nothing yet on the flights, but I sent photos of Jessica and Samantha up to the Gympie guys to flash around there and in Dingo. No one seems to be able to confirm anything. You’d think two young women in a Porsche would stand out. Lauren had the locals in Gympie check the rent-a-bomb places and might have a lead. The manager of one of them said one of his guys let out an old banger about that time to a young woman. No description, but who knows? Trouble is he’s off the grid shooting feral camels and is away for two more weeks.”
“Feral bloody camels. Really! I guess it is Queensland.”
“The interesting thing is, we aren’t the only ones asking about him. The manager said someone called wanting to talk with him yesterday. He told them the same thing. Gone shooting.”
“Now that is interesting. Is there no other way we can check? No electronic footprint, credit cards, CCTV, anything?” Brownsill said.
“As you said, this is bloody North Queensland, mate. They don’t believe in climate change, migration, credit cards, anything. It’s like operating in the last century.”
“Well, keep plugging, Rog, something will turn up.”
“I have a bunch of other jobs on, Jim. I can’t devote anything like the time this needs. It’s really backing me up.”
Balmain, 28th March 2019
Jessica sent a message:
Need to talk ASAP
Can’t talk, what is it???
May have issue with car rental, Gympie. Need closed out. See attached deets
How long do I have?
A week, maybe 10 days
Okay will sort it
Attached to the message was a photo of a crumpled piece of lined paper. Scrawled across the top were the words “rental from Gympie Motors” and it was signed by “Jack”.
Brisbane, 3rd April 2019
David, travelling on his Jamie Scott passport, arrived in Brisbane six days later from Cancun via Los Angeles. He sent a message:
In Bris, ETA Gympie 24 hours. Jack, features?
Jack no last name, 180 cm, balding, fat, blue overalls, fag in mouth permanently. Currently in bush shooting, back next week. Tx.
David hired a four-wheel drive and drove to Storage City. He waved to the desk clerk and headed to find the storage box where he’d left a package the previous May.
After ten minutes of unsuccessful searching, he returned to the office. He pulled the cap down further over his face, although the full beard he now wore was probably enough to disguise him.
“Hey, when I was here last the box I rented was over there,” he said and pointed.
“Oh, that must have been a while ago then. What number was it?”
David handed over a piece of paper.
“Yeah, it’s one of the four-by-four units down back of row three,” the very uninterested young desk clerk said. She seemed more intent on not missing one second of The Bold and Beautiful than looking at David.
He found his storage box and made his way quickly back to the four-wheel drive.
He had dinner and returned to Storage City, waiting till the office closed at 9 p.m. The rear window of the office popped open after he pushed the Jemmy bar into the lock. He eased his way through the window and into the room behind the front counter. The CCTV server was sitting in an unlocked cupboard. With the hard drive tucked into his jacket, he exited the same way he had entered.
He checked his GPS and groaned mildly at the thought of the next four hours driving to Gympie.
Sixteen hours later he sent a message:
All clear.
Chapter 29
Rockhampton Police Station, 4th April 2019
“What? When?” Smyth yelled down the phone. “And no one heard or saw a thing?”
He ended the call, pushed his chair back from the desk, and leaned over with his head in his hands. “I cannot believe this.”
“Cannot believe what?” He heard from outside his office.
“Nothing, nothing.”
He took a deep breath and tapped out an email to Kleinberg copying the rest of the team and hit send.
His phone rang minutes later.
“Morning, Jim. Thought you’d be the first to react,” he said.
“What’s the story?” Brownsill said.
“The guy we think rented a car to Jessica or Samantha got back from his shooting trip yesterday. The locals were going to see him today but his next-door neighbour found him shot dead in his backyard three hours ago.”
“You have to be bloody kidding me,” Brownsill yelled down the phone. “Someone’s cleaning up. They knew that credit card slip was an issue and they are cleaning up. What about the accommodation in Dingo, anything?”
“Nothing, no one saw anyone. The manager said the booking was taken over the phone, she saw the lights on in the room and assumed whoever it was wanted privacy. Whoever it was left two days later.”
“What about the keys, how did they get the keys?” Brownsill said.
“Left in the door as requested.”
“What about the cleaner?”
“Jim, this is a flea-bitten country motel. They clean before and after, that’s it.”
“What about the credit card slip, didn’t you say it was manual?”
“Yes, but they just took the details over the phone and signed it themselves.”
“Jesus, it is a backwater. So, they were there for two days and not a soul saw them. I can’t believe that. Didn’t they eat somewhere, buy petrol, anything?”
“Apparently not. I’ll get details about how he was shot, but forensics will take a few days. It has to get to Brisbane.”
“Meanwhile these two women are about the fly the coop, and we have nothing to stop them with.”
“Prosser,” he answered.
There was a delay before he heard the reply. “Detective Prosser? You left a message. This is Amber Jackson.”
Prosser was tempted to remind her that he had left several messages but thought better of it.
“Amber, thanks for calling back. Can I call you back to save you the cost?”
“No, it’s okay. What is it you want?”
“We’re trying to find David Carter. He’s wanted by the police in several states concerning a series of serious matters.”
“What matters?”
“I don’t know how well you know David, but he’s wanted in relation to the disappearance and murder of his family members. In addition, we need to talk with him concerning several unexplained deaths around the Geelong area.”
Amber said nothing for a few seconds, then sighed, “I saw David at a surfing comp in Barra de la Cruz. He said hello out of the blue. We talked for maybe ten minutes, and he left. That’s all I know.”
“It’s critical that you advise us immediately if he makes any more contact with you. I can’t tell you how important it is, Amber.”
“Okay, I hear you,” she replied before ending the call.
He parked outside the address Smedhurst had sent and made notes about his conversation with Amber. Then he heaved himself out and stretched his back as he walked towards Smedhurst who was waiting on the veranda. A little vision of mauve-ness stood next to her. She looked like everybody’s favourite old aunt, mauve from head to toe.
“Hello, Miss Smith, how’s your day today? I am Detective Sergeant Prosser. Senior Constable Smedhurst here tells me you have some kids driving you a bit batty. Can we come in and talk?”
“Oh dear, I’ve been batty for years. But those boys have been making a terrible nuisance of themselves. She held out a frail bird-like hand. “Call me Ivy. Let’s go in and have a cuppa.”
Ivy’s lounge room was mauve, flowery and musty. Prosser sank deep into an old sofa that had seen better days. Ivy propped herself in the newish recliner situated in a sunny spot near the front window.
“That looks like a lovely chair there, Ivy,” Prosser said.
“David bought it for my last birthday, the naughty devil. He’s so good to me, I can’t tell you. And look what happens when I press this.” The delight was clear in her voice as the footrest came up and the back reclined. “Isn’t he a lovely boy?”
“So about the trouble you’ve been having ...”
“Those little tykes, they’ve been stealing my lemons and throwing them about. It’s the sheer waste that is so disappointing. Young people, I really don’t know. Oh, I offered you tea!”
“That’s okay, Ivy, I am sure the Senior Constable could sort that whilst I chat with you.”
Ivy relayed her story and told Prosser she was very sorry to cause such a fuss over some naughty boys.
“Ivy, is it okay if we have a look around in your garage? Those little devils may have been playing there.”
“David won’t like it if they’ve been in the shed. He asked me to not let anyone in. I hope they haven’t done something to his nice car.”
“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if we check. I have people outside who can do it very carefully. I’ll just tell them it’s okay to have a look, shall I?”
After an hour of scrapping, gathering, and bagging samples from every surface in the garage and vehicle, the forensic team left for Melbourne.
“I want that processed yesterday, and if anyone gets in your way, tell them to call Inspector Kleinberg from HQ,” Prosser said to the forensic lead, then joined Ivy and Smedhurst in the lounge room.
“Okay, Ivy, we are all done. If you hear from David, no need to worry him about this. I understand he’s away and we didn’t find anything damaged, so we should let him enjoy his holiday, eh?”
“Oh dear, I don’t speak to David. He just shows up when he shows up and he or his friend cut my lawns. No, I won’t hear from him.”
On the highway from Fairhaven, Prosser called Kleinberg and relayed the news.
“That is excellent news, please pass on my thanks to the Senior Constable. I’ll make sure the forensics are rushed. Even if we find something on your drug business suspicions we can drag his arse back here,” Kleinberg said.
Three days and several phone calls later, it was confirmed that the storage tins had traces of marijuana, most probably transferred from one hundred thousand in cash stored in the boxes they had recovered from the cupboard in the shed.
Prosser posted the forensic report on the document server and started preparing the information sheet for the prosecutor to decide what charges might have a chance to stick, should David ever reappear.
Chapter 28
Balmain, 25th March 2019
“I think we need to leave,” Sam said to Jessica.
“Because the police are sniffing around?” Jessica said.
“They’re more than sniffing around. Last week Detective Jefferson cornered me at work asking about that credit card slip. I could tell she didn’t believe me when I said the card was stolen.”
“Did she ask about anything else?”
“She asked whether we stayed in Gympie for the whole two days. And did we drive anywhere else?”
“You worried they might find out about that car rental?”
“I am. Even though we used that dodgy car place, what if that old codger remembers me?”
Jessica placed her hand on Sam’s arm. “I’d certainly remember you,” she said and kissed her on the cheek.
“I’m serious, Jess. I’m worried.”
“Sam, he was so pissed when you saw him. What’s he going to remember?”
“True, but you never know.”
“I’ll talk to someone and see if we can sort that out.”
“Who?”
“Someone, don’t worry.”
Sam was wringing the napkin she had been holding, like it was wet and she was trying to get the very last drop out.
“But they know we were up that way when your brother disappeared.”
“Sam, the police must prove we weren’t where we said we were, not the other way round. And how are they going to do that? Proximity isn’t proof. They must prove that we were actually where he was killed and that we had the means and the motive.”
“It’s not about proof, it’s the fact they think we’re involved.”
“They’re clutching, Sam. They have nothing.”
“Jess I know what you went through but has this all been worth it? You said they would never find the bodies. And they did.”
Jessica clenched her jaw and said through gritted teeth, “Sam, with respect, you have no idea what those animals did to me. If it all ended tomorrow it would still have been worth it for me.”
“But look what it’s done to David, he’s had to leave and give up his life.”
“David had his motivation to help and I can tell you those people aren’t the only reason he’s gone.”
Jessica went to the bar and poured herself a whisky.
“Are we going to do this now? Sam, are we really going to do this now? I could have left you out but you wanted to be involved. So here we are.”
Sam stood and walked towards Jessica, “I’m sorry love, I’m just so scared. You are used to this stuff. For me, it’s all new.”
Jessica gave Sam a perfunctory kiss on the cheek and returned to her chair.
Sam sat down and with her hands folded tightly in her lap said, “We could go. We’re all cashed up”.
“We can go at the drop of a hat. That’s why we sold up everything last year. But just not yet.”
“We’ve always said we wanted to live in Italy or Spain for a while. Why not do it now? Why wait till they are on our doorstep?”
“Not just yet Sam.”
Brownsill read Kleinberg’s email.
Subject: Weekly update. 27th March 2019
All,
I have been asked to head up a review of arrest protocols for Victoria Police. Consequently, I will be unable to continue to devote the time needed to lead the Chisholm investigations. The purpose of this email is to advise that I am suspending my involvement in the weekly video calls. Given the state of the investigations and in the interests of time I would like DS Brownsill to provide a weekly progress report. I will have those combined into a summary that I will email to each of you and place on the document server.
DS Brownsill will assume responsibility for running things until further notice.
Supt. Kleinberg.
Brownsill turned to Johnson. “I guess he’s over it.”
“Well, at least you get your office back. Would love a replay of his smart-arse comments when he waltzed in saying he was in charge. How can he drop out of the investigation now? We have five bodies and potentially three suspects,” Johnson said.
“Look at it this way, he won’t be up here running the thing and we can get on with it,” Brownsill said.
“Get on with what? Feels to me like we have a pile of circumstantial evidence, some theories, and very little else.”
“I think we have enough. We know it wasn’t Carter in the West. We have the Mathieson play, though I’m completely in the dark about what that’s about. Nevertheless, I don’t think we’re far away,” Brownsill said.
“Why did he use the Mathieson name? Was it to cover using the licence with the Geelong cops? And why even do that?”
“Maybe just as simple as running a blind lead to confuse anyone following.”
“Well, it bloody well worked. I’m stuffed if I know why he did that,” Johnson replied. “We need to find him.”
“That’s the easy part. Once we get a charge to support a warrant, we will.”
“I wish I had your confidence. I just don’t see it.”
“Watch me, Aaron, watch me. While we’re at it, anything more from the guys in the West?”
“Yeah, I put it on file. The detective got Jennings to admit he got five thousand in cash to take the trip.”
“Well, that’s it, we’ve got him.”
As Brownsill left the dentist’s rooms, jaw aching from a wisdom tooth extraction, he listened to the three messages from Jefferson, each increasingly urgent.
He dialled her. “Lauren, what’s biting you in the arse?”
“Where have you been? I’ve been leaving messages all over.”
“Just been to the dentist with a rotten bloody tooth. What’s up?”
“Jessica and her wife are going overseas. She told me with everything that’s been going on, and with the loss of her family, they need to get away.”
“We have to stop them,” Brownsill said.
“How do we do that? We don’t have any more than we did before, and your prosecutor is saying that isn’t enough. They’re going to get away with this, I tell you. Once they’re overseas we’ll have lost them.”
“Calm down. If we can find enough to get an arrest warrant it doesn’t matter if they are around the corner or overseas, we can get her arrested. Assuming they are somewhere we have a treaty with.”
“Jessica is way too smart for that. No way they would go somewhere with an extradition agreement.”
“We just needed a couple of breaks, and we have one now.”
“What, the Mathieson thing? I just read the note.”
“We know Carter paid someone to impersonate him using one of his aliases. We know someone impersonated him in the Margaret River area as well.”
“That’s Carter, not Jessica.”
“One leads to the other. Why are you so snaky about this, Lauren?”
“You haven’t had to deal with her. She thinks she’s so clever. I want to bring her down. Anything more from Queensland? Feels to me like Smyth holds the key to this. Did he get anywhere with Carter’s flights?”
“Not yet. I’ll call him when I get back to the office,” Brownsill said and ended the call.
“Didn’t think I’d see you today,” Johnson said as Brownsill entered the office.
“Need to call Smyth; Lauren has a bee in her bum about the sister and her wife. They are going overseas. I need to call him.”
Holding an ice pack on his face Brownsill dialled DS Smyth. “Hey, Roger, any news?”
“Nothing yet on the flights, but I sent photos of Jessica and Samantha up to the Gympie guys to flash around there and in Dingo. No one seems to be able to confirm anything. You’d think two young women in a Porsche would stand out. Lauren had the locals in Gympie check the rent-a-bomb places and might have a lead. The manager of one of them said one of his guys let out an old banger about that time to a young woman. No description, but who knows? Trouble is he’s off the grid shooting feral camels and is away for two more weeks.”
“Feral bloody camels. Really! I guess it is Queensland.”
“The interesting thing is, we aren’t the only ones asking about him. The manager said someone called wanting to talk with him yesterday. He told them the same thing. Gone shooting.”
“Now that is interesting. Is there no other way we can check? No electronic footprint, credit cards, CCTV, anything?” Brownsill said.
“As you said, this is bloody North Queensland, mate. They don’t believe in climate change, migration, credit cards, anything. It’s like operating in the last century.”
“Well, keep plugging, Rog, something will turn up.”
“I have a bunch of other jobs on, Jim. I can’t devote anything like the time this needs. It’s really backing me up.”
Balmain, 28th March 2019
Jessica sent a message:
Need to talk ASAP
Can’t talk, what is it???
May have issue with car rental, Gympie. Need closed out. See attached deets
How long do I have?
A week, maybe 10 days
Okay will sort it
Attached to the message was a photo of a crumpled piece of lined paper. Scrawled across the top were the words “rental from Gympie Motors” and it was signed by “Jack”.
Brisbane, 3rd April 2019
David, travelling on his Jamie Scott passport, arrived in Brisbane six days later from Cancun via Los Angeles. He sent a message:
In Bris, ETA Gympie 24 hours. Jack, features?
Jack no last name, 180 cm, balding, fat, blue overalls, fag in mouth permanently. Currently in bush shooting, back next week. Tx.
David hired a four-wheel drive and drove to Storage City. He waved to the desk clerk and headed to find the storage box where he’d left a package the previous May.
After ten minutes of unsuccessful searching, he returned to the office. He pulled the cap down further over his face, although the full beard he now wore was probably enough to disguise him.
“Hey, when I was here last the box I rented was over there,” he said and pointed.
“Oh, that must have been a while ago then. What number was it?”
David handed over a piece of paper.
“Yeah, it’s one of the four-by-four units down back of row three,” the very uninterested young desk clerk said. She seemed more intent on not missing one second of The Bold and Beautiful than looking at David.
He found his storage box and made his way quickly back to the four-wheel drive.
He had dinner and returned to Storage City, waiting till the office closed at 9 p.m. The rear window of the office popped open after he pushed the Jemmy bar into the lock. He eased his way through the window and into the room behind the front counter. The CCTV server was sitting in an unlocked cupboard. With the hard drive tucked into his jacket, he exited the same way he had entered.
He checked his GPS and groaned mildly at the thought of the next four hours driving to Gympie.
Sixteen hours later he sent a message:
All clear.
Chapter 29
Rockhampton Police Station, 4th April 2019
“What? When?” Smyth yelled down the phone. “And no one heard or saw a thing?”
He ended the call, pushed his chair back from the desk, and leaned over with his head in his hands. “I cannot believe this.”
“Cannot believe what?” He heard from outside his office.
“Nothing, nothing.”
He took a deep breath and tapped out an email to Kleinberg copying the rest of the team and hit send.
His phone rang minutes later.
“Morning, Jim. Thought you’d be the first to react,” he said.
“What’s the story?” Brownsill said.
“The guy we think rented a car to Jessica or Samantha got back from his shooting trip yesterday. The locals were going to see him today but his next-door neighbour found him shot dead in his backyard three hours ago.”
“You have to be bloody kidding me,” Brownsill yelled down the phone. “Someone’s cleaning up. They knew that credit card slip was an issue and they are cleaning up. What about the accommodation in Dingo, anything?”
“Nothing, no one saw anyone. The manager said the booking was taken over the phone, she saw the lights on in the room and assumed whoever it was wanted privacy. Whoever it was left two days later.”
“What about the keys, how did they get the keys?” Brownsill said.
“Left in the door as requested.”
“What about the cleaner?”
“Jim, this is a flea-bitten country motel. They clean before and after, that’s it.”
“What about the credit card slip, didn’t you say it was manual?”
“Yes, but they just took the details over the phone and signed it themselves.”
“Jesus, it is a backwater. So, they were there for two days and not a soul saw them. I can’t believe that. Didn’t they eat somewhere, buy petrol, anything?”
“Apparently not. I’ll get details about how he was shot, but forensics will take a few days. It has to get to Brisbane.”
“Meanwhile these two women are about the fly the coop, and we have nothing to stop them with.”
