Challis - 04 - Chain of Evidence (26 page)

They stepped forward
expressionlessly and shook hands with Challis and his father, announcing their
names as Stormare and Nixon.

Stormare was dark-haired, Nixon
carroty and pale. Challis needed to get something out of the way immediately. Did
my sister tell you that Im

An inspector in the Victoria
Police? Sergeant Wurfel told us, Stormare said.

May I ask what you have?

They gave him their flat looks.
Nixon jerked his head. Lets talk in the kitchen. He glanced at Wurfel. You
stay here.

Wurfel flushed but nodded.

Challis followed them into the
kitchen. Here the three men stood tensely for a moment before sitting, mutually
untrusting, around the little table. Cooking odours lingered: a garlicky sauce,
guessed Challis.

According to Sergeant Wurfel, youve
been asking questions about your brother-in-law.

Yes.

Why?

Hes my brother-in-law, said
Challis with some heat. My father is dying, my sister and my niece havent
been able to get on with their lives because they didnt know if Gavin was
alive or dead. Wouldnt
you
want answers?

He wasnt reaching them. He knew he
wouldnt. Like them, he always treated these situations with an unimpressed
mind.

We dont want you meddling in this.

At least tell me copper to copper
about the body.

Nixon shrugged. Fair enough. It was
found in a garbage bag, which slowed decomposition. Not a pretty sight. Pretty
much a soupy sludge.

Challis nodded. He knew exactly what
the body would have looked like. What forensics do you have?

Well try to get prints off the
bag, but dont hold your breath, Stormare said.

Weve sifted the soil, said Nixon.
Nothing.

They stared at him. Thats all we
can tell you.

What did the autopsy reveal?

Were not at liberty to say.

But he was shot. My sister told me
hed been shot in the head.

We can confirm that, yes.

Both men were watching him almost
challengingly, as if to say: We know our job, pal.

If theres any way I can help...
said Challis.

You cant, said Nixon flatly.

My sister didnt do it, Challis
said. Nor did my father.

They gave their empty smiles and
said nothing. They all returned to the sitting room, where Wurfel sat awkwardly
on a stiff-backed chair and Meg and her father shared a sofa, holding hands.
Meg looked washed out. The old man looked mulish. Dad, she said warningly.

He shook her off. So its not
suicide.

Doesnt look like it, Stormare
said indifferently.

The old man smarted at his tone. Gavin
made enemies. He wasnt himself at the end.

Is that so?

He rubbed several farmers up the
wrong way. He came down hard on anyone who wasnt treating his sheep or horses
or dogs right.

Mrs Hurst, do you own a gun?

Megs hand flew to her heart. No.
Of course not.

Surely your husband owned one, to
shoot dangerous animals, put sick and injured ones out of their misery.

She frowned. Now that you mention
it, he did. A little .22 rifle.

It was found in his car, muttered
the old man.

It was? said Meg. What happened
to it?

I handed it in to be destroyed.

You didnt tell me that.

Challis was watching Nixon and
Stormare, who were in turn watching the exchange. His sister and his father
were asking some of the questions they wanted to ask and getting the answers
they wanted to hear. Stormare turned to Wurfel. Dig up the paperwork.

Sure.

Do you have a bullet, asked
Challis, or fragments?

Stormare ignored him. Are there any
other firearms in the family?

No, snarled the old man, but this
is a farming area. Rifles and shotguns all over the place.

Well be sure to look into it,
Nixon said, giving a smart clap of his hands as if to say, Time you went home
now.

You treat my daughter with the
respect she deserves. All these years she thought he was alive.

Dad, said Meg.

Find the person who sent her those
letters and youll find your killer.

The Adelaide detectives went very
still. Challis watched their minds working even as they gave nothing away.

Letters? said Nixon.

Wurfel coughed. I was going to tell
you. Its in the Misper file.

Dad, said Meg, how did you know?
Did Mum tell you?

He gestured impatiently. Doesnt
matter. Tell them.

Meg turned to Nixon and Stormare. I
thought it was Gavin, mocking me, trying to hurt me. Magazine subscriptions,
memberships, credit card applications. I thought it was Gavin. She swallowed. Even
a subscription to
Playboy.
That was the hardest to take. We hadnt
exactly been intimate for some time.

The old man rocked a little and
closed his eyes.

Did you keep any of them? said
Stormare.

No.

Both detectives turned to Challis
with the kinds of clever, assessing smiles that hed given over the years. I
dont suppose you saw any of this mail?

No. But look at her. Look at the
hurt.

They sighed. Perhaps you could come
to the station and make a statement, Mrs Hurst. Tomorrow morning, nine sharp.

Meg glanced anxiously at Challis. Can
my brother come with me?

No.

* * * *

Challiss
father made some phone calls when the police had left. A lawyer friend from a
nearby town agreed to accompany Meg the next morning. The familys dentist
confirmed that hed been asked for Gavins dental X-rays. The effort exhausted
the old man, and soon he was slumped in his chair, apparently asleep. By now it
was 10 pm.

Meg glanced at Challis, the tension
tight in her face. First Dad to contend with, now this.

Youve got nothing to worry about.

I didnt kill him.

I know you didnt. I mean, why
would you?

It was a rhetorical question, but
Meg looked away and Challis felt his heart thump. Meg?

He was going to divorce me.

And?

He was going to rewrite his will,
leaving everything to the RSPCA and sell this house.

Challis knew that people had murdered
for less compelling reasons. Sounds weak to me, sis.

But theyll investigate and think
thats why I killed him. I mean, not that I
did
kill him.

Challis placed his arm around her. Come
and sit down and tell me about it.

They talked for an hour, murmurs
punctuated by their fathers snores and heart-stopping silences when he didnt
seem to breathe at all. As Meg told it, Gavin had been subject to violent mood
swings for almost two years. Sometimes he was manically happy, but was more
often depressed and angry. The mistreatment of animals distressed him deeply,
he accused Meg of being unfaithful to him, he became protective and narrow as
Eves body matured after puberty, and he often threatened suicide. Threatening
to divorce me, sell the house and cut us out of the will was typical of what he
was like at the time he disappeared. I mean, was killed.

So you had no reason to suspect
anything else?

Naturally I thought he must have
committed suicide, especially when they found his car abandoned out east, but
then I started to get that weird mail and thought hed staged his disappearance
and wanted to taunt me. Hed run away because he couldnt cope, but still
wanted me to suffer.

Tell the police that.

I will

When was the last bit of strange
mail?

Two, three years ago. I hired a
private detective. He didnt get anywhere.

Why didnt you ask me for help?

Youre so far away, and so busy.

Challis felt mortified. He tried to
swallow it. Tell the police that, too. Show them receipts.

Okay. But who sent me the mail? Why
would they do that?

Challis shrugged. The killer, I
suppose, trying to throw everyone off track.

Paying attention to his doubts and
suspicions, even uncomfortable ones, had always been Challiss main tool in detective
work. He couldnt ignore the possibility that Meg, or the old man, or both of
them acting in concert, had shot Gavin. The mysterious mail had been a useful
bit of misdirection. The rifle that had been handed in for official destruction
had been the murder weapon. The desire to find out what had happened to Gavin
was fierce in him now.

Fancy Dad knowing, Meg said. Mum
must have told him before she died. She laughed, brief and rancorous. Not
that it changed anything. Dads always been good at holding conflicting beliefs
simultaneously. Or his minds going.

Challis patted her back, rocked her
against him briefly. Where were you the day he disappeared, assuming he died
the same day?

Here.

Can anyone vouch for that?

God, I dont know, it was so long
ago.

He held her hand. They were not a
demonstrative family, but holding her hand felt right to both of them. Meg, I
saw the file they have on Gavin at the local station.

Something closed down in her face. Did
you?

Gavin used to hit you.

She looked at him steadily. Only a
couple of times. At the end. But I didnt kill him.

He nodded. Did he hit Eve?

If Gavin had hit Eve I would have
left him, no mistake.

Anyone else? Dad, for instance?

The whole world would have known about
it if hed hit Dad. As for anyone else, I cant say.

But he offended lots of people.

God, yes, even before he started
going off the rails he was always taking people to court. Paddy Finucane, for
exampleGavin brought several prosecutions for cruelty to animals against him.

They gazed at each other. Challis
told her to tell that to the police, too.

She sighed raggedly. I have to tell
Eve. I want her here with me.

Shall I stay?

Meg looked at him sadly. Thanks,
but youd better take Dad home.

Ill see you tomorrow, he told
her, and together they helped their father into the car.

Later he called Ellen Destry. Only
me.

Twice in one evening, she said,
sounding pleased. He told her about the body.

Oh, Hal, Im so sorry.

A couple of homicide guys from
Adelaide are sniffing around.

Ellen was silent. She knew whom theyd
be sniffing around. Hal, she said warningly, youre not going to...

Of course not. Not my jurisdiction.

Yeah, right, as Larrayne would say.

But I was missing a good murder,
Challis said.

Come tomorrow morning, he intended
to go in hard, tracing Gavin Hursts last days and sworn enemies.

* * * *

34

Friday
was the morning for the District Nurse and the shire councils Home Helper, and
that gave Challis three hours to himself. First he drove across town to wish
Meg luck with the police interview. There was a Channel 7 news van parked in
the street outside the house, and a couple of newspaper reporters leaning
against Megs fence, smoking, exchanging war stories. Theyd come three hundred
kilometres north for this story; it involved murder, grisly remains,
concealment and buried secrets. Challis, who had perfected reporter brush-off
techniques over the years, passed through as if he didnt see them.

Eve answered the door, her face
tight and unhappy. He hadnt seen her since Wednesday, and made sure that the
door was firmly shut before he hugged her.

They keep knocking and ringing. I
hate it. Theyre ghouls.

Theyll go away eventually.

Dr Minchin was here earlier. Eve
looked at Challis as though recalling a bad taste. He took a mouth swab, can
you believe it?

Challis hugged her again. DNA,
sweetheart, to help them identify the body.

I felt like a criminal.

Theres nothing to be ashamed of.

She heaved a sigh. Todays going to
drag on forever.

It occurred to Challis that Eve
would be alone here while Meg was questioned. Want to come around with me this
morning?

Where?

He gazed at her steadily. Out east.

She twigged at once. Where Dads
car was found?

Yes.

She didnt ask why. It was as if she
knew. He found Meg in the kitchen and said goodbye and good luck.

Thanks.