Novels 02 Red Dust (21 page)

'It was in a little cavity up above the smoko room.'

Gemma reached forward and pulled the lid off the box.

Taking out the contents, she handed a stack of envelopes to Jess. 'These look like bank statements. You'll know what you're looking for.'

Jess took them and opened the flaps. Gemma looked at what was left. The letterhead of Ned and Bert's stock firm topped a list of sale summaries for the cattle that went to the feedlot. That was one question answered. She kept looking. There were letters that Gemma had written to Adam while she'd been on holidays with Jess, postcards from Alice Springs and Darwin. There was a letter from Adam's dad saying how proud he was of his son for finishing year twelve. At the bottom of the box was an envelope with her name written on it. The sight of the familiar scrawl caused Gemma's stomach to contract. Taking a deep breath she opened the envelope and took out a sheet of paper. Another, smaller envelope fell out marked POLICE ONLY. Underneath, in smaller letters was written,
Gemma do not read.

Gemma put it on the table.

'What about I get some coffee? Reckon we could all do with some.'

'Good idea, Pat,' Jess said quietly, still looking at the bank statements.

Gemma unfolded the piece of paper she was clutching and started to read:

Dear Gemma,

The first thing I need to say is that I'm sorry and
I love you very much. You are the best thing in
my life and what I'm about to tell you will hurt
you. I'm so very sorry.

Three years ago I was having trouble making
the repayments to Mum and Dad. You know as
well as I do how tight things were back then – no
rain, no feed, the wool quality was crap and so
were the prices. There were times I didn't think
we would be able to make it through the year, let
alone keep farming the next one.

I felt so trapped, Gem. Everywhere I went people
wanted a piece of me. The bank, Mum and Dad, the
Best Farmers group I started. Everyone. Even you,
Gem. I felt as if I was losing control of everything.

I met a bloke at Dawns Rest one night and
he offered me a way out: stock stealing. I'm
assuming you have gone looking for this box
because of something that has happened or
is happening, so you must know a little bit
about it.

Billbinya has been used as a holding paddock
for the stolen stock.

All the details are in the enclosed envelope
for the police. I have told them how it worked,
the people who are involved and that you didn't
know anything about it. This is your insurance.
Gem, I never meant for this to go on for as long
as it has. I want to get out, but I don't know how.
The people who are involved are nasty pieces of
work. They will stop at nothing to keep this ring
going. You need to be careful.

Once all of this is sorted out, please, Gem, sell
Billbinya. It's too hard for you to try and make
a living from the way we are farming. Take the
money and run. At least you will be set up and
not want for money again.

I do love you, Gemma. I'm sorry for all the
hurt I have caused you. I'm sure you will be okay
though. You always were stronger than me.

Love,

Adam

Tears ran down Gemma's face as she reread the letter then handed it to Jess and Patrick to read.

'What do we do now?' asked Pat as Jess folded the letter carefully and put it back in the envelope. Gemma held the envelope for the police. Her fingers itched to open it, but she knew she couldn't.

'We call Dave and Craig and ask them to come out tomorrow. We give them the phone, the bank statements and the letters, tell them about the forged contract signatures and let them handle the rest. I haven't got the energy for anything more,' Gemma said.

Jess nodded in agreement. 'Yeah, I reckon that's the best way to go too. There's more than enough evidence to clear Gemma. Good old Adam, fancy thinking to leave a letter absolving Gem. He wasn't such a complete bastard after all.'

'Jess . . .' Gemma said tiredly.

'Sorry, lovely!'

'Oh, I'm so tired. I've got to get to bed or I'll be useless for shearing tomorrow.' Gemma rose and stretched.

'You'll be useless anyway. You can't do anything with that arm,' Jess reminded her.

'No, but I can drive a ute and Jack isn't here, remember, so someone will have to get the sheep in and out. What's the time? Is it too late to ring Dave?'

Jess looked at her watch. 'Yeah, I think it might be, but we'll call him first thing in the morning. Give me all this stuff. I'm going to sleep with it under my pillow.'

'Don't dribble on it and smudge the writing!' Pat said as he left the room.

'You're lucky there isn't a coffee cup following you,' Jess called to his back. Turning to Gemma she gave her a hug. 'How do you feel?'

'You know, I'm shocked, stuffed, sore and my eyes feel like I've been crying forever, but I feel like a big weight has been lifted off my shoulders. What about you? What about Brad?'

'Oh I dunno, Gem. Men . . .' She shrugged. 'Who can possibly understand them?'

Chapter 28

Monday morning dawned cloudy and cool in Port Pirie. Craig was standing outside the police station eating an egg and bacon sandwich and waiting for Dave. He felt quite jumpy and wanted to get on with the day. He and Dave were going back to Billbinya that morning. They needed to question Gemma about the cattle that had been found on her station.

Craig felt awful about questioning her again after everything she'd been through, but the stock squad's work didn't just involve animals; they had to deal with anything outside of the law when they came across it, and he hated the assaults, the beaten women and rapes.

Dave came out of the station with his notes and files and they set off.

* * *

Within a couple of hours, Dave and Craig were sitting at the kitchen table of the Billbinya homestead facing Gemma and Jess. The stock squad officers had been surprised by the warm wel come – and Gemma's claim that she had been about to call them.

'When was the last time you were out in the northern paddock, Gemma?' Dave asked casually.

'Oh, I don't know.' Surprised, Gemma stopped to think. 'Jack had been covering that part of the place since he arrived. Probably two weeks, I guess. There's sheep out there so between Jack and Bulla they would have been watching them pretty closely.'

'Haven't had any problems reported to you then?'

'No, everything seems to be going pretty well.'

'Do you or any of your neighbours own any Hereford cattle?'

'I don't,' Gemma said. 'And my neighbours don't either. Not boundary-fence neighbours anyway. Why?'

'Well, we found quite a few Hereford cattle in your northern paddock while we were out looking around. Are you saying they aren't yours?' Dave asked quietly, while Craig looked at the table, avoiding Jess's eyes.

'No, they aren't mine,' Gemma said calmly.

'Well, we are going to have to ask you to come back to the Port Pirie police station and make a statement to that effect. This matter has become quite serious. There was nearly a hundred grand worth of cattle on your property that wasn't yours.'

'Did you find anything else that shouldn't have been on Billbinya?' Gemma asked.

'We did find a stock-stealing kit – panels, a couple of dogs and some wire – that we believe belongs to Jack Marshall.'

Gemma's mouth fell open. 'Really?'

'Yes. We have photographic evidence that they were his. That doesn't clear you, Gemma. You own Billbinya and therefore you're responsible for what is found on your station.'

Gemma nodded. 'Absolutely. I don't have a problem with that. However, I have come across some information that I believe you will find quite interesting. Can you get it, Jess?' Gemma asked and turned back to the men.

'On Saturday after I came home from hospital . . .'

Dave interrupted. 'Gemma, would you have any problem with me taping this conversation? Bear in mind this tape will be used in our evidence file. You won't be able to retract anything you say.'

'No worries, Dave,' Gemma said confidently.

'Okay, what did you want to tell me?' Dave asked when he hit the record button.

'What I know about this stock-stealing ring.'

Dave raised his eyebrows. 'Do I need to caution you?'

'No. I'll happily tell you everything I know. Okay, it started when the wethers were taken out of the yards . . .'

'Hang on, for the benefit of the tape we are in Billbinya Station's kitchen. Present are Dave Burrows, Craig Buchanan, Gemma Sinclair and . . .' Dave looked inquiringly at Jess, who had returned to the room carrying a large paper bag.

'Jess Rawlings,' Craig supplied.

'Jess Rawlings. Time is 11.27 am and we are taking Gemma Sinclair's statement.' He indicated for Gemma to begin.

Gemma started with how Bulla had found the stolen wethers on Billbinya. She told about Patrick finding the mobile phone and reading the text messages and handed over the diary for back-up evidence. Then she explained about how she asked Jess to go through the books and they had found that payments to Adam's parents had been made, but not from the Billbinya operating account, and the payments for the feedlot cattle had gone into the operating account. It was through Jess's phone call to Rodney Woods that they had found that Adam was making the payments from another bank account Gemma hadn't known about. They surmised that this is where the proceeds had been credited to.

Gemma stopped and got herself a glass of water.

'Then on Saturday, when we arrived home, Ben was here with the feedlot contracts for the last three years and the one for this year. The last two years have been signed by a G.R. Sinclair, but the signature isn't mine. It's been forged.' Once again she handed over the evidence. She then told of how she, Jess and Patrick had decided to search for the bank statements from this new account and how Patrick had found them.

'We'll need to see where,' Dave interrupted her.

'No worries. While Pat was searching Jess and I looked up Jack Marshall on Google and we came up with this article.' Gemma nodded to Jess who produced the printout. 'Jack was working here and Brad has been going out with Jess for the last eight months – to get information about me, it seems. Possibly to find out how much I knew, if anything, about the stock stealing. I'd assume that's why Jack ended up applying for the job. He must have seen it advertised and thought it was a good way to find out if I knew anything. Then we opened the box.' Gemma stopped. This was the hard bit. This was where her husband turned into the person she didn't know. Swallowing hard, she continued. 'The box was a bit of a keepsake thing of Adam's. It was made for him by one of his good mates who committed suicide some time ago and in it were the bank statements we were looking for. Also there was a letter to me admitting his guilt, and an envelope addressed to the police.' Jess put the paper bag on the table and pushed it towards Craig. 'Everything that we know is in there. I can't tell you anything more.'

Dave scanned the newspaper article while Craig looked at the text messages on the mobile phone. The tape player clicked off and they all jumped, having forgotten it was on. Dave checked his watch. 'Interview suspended at 13.02,' he said absently.

'Can you open the letter while you're here?' Gemma asked hopefully. 'I want to know how it all happened.'

'We need to follow a few procedures first, like finger printing it, making sure it isn't a fake. I'd also like to take Adam's diaries for the past two years. You've only given me last year's.'

'I'll get them.' Gemma got up and went to the office. She returned holding two leather-bound diaries with Adam's initials embossed on the covers in gold. Handing them to Dave she said, 'This does clear me, doesn't it?'

'I won't be able to say for sure until I look through all of this info and analyse it. Can I get Craig to fingerprint you, Jess and Patrick so we can eliminate your fingerprints on all of this?'

'Sure, although Patrick isn't here – he went back to Hayelle this morning.'

'If you give us directions, we'll call in on the way back.'

Craig went out to the car to fetch the fingerprinting kit. He fingerprinted both Gemma and Jess, gently holding their fingers and rolling them on the evidence cards. Jess looked around to see if Dave was watching, hooked her blackened finger around Craig's top button and pulled him towards her. She whispered, 'How's about that drink soon, Detective?' and released him before Dave turned around. Craig flushed and nodded ever so slightly.

Dave and Craig climbed back into their fourwheel drive and headed to Hayelle. Gemma rang and left a message for Patrick to let him know they were coming and why.

Gemma watched the dust settle in the drive after the vehicle had left. Jess came and stood by her.

'Reckon it's sorted?' Gemma asked.

'Guess we won't really know until the last arrest has been made, but I think so. Changing the subject completely, that Craig is a bit of a hottie, hey?'

Gemma rolled her eyes.

Brad lay on his bed with his wife, the woman he loved. They had met unexpectedly and Brad had been immediately struck by her – especially once he had discovered that they shared certain goals, and a determination to stop at nothing to achieve them. It didn't matter to either of them that the other was unfaithful at times. If it had to happen, it was all in aid of making more money, making sure that the people who were helping them had more to lose than they themselves did.

It had been his idea to start the stock-stealing ring and she'd agreed it was a brilliant plan. They had been involved in this business for many years now and, although they preferred to steal stock from the far northern reaches of Australia, where the owners never knew exactly how many cattle they ran, and there were parts of those stations no one went to for months, that option had gone out of the window when Brad and Jack had aroused the interest of the Queensland stock squad about six years ago.

The downside of these full-scale operations, Brad reflected, was that he and his beloved didn't get to spend much time together. They had decided it was too risky.

But now they were together, discussing the big operation they had coming up – by far the most daring they had tried to pull off. His woman had a history with Gemma Sinclair, and she wanted Gemma hurt – and, with any luck, behind bars.

'Are you sure she doesn't suspect anything?' his wife asked. 'You haven't got a line in there now that Jack has stuffed up and you're not seeing Jess anymore.'

'I'm sure the stock squad would have found those cattle while they were looking around and I'm pretty sure that they would be talking to her very seriously if not arresting her. She hasn't got a leg to stand on, you know.' Brad stopped to enjoy the beautiful smile spreading across his woman's face.

'How wonderful,' she murmured. 'Jail is the only place she deserves to be after everything she did. It was all her fault, you know.'

'I know, darling, I know.' Brad put his arm around her and kissed her soundly. 'This last job will be perfect. Who would imagine that Gemma Sinclair, Miss Perfect, would steal from her own parents? Especially when her father is so desperately sick and unable to do anything about it.' They laughed together.

* * *

Dave was on the phone to his superior in Perth as they drove back towards Pirie.

'Yeah, I understand that, but we need some more uniforms on the ground, okay? We need twenty-fourhour surveillance on two persons of interest. Jack Marshall is still on the run. We haven't managed to track him down yet.' Dave listened then said, 'Thanks mate.' He hung up. 'Beauty, we've got the extra manpower.'

'Want me to do the background on these other two and follow up some of the other facts from Adam's letter to us?' Craig asked. Dave glanced across at him, his eyes taking in the fingerprint ink on his shirt.

'Yeah, we'll do that first. Let's not go half-cocked. Slip with the ink, did ya mate?' Dave nodded towards the stain. Craig's face flamed and Dave laughed. 'Wish ya would learn to play poker better when it comes to personal things, mate!'

'Let's concentrate on the job at hand, shall we?' Craig asked primly. He hadn't had a chance to think about Jess and how he was going to handle the situation. All he knew was he wanted to get to know Jess better.

They pulled into the station. With his partner's assent, Craig headed to the computer and phone while Dave headed to Geoff Hay's office to give him an update.

Some time later, as Dave was walking back into Craig's office, he heard Craig on the phone.

'Yep. I understand. Sure we can get a warrant for the infor mation.' Pause. 'I'll see you on Wednesday. Thanks for your help.'

'Got anything?' Dave asked.

'Yeah, reckon I have. It appears that Brad Manstead attended a psychiatrist's office in Adelaide. He saw Dr Tom Dyason for three years from 1995 to 1998. Dyason won't give me any info until I get a warrant. This may be where he met the other person of interest. I'll go see the judge for a warrant today and I've organised to see Dr Dyason on Wednesday. I also checked out BJN Abattoir; the shares were left to Brad by his father. Jack is his half-brother – different mothers. That clarifies the piece of info that was in the letter. What's interesting, though, is that BJN has a silent partner, so I want to know who that is. I have a feeling it will confirm the other piece of info in Adam's letter. Just need to get onto the company records department . . .'

Dave clapped his shoulder. 'Good work. Right, get that warrant application drawn up and we'll go and interview this other POI. I've been on the phone and he's getting ready to leave the state on an extended holiday.'

'Is that right? When does he leave?'

'Wednesday apparently, so we've got two days – well, a day and a half – to break him.'

Dave and Craig walked up the pathway of a nicelooking house. The garden was well tended and it looked like the house had been freshly painted. Knocking on the door, the two men looked around, hoping to see something that indicated this man had more money than his wages accounted for.

A well-dressed mature lady opened the door with a smile. 'Hello? Can I help you?'

'G'day.' Dave held up his ID. 'I'm Detective Dave Burrows from the stock squad and this is Detective Craig Buchanan.' As he was talking Ned Jones appeared at his wife's shoulder.

'G'day, fellas. Still investigating I see.' Turning to his wife he said, 'I'll fix this up, love. It's got to do with the stock stealing that's been happening out Gemma's way.'

Rosemary smiled and excused herself. 'I've got heaps of packing to do,' she said. 'We're going to the Northern Territory for a big break. We've never had a long holiday, have we, Ned? I've never been able to get him off the phone – too busy with the stock business! Well, I'll see you later.' She disappeared into the house.

'Can we have a chat about some of this business then, Ned?'

'Yep.' He stood there with his hands in his pockets, rocking on his heels. Defiant.

'Want to do it here or down at the station?' Dave asked, just as bold.

Ned stopped rocking and sighed. 'Okay, let's go. I'll just tell Rose.'