Switchback Stories (7 page)

In the 1850’s, Ballarat had been the centre of one of the many gold rushes that occurred in Australia.

‘You want us to go there?’

‘No, not at all. Just go for an easy walk out there. But there’ll be a record of Ruth hiring the 4WD and stating your intended destination for the day as being in that national park region. After her death, the police will enquire about her movements in the 24 hours before she died. Simply tell them you took time out on your business trip to go hiking, that it was Ruth’s idea, and that she wanted to take a look over that old goldmine, that she was into that sort of thing. She’s got books on those old towns on her bookshelf here. The cops’ll find those. There’s nothing suspicious about the story you’ll tell them.’

‘What’s any of that got to do with-’

‘Hear me out. In recent years, the health authorities have reported that when those towns were abandoned years ago, when they’d been stripped of all gold, the mine operators left behind huge deposits of ore and iron and various manufacturing compounds, including arsenic. It’s in the ground, the water, the leaves, the buildings.’

‘Go on.’

‘The police will look for links between the arsenic in Ruth’s system and her activities during her last days. They’ll find out about the arsenic deposits in those old mining towns. They’ll ask you if you and Ruth were overly exposed to dirt or dust out there. Say no. They’ll ask you if you drank any water out there. Tell them Ruth got overly dehydrated and drank from the freshwater creek.’

‘And they’ll determine Ruth got arsenic poisoning from that.’

‘Yes.’

‘Will they find arsenic deposits in the water out there?’

‘Sure will. There are already records of that in the National Park archives.’

‘Enough arsenic to kill her?’

‘That will be inconclusive, but it’s the only link they’ll find, and the obvious finding is that Ruth’s reaction to the arsenic was enough to send her system into shock.’

‘When did you work all this out?’

‘The final part fell in to place when Ruth reminded me you guys were flying interstate to check out property in the countryside.’

‘You saw it was Ballarat, and you knew about that old mine. It all coincides with us coming back while you’re renovating and moving into the new house.’

‘There’ll never be another opportunity like it,’ I said.

Alicia leaned in and placed her arms around my shoulders. She looked into my eyes with an expression of amazement.

The plan was so meticulous and the timing so precise that I almost felt a sense of dark, dirty pride.

• • •

The day prior to Ruth and Alicia’s return from the coast, I wallpapered the bedroom of the new home. Then I applied the paper remover with slow, measured sweeps of the brush. Sections of the wallpaper began to shift and peel soon after.

My heartbeat quickened as I realized the lethal chemical reaction was beginning.

I’d made sure Ruth had her own key before she left. To be doubly sure she’d have no trouble getting in, I left the front door unlocked. I placed a large note inside the front door to say I was working overnight at the workshop on an urgent job.

I left the house and was about to unlock the car when a familiar looking vehicle pulled into the driveway. Alan Dennison stepped from his car and waved. He was a short, wiry, dark-haired Englishman, an architect who was new to the country and proving to be a valuable client.

‘Alan. What are you doing here?’

He came forward, shaking my hand vigorously. I noticed there was a rolled up sheet of paper under his arm. ‘Sorry to disturb you at home like this, squire,’ he said, ‘but I pass this way on my way home and Ruth told me you were moving in. I stopped off to have a look at the new house and to give you these.’ He thrust the rolled up paper into my hands. ‘The initial plans for the new townhouses I told you about. I’d like your views, old son.’

My pulse felt as though it had found its way into my mouth, and my temples pounded with sudden alarm. ‘Sorry, Alan, but I can’t stop right now. I’m late for an appointment in town.’

‘At this hour of the day?’

‘Difficult client. You know the sort.’

Alan eyed me closely. ‘You feeling all right, Ron? You look rather pale.’

‘I’m fine. It’s just that I’m running so damn late for this meeting. I hate to be rude but I’ll have to rush off.’

Alan waved again and headed back to his car. ‘Don’t worry about that. I understand. Where would we be without difficult clients, eh?’

‘Out of business,’ I called after him.

‘And a lot less stressed.’ He laughed at his own joke as he reached his car.

I watched as he drove away. The lump in my throat felt as though it were the size of a bowling ball. I needed a drink but I dared not linger any longer.

Instead, I began the long drive into the city.

• • •

I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep. Bleary-eyed, I arrived at the workshop and tried to concentrate on some new designs, sipping endless cups of coffee.

This was it then, the act of murder. So final. So complete.

So devastatingly effective.

What kind of man had I become, I thought. What path had led me to this?

I pondered the imponderables. I thought of Alicia. So calm and cool on the exterior. Her features were soft and delicate, disguising the strong resolve of her professional side. And that smile. Bewitching. She’d been shocked at first by my plan, but in time had come to accept it.

Was it my love for her that made murder seem such a reasonable method for removing Ruth?

I broke out in a cold sweat. Perhaps I should stop this whole messy business now. Put the madness aside. There was plenty of time to drive back to the house and prevent Ruth from sleeping in that bedroom.

The minutes ticked by slowly. I made no attempt to move. My mind kept turning to the prospect of life without Ruth.

A new life. Freedom.

And, of course, Alicia.

I knew then that there was no turning back.

Towards dawn I fell asleep and it wasn’t until midday that I was awoken by the sound of the phone. I reached groggily for the receiver. The sound of Ruth’s voice jolted me to my senses. ‘Hello, Ronnie. Saw your note last night when we got back.’

I cleared my throat and forced my words out. ‘Hello, Ruth. How are you feeling?’

‘Oh I’m fine now that I’ve had a good night’s sleep. But what a night! Poor Alicia came down with a dreadful virus on the trip home yesterday. She was in a terrible state. I brought her home with me and the local doctor came round and gave her something that put her to sleep. Went out like a light, she did.’

‘How is she?’

‘I’m sure she’ll be feeling a little better this morning. I suspect it’s one of those vicious 24 hour things. The doctor and I put her to bed in our room, which of course, is the only bed in the house and left me high and dry with nowhere to sleep. I was exhausted. Luckily enough our tenants up the road had a spare bed and I was able to spend the night there. But of course, I slept in.’

‘You’re at the rental property!’ My legs gave way and I dropped to the floor on my knees. The receiver remained wedged between my palm and my ear as though cemented there by shock.

Ruth’s voice droned on. ‘That’s right. I’m just heading back to our place now to check on Alicia. Oh and by the way, Ronnie, I absolutely love the new wallpaper. But for some reason, it’s peeling off the wall something terrible.’

• • •

The phone crashed to the floor and I left it there. I rose unsteadily to my feet and stumbled forward, knocking one of the chairs sideways across the room. The pit of my stomach was being torn, somewhere between anger and frustration and a deep, gnawing grief.

Alicia. Good God no…

I was startled by the sound of the doorbell. Who one earth…?

I was in no state to see anyone. I sat down, tried to ignore the ringing. It didn’t stop and then I heard a voice. ‘Mr. Pelman?’

I opened the door to two police officers. The larger and burlier of the two flashed his identification. ‘Senior Sergeant Astin,’ he said. ‘Mr. Ronald Pelman?’

It took me a moment to find my voice. ‘Yes?’

‘You’re to accompany us to the station,’ he informed me. ‘You’re being placed under arrest for the attempted murder of your wife.’ His words had the effect of a physical blow. My eyes watered and I felt like reeling back. ‘You have the right to remain silent…’

I went with them and kept silent. Alicia was dead and the gas would have dispersed so they couldn’t possibly have anything on me.

Nausea swept over me in waves and I had to suck in deep lungfuls of air to fight it.

At the North Sydney Police station they played me the audio tapes.

My voice.

And Alicia’s.

All the private conversations we’d had over the past month, except for any in which Alicia might have incriminated herself. She’d been smart enough not to tape those.

‘Alicia Morrison came to us about your plan,’ Astin revealed. ‘She’d become close friends with your wife and she wanted to help. She agreed to wear a wire and now your own words will give the prosecution all the evidence it needs.’

I couldn’t think of a single, solitary thing to say in my defence. I was led from the interview room to the charge room and I saw both Ruth – and Alicia, in one of the adjoining rooms.

I realized Ruth’s phone call had been a lie. She knew the police were coming for me, and she’d called in advance to tease me, lead me to think Alicia had been subjected to the arsine.

I stopped, stared through the window of the room. I caught just a glimpse of the two women holding hands underneath the table. Alicia’s right forefinger was gently stroking the top of Ruth’s hand.

My stare was returned by both Ruth and Alicia. Ruth’s face broke into a vicious smirk, but Alicia betrayed no emotion at all. She averted her gaze, cool, calm, controlled, and continued giving her damning statement.

I
t has the majesty of the sun, Grant thought, as he watched the dazzling effect of the light engulfing the gemstone.

‘The light-reflecting qualities of the Van Thuren diamond are unique,’ the tour guide addressed the startled group of which Grant and Lyn were a part.

‘It is one of the rarest finds to come out of the South African mines. When normal light touches the facets of the diamond, the shine is reflected into a thousand tiny pinpricks of brightness. This has been brought about partly by the exceptional clarity and partly by a revolutionary new technique in the cutting. Under strong, direct light like this, the glare is magnified a hundredfold. A dazzling, aurora-like display. The resulting effect on the naked eye can be blinding.’

That was the reason for the specially tinted sunglasses. They’d been handed out to the group at the beginning of the museum tour. The diamond, as large as a man’s clenched fist, was perched on a dais directly beneath intense beams of artificial light, so that tourists could experience the spectacle with their eyes protected

The combination of the cut together with the gemstone’s properties meant that the light vibrated horizontally off the surface, similar to the effect of polarized glare – when sunlight bounced off water or ice or snow.

‘Just as in cases of snow blindness,’ the guide elaborated, ‘or the less common instance of sunburn to a person’s eyeballs – causing temporary damage to the retina and the lens of the eye – the result is a temporary blindness that can last up to 24 hours.’

‘Is the eye damage permanent?’ someone asked.

‘Not usually but best not to test it,’ the guide responded, ‘I’d keep those glasses on.’

Everyone laughed.

‘That is one incredible diamond. But why are you so obsessed with it?’ Lyn asked later. They were driving back to the London hotel in the rented Alfa Romeo.

Grant shrugged. ‘I was in Johannesburg a year ago when the diamond was first put on display. You must admit it’s stunning. Ever since, I’ve had this dream of placing the diamond at the foot of my bed so that it’s the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning.’

Lyn’s eyes sparkled. ‘That would be magnificent,’ she agreed.

Grant continued. ‘I’ve made a point of being in a city when the Van Thuren diamond is on show. And I’ve studied all the security arrangements made by the organizers. I know them like the back of my hand.’

‘You plan to steal the diamond?’

‘It would be the ultimate heist, Lyn. Think about it. To own it for a week or two. Then sell it to the highest bidder on the black market.’

Lyn whistled. It’s the stuff dreams are made of, she thought.

In the hotel room, Grant unveiled his master plan. ‘The room that houses the diamond is always guarded by an infra-red beam. If anyone passes through the beam, it activates an alarm. The beam reacts to the average human body temperature. Nothing lower. That way it doesn’t go off every time an insect flies by.’

‘So what are you going to do? Send in a human fly?’

‘The next best thing.’ Grant went into the bathroom and emerged with a vial of whitish gel. He rubbed some of it onto his arm. ‘I made this stuff myself. Icegel. Incredibly cold. It’s a variation on the gels developed by stuntmen for use in fire stunts. Their gels burn on the outside but protect the skin underneath. And the gels are very cold, allowing no heat in, so that the body can withstand the heat of the flames.’

‘That’s how they walk through fire without the use of an asbestos suit?’

‘Precisely. I’ve used the same chemical properties to develop my little gel here. I’ve made it even colder. It will lower my body temperature enough to fool those heat sensors at the museum.’

‘Isn’t it dangerous to lower your body temperature like that?’

‘Sure. But not for just an hour or so. Your job will be to run me a hot shower when we get back here.’

‘Not here,’ Lyn corrected him. ‘I’m booking a room at those exclusive new studio apartments by the harbour. Once we have that diamond, we’ll need to reside in real style.’

‘You’re learning,’ Grant said.

‘I’ve had a good teacher.’

He’d met Lyn Sorenson, a tawny, petite brunette, in Sydney a couple of months earlier. She hadn’t been fazed at all when she’d learnt that Grant Matters was a high-class cat burglar of no fixed address. She’d joined him on his travels.