A Time to Run (20 page)

‘No, I don't even know her. Why do you even think that I know her?'

Janine could see Black was fishing, trying to work out how much the police had, and what lies he needed to tell.

‘She got into your car outside the bar.'

A look crossed the barman's face, and Janine watched it intently.

‘Someone saw her getting into my car? Are you sure it was her? You'll have to come up with more than that,' Black said with a self-satisfied look.

‘Samantha was in your car. I'm just giving you a chance to explain why.'

Black paused, as if he was weighing up his options.

‘Oh, I know who you're talking about now,' he said, feigning surprise. ‘I helped a chick out. I'd served her in the pub and then I saw her out the front as I was leaving. She was waiting for a taxi but there's none around that time of night so I dropped her home. Because I'm a nice guy. I didn't even know her name. Samantha, was it? Blonde girl?'

Janine knew this was as far as they managed to get in the last interview when police had spoken to him about the missing prostitute. It had worked for him that time; of course he was going to try it again.

‘You just told me you were alone when you left the pub,' she said.

‘I just gave the girl a lift up the street. She didn't come home with me. I thought nothing of it. I do it quite often. It's not safe on the streets at that time of the morning. I dropped her at the Forest Lake shops, anything could have happened to her from there.'

‘We tracked her to your house by her phone.'

‘No, you didn't. You're bluffing. You can't track phones unless the person's making a call.'

‘You're wrong. We triangulated her phone until you turned it off at your house.'

The barman paused and stared at the floor for a moment. Janine could almost see the cogs turning as Black tried to answer.

‘She must have accidentally dropped it in the car when she got out,' Black answered, now making deliberate eye contact with Janine.

‘Turned itself off too?' Janine asked.

‘Might have had a flat battery. I can have a look for it when I get out of here,' Black answered.

‘Oh, we're having a look, don't worry about that. What else are we going to find in the ute? The roo blood isn't going to cover everything, is it?'

‘Well, you let me know if you find anything.'

‘Do you want to do this all over again after that?'

‘I've got nothing further to say about someone seeing a girl in my car and some dodgy phone signal.'

Smug prick
, Janine thought as she stared at him. She had shown her hand and it hadn't been enough. Black had given her answers that didn't get her any further. They would have to wait and hope forensics turned up something.

Janine took another punt and changed tack.

‘OK, I won't ask you any more questions about Samantha. But we found some things at your house I want to talk to you about.'

‘What?' Panic flashed across Black's face.

‘Yes, I executed a search warrant at your house yesterday,' Janine said, watching as a red flush crept up the man's neck. She could almost see him taking a mental inventory of what police might find.

‘You can't go through my house without me there,' he said, anger rising with the redness.

‘Of course we can,' Janine said, permitting herself a small smile, to see if that would further unnerve Black. ‘It was completely legit. Everything that was found is admissible in court.'

Black put a hand up to his face and rubbed his forehead. A prickle of sweat was now visible, just at his hairline.

‘So, what did you find?' Black asked. He tried to sound cool again, and still wasn't giving anything away.

‘I found some very interesting items,' Janine said softly, staring unflinchingly at Black.

‘No, you didn't,' Black said, sneering at her. ‘There's nothing to find.'

‘Well, let's start with the ladies' underwear jammed in the bottom drawer of your dresser,' Janine said.

Black stared back. A moment's pause while he collected his thoughts.

‘They belong to old girlfriends. Reminders of good fucks. Cunt souvenirs. Nothing illegal about that.' He said it like he thought he could shock Janine with bad language.

‘Who do they belong to?' Janine asked. At least she had him talking again.

‘Old girlfriends, I said,' Black replied.

‘What were their names?' Janine pressed.

Black shrugged. ‘Can't remember. Who cares? Just bitches.'

‘We care. And we'll be able to match them all up with the DNA profiles,' Janine said.

She was in control again. She watched the path of Black's Adam's apple, up and down, as he swallowed hard.

‘You wouldn't have washed them if they were souvenirs, as you say,' she added.

No answer. The hand back up to the forehead, covering his eyes. It couldn't hide his burning cheeks.

‘Do you sniff them? Is that what you like to do?' Janine asked.

She was acutely aware that everything she said and did was being recorded and would likely be played in a courtroom at some later date. She had to walk the fine line between provoking him and getting the information she so desperately needed.

‘Get fucked!' This time there was no mistaking the hint of aggression behind the flat stare. She was getting to him.

‘Who does the underwear belong to?' Janine asked again.

‘You think you're so fucking smart, then you work it out,' Black said.

‘We will. We've got forensics going over your car with a fine tooth comb, we've got CCTV, we've got your maps, we've got people ringing in with all sorts of information about you. It's just a matter of time. Don't be stubborn just for the sake of it,' Janine said.

‘I've had enough of this. Just put me back in the fucken cell then,' he said, folding his arms across his chest.

They stared at each other for a moment.

Time to switch topics again
, Janine thought.

‘You were a long way away from Captain's Creek. Were you headed for the border?'

Black shot her a startled look when she mentioned Captain's Creek, but it passed so quickly that Janine might have missed it completely if she hadn't been watching so intently.

‘I don't know what you're talking about,' he said, drawing his lip up in a sneer.

‘Were you making a run for the border?' she asked, the words sharp and staccato.

He stared, his eyes crinkling as he screwed up his face, trying to work out how to counter this unexpected attack.

‘We've got a search started at Captain's Creek,' Janine said.

Strictly speaking, that was true. She watched the corner of Black's mouth twitch. She was on the right track. ‘We're going to find her,' she said softly.

‘No, you won't,' Black answered, his words tumbling out in a rush. He snapped his mouth shut, as if he were trying to catch the sentence again.

It was only a small error. But it was one nevertheless.

‘You left her at Captain's Creek.'

Black's eyes darted left and right, unable to meet Janine's.

‘I'm tired of this,' he said quickly. ‘You've got to give me some lunch, since I'm under arrest. I'm hungry and thirsty. I demand to be fed,' Black said.

‘How long since you left Captain's Creek?' Janine asked.

‘I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not answering any more questions. You told me that was my right.'

His twitchy body language did not match his words.

‘Yes, that's correct,' Janine answered.

Janine and Sean exchanged a glance. Although they hardly knew each other and had never worked together, Sean knew it was his turn to play good cop to Janine's bad cop.

‘Mate, this is your opportunity to tell your side of the story,' Sean said, leaning forward a little and attempting to make eye contact with Black.

‘I'm not your mate,' Black said sharply.

‘Sorry, Don. But don't waste your chance,' Sean said, nodding slightly.

‘I don't fucken know anything about it. You're wasting your time,' Black replied.

‘No, you're wasting
your
time. I'm getting paid for this. You do know something about it, we've established that much. So now's your chance to explain it to us. Come on, you don't want to go through all this shit again,' Sean said, coaxingly.

‘I dropped her off on the street. You can't hold me responsible for anything that happened to her after that. Silly bitch probably ended up in an orgy with her slut friend and those men they were with. Why don't you go talk to them?' he asked.

‘So you were watching her at the pub?' Sean said.

‘'Course I watched. People act like that in public, they want to be watched. You're trying to twist everything. I'm done! That's it. I need a piss and something to eat. I know my rights. I'm not saying anything else,' Black said.

‘That's OK. You can stop for a bit of lunch if that's what you want. And then we'll start from the beginning again after you're finished,' Sean said.

Janine knew it was pointless now. Black knew he had said too much. He had tried to play them, and had scored an own goal.

Janine gave it one more try. ‘Is there anything else you wish to say in relation to this matter?'

‘Nup,' Black said, looking at the wall.

‘Has any threat, promise or inducement been held out to you, to get you to take part in the interview?'

Again, the blank stare at a spot on the wall behind Janine's head.

‘No,' he said.

‘Were you told of your right to remain silent at the start of the interview?'

‘Yes. That's what I'm doing now. Being silent. I have nothing further to say.'

Janine left a long enough pause to confirm Black meant it.

‘OK, the time is 2:14 pm. I now terminate this interview,' Janine said.

She hit the stop button and the DVD recorder clicked off. Sean stood up next to her. He turned so he could loom over Black who was still sitting.

‘You do know she's a cop, don't you?' he said softly to Black.

Black's expression was blank, not giving anything away.

‘We're going to nail you to the wall, cunt,' Sean said, his voice harsh and guttural. He stepped forward abruptly and wrenched open the door to the interview room. Two officers came in, handcuffed Black and returned him to the watchhouse.

Janine and Sean stayed in the interview room.

‘So he reckons we won't be able to find her at Captain's Creek,' Janine said. ‘He didn't say she's not there, he just said we wouldn't find her. Is that how you read it too?' she asked.

‘The look on his face when you mentioned Captain's Creek – that said it all to me,' Sean answered. ‘I don't even know where you're talking about, but that was the winning shot.'

‘We've got it narrowed down to two parcels of state forest where we think he might have taken her. I reckon it's Captain's Creek,' Janine explained.

‘Judging by his reaction, I reckon you're right,' Sean answered.

‘He'd been watching Sammi and her friend. He targeted her because he knew she was leaving alone,' Janine said.

‘No doubt in my mind he's a predator,' Sean answered.

‘Did you see how he looked when I said she was seen in his car?' Janine asked.

‘Yep, relief. He thought we had more than her climbing into his car and a ping off a phone tower,' Sean said.

‘It was surprise and then relief, I think. He's pulled out the same excuse he used with the prostitute. Then he shut up because he realised we knew a lot less than he thought we did. That means he's left more evidence behind. We just have to find it,' Janine said.

Sunday 2:20 pm

The senior sergeant from forensics waited for the ute to be brought in. Although mostly in an administrative role now, Bevan Rostrum decided to do this job himself. He had heard the story, knew what he'd find in the back and knew he would probably be up against it to find any DNA. He could do nothing more than his best, which meant being meticulous and exhaustive. If that officer had been in the back of that ute, he'd find something.

He had one of the senior constables on hand with him. They decked themselves out in blue coveralls, with hoods that covered their hair. Gloves, plastic sleeves over their shoes, safety glasses and dust masks. It was imperative that their DNA didn't contaminate the ute, which was considered a crime scene. Their results could be a key factor in charging the suspect.

They worked methodically, mostly in silence. First they removed the canopy from the tray of the ute. Bevan photographed it, looking for scratches and smudges. Every mark was inspected, photographed and noted. He then took a soft brush and a jar of black fingerprint powder. Three swishes against the inside of the canopy and a full set of handprints appeared. The fingers were splayed outwards and pointing in different directions.

‘Well, that was bloody easy,' he said.

He stood up, grabbed a form with a set of fingerprints on it. They were Sammi's, provided by her when she was accepted in to the police. He made a quick visual comparison with the prints in the ute, then moved away from the ute and fished his mobile phone out of his pocket.

‘Hi, Bevan from forensics . . . just to let you know, I can already confirm your missing copper was definitely in the back of that ute. It looks like her hands were bound and she deliberately left prints. I'll get back to you once I'm finished . . . yep, bye.'

Bevan returned his phone to his pocket and kept dusting.

In the end, his report ran for six pages. He had located seven full or partial sets of fingerprints on the inside of the canopy and sides of the tray. Most were both hands, base of the palms together and fingers pointing in opposite directions, indicating the person's hand were bound. Bevan confirmed what everyone had feared – Sammi had been held captive in the rear of the ute.