Challis - 03 - Snapshot (40 page)

Take it easy.

I will not take it easy. Youve
interfered in this case every step of the way. Im sick of it. Back off.

All right, all right, youve made
your point.

Theyd gone well past admitting to a
difference in rank, but theyd also talked out their fury. Their chests
heaving, they stared at each other. They swallowed. Finally McQuarrie nodded
curtly, left, and Challis stood for a while, willing himself to be fully calm
again. Then Ellen was there, comfortingly close. Pissing contest over? she
said, nudging him.

He laughed, and it was a great
release. Lets bring Lowry in again.

* * * *

It
was late, dark and cold in Waterloo. They were ex-Navy, Ray, just like you,
Challis said, his voice clipped, in a little interview room along the corridor
from Kellocks office.

Ellen took that as her cue to remove
photographs from the file in front of her and slide them across the table. Nathan
Gent and Trevor Vyner.

Never heard of them. Never met
them, Lowry said.

At one stage, all three of you were
serving at the Navy base in Townsville.

So? Its a huge base.

On duty, off duty, you had plenty
of opportunities to meet them.

Lowrys legal aid lawyer, who looked
about eighteen, gained sufficient nerve to say, My client has answered your
question, Sergeant Destry.

Ellen ignored him. She tapped the
photos. They murdered Janine McQuarrie. Gent was the driver, Vyner the
shooter. Then Vyner shot Gent, fearing he was a loose cannon, and later still
he shot Tessa Kane. She looked up. You had a beef with both women, Ray.

Lowrys lawyer said, Unless you
have hard evidence that my client knew these men, or conspired with them to
kill anyone, then I suggest you let him go.

Trevor Vyner, Challis said. Ex-Navy,
served two terms for fraud and burglary in New South Wales in 2003.

So?

Some Browning pistols went missing
from the Navy armoury. The armourer was your mate. Did Vyner get those pistols
direct from him or did you broker the deal?

My client doesnt know anything
about missing guns or these murders, the lawyer said. He left the Navy some
time ago and is now a respected businessman.

Challis said nothing but simply
stared at Lowry. They had Vyners print on the car and hed sent a pair of
Vyners walking shoes to the lab, hoping the traces of vegetable matter in the
treads would link Vyner to the shallow grave in Myers Reserve. But proving that
Lowry had hired Vyner was not going to be so easy. There were no e-mails or
phone records to link the three men to each other. Then again, Lowry had a shop
full of mobile phones.

Thats when a uniformed sergeant
entered the little room and motioned Challis to join him in the corridor. Sorry,
Hal, but weve got a woman at the front desk who claims her husband ordered the
McQuarrie and Kane murders.

* * * *

62

Is
he still at the detention centre? Challis asked.

Lottie Mead shook her head. Probably
at home, she said. Charlies generally home by six.

Does he know youre here?

No! And you mustnt tell him, not
until hes locked up!

They were in the victim suite
because the interview rooms were being used and they couldnt question a
potential witness amid the files and wall displays of the incident room.
Challis was leaning against the wall in his habitual pose, Ellen was perched on
the edge of a straightbacked chair, and Lottie Mead sat jittery and scowling at
one end of the rooms ugly sofa.

Ellen reached out and touched the
other womans knee reassuringly. Youre safe here, Mrs Mead.

Lottie Mead, wearing jeans, boots
and an expensive costly-looking jacket, stared glumly at her feet, then up.
Challis studied her, recalling the civic function at which shed given nothing
away but allowed Charlie to do all the talking. She had narrow features,
tightly compressed, as if shed never revealed many emotions and was unused to
it now. You dont know what hes like. You got shot because of him, she said,
and made as if to touch Ellen.

Challis watched and listened. Lotties
South African accent was strong: shes Afrikaner South African, he guessed, not
English, poorly educated, unconfident around powerful people. She looked
demoralised, and he wondered if Charlie Mead had kept her subjugated. Yet she
must have found a spark of courage and will, enough to seek help from Janine
McQuarriewho typically had given her poor advice and false courage.

Why didnt you contact us sooner?
Another woman died.

I was scared.

Scared, Challis said flatly.

Hal, Ellen said warningly.

Really scared, Lottie Mead said,
looking at the floor again. I thought hed find out and kill me. Her cheeks were
damp when she raised her head. But at the same time, hes so arrogant he
believes Im too scared to cross him.

Challiss mind was racing, imagining
this womans life with Mead, a man who ruled her thoughts and actions. Tell us
again about Janine McQuarrie. Your names not on her client list.

I used my maiden name. Charlotte
Strydom.

Challis looked. The name was there.
He found the case notes and leafed through them. You started seeing her only a
few weeks ago.

Yes.

The notes were typically cryptic and
dashed off: abbreviations, simple words and phrases followed by question marks,
virtually unreadable handwriting. What sort of counselling were you seeking
from her?

My marriage was unhappy.

As he often did with interview
subjects, Challis let scoffing and doubt rule his features. He waited. Lottie
Mead said, Charlies being sent to manage a prison in Canada. I want to stay
here.

Challis continued to stare at her,
wondering where this was going. Lottie Mead shifted about on the sofa. I was
scared.

Scared of how hed react if you
said you didnt want to go with him?

Meads wife looked astounded that
Challis could be so naive. Scared hed kill me.

Kill you, said Challis
disbelievingly. It wouldnt be the first time that someone had used a major
investigation to make false accusations against a spouse.

You dont know what hes like! He
has to get his own way. He hates to be crossed. It was bad enough that I was
seeing Janine, but telling him I wouldnt be going to Canada with him, well, hes
not the kind of man to take it lying down. She paused. Hed make it look like
an accident.

Challis and Ellen exchanged doubtful
glances. So you saw Janine McQuarrie for advice. Did you tell her of your
specific fears concerning your husband?

Some.

Some. Did she tell you to leave
him?

Yes.

Challis watched Lottie Mead for a
moment. The next question was obvious: Did Mrs McQuarrie then confront your
husband?

Yes.

Did you ask her to?

God no! That would be a death wish.

Challis nodded. Janine had acted
true to form. But would a reasonable man respond by hiring a hitman to kill
her? Would an treasonable man, for that matter? So far, all that he and Ellen
had was another situation similar to Raymond Lowrys, and there were bound to
be still others.

So you think he killed Janine
because youd gone to her and shed confronted him?

Yes.

Did he say or do anything to you?

He hit me.

Is that all?

He told me to stop seeing Janine.

And did you?

Lottie Mead sneered a little. She
was an unappealing woman. You dont know my husband. Of course I did, and she
was dead a few days later.

Did he tell you he was going to
have her killed?

He didnt have to. He didnt care
what I thought or knew. He knows Im scared of him.

Yet you had the courage to see
Janine, and now youve come to us.

Lottie Mead shrugged. Ellen leaned
into the gap between them. We need more, Mrs Mead. Youre not making a strong
case. She paused. Forgive me for asking this, but have you and your husband
been attending sex parties?

Lottie Mead straightened in shock,
which became outrage. How dare you. Certainly not.

Janine McQuarrie and Tessa Kane
were murdered by the same manyou say under orders from your husband. The only
thing we can find that links both women is the sex-party scene.

No, absolutely not, said Lottie
Mead, shaking her head violently. Charlie had them shot, but not because of
that!

What, then? said Challis. Spit it
out, for Gods sake.

Lottie flushed. She examined her
bony hands sulkily. They both knew things she muttered or Charlie thought
they did. She looked up. Dont you see? I went to Janine to talk about my
feelings, Charlie thought I went to her to talk about
facts.
Thats why
he killed her. And Tessa Kane.

What facts?

Lottie Mead was absorbed with her
hands again. Doesnt matter.

I think it does, said Ellen
harshly. We will talk to your husband eventuallywell
have
tobut weve
also talked to other husbands just like him, whod been challenged by Mrs
McQuarrie. What makes your husband so special?

Lottie Mead remained stubbornly
uncommunicative, and Challis, watching her closely, realised that she was more
calculating than bewildered or afraid, as though she had things to hide. The
murder of Tessa Kane suddenly made sense. He remembered her file on the
Meadsthere had been many gaps and question marks. Had she uncovered
information that shed not yet recorded?

Tessa Kane was writing a story on
you and your husband, he said. Is there something youre not telling us?

Lottie Mead was glumly mute. They
waited, watching her. The little bar fridge switched on and whirred softly. The
room seemed cloying suddenly. It happened a long time ago, in South Africa.

They gazed at her without
expression. The apartheid era, she said eventually.

And?

Me and Charlie worked for the
government.

She explained haltingly. It was a
story of the interrogation, torture and summary execution of black leaders, for
which her husband had displayed a certain proficiency. Hed almost been outed
during the hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but friends had
covered up for him. It was a long time ago, everyones changed now, but he
didnt want it made public

What was your role back then?

I was in a different department,
said Lottie Mead, not meeting their gaze.

Did you tell Janine McQuarrie about
your husbands past?

I cant remember.

Challis was tiring of her evasions. Did
you tell Tessa Kane?

No, I wouldnt let her in the door.

Did Ms Kane challenge your husband?

She might have done. He doesnt
tell me anything, Lottie said. She paused. Are you going to arrest him?

Well talk to him, said Challis
cautiously.

Hell get away with it, he always
does.

We know the identities of the
killers. Do the names Trevor Vyner and Nathan Gent mean anything to you?

Ive never heard of them, but
Charlie was in charge of a prison before this. He would have met all types,
including killers for hire.

We can check, Challis said. He
passed her photographs of Vyner and Gent. You might not know the names, but do
you know the faces?

She froze over Vyners photograph. He
was at the house this afternoon, looking for Charlie! Her eyes danced, excited
and alarmed. He looked angry.

What did you tell him?

Lottie Mead put her hand to her
mouth, appalled with herself. I told him to come back at six!

* * * *

63

Vyner
had got there around 4 p.m., the appointed hour, a little curious, a little
wary, but with a buzz on, too, looking forward to this next job, and getting
his
$
15,000. Curious because Lottie was normally super cautious,
avoiding face-to-face contact, and wary because she was mad and dangerous, and
he didnt want to get on the wrong side of her.

A huge house with trees, deep hedges
and a gravelled driveway, the tyres of his stolen Magna crunching down it with
a sound that spelt status, seclusion and success. The Brisbane house, where shed
been living when he was pruning her roses, on day release from her husbands
jailrehabilitation through gardeningshad been a lot humbler. She was
ambitious, old Lottie. Charlie Mead might never have been promoted from deputy
manager of the prison if the manager hadnt encountered an armed burglar one
night. Vyner had got five grand from Lottie for that one. Then no word from her
for three years, and suddenly shed needed him again.

He parked the Magna and knocked on
the heavy front door, a door weighted with significance, like the fresh, clean,
crisp gravel of the driveway. Lottie answered, he offered her an old-times-sake
grin, but she wasnt having it. Youre late.