Challis - 03 - Snapshot (8 page)

Challis glanced inquiringly at
McQuarrie, who said, The crime-scene people arrived before I did, and Georgia
watched them sketching the scene. She came home and wanted to do her own
sketches.

Challis swallowed. Thank you,
Georgia. These will be very helpful

He examined the top drawing: a birds
eye view of the area, showing both cars and her mothers body. There was a
border of trees and a curious smudge amongst them. Is this...? he asked,
indicating it to her.

Thats me hiding from the man who
wanted to shoot me.

Uh-huh.

Ellen came to stand beside him.
There were three other drawings, and Georgia identified them one by one. Thats
the man who shot Mummy, thats the other man in the car, thats Mummy.

Mummy from before the murder, a
woman with long hair and a big smile.

These are terrific, Ellen said. Have
you remembered anything else about the car? Maybe you remember some of the
letters and numbers on the numberplate.

It was just an old car.

Well, thats helpful. Now, shall we
sit and talk some more about what happened this morning?

Okay.

Ellen guided Georgia to the sofa and
sat with her. Challis sat in a nearby armchair and watched and listened.

You didnt have to go to school
today, Ellen said, is that right? No lessons?

Mummy had to take me to work with
her.

Was she meeting someone before
going to the clinic?

I think so.

Do you know who?

Georgia shrugged, a childs quick,
jerking shrug.

Did your mum notice a car behind
you at any stage?

Shrug.

Did she say anything to you about
being lost?

Head shake.

You came to a house and your mum
stopped the car, Ellen said, briefly stroking Georgias forearm. Then what
happened?

Afterwards Challis was to remark on
how fiercely Georgia had concentrated. There were two men, she said. One stayed
in the car and she hadnt seen him clearly, except that he wore dark glasses
and had a kind of round face. The man whod shot her mother wore a beanie and a
jacket with the collar up, so she couldnt give a clear description, except
that she thought his face was thin. The jacket was blue, no, black, no, blue.
The car was kind of white.

The gun was a little one, not a
rifle, but it had something stuck on the end of it, and the man carrying it had
chased her mother around and around the car. Shed undone her seatbelt to fetch
something from her Hi-5 backpack by that stage, and so she was able to move
about inside the car and follow the action. Then her mother had made a break
for it and she saw the man point the gun and her mother fell to the ground.

Did you hear the gun?

It made a kind
oiphht
sound.

Challis exchanged a glance with
Ellen: probably an automatic and fitted with a suppressor.

I wanted to go to her but I was
scared and he turned around and looked at me.

That was when she darted out of the
car and ran towards the other car. I thought he would help me, but he didnt.

You mean the man driving?

Yes. He just waved me away, so I
ran into the trees. I tried to hide but it wasnt a very good hiding place and
the man with the gun could see me, but when he tried to shoot me nothing
happened and he said something bad and looked at his gun and went back to the
car.

McQuarrie murmured, Any ballistics,
Hal?

Not yet.

Automatic pistol, do you think? It
jammed on him?

Possibly. What did you do then, Georgia?

When she heard the white car start
up she raised her head and watched it leave. It made a lot of smoke. Yes, a
white car. A kind of old car, she thought, with a funny door.

Funny door?

Not the same colour. Kind of a
yellow. Look, she said, pointing to one of the drawings. An off-white car with
a pale yellow door and the driver inside, his arm out of the window, presumably
waving her away.

If the original door was rusted or
damaged, Ellen murmured to Challis, it may have been replaced by one from a
wrecking yard.

Challis nodded. It was a job for
Scobie.

Do you think you could look at some
photographs for us, Georgia?

That quick shrug again. Dont know.

Pictures of mens faces,
sweetheart, her grandfather said. You might recognise the men who hurt Mummy.

Okay.

If you do, he said, well catch
them and have an identity parade. Do you know what that is?

Challis let the super prattle on.
Identity parades were only useful to back up solid evidence. A failed lineup
was like manna from heaven to a defence lawyer. And the idea of putting Georgia
McQuarrie through an identity parade was galling to him. Hed tried, and
failed, to observe a distance with regard to the child. The job swamped you if
you didnt learn to see the blood and the damaged flesh and lives as outcomes
or problems to solve. But you couldnt go on thinking like that without giving
the pressure some kind of outlet. Humourof the blackest kindwas a common
outlet; booze; a hobby; the exclusive company of other cops. Without an outlet,
your heart would fracture. That little girl with her wintry face...Challis didnt
have children but Ellen and Scobie did. What went through their minds every
day? Did they ever stop worrying about their kids? Abused kids, bloodied kids,
orphaned kids.

Is there anything else you remember
about the two men, Georgia?

What colour was their skin?
Barbara McQuarrie wanted to know.

Dear, please, McQuarrie said.

Same as mine, Georgia said.

Challis rested his forearms on his
knees. You couldnt see their faces very clearly.

No. The man with the gun had a
beanie on. It was all pulled down and his collar was turned up.

Was he fat? Thin?

Medium.

Tall? Short?

Medium.

What about the way they spoke?
Barbara McQuarrie asked. Did they speak English?

Love, please, McQuarrie said.

Its a fair enough question.

Ellen broke in. What about the
other man, Georgia, the driver of the car. Was he wearing a beanie, too?

No.

What colour was his hair?

He was kind of bald.

Bald, or had he shaved his hair
off?

I think shaved.

Did he say anything?

He just waved at me to go away.

Anything else about his face that
you can remember?

He was kind of a bit younger than
the other one.

As old as your dad?

Georgia screwed up her face
assessingly. Younger.

Anything else?

Sort of a round face, a bit fat,
Georgia said.

Then she went alert in McQuarries
arms as a door opened in the hallway and a voice called, Mum? Dad? Georgia?

She hurled herself out of the room.

Snapshot

* * * *

11

Robert
McQuarrie came in looking pale but composed, frowning a little as the
clamouring hands of his daughter pulled his suit askew. Then his mother rushed
to him with a small, incoherent cry, which seemed to break his resolve. He
blinked his eyes. Finally the superintendent was clapping an arm around him in
a clumsy embrace.

Challis watched, unmoved. Robert
McQuarrie seemed to notice him then over the shoulders of his parents. He had
an open face, smooth and well tended, like his hands. A little button nose,
inherited from his mother, gave him the appearance of a plain, over-sized
schoolboy dressed in a costly suit.

He broke the embrace and approached
with his hand out. Robert McQuarrie, he said. And you are?

Challis made the introductions,
McQuarrie scarcely glancing at Ellen.

Ill be available later, but right
now I need to comfort my daughter.

I understand, Challis said. He
glanced at Ellen, and by unspoken agreement they edged towards the door. The
superintendent followed them into the hallway. Youre going?

Challis nodded. Im not sure that
Georgia can help us any further at the moment. We may need to show her
photographs of cars later, and mugshots.

McQuarrie waved a hand as if to say,
Of course, of course.

And well need to speak to your
son.

McQuarrie looked at the floor, then
up at Challis. My son is devastated by this.

I can imagine.

I know youre just doing your job.
Im a policeman myself, remember? I know you have to eliminate him from your
inquiries. But go gently, all right? Hes exhausted, in shock, hes just lost
his wife. His daughter has just lost her mother.

Challis nodded, waiting for
McQuarrie to wind down.

And he couldnt have shot Janine.
He was in Sydney.

Sooner or later, Challis thought, hell
make the necessary leap:
Did my son hire someone to shoot Janine?

I understand.

Should be plenty of witnesses, too.
He was guest speaker at a seminar. McQuarrie gave a ragged sigh. Look, Hal,
whatever resources you need, theyre yours. Extra manpower, overtime, anything
at all. But for Gods sake keep the media out of this.

Well have to tell them something.

Its an unholy alliance, sometimes,
police and press. But this is my son and his wife and daughter were talking
about, so no quiet words in the ear of that girlfriend of yours.

Challis flushed angrily. Ellen saved
him. Sir, before we go, could you tell us a bit about your daughter-in-law?

McQuarrie glanced at his watch,
looked back over his shoulder to the sitting room and sounds of grief and
bewilderment. Cant it wait?

Just some basic background, sir, to
get us started.

Oh very well, come with me.

He led them to a study, a cluttered,
cheerless room at the rear of the house. There were framed diplomas and
graduation photographs on the walls, golfclubs in one corner, a shelf of
trophies, a ship in a bottle, very few books, golfing clothes tossed over a
sombre leather armchair, computer, printer and fax machine on a leather-inlaid wooden
desk. It seemed to Challis that McQuarrie had staked out this space as his own
and his wife could go to hell.

Another cup of tea? McQuarrie
said, not meaning it.

Were fine, thank you, sir, Ellen
said, glancing at Challis to see if hed regained equilibrium.

Well, what do you need to know?

Challis saw Ellen take out her
notebook and move unobtrusively to one side. Hed ask, shed record. Well
start with her personality, sir. What was she like?

Lovely girl. Good family.

Shes a psychologist?

Hashadher own clinic, in Mount
Eliza, McQuarrie said. A very bright girl.

Weve begun interviewing her staff
and colleagues.

Of course.

Did she see clients at the clinic,
or travel to see them?

Both, I suppose. I dont really
know.

And today?

McQuarrie was impatient. It was a
curriculum day at Georgias school, which is another way of saying that her
teachers gave themselves a day off, and when Janine couldnt arrange childcare
she had no option but to take Georgia with her.

Was Janine going to the clinic
afterwards, or visiting other clients?

Hal, for Gods sake, this is basic
police work. Talk to her secretary, check her calendar.

Sir. Challis thought for a moment
about his next question. There was no easy way to ask it. Would you say that
Robert and Janine were happily married?

The super said, through compressed,
bloodless lips, See? Thats the kind of innuendo the media love. That Janine
had a lover and so Robert shot her. Or that Robert had a lover and wanted
Janine out of the way.

We need to examine all scenarios,
Challis said, hating the word but it was a useful one and by now deeply
ingrained in the police lexicon.

To hell with that. I hope youre
not going to ask my son that same question.

Challis tilted his chin a little. Im
afraid Ill have to, sir.

And you know it, too,
was the unspoken part of his reply.

McQuarrie flushed. Just remember
who I am and who my son is and who you are, mister.

Getting back to Janine, Ellen said
hastily.

Lovely girl.

Challis reflected that he wouldnt
get more than that from McQuarrie, who seemed incapable of discerning
individual quirks in people. Janine came from a good family, was successful in
business and had been chosen by his son, so no further scrutiny was required.
Shed passed the only tests that mattered.