Inheritance (30 page)

Suddenly it struck her. The paintings were gone. On the walls, patches of stark white, where the paintings had hung, stood out sharply against the mellowed white of the rest of the walls. Bewildered, she walked slowly into the other rooms. There was not a painting anywhere! She couldn’t understand it. What was going on?

Could Tom have taken them down ready for painting the walls?

Surely not, without consulting her first.

Shaking her head, she tried to remember if they had been on the walls when they left. She thought they had, although she had been so upset she might not have noticed them missing. Could they have been stolen? The thought chilled her. Those things just didn’t happen way out here so far from the city. Cassie went quickly to the back door, she must see Tom immediately. The door opened in her hand, it was unlocked. Standing still for a moment, she
frowned. Surely one of them would have locked it before they left? She couldn’t remember. Going out onto the verandah, she called to the others.

Tom, Lorna and Rosie all hurried into the house with her. They stood gaping at the walls where the paintings had been hanging. None of them had taken them down. There was no doubt, they had been stolen.

‘You’d better check to see if anything else is missing,’ Tom told them. He walked out onto the front verandah and stood for a minute, looking around. When he saw everything looked normal, he walked back through the house and did the same at the back. Everything looked the way it should, there was no sign of any disturbance. Meanwhile, the women checked all the rooms and found nothing else had been taken. Tom took charge.

‘I’ll ring the police, then I’ll stay here with you till they come.’

***

‘How long were you all in Townsville?’ Inspector Bates had arrived with another police officer within a couple of hours of Tom ringing. After inspecting the premises, the officer now took notes while the inspector asked questions.

Tom had taken on the role of spokesman.

‘We left on Friday about lunch time and arrived back here about two hours ago.’

‘Midday Friday to three p.m. Monday. And exactly who went?’

‘The four of us, Cassie, my wife Lorna and daughter Rosie, and myself.’

‘And who is the owner of the paintings?’

Cassie replied this time. ‘I am. I inherited them recently in my uncle’s estate.’

‘I see. And who handled the estate settlement for you?’

‘My solicitor, Graham Walsh, in Cairns.’

‘Right. Now, about this back door. You say it was unlocked when you went outside, soon after you returned?’ He directed this question to Cassie.

She nodded. ‘Yes. That’s right.’

‘And no one had gone out it since you returned?’

‘No. I was the only one to come in here. Rosie lives here, too, but she went with Lorna to collect some milk.’

‘And you can’t be sure if it was locked before you went or not?’

‘Oh, dear,’ Lorna shook her head, ‘I wish I could be sure but I can’t. I usually lock up and I think I locked it, but, you know, way out here we don’t always lock our doors. I do think that going away for the weekend, I did lock it but I can’t swear to it.’

Inspector Bates turned his attention to Cassie again. ‘Do you know how much the paintings are worth?’

‘No, but I believe they’re valuable. The solicitor may know. I was planning on having them valued. I’ve just finished cataloguing them all.’

‘Ah. And do you have those details available?’

‘Yes. I photographed them only recently and wrote a description of each one. I did this for all of the art objects and artefacts in the house.’

‘Are they insured?’

‘Again, I don’t know. You’ll have to ask the solicitor. I certainly hope so. There were some that I suspect are worth a great deal of money.’

‘I see. Can I have a copy of the catalogue, please?’

‘Of course. I’ll have to get it from the computer, down in the office.’

‘I’ll come with you, if I may. I need to see where the other two paintings were that were taken. Then I’ll go and talk to the staff members who were in their quarters over the weekend, see if anyone heard anything.’

After Cassie printed out a copy of the catalogue and handed it to him, he thanked her and added. ‘Most fortunate that you’d done this. It’ll help a lot in tracking down the paintings. We’ll just go over and talk to the others and then we’ll be on our way. We’ll do our best to get your paintings back for you, Miss Taylor. Goodbye for now.’

The two men left and drove over to the staff quarters. A little later, Cassie saw their car leave the property and head back towards Cairns.

Inspector Bates phoned the next morning and made a time to come out to interview them all again. He brought a constable with him who dusted all the surfaces with powder and fingerprinted everyone on the property.

‘But I’m not hopeful of finding prints,’ he told Cassie, ‘even the amateurs know to wear gloves these days, and these people obviously knew what they wanted so I don’t think they were amateurs. The fact that nothing else was taken shows they were not just casual burglars, out to take whatever they could find of value. No, they knew what they wanted and they weren’t interested in anything else. Now, who would know you had valuable paintings in the house?’

‘Most of them have hung here for about fifty years, so I have no idea who would have known. Anyone who’s been to the house, I suppose.’

‘Do you think everyone who saw them would know they were valuable?’

‘Anyone who knew anything about aboriginal art, I guess.’ Cassie explained how Tubitjara had died a few years ago and she believed they were now fetching high prices.

‘So it wouldn’t be everyone who would know?’ He spoke thoughtfully. ‘I suppose you feel you can trust your staff?’

‘Yes. All but a couple of the stockmen have been with my uncle for years. And stockmen don’t ever come here into the house.’

‘I believe you’re having some building done. What about the workers there?’

‘Again, they would never come to the house, or if they did, they’d certainly never come inside.’

‘Have you had many visitors recently?’

‘Well, not many. Being so far out, people don’t just drop in.’

‘Neighbours?’

‘Well…occasionally. I have had…some of the neighbours from Binbin here. Mark Pierce has been over to look at the building project and his mother sometimes comes for coffee.’

‘Could I have their details please?’ When he had written them down, he asked her, ‘Do you know if either of them is interested in aboriginal art?’

‘Well, yes. Mark is. He was looking at the paintings recently. He advised me to have them valued and to make sure they’re insured. But he most certainly wouldn’t have had anything to do with the robbery.’

‘I’m not suggesting for one moment that he did, but we have to explore all avenues. We’ll check to see if either of these people may have mentioned the paintings to someone else. Can you think of anyone else who could’ve been in the house recently?’

Cassie thought back. ‘Some of the staff or the builders have been to the door or on the verandah but not inside the house. No.’ She shook her head.

‘Only the Pierces?’

‘Heaps of people would have been here in my uncle’s day. Any number of people could know about the paintings.’

‘Of course. I’ll be honest with you. The fact that the back door was unlocked worries me. It suggests someone with access to a key has been here, someone, perhaps, who could have had a copy made.’

‘Lorna can’t remember for sure that she locked it.’

‘Yes, I know that. Well, we’ll circulate a description of the items and hope they surface. It’s lucky you have those records. We don’t have a lot else to go on. No one saw or heard anything; we’re not sure when the robbery took place, it could be anytime while you were all away; the ground’s so hard there are no tracks of vehicles visible, and I doubt we’ll find any fingerprints. But we’ll do our best. I’ll let you know when we have something to report.’

After he had left, Cassie sat in her room thinking. Mark. That was ridiculous. He was no thief.

But what had Stella said about him? That if he wanted something he could be ruthless. There was no doubt he had admired the collection.

***

Cassie could hear the regret in Graham Walsh’s voice as it came over the phone. ‘I’m sorry to have to tell you, but the insurance policy for the house contents doesn’t specify an extra amount for art works. If you remember, we decided to simply transfer all the existing policies over to you as they were. Because the paintings had been there since he was a boy, I suppose it never occurred to Len that he should see if he needed extra cover for them.’

‘Does that mean I’ll get nothing if they’re not recovered?’

‘There is a limit of a thousand dollars for any item, I’m afraid.’

‘Oh, dear.’ Cassie’s spirits plummeted even lower. ‘I should’ve had them valued and insured as soon as I catalogued them.’

‘It’s no use blaming yourself, my dear. Let’s hope the police recover them quickly for you.’

‘Yes, let’s hope so,’ Cassie repeated. ‘Thanks anyway, Mr Walsh.’ But as she hung up the phone, she did not feel at all hopeful.

A week had passed since the robbery and there had been no word from the police except a formal phone call to check dates and times and an assurance that she would be advised when there was something to report.

Taking a cool drink from the fridge, she carried it out to sit alone in her favourite spot on the verandah. Twisting her glass despondently, she stared at the dry paddocks beyond the garden. Her normal enthusiasm had deserted her. Her worries seemed too numerous to overcome.

The drought still showed no signs of breaking. Although the skies threatened rain on most days, it never came and the heat and humidity soared.

The heartache she felt over Mark’s betrayal had not lessened. Cassie had dismissed the thought that he could have been involved in the theft of her paintings. Stella might be right, he
could be ruthless when he wanted something, but that did not mean he would stoop to stealing. However, the thought had caused her some anguish for a time.

On top of all this, Cassie no longer felt the sense of security she always felt here at Yallandoo. If someone could just walk in and take paintings off the walls, then what else could happen? Even after locking the doors each night, she still felt vulnerable.

The inspector’s words that someone else may have a key kept echoing in her mind. If only Lorna could remember for sure if she had locked the door or not. They had gone over it again, but Lorna just couldn’t be certain. And no one knew how many keys were in existence during her uncle’s time.

Cassie put her glass down abruptly. Sitting around like this moping and worrying solved nothing. She must take some action and the first thing to do was to call a locksmith and arrange to have the locks changed and security locks fitted to the doors and windows so she would feel safe again.

Next, she would go across and check on the progress of the cabins. They were almost finished. Gary had done an excellent job and there had been no more trouble or hold-ups. Thank God that, at least, was going smoothly.

Cassie made her phone call to the locksmith and had just hung up when the phone rang.

She picked it up to hear Nadia’s voice on the line. ‘Cassie?’ The voice was hesitant. ‘I did not know if I should ring you or not. I hope you do not mind?’

‘Nadia, of course I don’t mind. I’m always pleased to hear from you.’

‘I know that you and Mark have had a terrible row. He will not talk about it. I do not know what it was about and it is not my business. He has gone to Sydney for a while and he was like a bear with a sore head. He would speak to no one, not even Gemma.’

‘I’m sorry he gave you a bad time, Nadia.’

‘Oh, that is all right. But I do miss you so much, you and Lorna too.’

‘But you must still feel free to come over any time you want. What’s happened has nothing to do with you and Gemma. Please don’t let it spoil our friendship.’

‘Oh, Cassie, you are so kind. I do enjoy our coffee sessions so much.’

‘You must come as you always have,’ Cassie spoke firmly, ‘and Gemma, too. I know how much she loves to play with Hoppy, and to see Larry. I’m sure they’ll be missing her visits.’

‘You are a very thoughtful girl.’

‘I’m very fond of Gemma. You’re both welcome any time.’

They rang off after agreeing that they would continue as always, getting together whenever they felt like it. Cassie reflected that Nadia had become a good friend, what a shame her son was such a rat. A wave of misery swept over her again. Walking out to the verandah she stood looking out over the garden, holding back the tears that threatened, but then she gave herself a mental shake. Wasting her energy on being heartbroken over Mark achieved nothing.

She had come here to Yallandoo, not knowing what to do with her inheritance. She had made her decision and her plans for the tourism venture were about to come to fruition. As for Mark, well, she’d caught a glimpse of Heaven, but it hadn’t lasted long. Now it was over. Now it was time to go ahead and finish her project. This was where she needed to put all her energies now.

Cassie drove across to the rainforest, parking her car in the parking area and using the buggy to take her to the cabins.

The buggy would have to be returned. There was no way she would continue using something that belonged to Mark. She made a mental note to order a new one today.

The sight of the almost finished cabins and lodge lifted her spirits. ‘It’s looking good, Gary,’ she told him. ‘They’re turning out exactly as I visualised them.’

Gary beamed. ‘I’m glad you’re pleased with them. We’re putting the finishing touches to them now.’

‘How long till they’ll be finished?’

‘I reckon we should be done in another week.’

‘That’s great.’ Enthusiasm crept back into her voice. ‘That means they’ll be ready for guests in a couple of weeks.’

‘Yes, once the painting’s finished inside, you’ll be able to go ahead and hang the curtains and make the beds, that sort of thing. We’ll finish the few things to be done outside and then we’ll be out of your way.’