The Outback (23 page)

Chapter 32

Rose was desperate to get
to the station to see Colin. Just like Stephen before him, the Irishman had
been bundled into the back of the sheriff’s car and forcefully removed from the
camp. And just like Stephen before him, Colin fiercely protested his innocence
the whole time.

‘How can they do this?’

‘It’s their town. It’s
their country. Maybe if we could contact the nearest embassy they could help,
but for the time being we have no choice but to go along with what the police
tell us.’

‘It is not right though,
is it? Tell me that this is not right.’

Rose searched Matt’s
eyes, but he had no answer for her. She pushed past him and into the caravan.
Colin had been given no time to collect any of his personal belongings to take
with him, so she was gathering stuff that she thought he may find of use.

‘Where did those pills
come from’ she asked. ‘They cannot have belonged to Colin. This just does not
make any sense.’

‘I think that the pills
were planted there to set him up.’

She looked at him, undisguised
scepticism in her eyes.

‘Somebody planted the
pills under Colin’s mattress? Do you realise how ridiculous that sounds. I
mean, who would want to do such a thing?’

‘You could ask who would
want to rape Celeste or kill Pierro. The fact is that somebody out there is getting
their kicks from seeing all of us suffer.’

‘Why us though? We have
not hurt anybody.’

Matt did not want to
tell her any more than he had to. Just forty eight hours earlier he thought
Colin’s theory to be insane and he was certain that Rose would think the same
if he was to mention the possibility of Rhett somehow possessing people.

‘Maybe it is someone who
just doesn’t like backpackers.’

She picked up on the
insincerity in his voice immediately.

‘What are you not
telling me? Who was this nurse that killed herself and what has she got to do
with Colin?’

‘It’s just like Colin
said to the sheriff; we were in the hospital and she approached him with a
bunch of questions about Rhett.’

She let out a sigh of
frustration.

‘Maybe Colin will be
more forthcoming. Where did he put his bag?’

‘He gave it to Jonas.’

‘I’d better go get it
and have a look to see if there is anything inside that he may need. I have
already got his toothbrush, but I cannot seem to find his wallet. I know that
he doesn’t keep it on him when we work, so it must be in the bag.’

She quickly popped into
the adjacent van and when she came back she held a rucksack, which she threw
down onto the bed.

‘I’ll let you do the
honours, Matt. I hate to think what nasty surprises he may have in there. If
it’s more drugs, I’m going to burn them.’

Matt undid the zip and
emptied the bag out onto the bed. There was no wallet among the contents or
even a bag of weed, just a thickly bound black journal. Matt recognised it
instantly.

‘This isn’t Colin’s bag.
You must have picked up Hiro’s by mistake. I’ve often seen him updating that
journal.’

Rose lifted the tome
from the bed and began to leaf through the pages.

‘I wouldn’t do that if I
were you,’ warned Matt. ‘Hiro is very protective of his possessions and particularly
that book.’

She did not respond. She
just continued to flick through the pages as if mesmerized. Matt could see the
colour drain from her face.

‘Rose, what’s wrong?’ he
asked.

She looked up from the
pages with the knowledge of impending dread in her eyes.

‘Matt, where is Jenny?’

‘She’s with Hiro, trying
to explain to him what is happening in this place. I certainly don’t envy her
that task. What do you need her for?’

‘We have to go and get
her, right now.’ She spoke with forthrightness, but her tone was unable to
disguise an undercurrent of urgency, which bordered on panic. ‘I know who
killed Pierro.’

***

Hiro was taking the news
well. Jenny noticed that he seemed to react to whatever she told him with a
certain degree of detachment. It was almost as if she was recounting the plot
of a movie or a news story from lands far away. The Japanese man did not seem
remotely shocked or worried by the events unfolding around him.

‘Hiro, do you understand
what I am telling you?’ she asked. ‘We may be in serious danger; all of us.’

‘Yes, yes danger,’ he
replied.

She may as well have
been asking him what topping he would like on his pizza.

‘I need a strong cup of
coffee. Would you like one too?’ she offered.

‘Yes, yes coffee,’ he
replied.

She may as well have been
telling him that they were all about to die.

She got up from her seat
and walked over to the coffee machine. Picking up an overturned mug from its
saucer, she placed it under the funnel and then selected an extra strong
cappuccino. Her back was turned to the seated Asian. She heard the high pitched
screech of the chair legs on the cold tiled floor, which indicated that her
companion had risen from his seat, but she was not braced for the spontaneous
and violent attack that was about to follow his rising.

***

Although the deputy had
been the arresting officer, it was the sheriff who was to lead the questioning
of Colin. The policeman wasted no time in getting straight to the point.

‘How long have you been
dealing drugs?’ he asked.

Colin was caught up in a
state of shock and bewilderment. He had always known that there was a risk of
him getting caught with the weed, but these pills had seemingly come from
nowhere. The whole scenario reeked of a set up.

‘I want a lawyer,’ he
demanded.

‘You can have full access
to legal representation in the morning,’ replied the sheriff. ‘It is too late
to organise anything for this evening and it would be better for all concerned
if you chose to co-operate with us now.’

‘I am not saying a thing
until I speak to a lawyer. This whole interview is a sham and you know it. I
have never seen those pills before in my life. If you don’t believe me; take
fingerprints. You pigs have nothing on me.’

The sheriff glanced over
his shoulder towards his deputy, who was standing menacingly at the back of the
room, like an attack dog just itching to be let off its leash.

‘If the drugs do not
belong to you,’ said the sheriff. ‘Am I to assume that they are the property of
your roommate? Would you like us to bring him in for questioning?’

Colin slammed his fists
down on the tabletop.

‘You leave Matt out of
this,’ he shouted. ‘You people really are pathetic. It’s like you don’t even
care which one of us that you hurt. First Stephen, then me and now Matt. Will
you not stop until you see every backpacker in this town behind bars?’

The sheriff was in no
mood for such wild accusations. He had heard it all before. Niall had been
extremely vocal following his visit to his incarcerated friend earlier in the
day. In the end, the sheriff had to issue a verbal warning to the Irishman
before taking him back to the caravan park.

‘We have witnesses
willing to come forward who will testify that you were dealing marijuana in the
Tavern last Friday evening.’

‘They’re lying,’ replied
Colin, who was able to compose himself now that the sheriff was getting closer
to a crime that the Irishman was actually guilty of.

The sheriff reached into
a manila file and retrieved a photograph, which he then placed on the table.

‘Do you know this man?’
he asked.

Colin glanced down at
the picture. It was of the youth whom he sold the weed to. The Irishman was
careful not to give anything away.

‘I’ve never seen him
before,’ he replied.

‘His name is Scott
Donovan,’ the sheriff added.

Colin shrugged. This
time he could at least say that the name meant nothing to him.

‘Mr Donovan was in the
Tavern last Friday night,’ continued the sheriff. ‘He never returned home and
has been missing ever since. We believe that his disappearance is drug related.
Witnesses have confirmed that you were one of the last people to be seen with
him before he went missing.’

Colin was completely
taken aback. First the Police accuse him of owning the pills and now what;
kidnapping, murder? He was completely out of his depth and did not know what to
say.

‘I don’t understand,’ he
pleaded. ‘Are you now accusing me of abduction?’

‘This is a waste of
time,’ interrupted the deputy. ‘He knows something; he’s just not telling us.
Maybe he will be more cooperative after a night in the cells.’

Colin looked to the sheriff,
but he was too afraid to say anything. The sheriff put the photograph back in
the folder and stood up.

‘My deputy is right. We
will continue this interview in the morning.’

The sheriff left his
subordinate to deal with taking Colin to his cell. The junior officer responded
with a gleeful smile.

***

Matt entered the dining
hall brandishing the journal in his arms and Hiro’s eyes immediately widened
when they focused on the incriminating tome. The Japanese man quickly rose from
his seat to offer protestations, but Matt was in no mood to listen. As the
Asian reached out to grab the book, Matt thrust it up into its authors face,
ramming the hard edge into Hiro’s chin.

With his opponent
temporarily stunned, Matt threw the book down onto the tabletop and followed up
his initial offensive with a firm punch to Hiro’s gut, before shoving the Asian
to the ground, sending chairs clattering across the floor. By the time that he
heard Jenny’s screams he had already neutralised what he perceived to be any
possible threat.

‘Matt, what are you
doing?’ cried Jenny, as she made to help the stricken man, but was restrained
from doing so by her sister.

‘Leave them to it,’ said
Rose. ‘Matt knows what he is doing.’

Hiro was seated on the
floor with blood running from his bottom lip and confused terror in his eyes.
He clumsily tried to push himself backwards, away from Matt, but he was under
no immediate threat from the Englishman. All that Matt intended was to stop the
Asian from escaping.

‘I should have figured
this out sooner,’ said Matt. ‘I knew something was not quite right this morning
when Jenny told me about the impressions. Colin is not the only person who you
have been mimicking, is he, Hiro?’

The fallen man did not
answer. Matt loomed over him, although he had no intention of striking a
defenceless opponent.

‘There is one other
impression that you like to do, isn’t there?’ the Englishman asked. ‘I think
that there is one impression that you like to do more than any other.’

Jenny struggled against
her sister’s restrictive embrace.

‘Matt, stop this right
now,’ she pleaded. ‘Have you gone mad?’

Her words had no effect
on Matt. He had all of the proof that he needed and now sought only the
confirmation.

‘Do your impression of
Rhett,’ he ordered. ‘Do Rhett for us all to hear.’

Hiro was confused.

‘Wha…’ he began.

‘Do Rhett now!’ Matt
yelled. The anger in his voice was enough to unnerve even Rose.

Hiro attempted to push
himself away on the floor, but Matt was determined to settle things then and
there. He reached down and picked up the Japanese man by the scruff of his
shirt and then pushed him up against the wall. All of the pent up tensions and
anger from the previous week were surfacing and Matt now had an outlet for
them.

‘Do your impression of
Rhett,’ he repeated. ‘I want to hear you speak like that murdering bastard
did.’

Hiro tried to pull
himself free, but the more he struggled, the more Matt tightened his grip.

‘Do it!’ the Englishman
screamed.

‘Facking cant! Facking
cant!’ Hiro shouted back.

The intonation was not
as clear as Matt had heard previously, but it unmistakably matched the voice of
his late foreman. He released his grip and Hiro ran to the corner of the room
to get out of his way.

‘That is the voice that
Celeste heard as she was being tortured and abused,’ said Matt, turning back to
face the sisters. ‘Not Rhett, not Pierro, but this sick bastard doing one of
his impersonations.’

Jenny did not believe
it.

‘Matt, this is crazy. I
don’t know how you came up with this idea, but it is not right. Do you realize
what you have done?’

‘Show her the journal,’
advised Rose, as she loosened the grip that she had on her younger sibling.