The Twisted Knot (13 page)

37

‘Thanks for coming in today, Eric.' Terry sounded like a mate asking for a favour. ‘We've just got a couple of questions for you, that's all.'

‘And I definitely don't need a lawyer?' Eric asked, eyeing Terry suspiciously.

‘Nah, mate,' Terry said with a hint of laughter. ‘Nah, it's nothing like that. Only a couple of questions.'

Sammi followed them into the interview room.

‘You
know
Sammi,
don't
you?'
Terry
said
by
way
of
introduction.

‘Yeah, we've met.'

Sammi smiled grimly at the memory of the mob at the counter.

‘Look, Eric, I'm sure you've heard about Peter Woodford hanging himself in his shed.'

‘Yep. Couldn't have happened to a more deserving bloke.' Eric leant back in his chair and folded his hands behind his head.

‘It's not been entirely straightforward, you know, with what's happened in the past and now the new rumours. And we're still tying off some loose ends.'

‘Not sure what it's got to do with me though.'

‘Yep. Yep. We'll get to that, mate. Have you been out to Peter's place?'

‘What? Ever?'

‘Yeah. Have you ever been to Peter's place?'

‘Nope.'

‘You know where it is?'

‘Yep.'

‘How do you know where he lives if you've never been out there?'

‘I grew up here. They've always lived there.'

‘But you've never been out there?'

‘Nope.'

‘Okay then. Hey, what do you do with yourself, Eric? You know, for work.'

Eric shrugged. ‘I'm a labourer mostly. Just pick up work around the place.'

‘Where have you been working?'

‘Up north mostly.'

‘Been to Mackay?'

‘Yeah, spent a while there a year or two ago.'

‘I've got a cousin who lives there. Do you work on any building sites?'

‘Yeah. Been on a lot of building sites.' They were all general questions with straightforward answers.

‘What sorts of work do you do? Are you a chippie or bricklayer or something?'

‘Done
some
bricklaying
and
some
scaffolding
and
some
roofing.'

‘Did you work for any scaffolding mobs?'

Sammi watched as Eric's posture changed suddenly. He folded his arms across his chest and his eyes flicked from Terry to the closed door and back again. He'd worked out his error.

‘B&D Scaffolding, yeah? They gave you some work shirts with their name printed on them,' Terry continued using the same friendly tone.

‘Do I need a lawyer?' Eric asked.

Sammi could hear the irritation in his voice. Was he annoyed because he'd been caught out? Or because he had something further to protect?

‘Nah, mate. I told you at the beginning. We could go through the whole procedure to link you to the scarecrow on Peter's front lawn. You know, contact your old bosses in Mackay, check you against the DNA swabs that Forensics got off the shirt. But I'm not really interested in that.'

Sammi knew there would be no charges coming out of the scarecrow without a complaint. A dead man couldn't make complaints to police. But Eric didn't know that.

Eric dipped his head then scowled at Terry. ‘So what do you want from me?'

‘We want to know who Peter's latest victim is.' Now Terry sounded like a detective instead of a mate.

Eric stared at him. ‘Wendy'll fucken kill me.'

‘Wendy's not going to find out. Not from us anyway. There are so many rumours around town, we could have gotten the info from anyone.'

Eric shook his head, looked away. ‘Then get it from anyone. Not me.'

‘You've
got
nothing
to
lose,
eh?
You
don't
live
here.
You
can
take
off
again
anytime.
The
arsehole's
dead
now
any
way,'
Terry
said.

Eric took a deep breath and blew it out so his cheeks puffed up. He looked Terry in the eye.

‘I'll tell you because I think you should know,' he said. ‘Not because I'm scared of some shitty charge about the scarecrow.'

Terry nodded. ‘Understood.'

‘It was his niece, Nicola. Barry's stepdaughter.' Eric grunted. ‘Dirty fucker. She's only eight. I'm glad he's dead.'

‘So who killed him?' Terry asked.

The look on Eric's face couldn't have been faked. Complete incredulity. That was definitely one rumour he hadn't heard.

‘He's been murdered? I thought it was suicide.'

What will be the consequences of this getting out?
Sammi thought. It was a risky move from Terry.

Terry was watching Eric, leaving a pause.

‘I didn't say he was murdered,' he said, dismissively. ‘Did you hear he was murdered?'

Amazement turned to confusion. Eric shook his head. ‘What?'

‘I think we're done now. Thanks for your time.' Terry stood and opened the door to the interview room.

Eric left, still shaking his head.

As soon as he was out of the office, Sammi turned to Terry. ‘I can't believe you asked him who killed Woodford,' she said.

‘Did you see the look on his face though?' Terry replied.

‘Yeah, it was a cross between surprise and shock. Would have been the same look as on my face, but for a different reason. You know that will be all around town before the day's over.'

Terry shrugged. ‘Yeah. But now we know that he's not keeping any other secrets.'

‘Isn't that counter-productive, announcing to the town that it might be murder?'

‘Was it meant to be a secret?'

Sammi paused, not sure how to respond to this. ‘Where did you work before you came to Angel's Crossing?' she asked.

‘The Gold Coast,' he replied.

Sammi
shook
her
head.
‘You
have
no
idea
how
small
towns
work.'

38

‘What do you know, Gav?'

When his boss had asked him to come into the office and shut the door behind him, Gavin hadn't been expecting this question.

He looked uncertainly at Stan. ‘What do you mean, mate?' He got on well with Stan. As far as bosses went, he was a good one. He paid them fairly and gave them a little flexibility when they needed it. But Gavin didn't know what to make of this conversation.

‘I haven't heard from Barry. At all.'

‘I haven't heard from him either,' Gavin said.

‘If he just rang me and said he needed a week or something that would be fine. Family emergency and that. I'm not going to sack him because he's missed a few days because his brother's dead. We'd cover him.'

‘Yeah, you've always been good like that.' Gavin nodded, still unsure where this was leading.

‘But I've heard nothing. Nothing from him. Nothing from Belinda. It's been nearly a week now. He's a good worker. And a good bloke. But how long can I wait?'

Stan shrugged his shoulders at Gavin. ‘So what do you know about it? Are the coppers looking for him? Was he involved with Peter's death?'

Gavin felt his tension rush away. He'd only been summoned to the boss's office because Stan thought he'd have the inside story. He'd have to disappoint him this time.

‘Sorry, mate. I don't know anything more than you. Everyone's talking about it but no one seems to know anything.'

‘C'mon, Gavin. I'm trying to help Barry out here. I can't hold his job open indefinitely. Are the coppers expecting him back?'

Gavin looked Stan in the eye. ‘Honestly, I don't know anything more. The topic is pretty much not open to discussion at our house at the moment.'

Stan held his hands out, palms upwards, as if he still didn't believe that Gavin had no information for him. ‘Okay then. If I haven't heard from Barry by Monday, I'm going to have to advertise his spot.' He paused. ‘It's a shame. I'd say his life's hard enough at the moment without losing his job.'

Gavin nodded, unsure of what to say. ‘If I hear anything, I'll let you know,' he offered.

‘All clear,' Stan said, as if he didn't believe him. He looked away, pulling some papers out of a tray on his desk. Clearly the conversation was over.

Gavin let himself out, his lip curled with annoyance.

He wouldn't miss this sort of shit when he got accepted into the academy. He's one of the crew. He'd be on the inside.

39

Mel popped her head around the door of the meal room, where Sammi was toasting her chutney, chicken and cheese sandwich in the press. The roster had not yet been updated to reflect her return to operational shifts so she was on the counter again today.

‘Now, there's no real hurry
. . .'
she started and Sammi groaned.

‘I hope it can wait till after my sandwich. Can you smell it?'

Mel frowned. ‘Not sure if this one is going to help things or make them worse. It's a mother with a young girl. They want to talk with a female officer.'

Sammi stared at her. ‘Another victim?'

‘That's what I was thinking.'

Sammi switched off the sandwich press and headed straight to the front counter, ignoring the smell of grilled cheese as it wafted down the hallway behind her. Even though going out with Bob the other morning had felt just like old times, she wasn't a hundred per cent sure she was ready to leave the safety of the counter just yet.

The two people waiting at the front counter hardly looked as if they could be related. The mother was pale and thin, almost sickly looking, whereas the daughter was a solid chunk of a girl, with frizzy blonde hair. She looked up at Sammi as she came to the front. Although she was duly solemn about being at the police station with her mum, her expression was one of curiosity, her eyes animated. Sammi immediately suspected she was not a victim.

‘Hi, I'm Sammi. Won't you come through,' she said, ushering them through the door and into the interview room.

‘How can I help you?' she asked, taking a seat.

‘My name is Sylvia Tetanovich and this is Mikayla,' the mother said, gesturing towards the little girl. ‘Mikayla is friends with Nicola Woodford.'

‘BFFs,' the girl clarified.

‘Mikayla came home a couple of days ago saying she was worried about Nicola. She said she had told her . . . Mikayla, why don't you tell the officer what Nicola told you?'

Mikayla's eyes lit up at the opportunity to be part of this important grown-up conversation.

‘Nicola told me her uncle hurts her when she goes to his farm. She said he pulls his pants down and his private parts look like a big zucchini. But not as green. And then he pulls her pants down and hurts her.' The little girl clearly had no idea what she was describing and was simply excited to be the centre of attention.

‘That doesn't sound very nice,' Sammi exclaimed, to encourage the child.

‘No,' Mikayla agreed emphatically. ‘Nicola asked me if my uncle did that to me. Well, my uncle lives in Melbourne, so no. But I told her no one's allowed to touch your privates unless it's your mum. Or your dad.' She paused, thinking hard. ‘Or the doctor.' Clearly, she wanted to show she knew what she was talking about. ‘And then I said adults shouldn't hurt kids.' She emphasised all the pronouns when she spoke, certain that she had given the right advice to her friend.

Sylvia nodded. ‘That's exactly right, Mikayla. That was a great thing to tell Nicola. And I'm glad you told me about it, and also Constable Sammi.' She turned to Sammi and lowered her voice a little. ‘I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I don't want to make any trouble for them. I've heard the rumours around town and Nicola hasn't been at school since Monday. No one's answering the home phone and Belinda's mobile is turned off. Is everything okay? Please tell me it's not what it sounds like.' There was a note of pleading in her voice. No mother liked to think that this sort of thing happened to little girls in real life. Little girls they knew. Little girls like their own daughters.

Sammi shook her head slightly. ‘There's very little I can tell you due to privacy laws. But there is an investigation underway.' She turned to the girl again. ‘You have been so helpful today, Mikayla. Thank you for that. Do you think you could come into the police station here some other time and talk with one of my friends?'

The solemn face again from the little girl. She was being invited to take part in further grown-up business. She was important today. ‘Yes,' she said. ‘Nicola's my best friend. I want to help her.'

‘That's great,' Sammi said. ‘It's also important that you don't talk to any of your other friends about this. It was extra special best friend business between you and Nicola, and I know you'll keep it that way.' She then took all their contact details, letting Mikayla give her all the answers.

‘A detective will have to take a proper recorded statement from Mikayla,' she said to Sylvia. ‘Someone will be in touch. Thanks for coming in.' She led them back out to the front door.

*

Back in the meal room, her toasted sandwich was still warmish. She sat down and bit into it, but hardly paid any attention to the taste.

Bob entered a few moments later. ‘What's the story?'

‘That was the fresh complainant for Nicola Woodford. She's also eight.' Sammi took a ferocious bite of her sandwich.

‘Shit,' he said.

Sammi grimaced. ‘She's got no idea what her friend was talking about, but she can repeat it all word for word. There's no way she was making it up. I don't think it occurred to her how wrong this all is. Lucky she told her mum.'

‘So she'll talk to CIB?'

‘Yeah.'

‘The case is building.'

Sammi nodded. ‘This girl was so excited about coming to the police station and having me hanging on her every word. Had no idea of the seriousness of it all. Hopefully she doesn't start trying to impress every other adult she meets with the same story. The situation's bad enough without throwing fuel on the fire.'

‘Obviously some of it has already got out. It's hard work in a town like this, with someone like Woodford.' Bob said.

‘Yeah, hard work,' Sammi repeated. Her mind had kicked into gear.