Amelia gasped. ‘Mum!’
‘It’s true. You’re a first-timer. Everyone else on that committee has been through more than one rodeo and they should have known better. Been more prepared, more aware of the potential danger. The whole district’s been talking about that old man who was tasered out at his farm last week.’ She kept glaring at Gus, Pip and Anne. ‘My daughter could have been killed because of your carelessness.’
Amelia watched, amazed, as tears welled in Natalie’s eyes. ‘Mum, it’s okay. I’m okay—and that’s not really right, or fair, what you’re saying.’
Anne put her arm around Natalie’s shoulders, and held tight for a moment before she was shaken off. ‘You’re right, of course,’ Anne said softly. ‘As a committee we are responsible for all of our members.’ She paused and looked into Natalie’s eyes. ‘We’re so sorry your precious daughter has been hurt. We’ll do everything in our power to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.’
Natalie rubbed her hands over her face and tried to smile. ‘Thank you,’ she said with as much dignity as she could muster.
There was a heavy silence until Gus said, ‘Have you heard anything, Milly, about the investigation?’
‘Dave Burrows, that copper from Adelaide, has been here asking questions about all sorts of things—like whether or not anyone got into the office on the night, or who knew of our travel plans, and so on.’
‘I’ve been wracking my brains trying to remember if there was anything untoward that night, but I just can’t think of anything,’ Pip said, frowning.
‘No one’s likely to recall anything,’ Anne said, patting her on the arm. ‘It was chaotic. We were all so busy trying to make sure everything went off smoothly. I wish there was something I could remember! Wouldn’t that make a difference?’
‘My oath!’ said Gus. ‘I’ve talked to everyone on the committee and a lot of the local attendees, and so has Detective Burrows. He got a big zilch, as did I.’ He shook his head. ‘You know, he’s not a bad fella, that detective. He’s pretty thorough. He checked on where we all were on the night and at what times we all left. Who had what jobs, et cetera.’
‘When he was talking to me, he didn’t rush. Got through what he needed to know,’ Anne said. ‘Same when he talked to Mike and Tony. They were really impressed. But how many people can he interview? I mean, there’s only one of him, and those two boys from Barker. There’s quite a few of us.’
Amelia sighed and nodded. ‘And there was such a huge influx of people into Torrica over the weekend. It would be impossible to question everyone that was here, to track them down. We don’t know most of the visitors’ names!’
‘I’m sure it was some blow-in,’ Natalie said sharply. ‘A local wouldn’t do this.’
‘I hope you’re right,’ said Pip. Amelia had never seen her look so worried and uncertain. ‘Because if one resident could do this to another, to someone they know, live with, work with—well, our community is well and truly stuffed.’
Everyone nodded.
‘Dave asked me about my financial situation,’ Amelia said in a small voice. It had been bothering her, niggling at the back of her mind, since the detective had left. ‘I guess he has to do that, to get to know and understand me better. Understand the situation. Doesn’t he?’
Natalie stiffened. ‘I’m not sure. Why would he need to know about that?’
‘Guess he’s just got to get a feel for the big picture,’ Anne said. ‘Did he ask you, Gus?’
Gus nodded. ‘Yeah, he did. Just one of those questions he has to ask, I reckon. He also asked about the financial situation of the rodeo, and who else had access to the money. Suppose he’s gotta discount what needs discounting and then, as he’s weeding his way through all the information, he might find an important clue.’ Gus shrugged and grinned. ‘But what would I know about investigating a crime?’
Chapter 15
Dave tapped at the microphone and the feedback squeal made him put his hands over his ears. It was worse than fingernails sliding down a blackboard.
‘Sorry, mate!’ Kane, the boy in charge of the audio—who didn’t look older than fourteen—adjusted a few levels and suggested he try again.
‘Testing, testing . . .’ This time it sounded right.
‘There we go,’ said Kane, pleased with himself. ‘All good. Just don’t touch anything and nothing should go wrong.’ He took off the headphones and put them on the control board, then stood and stretched.
‘Are you going to stick around for the event?’ Dave asked. ‘Or do you have a curfew?’
Kane laughed. ‘A curfew? I don’t reckon, mate. But I won’t be here—got to head off now.’
‘Is there someone else who knows how to work this thing if there’s a problem?’ Dave looked at the equipment; he didn’t have a snowflake’s chance in hell of operating the set-up.
‘Oh yeah, someone’ll be around,’ Kane said casually, throwing his rucksack over his shoulder. ‘Everyone’s had a bit of a go at using it, so you’ll be right.’ His boots clumped over the wooden floorboards towards the exit. ‘Good luck tonight,’ he called back with a flick of his hand.
Dave surveyed the sparsely furnished hall and sighed. He wished he could have brought a partner: there was safety in numbers. If something went wrong, there were two of them to fix it—or one to keep talking while the other pretended he knew what he was doing. But departmental budgets didn’t stretch that far and, not for the first time, Dave felt the weight of responsibility on his shoulders. Plus, he was buggered after his full day of interviews and he’d had to skip lunch. The forum was meant to start in—he checked his watch—less than two hours. Bloody hell.
Dave straightened and told himself to get over it. He had to get across to the local farmers how important it was that they lock everything up. Times were changing and crime crossed all parts of society now. The country was clearly no longer immune.
In the corner of the big space were piles of chairs stacked up against the wall. His R.M. Williams boots clicked on the floor as he walked over to lay them out. Placing them in rows of six, he worked until the hall was filled with chairs.
Methodically, he took out the leaflets and pens he wanted to distribute, and slid them into brown paper bags with string handles. There were information sheets about what he’d cover tonight, but experience had shown these types of forums always worked better if there was a take-home package. Along with the sheets, each bag held a magnet emblazoned with the Crime Stoppers phone number, an SA Police pen and a notebook. Dave was hoping for at least a hundred attendees. He stacked the bags in lots of ten, so he’d know how many he’d processed.
‘Helloooo?’
Dave turned as high heels clipped up the steps and into the dim room.
‘Oh,’ said Kim, stopping for a minute and peering around, ‘Dave, you in here?’
With a smile, Dave went over to her. ‘What are you doing here? Not that it’s not a nice surprise.’
Kim smiled back at him and held up a plastic bag. ‘Dinner. I skipped out early. Jackie from the motel’s in charge.’
‘I’m very spoilt!’
‘Nothing less than you deserve.’ Her smile widened. ‘Do you want to go sit in the park or eat here?’
‘I reckon some fresh air and wide open spaces would suit me down to the ground right now.’
He held out his hand, Kim took it, and together they headed outside. Even though the days were still warm, the evenings held the promise of winter. The clear blue sky and the sun dropping to the horizon didn’t do anything to ward off the chill.
‘How did you know I was here?’ he asked as they crossed the road, making a beeline for the Lions Club park.
‘And you’re supposed to be a detective.’ Shaking her head, Kim poked him in the side. ‘Your car’s parked out front!’
Dave gave a short chuckle. ‘Yeah, I guess that’s a bit of a giveaway.’
In the park they sat down on a bench and Kim handed him a steak sandwich,
a Coke and a straw. Before he’d even started to unwrap it, ducks appeared at their feet, silent and brooding, watching for dropped crumbs. Dave threw a crust towards the pond and the ducks stampeded in a quacking, excited mass. The strongest one got there first and pecked the food up, preparing to swallow, but was thwarted by one of the smaller birds, who cheekily plucked the hunk of bread straight out of the other’s beak. Dave smiled and took a big bite of his sandwich.
‘It’s beautiful here, isn’t it?’ Kim asked, looking around. The body of water was surrounded by tall gumtrees, all hand-planted forty or so years ago, and a small bridge ran from one side to the other. A grassy area off to one side was equipped with wood-fire barbecues, next to a brightly coloured plastic playground on tanbark.
There was no one else around but Dave could hear the passage of cars behind them every so often. He slipped his arm around Kim’s shoulders and looked down at her. ‘So how’s your day been?’
‘Busy! Had to dash back to work from the hospital in the morning. I’ve served dozens of buckets of chips, burgers, steak sandwiches. Thank goodness I’ve got Jackie to give me a hand in the kitchen. There were a couple of shearers’ buses come through and put in big orders. But that makes me happy.’ Kim smiled and flicked back her long curly hair, and Dave eyed it appreciatively. ‘And there was a busload of oldies on a trip to the Flinders Ranges. They just wanted coffees and cake, so that was easy enough.’
‘You love that roadhouse, don’t you?’
He screwed up the wrapping and tossed it back in the bag. Opening the Coke, he took a sip and looked over at her. He was still getting used to having a woman back in his life, and the fact that it was Kim startled him every time he thought about her.
A woman back in his life . . . Was that really what Kim was? After all, it had only been a few days, and how could it work once he’d headed back to Adelaide? Dave decided not to think about that yet.
She reached out and took his hand, giving it a squeeze. ‘I love being the boss of my own business—and I love talking to people, seeing them smile, hearing their stories. Makes me happy. When the coaches come in, a lot of the oldies like to chat about themselves and where they’re from, what they’ve done with their lives and where they’re heading to. I know it isn’t a fancy career, but it works for me.’
She was so open about her life, so honest. Dave couldn’t help himself. Her lips were full and just demanded to be kissed.
‘Mmm.’ Kim’s mouth moved against his. ‘You make me happy too.’
‘That’s lucky, because the feeling’s mutual.’
Dave watched Kim serving cups of tea from the small kitchen at the back of the hall. He was so pleased she’d offered to help—it freed him up to walk around the hall and talk to the people gathered there. He caught her eye and grinned. She winked, then turned back to the next man in the queue.
It was a good turn-out. As Dave worked the room, he listened to snatches of conversation. Farmers were lamenting the need for opening rains and how it was unseasonably warm. Pretty standard stuff when a bunch of farmers got together. But then his ears picked up something a little more intriguing—it sounded like the local vet was laying into a group of blokes about paying their bills.
Just as he was edging closer to eavesdrop properly, someone tapped him on the shoulder. ‘G’day, you must be the copper everyone’s talking about.’
A man who was seventy if he was a day appeared at Dave’s shoulder. He pushed back his terry-towelling hat to reveal a deeply lined face, but eyes that were clear and alert.
‘Dave Burrows.’ He held out his hand and the man shook it with a firm grip.
‘Clive Frank. I just wanted to let you know there’ve been a few strange happenings around my place recently.’
‘Have there now? Would you mind writing them down for me? In the bag there’s a pen and paper—’
‘Can’t write,’ Clive said. ‘It won’t take long. Me dogs have been barking at two in the morning for the last couple o’days.’
‘Right,’ said Dave, pulling out his own notebook and scribbling. ‘Did you have a look outside?’
‘Yep, couldn’t see nothin’, but it’s odd, you know?’
‘I’m sure. Where’s your farm?’
‘T’other side of Torrica.’
‘Do your dogs ever bark when there’s a full moon, Clive?’ Dave asked, knowing full well there was a super moon due that night.
Clive scratched his head. ‘Now that you mention it, they can have a bit of a howl when the lady is out.’
‘When they do it next, maybe you should check if there’s a full moon? If there’s not, certainly get back in contact with me.’ Dave handed over his card.
‘Cheers, Detective. Me missus said you’d have a good laugh at me expense, but I thought I should say something. You never know.’
‘Dead right, Clive, I’m pleased you did. Catch you a bit later on.’
Dave moved off into the crowd before Clive could say anything more. A spite-filled voice caught his attention, and he shifted over to the wall where he could stand without drawing attention.
‘Of course she had something to do with it,’ a man was saying. ‘I’ve worked on the committee with her and there was no way she should have been allowed to have that job. Like I’ve said before, you work up to a position of responsibility—you don’t just get it handed to you. Thought you agreed with me on that.’
‘Jim, you’re blowing hot air out of your arse. Milly and her family are respectable people. Why do you reckon she’s involved?’
‘Well, she’s hooked up with that Paul Barnes for a start, isn’t she? He hasn’t got a pot to piss in. My theory is that she’s helped herself to our takings to make their life a little easier. Don’t know why you find it so hard to understand, Cappa.’
‘Mate, you’re making life hard for that girl, with no reason. And I wouldn’t let Kim hear you saying any of that. You’ll end up with egg on your face quick smart.’
It was Jim and Cappa from the committee: Dave had interviewed them, and he’d found out from various committee members that Jim hadn’t been keen on Amelia being treasurer. He listened for a bit longer before he looked up and realised Kim was trying to attract his attention. She pointed at her watch: it was time. He swallowed, then made his way to the front of the hall and tapped at the microphone. Happily there wasn’t any feedback. When he scanned the sea of faces, all the people taking their seats, he was pleased to see the space was nearly full. Glancing over at the sideboard, he realised all the bags he’d made up were gone.
‘Good evening, everyone, and thanks for coming along. I’m Dave Burrows from the South Australian Police. Until a few years ago, I headed up the stock squad over in WA, so I’m no stranger to rural crime or country life.’ He paused as he collected his thoughts. ‘Now, there were info packs over there, but it appears they’ve all gone. If you’ve missed out you can see me afterwards and I’ll get one to you. It’s important that everyone has one, because inside is a Farm Security Assessment form.
‘One of the things the SA Police want to do is work with you to prevent all types of rural crime. Can be anything from domestic violence to pubs getting ripped off, to stolen property from farms or depots. I’ll be at your disposal for the next few weeks, so if you’d like me to come to your property and do a security assessment, I’m more than willing to do that.’
There was a general shuffling of papers and people putting on reading glasses to look at the contents of the bags. For the next half an hour Dave addressed issues of safety for persons and property, as well as covering the best means of crime prevention, before turning his attention to the rodeo theft.
‘Now, I’m sure you’ve all heard that a young woman was badly hurt in a robbery this week, and you might have heard about other thefts committed in this area over the past few months, within about a hundred-k radius of Torrica. These crims aren’t scared of hurting people. An elderly farmer was tasered during a theft last week—it seems they didn’t e
xpect him to be around. The woman who was attacked has injured ribs and was tasered. All I can do is encourage you to keep your eyes open and be careful. If you see anything odd or suspicious, please get in contact with me. Thanks for your time this evening.’ Stepping down from the platform, Dave waited for people to come up and talk to him.
‘That went really well,’ Kim said as she washed up the last of the cups. Dave was drying and putting away. She bumped her hip against his. ‘We make a good team.’
‘It did, and yes, we do,’ Dave answered with a smile, but he was thinking hard about a conversation he’d found very interesting. He said casually, ‘What can you tell me about the local vet? And what’s his name?’
‘Grant Hink. Oh, he’s a nice enough bloke, I reckon. I don’t have much to do with him, since I don’t have any animals.’ She looked at Dave. ‘I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me why you’re asking?’
‘Strictly confidential, but I heard him and a few other blokes talking. Sounds like he’s having trouble getting them to pay their bills, and he’s struggling.’
‘Nothing new about that.’ Kim snorted. ‘There’re always people not paying their accounts. They don’t realise how important it is for businesses to have a good cash flow. We have bills too.’
‘Would there be many people in town with that problem at the moment?’
‘I wouldn’t know without looking at their bank accounts, Dave,’ Kim said with a grin, but her eyes were thoughtful. ‘I’d find it hard to pin it on a local . . . however, if you’re looking for reasons for a robbery, I can probably name three businesses in the main street which are just about to go under.’
Chapter 16
On Monday evening Amelia was enjoying a brief moment of quiet. She was tired and, though her visitors’ hearts were in the right place, she wasn’t sure she could stand to answer ‘How are you?’ one more time; she was glad the room’s other bed had stayed vacant.
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