‘Is it just me, or did that interview go well?’ Devon said above the music.
Uncle Pike laughed and played with the stereo’s volume buttons. ‘Besides nearly running him over at the end.’
I leaned forward between their seats. ‘Next time we use the witness statement questions. Okay, Officer Markle?’ My uncle glanced at Devon and smiled. Maybe road trips really did solve everything. I leaned over and put my arms around Devon and kissed him on the cheek. But one thing the road trip hadn’t solved was our mystery. Visiting the neighbours had raised more questions than answers.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
We stopped in at home for lunch, but Mum was at work. Since being at the Airbnb, I had started to appreciate how good my home smelled. I helped Devon make a large salad and I heated up Mum’s homemade pumpkin soup for us to drink out of mugs. When it was ready we sat down at the kitchen table and had a Nancys working lunch meeting.
‘I think we need to investigate the timeline for Mr Tulips leading up to the bombing,’ I began.
‘Agreed,’ Uncle Pike said.
Devon nodded, blowing on his soup.
‘Both Pete and Duncan Nunn said they didn’t see much of Mr Tulips this year,’ I said.
‘Maybe something happened at the beginning of the year?’ Devon suggested.
‘But what?’ Uncle Pike replied. ‘The media all say he wasn’t part of any terrorist group. But should we look at all the conspiracy theories?’
I shrugged. ‘It wouldn’t hurt—maybe there is some truth in some of the theories?’
Uncle Pike stabbed at his spinach leaves. ‘Okay. Let’s talk with Melanie to see if she’s found out anything else online. Maybe some people have come forward about their time with him.’
Devon sipped his soup and grimaced. He put down the mug then wiped his tongue on a paper towel. ‘I will say it if no one else will. Peter Henare was in on it.’
My uncle put down his fork. ‘Now come on.’
‘Everyone’s a suspect,’ I said. ‘And he is a chemical engineer.’
‘Yes, but Pete’s also a friend of your parents,’ Uncle Pike said. ‘And he lost his husband. And the police say Mr Tulips acted alone.’
‘Hello, Riverstone Police? At Christmas they arrested your friend Sally Homer for a murder she didn’t commit, remember?’ Devon said. ‘And the way Peter Henare was about John Dalrymple, that was weird. And then there’s the possible affair.’
I nodded. ‘Devon’s right. And until we find out how Mr Tulips made his bomb …’
‘Thank you, Tippy.’ Devon stood up and cleared his plate with his mug still full of pumpkin soup. I noticed he had hardly eaten anything.
‘Plus,’ I said,‘Mum’s best friend was guilty in the Nancys’ last case.’
‘Touché,’ Uncle Pike said.
And Mum and Dad never mentioned Pete. I wondered if that was to keep Mr Henderson’s secret?
Devon took his plate to the sink then stretched, leaning on the kitchen bench. ‘I’m off for a run. Don’t get arrested.’
Uncle Pike watched him leave, a worried look on his face. I didn’t know what to say so I sat in silence finishing my soup, before suddenly having a brainwave. Maybe getting a dog would fix things between them? Everybody loves dogs. ‘Can we visit Mr Tulips’ dog, and maybe adopt him?’ I asked.
‘Great idea, Tippy.’
I cleared our dishes while Uncle Pike called the vet. The dog was still there. I tried not to get too excited as we jumped in the ute and drove over. I’d never owned a dog before because Mum and Dad wouldn’t let me. Mum was going to freak but I couldn’t let him die. I just hoped he wouldn’t be as bitey as he was at the farm.
After driving across town, we parked the twin-cab and entered the vet. The same friendly woman who had been in reception last time was helping an old man choose cat biscuits. When she finished, she came over.
‘We called earlier about the dog,’ my uncle said.
‘Of course. Come through.’
We went out the back into the surgery. The vet with the curly ginger hair was washing her hands.
‘These people are here about a dog,’ the woman told her.
The vet nodded and dried her hands. The receptionist smiled and left.
‘Follow me.’ She led us out to the kennels. A very cute white schnauzer barked and jumped up on the wire as soon as it saw us, sticking his nose through the gap. ‘That’s Hugo,’ the vet said. ‘He’s a regular down here.’ I crouched down and tried to scratch behind his ear. He’d recently had a haircut. I want to adopt you. The vet smiled at me. ‘His owners are on their way.’ I didn’t smile back.
Next to Hugo was the black and tan dog from Mr Tulips’ farm. He stood up as the vet came closer. His tail did a half wag that sped up when he saw Uncle Pike.
‘I think someone likes you,’ the vet said.
My uncle went over and kneeled down. ‘At least someone does.’ He offered the dog the back of his hand slowly. The dog didn’t hesitate and licked him excitedly through the wire.
‘What’s his name?’ I asked the vet.
‘Jack Pepper,’ the vet said. ‘That’s what it says on the form you filled out when you dropped him off?’
My uncle groaned as he stood up.
‘Devon?’ I asked.
‘Hmmm,’ Uncle Pike said. ‘Has there been any interest in him?’ he asked the vet, who shook her head. ‘Okay then, what do we need to do now?’
I jumped and clapped which made the dogs bark. We were getting a dog.
The vet took us inside and my uncle filled out some more paperwork. Once he’d finished, she went back into the kennels and came out with the dog on a leash.
Outside, I opened the rear door of the ute and the dog jumped onto the seat. I had put down towels for him in case of an accident. He really ponged.
‘We’ll need to get you a shower when we get home,’ Uncle Pike said, putting down the windows. ‘Maybe some apple shampoo. What do you say Jacqui O?’
The dog yawned and lay down. My uncle reached back and patted him.
‘You can’t call him that,’ I said.
‘Why not?’ Uncle Pike put on his sunglasses. ‘How about Togo then? After Nancy’s dog.’
‘I was thinking Fabulon,’ I said. I just liked the sound of it.
My uncle gasped then smiled at me. ‘Brilliant, Tippy. Simply brilliant. That’s his name.’ He looked in the rear-view mirror. ‘Aye, Fabulon?’
Fabulon whapped his thick tail against the door in a happy beat.
We pulled up at home to collect Devon. He was lying on the Brown’s lawn, talking to Bunny Whiskers. As soon as I got out, Fabulon leaped out of my door. For a second I worried that he was going to run away, but he just sniffed the concrete drive until he found a puddle to drink out of.
Devon glared at Uncle Pike.‘I can’t believe you got a dog without talking to me first?’
‘What?’ my uncle said. The dog spotted the cat and barked. Bunny Whiskers looked up mid-lick and froze as Fabulon bounded after her.
‘No!’ Devon jumped up. ‘Tell your awful dog to leave my puss alone.’
Uncle Pike attempted to jump a bush then gave up and bulldozed his way through the garden bordering the Browns’ lawn, chasing after Fabulon. Bunny Whiskers shot under the Browns’ car. The dog crouched near the front tyre, barking his head off.
‘Do something!’ Devon yelled at my uncle.
Mrs Brown and Melanie raced out to see what was happening.
Uncle Pike glared at Devon and slapped his leg to get Fabulon’s attention.
Melanie joined me. ‘What’s with the drama?’
‘New dog,’ I said.
She leaned against the ute. ‘Your hair looks good.’
I mumbled thanks and we watched the barking and yelling by the Browns’ car.
Melanie nodded at Devon. ‘Doesn’t look like Lucy’s a fan.’
Uncle Pike tried to grab Fabulon, while Devon stayed on the other side of the car with Mrs Brown
, who was wringing her hands as she watched the action unfold.
‘He hates dogs,’ I said.
‘No shit,’ Melanie said. ‘And Betty hates cats. How’s this going to work?’
Fabulon gave Uncle Pike an excited nip on the butt before my uncle managed to grab hold of him.
‘He’s a bit bitey,’ I said to Melanie.
‘Explains Betty’s hand.’
We watched Uncle Pike crab-walk over the Browns’ lawn towards us, holding Fabulon by his collar.
‘All right?’ Melanie called out.
Uncle Pike nodded but didn’t say anything. Melanie raised an eyebrow at me and I shrugged.
‘Can you do me a favour please?’ I asked her. Bunny Whiskers bolted from under the car and then stopped on the lawn and started licking herself like nothing had happened.
‘Shoot,’ Melanie said.
‘Could you do an online search on Will Jansen? I just want to know why he did it. If anyone saw him acting strange in the days, or weeks, before the bombing. Or saw him buy materials for the bomb, that kind of thing.’
‘Sure, I’ve already been looking anyways, especially as Phyllis keeps droning on that he’s innocent. Haven’t found anything yet, but there’s a lot of people with bat-shit theories,’ Melanie said. ‘Leave it with me. I’ll dig deeper.’
Uncle Pike joined us. He lifted Fabulon onto the back of the ute. The dog, clearly not used to being carried, squirmed like an eel, nearly escaping back onto the driveway. My uncle tied him up just as Mum arrived home from work.
Devon stalked over and went ahead into the house. Mum frowned and asked, ‘What did I miss?’
‘I’ll tell you inside,’ my uncle replied.
‘Good luck, Betty,’ Melanie said, pushing off. ‘I’m around if you need me.’
‘Thanks, appreciate it.’ He shuffled inside with Mum. Poor Fabulon, it wasn’t his fault but he had done the opposite of helping.
I followed them both in, Uncle Pike ahead of me, rubbing his backside.
‘Fabulon?’ Mum said, in the living room. ‘What is it with you gays?’
‘Actually your daughter named him,’ Uncle Pike said.
‘I wanted to call him Jack Pepper,’ Devon said.
Mum looked confused. ‘After your builder?’
‘Tippy, don’t look.’ Uncle Pike pulled down his pants, showing his bum. ‘Did he get me?’ One cheek had a red bite mark.
Mum sighed and studied the bite. ‘You’re lucky, the skin’s not broken.’
Uncle Pike showed her his hand. ‘Not like this?’ He lifted his shirt sleeve. ‘Or these?’
She slapped him on the arm. ‘You never got that tetanus shot did you? Bad! You’re coming down with me right now. Seriously, Pike, what is wrong with you?’
Devon shook his head. ‘Exactly my question.’ He stormed out to the balcony and a lurking Mrs Brown.
‘What’s up his hairy garden?’ Mum asked.
‘Eeew, Mum. So gross.’
After Uncle Pike came back from getting his tetanus shot, we left Mum’s house in the ute, Fabulon in the back. Instead of going to the Airbnb, Devon drove us in silence to Number Four. He wanted to check on Jack’s progress.
‘Mum said it’s supposed to snow later,’ I said, trying to make conversation.
‘It’s April,’ Devon said.
‘It’s Riverstone,’ my uncle said.
Devon rolled his eyes at him. I decided it might be safer not to make any more conversation. I’d tell Devon some other time about the iceberg that broke off from Antarctica and floated past.
Inside Number Four, Jack Pepper was busy lining the ensuite’s new wall with large sheets of plywood. I left them all discussing waterproofing, and made everyone a P.A. cup of tea. Fabulon was loving sniffing around. Coming back into the living room, Uncle Pike and Devon still weren’t really speaking to each other. I blew on my mug and walked over to give Devon his tea. He stared out the sash windows. After delivering Jack’s cuppa to the ensuite I came back and sat beside Uncle Pike on Gran’s sofa.
‘We need to track down how Mr Tulips built his bomb,’ he said. ‘But the police are guarding that info like it’s Fort Knox.’
‘What’s Fort Knox?’ Devon and I asked.
‘Jinx,’ we said together. Devon came over and we hooked our pinkies.
‘Make a wish.’ I closed my eyes and wished I could find out what happened to Dad.
‘Seriously? You’ve never heard of Fort Knox?’ Uncle Pike rolled his eyes.
‘Is it a famous night club?’ I asked.
Devon stroked his chin. ‘No, I would’ve heard of that.’ He was the worst at jinx.
‘Gold.’ My uncle sighed. ‘There’s lots of gold there.’
‘Oh my God, I love gold!’ Devon said.
‘So I’ve heard,’ Uncle Pike said.
Devon’s mouth fell open and his eyes widened. He blinked a couple of times and turned away from my uncle.
I didn’t remember anything about gold. I pulled up all my photos of the case so far.
Uncle Pike held the tablet and scrolled through them. He peered closer, his whiskers tickling my cheek. ‘No bomb materials, or anything untoward here.’
‘Speak English,’ Devon said.
My uncle jerked his head back. He frowned at Devon. ‘Doesn’t look like anything out of the ordinary,’ he said in a voice louder than normal.
Adults were weird. The road trip had worked but now it wasn’t. The dog definitely hadn’t worked. I didn’t know what was going on with them, but it was getting worse and I didn’t like it and I didn’t know how to fix it. We had four days until 25 April and we needed to get back on track with the investigation. Maybe that would stop them being mean to each other, like it had when we were the Markles.
Devon pulled out a can of hairspray from his man-bag and shook it, making a rattling noise. He spoke in a loud voice. ‘People can be triggers, aye, Jack.’
Fabulon trotted over to him. I glanced at Uncle Pike, who looked worried.
‘What’s that?’ Jack Pepper called out from the other room.
‘Hornblower’s gone,’ my uncle told Devon. ‘That’s what he told me at the gym. Not that it should matter anyway.’
I agreed with Uncle Pike. I mean it could be true; I had seen Hornblower on the news this morning in front of Riverstone Bridge, but he might have left by now. I was worried and didn’t want Devon getting any more upset. Devon gave me a nod.
The dog sniffed the spray can. Devon pulled him close and sprayed a pink stripe down his back.
Uncle Pike spilled his tea. ‘What are you doing?’ He put his mug down and shook his burnt hand.
Devon held up the can. ‘It’s hair colour, so it washes out. He needs some highlights.’ He tilted his head and the dog did the same. ‘Hot zebra?’ Fabulon wagged his tail, colliding with mugs on the table and knocking Uncle Pike’s off.
‘He seems pretty happy,’ I said.
‘How do you even have that?’ Uncle Pike sighed. ‘This better not be permanent. Not like those bloody pens.’
‘Of course not,’ Devon said. He tried to sneak a peek at the can’s instructions.
‘Why would Pete help Mr Tulips make a bomb?’ I asked.
‘Money,’ Devon spat, glaring at Uncle Pike.
‘Isn’t that one of the main reasons anyone does anything in crime?’ I said, trying to stop a fight between them. ‘Like revenge?’
‘Can’t argue with that,’ my uncle said.
‘Money or sex,’ Devon said.
‘Devon!’
‘He’s not wrong,’ I said. ‘But Mr Tulips had plenty of that.’ I got up and went to the window, hoping they wouldn’t talk about sex. Greyish-purple clouds stretched across the valley, and it was darker outside than normal for the time of day. The gloom made the blue tarpaulin over the town hall stand out even more against the other buildings, the pale concrete of the bridge and the green river. I wondered if my town would ever be sunny again. ‘Do you think Mr Tulips r
eally meant to kill himself and all those people?’
‘Maybe,’ my uncle said. He checked on Devon who was suddenly busy crouching over Fabulon and spraying stripes.
‘But why? And why there?’ I wondered. Uncle Pike stood up and joined me. We stared downtown.
‘Maybe Pete triggered it. The bomb,’ Devon said. ‘Before she could get out, maybe when she pulled up.’
She? DS Graham?
‘Remote detonation,’ my uncle said. ‘Unless it was faulty.’
Devon rubbed his forehead. ‘She was still in the driver’s seat, the tree had crushed the roof and windscreen glass covered her.’ He swallowed. ‘We didn’t know if the car was going to catch fire.’ Poor Devon and Mum and poor, poor DS Graham. It must have been terrifying in the carpark. I hadn’t realised just how bad it was. ‘Shit.’ My uncle went to put his hand on Devon’s shoulder but he moved away.
‘I held her hand and kept her talking, cleaning the blood and glass off her face as your mum, Tippy, did all she could to keep Brenda’s blood pressure from completely dropping.’
Jack Pepper called out from the hallway. ‘Hey, guys.’
Devon rolled his eyes. ‘Forget it.’
Fabulon barked and broke free from Devon’s grasp as Jack entered the living room.
‘Hey, boy. Nice racing stripes.’ Jack kneeled and held out his hand for the dog to sniff. ‘Just thought I’d check in before I leave for the weekend. See if you’re happy with everything.’
‘No—’ Devon said.
‘All good,’ Uncle Pike interrupted. He glared at Devon then turned to Jack. ‘Go enjoy your weekend. Come on.’ He walked Jack out to the front door, Fabulon following them, tail wagging.
Devon paced, muttering under his breath. His tired red eyes reminded me of Dad’s before his accident. I was getting really worried about him. He needed sleep.
Uncle Pike came back in with Fabulon. ‘Now that’s service.’
‘Enough,’ Devon snapped. ‘I see how he looks at you.’
‘Who?’ Uncle Pike crossed his arms. ‘What are you on about?’
I got a bad feeling in my tummy.
‘You’re old enough to be his mother,’ Devon said.
Uncle Pike stared at him. He swallowed hard then slowly shook his head. My uncle opened his mouth to say something then changed his mind and walked out, leaving us behind. Devon stalked after him.
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