by Alan Moore
More interruptions, but at least this time Alec could indicate the area where they had been and that might help in any search. He stood and leaned over the map on the table. It showed only the main road and a few tracks marked in red. Alec pointed to an area, almost devoid of red markings.
‘This is where we went. This black line along here is the dog fence. The track we were on runs just south of the fence line.’
His finger traced along the map where no track showed. ‘It was about here that the Kombi broke down. I’m not exactly sure where on this map, but it was approximately here, near Googs Lakes.’ Alec tapped his index finger on an area on the map where the plan showed a distinct right angle bend in the dog fence. The name was a misnomer because the ‘lakes’ were just large expanses of white salt in low depressions. Alec recalled the intense glare of reflected sunlight as he walked near them on his search for rocks.
‘Uh-huh,’ was the non-committal response from Murray as he leaned across to see where Alec was pointing. A bead of sweat ironically dropped on to the map outline of the salt lake. ‘The Kombi is a Volkswagen van, right? When did you realise that you were stuck there?’
‘Yes, it’s a camper-van. We stopped overnight Wednesday and when we broke camp on Thursday morning the Kombi wouldn’t start. We’d been camping for the past couple of weeks and there’d been no problems. I couldn’t work out what was wrong. We waited the whole day hoping that someone might come along the track. There was absolutely no traffic at all. It was clear that we might run out of water even though I’d organised a way of collecting dew. Nothing came all day and it seemed unlikely that any another vehicle would be travelling that route, especially over the weekend. Carolyn, our baby, is only four months old and Katherine is still breast-feeding. We couldn’t just sit there waiting for something to happen, especially since it was so hot during the day.’
‘In your recounting of events prior to the breakdown, you told the duty officer that you and your wife had an argument the day before the car broke down. Now, what was that all about?’
‘It’s not a car, it’s a VW Kombi, all organised for camping. And it wasn’t really an argument. It wasn’t even a big issue, just a discussion about my work. My wife thought I spent too much time at university with my research and tutoring. Being a Tutor meant that I often worked nights. We also had a bit of a disagreement about proposed affirmative action policies at work.’
‘These night classes, did you meet other women there? Is there a chance that your wife might have thought there were other reasons for being away from home?’
‘That’s a ridiculous idea!’ Alec angrily retorted. There could be nothing further from the truth. He adored his wife, but he could see where the police were coming from; looking for possible motives.
‘Do you resent women having positions of authority?’ John Murray asked.
The secretary looked up from her note pad.
‘No. No, not at all,’ Alec stammered. ‘I don’t see any reason why women shouldn’t be promoted to any position. But I think that it should be based on merit, not simply because they’re women. But none of this is helping us find my family. What are you getting at?’
‘Just rounding out the enquiry. You’ve no idea how seemingly pointless conversations and ideas lead to discovering why things happen.’
‘I didn’t have anything to do with Katherine’s disappearance!’
‘At this stage we really don’t have much to work on. If someone disappears there could be many reasons. We have to look at all possibilities. You realise that, surely? After all, you were the last person to see her and —’
‘Officer, I love my wife and my child. They are the most important people in the world to me. I would never do anything to hurt them. I’m trying to get you to hurry up and look for them. If I had anything do to with their disappearance do you think I’d be trying to get you out there instead of sitting here going over and over my story?’
‘Well, I do think it a little strange that you left them there for so long on their own, and with a baby in that heat. Why didn’t you try and get assistance sooner?’
‘What was I supposed to do? We waited for help but nothing came! I couldn’t expect my wife to walk across country, especially carrying our baby. My wife is very competent. We’d been out bush for nearly two weeks and had no problems. She had plenty of food and water. I told her I’d be back by Sunday, or Monday at the latest. That’s like only three days max, so I thought they’d be okay there.’
‘Mmm. If it was my family, I think I’d have tried harder to get help sooner once you got to Ceduna.’
Alec felt aggrieved by this comment. He thought he’d done all that was humanly possible. His voice developed an edge. ‘The first garage I tried was closing up when I got here on Friday evening. That was Ceduna Roadhouse. I tried several others. They were all either closed or just open for fuel. No mechanics or tow trucks available. None. I asked around and no-one seemed to be able to help. So, tell me, what more could I do? I just had to wait until the garage opened. When it did I went out with the mechanic as soon as possible. It was only when we got out there that we found the Kombi had been moved and Katherine was gone.’
Murray let the words flow before asking, ‘What did you do then?’
‘I thought maybe Kath had got a lift into town, so once we towed the Kombi to the garage, I did a round of all the hotels, the caravan park, the garages. But no-one had seen or heard of Katherine or Carolyn.’
‘You said that her purse was in the van. Don’t you think it strange that she left it there if she’d been given a ride into town? Wouldn’t she need it?’
‘Yes. It worried me a bit, but, well, sometimes Kath can be careless. If she was worried about Carolyn she may have just forgotten it. Anyway, it didn’t have much money in so it didn’t seem important at that stage.’
‘Okay. We’ll go and check out the van and the place where it was found. I’ll grab some food, collect Tommy and then we can get going.’ Murray stood to go. ‘Tommy’s a local, the best tracker for miles around. If what you’ve told me is correct then we’re going to need someone who can read the dust.’
‘What should I do?’
‘You just hang on here. I’ll pick you up when I’ve got things organised. We’ll go have a look in at the garage first. Would you like a cuppa?’
‘No thanks, just a drink of water.’
‘Okay. Sally’ll see to that.’ He nodded to the secretary and they left the room together. Alec was left to his own devices until Sally returned a few minutes later with a glass of cold water.
Alec, Sergeant Murray and the tall skinny Aboriginal man, Tommy, strolled unannounced into the workshop of the Ceduna Roadhouse and Garage in McKenzie Street. Most people simply used the garage as a refuelling stop but the sign outside indicated a full mechanical workshop. The dark interior and cluttered workbenches were in stark contrast to the clean green and white walls of the exterior. Malcolm Harrison, the owner and mechanic, was leaning over the mudguards of an old Holden with his head hidden in the engine, his bent body backlit by the light inside the engine cavity. In response to their arrival he extricated himself from a tangle of cables.
‘G’day folks. I see you’ve brought the police with you this time.’ Harrison looked at Alec, then Sergeant Murray. He ignored Tommy who was walking a few steps behind.
Murray pointedly introduced Tommy. ‘This is Tommy. He’s from Koonibba and is our tracker. He’s the very best and he’s going to help us find out what happened. First, I want him to look at Alec’s vehicle, especially the tyres. Okay?’
‘No probs,’ said Harrison. He did not shake hands with any of the visitors, displaying his grease-covered hands by way of explanation. ‘Over there.’ He tilted his head in the direction of the Kombi.
Tommy nodded, removed his battered Akubra hat and went down on his haunches to look carefully at the wheels.
Murray turned to Harrison and asked, ‘Tell me, Mal, what’s the story with th
is van?’
Harrison wiped his hands on a greasy rag as he responded. ‘Well, Mr Thompson here came in Saturday early afternoon. Mary was here and she told me that he looked pretty buggered. Arrived just as we were closing. We were running late. As you know, we’re trying to stay open seven days but can’t get staff, a real shame with the growing tourist industry. Even Saturdays are a problem now with staff and —’
‘Stick to the point, please, Mal,’ Murray sharply interrupted.
‘Yeah, okay. Well, I was away for the weekend, gone fishing at Smoky Bay. Only Mary was here, and she told Mr Thompson to come back Monday.’
Alec broke into the story, impatiently adding, ‘I tried to find another garage, anybody who could give me a lift back to Katherine and organise a tow or some repairs, but no other garage was able to help. There were no workshops open, no mechanics to be found —’
‘Weekend,’ interrupted Harrison.
‘Eventually I organised a cabin at the Foreshore Caravan Park. I was desperate for a shower and some food. I’d walked all morning from first light then all around town looking for a mechanic or open garage!’
‘Did you walk all the way from where you broke down?’ Murray asked.
‘Essentially. When I got to the main road I hitched a ride with a truckie. I’d been walking on the main road for a couple of hours by then. No-one would stop.’
Harrison again interrupted. ‘Well, you can’t blame the truckies for not picking you up. You must a looked pretty ugly, unshaven, all covered in dust. People are a bit nervous after that hitchhiker who killed the couple in WA. Even Mary was a bit nervous of you when you came into the garage —’
‘Do you remember any details about the truck? Name of company, licence number, anything at all?’
‘Not really. The name of the driver was Dave. The truck was mostly red, a semi. I think it had WA registration, but I don’t remember anything else.’
Murray turned to Harrison, ‘Please tell me what happened when Mr Thompson first contacted you, Mal.’
‘Come Monday morning Mr Thompson here, looking a bit fresher, was on the doorstep at seven in the morning waiting for us to open up. He explained what had happened and, even though we had work lined up for a month, I took the truck and went looking for his wife and kid.’
‘So, Mal, what happened then, when you and Mr Thompson went off together?’ Murray asked.
‘Well, it’s like I said. He was here real early Monday. He’d told us what happened so I took the tow truck to go look for the Kombi. I mean, seemed important if there was a young baby out there for the whole weekend. All the work I had could wait. By the time we got going it was about nine. We drove down the main drag to Oorla Tank track, then up to the track along the dog fence. We went to where he thought he’d left his car, but it weren’t there.’
‘I knew it had to be the right place,’ added Alec, ‘because there aren’t too many big trees out there and I’d stopped under one for shade. Also there was the pit I’d dug. It simply had to be the right place.’
Harrison continued. ‘So then we drove on ‘bout another couple of miles looking for the Kombi in case it wasn’t the place he thought he’d left it. But after passing the track up to Googs Lakes without seeing it we turned round an’ came back. Mr Thompson thought that maybe his wife had got it going an’ driven on to town. Then we saw it ‘bout thirty yards off the track. Pretty hard to see if you driving along the track ‘cause some scrub was stacked in front of it an’ the tracks into the bush was partly hid. Looked like the sand was brushed to make the tracks hard to see.’
Not wanting to be just a passive listener Alec took up the story. ‘The battery was totally flat. Mr. Harrison decided that the problem was probably the generator so the battery must have run down to zilch while we were driving. No wonder the thing wouldn’t start! So he hooked up to the truck and towed it back to town.’
‘Anything else I should know?’
‘No, don’t think so.’
Sergeant Murray turned to Tommy. ‘Okay there, Tommy? Seen what you need to see?’
‘Oh yeah. I seen them tyres before. No problem if tracks still out there.’
Murray walked to the Kombi and looked inside. Turning to Alec he asked, ‘Is this how you left it?’
‘Yes, essentially. It looks like it, but some things have gone. The bassinette and blankets for the baby are missing, a bag with baby things, nappies and the like, so are some of Katherine’s things, her small suitcase with some clothes. But her bag’s there with her purse and cash.’ Alec tried to speak calmly and rationally in spite of his churning emotions. At one level he felt almost as if he was a distant observer, out of his own body and not involved in the drama being played out. On another level he was very personally involved, deeply agitated and very concerned.
Where were Katherine and Carolyn? What had happened to them? He found his voice, saying, ‘All I can think of is that someone came along after I left, tried to tow the Kombi and found it too difficult. So they moved it, maybe partly hid it for safety and gave Katherine and Carolyn a lift here. She’s probably somewhere in town wondering where the hell I am! We should check the hotels and caravan parks again in case she went to one after I’d checked. If she couldn’t find me surely she would have called in at garages or even the police station…’ His voice trailed off.
Murray took the purse and looked inside. There were two pound notes and some coins. Not a lot of money. Apart from the cash there was a stick of lipstick and a few hair clips, certainly not enough to interest a thief. It was unlikely that robbery was a motive. Why would she leave it if she had willingly accepted a lift? ‘Is this all she had in the purse?’
‘Yes, as far as I know. She never carried much cash. I’ve got most of what we need in my wallet.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Murray said, trying to sound comforting and confident at the same time. ‘We’ll find them. More than likely they’re looking for you somewhere in town. I’ll get one of my officers to check the hotels and motels again. It’s odd that she left her purse behind. Do you have a photo of your wife we could copy?’
‘Yes, there’s this,’ Alec took a small coloured photograph out of his wallet. ‘It was taken about a year ago, before Carolyn was born. Kath’s hair was shorter then, but it’s a pretty good likeness.’
‘A pity driving licences don’t have photos here,’ said Murray, ‘but this will do nicely, thanks.’ The sergeant looked at the small photograph. ‘Pretty girl.’ He paused before asking, ‘How tall is your wife?’
Harrison strained to look at the picture over Murray’s shoulder.
‘A little bit shorter than me,’ Alec said, holding his open hand up to his forehead, just above his eyebrows. ‘About yay high.’ He looked at the photograph and commented. ‘Her hair is shorter in that photo than now. She’s grown it so now it’s down to about her shoulders. It’s a sort of brownish blonde colour, I suppose you could say ash-blonde. She doesn’t seem to have a hairstyle, just a fringe and then sort of loose around her head. Sometimes she pulls it back into a ponytail. If she’s going out she curls the ends outwards and teases it but most of the time it is just loose. She’s got blue eyes, bluer than they look in the picture.’
‘And have you any idea as to what clothes she might have been wearing?’
‘Most of our trip she wore denim shorts and a sort of flower-patterned or plain coloured shirt with a floppy straw hat. Sometimes she wore slacks because she was worried about sunburn. Black slacks. And sunnies. I guess she’d be wearing much the same.’
‘How old was she when this picture was taken?’
‘It was just after her birthday, about mid-August last year. She turned twenty.’
‘Okay. We’ll head back to the station now, get this photo circulated around town. We’ll get the original back to you as soon as possible. Let’s go and pack some food.’ Turning to Harrison he asked, ‘How come the generator failed?’
‘It happens. No way to predict. Once it stops cha
rging, the battery goes flat pretty quick. It’s no surprise that they couldn’t get the thing going. The generator converts power from the drive-shaft to electrical energy an’ keeps the battery charged. If it goes bad you don’t notice anything ‘cause the battery has reserve power an’ keeps you going —’
‘So how long does that last?’
‘Quite a while, so long as you don’t drain the battery. But if they’re using lights while camping then the battery is being drained all the time.’
‘Have you identified why the system failed?’
‘Yeah. Looks like the brushes are in pretty poor shape, not connecting properly and —’
‘I don’t want technical details. Could it have been interfered with?’
‘No, doesn’t look like it. The belt’s old an’ loose. That probably contributed to the problem. Not enough traction on the generator to keep the charge up. I recharged the battery, but reckon we’ll have to get a new generator. But to get a new one for a Vee-Dub Kombi could take a while. It’ll have to come from Adelaide, or maybe Melbourne ‘cos we sure as hell don’t stock ‘em out here.’ He turned and looked at Alec, ‘I’m surprised you even had that kind of vehicle out bush, it’s not really built for those roads.’
Alec looked sheepishly at his feet and said nothing.
Murray broke the silence. ‘Thanks. All right then.’ He turned to Tommy who, by now, had replaced his Akubra hat and was waiting silently beside the Kombi. ‘Let’s get going and see if we can find anything at the site. If it’s okay with you, Mal, I’d like you to come along too since you can probably tell us what you saw at the site.’
Harrison mumbled, ‘I’ve got a load of work waiting so —’
‘It could be really important, Malcolm,’ advised Murray in a tone that indicated it was not a request.
Reluctantly Harrison acquiesced though Murray felt sure that the reluctance was more for show. Everyone in town knew Murray loved to be involved in gossip. This was his chance to be right in the action.
The group left the garage, climbed into the police Land Rover and drove in silence back to the station. As they approached the red brick building with its gabled porch Alec leaned forward from the back seat. ‘Hang on. Can you drop me here, please?’ He indicated the Post Office. ‘I’d better phone Katherine’s folks in Adelaide and let them know what’s happening.’