Double Madness

by Caroline de Costa

  Now there was just the hundred-metre climb to the helipad. Above them the silhouette of the mobile phone tower loomed in contrast to the beauty of the forest.

  They dropped their backpacks on a patch of ferns and took stock of their newly found paradise. The top of the Rock was about eighty metres below them to the left. This was the very last bit of the walk. Leaving the packs they scrambled down the granite path and onto the lookout on the Rock.

  The view was astounding. To the east they could see the whole of Cairns spread out by the Coral Sea, the hotels and the hospital like tiny pieces of Lego. The sea merged into the shimmering blue morning sky. The Barron River snaked its way across the country. A red and silver plane rose silently into the sky. Closer to their eyrie was the Copperlode Dam, cocooned in forest.

  They sat on the Rock, warm in the mid-morning sun, sweat cooling their limbs. Everyday life and the pursuit of Michel Janvier seemed remote.

  ‘I’ve looked out my office window at this place so many times,’ Cass said, ‘thinking that it’s a magic place. Now I see that’s true.’

  They made their way back down to the helipad, sat down and unpacked their sandwiches. For a while they lay on their backs contemplating their surroundings, drowsy in the sun, which was now overhead.

  Cass texted Jordon: Fabulous views u must do it soon back pm fishpie in fridge mum.

  Lyndall texted Bernard: on top of the mountain vraiment paradis sauf pour toi je t’aime L xxx Then she got to her feet. ‘Call of nature,’ she declared.

  ‘I have to wee too,’ Cass replied. ‘We can go between those ferns.’

  ‘My needs are slightly more,’ Lyndall said. ‘I’ll go behind those trees. I don’t think I’m likely to run into anyone! Meet you by the start of the path down in a few minutes.’ She indicated where the path back down began, at the far edge of the grass. She picked up her backpack and started across the grass, then disappeared behind the small trees.

  As she undid her jeans and crouched down behind a shrub, Lyndall felt something slithering down her back. Peering over her shoulder, she realised that it was plant not animal – a long piece of lawyer vine had attached itself to the back of her T-shirt and jeans. She dealt with the purpose of her visit then carefully lifted the tendrils of vine off her clothes before doing up her jeans. This was taking time. Cass will be back on the path by now, she thought.

  Back on the grass, though, there was no sign of Cass. Where was she? She should have been back sooner than Lyndall.

  Suddenly, from the direction of the path leading to the Rock, there was a deafening noise. BLAM! BLAM! Two gunshots in rapid succession, very close by, the sound echoing off the Rock. And then Cass’s voice, high-pitched and tense, coming from somewhere low down, out of sight, beyond the ferns: ‘Lyndall, stay where you are!’

  Lyndall let go of her backpack and ran back towards the trees. She threw herself down on her stomach and rolled into the protection of a hollow in the ground. Too bad if there were pythons in it! Her heart was thumping violently. It thumped even more when a squawking brush turkey rose from a mound in front of her. But the bird had been disturbed by her arrival in its territory and not the sound of shooting. It settled down again on the mound.

  Lyndall was breathing hard, trying to make sense of what she’d heard. What the fuck was going on? Where was Cass? Had she run into Michel Janvier and had he fired shots at her, or she at him? Had he grabbed her? Was he holding her hostage? Was there some other person over there, armed and dangerous, who’d kidnapped Michel and now had Cass? This seemed unlikely, given the remoteness of the spot, but so did the idea that Michel was hanging out there with a gun or two.

  After a few moments she cautiously raised her head. There was no sound at all. Her backpack lay abandoned on the grass. Over near where the path to the Rock began she could see Cass’s backpack where she’d left it. She began to inch forward on her stomach towards it, staying within the protection of the trees that encircled the grass beside the helipad. She was trying to think of what she could say to Michel to calm him down. If he would listen to her before he shot anyone. If it was Michel doing the shooting.

  Then, to her horror, she heard her mobile start to ring from within her backpack. Shit! The backpack was in full view to anyone in the forest straight ahead, or coming up the path from the Rock. But if it was someone from Cairns calling she could ask them to get help. Before she could decide what to do, the ringing stopped. And, again, there was not a sound.

  The mobile rang again.

  Lyndall got to her feet and ran across to the backpack, picked it up, threw herself back into the safety of her hollow and grabbed the phone from the front pocket.

  To her utter astonishment she saw that Cass’s phone was calling hers. God, she must be with someone who’d taken her phone. Lyndall pressed the green button and put the phone to her ear. She was so scared she thought she would vomit.

  ‘Lyndall!’ said Cass. ‘It’s me. Don’t move, at least not forward on the track. I’m OK. Sort of. I fell partway down the side of the rock. A branch snagged my belt and saved me. I was dangling but now I’ve wedged my bum into the tree. But I’m going to need a rescue team and a chopper to get me out of here. Can you call Drew Borgese, tell him exactly where I am? And stay where you are – I’ve no idea how long this tree’s gonna hold up, and I don’t want you to fall by coming to help me. It’s very slippery.’

  ‘But …’ Lyndall could barely get the words out, conscious that speaking would direct the gunman right to her. ‘There’s someone shooting,’ she whispered hard. ‘Trying to shoot you I think. Or me.’

  Cass laughed. ‘No, that was me! At first I couldn’t reach my mobile – it was in the back pocket of my jeans. But I could reach my gun. I didn’t want to call out to you because I thought you might fall as well. There are ferns covering the edge of the rock wall. It’s like a canyon. I didn’t see it until I was already falling. So I fired off a couple of shots. I figured it would stop you in your tracks long enough for me to get hold of my phone.’

  Lyndall could hear her breathing hard. ‘Just hang in there, I’ll call for help,’ she said.

  ‘One more thing,’ said Cass. ‘You can tell Drew they can stop searching. I’ve found Michel Janvier.’

  Later, Lyndall would learn that it lasted sixty-five minutes. It seemed an eternity, yet passed in a flash.

  She called Sheridan Street and Di put her onto Drew’s mobile immediately. She did not mention the gunshots or the presence of Michel Janvier’s presumably disintegrating corpse somewhere down in the bush below. Only that Cass was in peril on the side of a sheer cliff face. He reacted at once.

  ‘So you’re at the side of the helipad area? Is the helipad reasonably free of branches and other obstructions? Will the chopper be able to land there?’

  ‘Yes it’s clear and there’s not much long grass.’

  ‘And Cass is on the south side of the helipad?’

  ‘As far as I can see, yes. A bit southeast, I think. I didn’t actually see her fall.’

  ‘Yep, I’ve got it. Right, I’m getting the rescue chopper up there. Hopefully it’s in Cairns and won’t take long. You stay exactly where you are, keep your mobile on and do what the rescue people ask you. Tell Cass they’re coming.’

  She ended the call and stepped to the edge of the helipad and called out: ‘Cass, I’m going to shout because I’ve got to keep my mobile free for calls. I spoke to Drew and the helicopter is coming as soon as it can. I’m going to call out to you every minute, just so you know I’m here for you. Don’t call back unless there’s some change in what’s happening. You need to save your energy.’

  ‘OK,’ Cass called back.

  Lyndall looked at her watch. It was 11.55. Over the next seven minutes she shouted to Cass seven times. ‘I’m here, Cass,’ she told her, again and again, ‘I’m still here and help is coming. You’re going to be back down in Cairns in the hospital soon. You’re going to get through this. Think of Jordon.’

&nbs
p; At 12.02 her mobile rang. Drew.

  ‘The chopper crew are just gearing up,’ he said. ‘They’re at Cairns Airport. They want to know if they need to bring an ED doc?’

  ‘She’s fully conscious,’ said Lyndall. ‘I don’t know how badly injured she is and I don’t think she’s going to tell me. Anyway it will take longer to pick up someone from ED. I’d say just send the paramedics.’

  ‘Right.’

  ‘Drew just called,’ Lyndall shouted towards Cass. ‘The helicopter’s at the airport and the paramedics are coming. Very soon!’

  At 12.09 Lyndall saw the tiny blue and red bumblebee that was a helicopter rise into the air above Cairns and head south across the sky. Then it turned inland towards the Rock.

  At 12.12 her mobile rang.

  ‘Doctor? Josh here from the rescue helicopter. We’re on our way now. Can you see us?’

  ‘Yes. Call me Lyndall. I’m on the edge of the helipad and I can see you in the air over Cairns.’

  ‘OK – just move onto clear ground so we can see you easily when we get there. We’re not going to land there straight away. We’re going to see if we can see where Cass is and assess the situation.’

  By 12.20 the helicopter and the sound of its engine grew larger as it approached.

  By 12.23 the chopper was hovering above the cliff where Cass must have been. The noise was tremendous. Lyndall could just see the crew. Her mobile rang again.

  ‘Lyndall? Josh here.’ She could barely hear him above the roar of the engine. ‘We can see Cass. She can see us. I’m going down with the winch to pick her up. Stand by.’

  The door slid open and a figure in yellow, presumably Josh, stood on the brink. He was in full rescue gear, a helmet on his head, and strapped into a red harness. He waved to Cass down below. 12.28.

  Lyndall held her breath as she saw him slide over the edge of the doorway and gradually descend as the winch let out the cable connecting him to the chopper. The noise of the chopper’s engine drowned out all other sounds. 12.35. After a moment, as the cable was paid out further and further, he disappeared completely from view.

  That was the most unnerving time for Lyndall. What if he dislodged Cass from her tree before she was properly strapped in the harness?

  Then a second figure in yellow appeared at the helicopter door, and lowered what looked like another harness. It disappeared out of Lyndall’s sight. What the hell was going on? Could they be bringing up Michel’s body as well? Why? Surely that could wait. She could see the pilot working to keep the chopper in position and focused on the scene below him.

  At 12.48 the cable began to move. Josh appeared with Cass in his arms. The harness didn’t seem to be on her, but he was holding her tight. Lyndall could see that Cass’s jeans were partly torn off by the fall and her thigh was badly grazed. Her left arm looked injured too. Some exotic leopard-skin underwear was on display. So that was what policewomen wore under their uniforms … Then Cass was carefully lifted into the chopper by the second paramedic. It was just 12.55.

  Her phone rang again. Josh.

  ‘Lyndall – can you see us? We’ve got her. Bit of trouble with the harness but we’ve got her. She says to tell you she’s fine. Now we’re going to pick you up and explain what’s going on. Just stand back away from the downdraught. Phil’s got to work out the direction of the wind.’

  In a couple of minutes the helicopter was on the helipad. The door opened but Josh indicated that she should wait for the rotor blades to slow down before she came towards him. Finally they stopped and Lyndall began to run. He put down the stairs and she climbed up, and burst into tears of relief.

  Cairns, 12 March 2011

  At eight that evening, showered and changed, Lyndall made her way up the hospital stairs to Detective Diamond’s room. Pushing open the door, she was rewarded with a wide smile from the detective, who was reclining on pillows, her left arm in a sling. At her right elbow was a bottle of Scotch and a glass was in her right hand.

  ‘Lyndall! Thanks for coming in!’

  ‘Hey, are you supposed to be drinking that stuff? Didn’t you just have an anaesthetic?’

  ‘Three hours ago. Just a short one to put this shoulder back in. Shit, I needed a drink. It’s been a helluva day! Pour yourself one too. Not my usual tipple but my Inspector gave it to me. It’s the good stuff.’

  ‘I will. Yeah, you said it – you had the most miraculous escape,’ Lyndall said.

  ‘I did! But you tell me your bit first. Leslie’s been in, he told me some of it, but I want to hear it from you. You got Michel? And he’s alive?’ Cass asked.

  ‘Yes! He’s in Intensive Care. I haven’t decided when I’ll go and see him. Or even if …’

  When Lyndall had climbed into the helicopter she’d expected to flop down on the seat beside Cass and be flown back to Cairns, where Cass would get the medical attention she needed. Instead she found herself in the midst of more action.

  Cass was strapped onto a stretcher but sitting bolt upright, her eyes wide with excitement. Her left shoulder was clearly dislocated, and she had a long laceration on her right thigh, to which the second paramedic, rapidly introduced as Sam, was applying a dressing. Cass was taking no notice whatsoever of these injuries.

  ‘It’s Michel, I’m sure it’s Michel,’ she said at once to Lyndall, ‘lying at the bottom of that rockface, in a kind of hollow. I thought he was dead. But then, as I was being lifted up, I looked down, and saw his head move, and his eyes open. And Josh had a look at him too.’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Josh, ‘we’ve just looked down from directly above him. I’d say he’s injured, and not fully conscious. But definitely alive.’

  ‘Then we need to get him out,’ said Lyndall immediately.

  ‘Yeah,’ said Josh. ‘Phil’s just contacting the base. Cass has to go back to Cairns, obviously. But she only needs one person with her. And you know Michel. Cass says you’re his doctor. Are you up to coming with me, to see if we can reach him? We think there’s a way down on foot. Phil and Sam can go back to Cairns and bring back some more guys. Cass will call her boss.’

  ‘I remember the map in the guidebook,’ said Cass. ‘You branch off from the trail down near the crevice with the little tree. Following down and around should take you to where he is.’

  ‘OK,’ said Lyndall. She looked at Josh: ‘You’ll bring some first aid stuff?’

  He held out his emergency pack. ‘I’m ready.’

  ‘Then let’s go.’

  Lyndall hugged Cass. ‘See you later – I hope!’

  They climbed back out of the helicopter and Lyndall led Josh to the start of the trail. Behind them, they heard the roar of the chopper taking off, and watched it disappear across the sky towards the hospital. Lyndall and Josh began the climb downwards, stepping from rock to rock and clinging to branches and large ferns to steady themselves.

  It was much quicker going down, Lyndall found. After ten minutes of steep descent they came to the track leading off to the left. Josh led the way. Suddenly he stopped and pointed.

  Well concealed by a huge tree-fern was a small one-man tent. As they approached it, two bush rats ran out. The front flap was partly unzipped, and they could see that there was no-one inside. Rain had got in, there were puddles on the plastic ground-covering and a sodden sleeping bag. Tins of food, water bottles, a towel, were scattered around.

  ‘He’s been living here!’ said Josh.

  ‘Yes,’ said Lyndall, ‘but maybe not for the last few days, at least. It looks quite neglected.’

  They continued their climb down, coming to a creek that ran along the edge of the Rock. Taking their direction from the mobile phone tower above them, they followed the creek bed to where it approached the hollow where the man was. Josh stopped for a moment, and pointed out a tree to Lyndall, forty metres above them, growing seemingly out of solid rock. This was the tree that had snagged Cass. It was now hanging by one straggling root.

  ‘She was bloody lucky!’ he said, taking Lyndall’s
hand and helping her across a wide stretch in the creek. Together they made their way around the wide border of the hollow in the rock.

  The man lay on his back. There was an overwhelming stench of faeces and urine, and a cloud of flies rose from his body at their approach. Both his knees were buckled under him. His breathing was laboured, his skin purple. His face was obscured by a matted beard. But Lyndall knew at once that it was Michel Janvier.

  She moved across to him, knelt down, touched his shoulder.

  ‘Michel?’ she said. He turned slightly, opened his eyes, but made no response. Rapidly she checked his pulse, limbs and trunk. Josh was unzipping his emergency pack.

  ‘He’s got a fever,’ she said. ‘And he’s very dehydrated. I’d say he has pneumonia and probably septicaemia. Not surprising, looks like he’s been here for days, if not weeks. Both legs badly injured and maybe the spine. We should leave him flat until we get your team here. Can you give him some fluids?’

  Josh was already opening an IV pack. ‘I’ll put this up,’ he said.

  ‘Good,’ said Lyndall. ‘It’s a very long time since I’ve put in a cannula!’

  Josh leaned over. ‘Michel, mate,’ he said, ‘I’m Josh. I’m going to help you. Going to give you some fluids. Into your arm. And we’re going to get you out of here. Soon.’

  The man gave a grunt and closed his eyes.

  ‘Probably very affected by the fever,’ said Lyndall. ‘On top of whatever else has happened. There’s no external sign of head injury and he’s moving his arms at least.’ She looked up. Sheer rock led up to a fringe of rainforest on the edge of the saddle. Did he fall, like Cass? Or jump? Or was he pushed?