Wilmot’s gun had skidded across the floor. Tilly gingerly picked it up, looked helplessly around, then ran outside and hurled it into the blackness under the house. When she returned, Sophie had switched off the chainsaw and Connor, with a red splodge on one cheekbone, had rolled Wilmot onto his front and was fixing the man’s own handcuffs to his wrist. That done, he surged to his feet and went to her.
‘Are you okay? God, when he fired I thought—’
‘It’s okay. I’m okay.’ She rested her head against him, feeling the wild clamour of his heart match her own racing pulse. ‘I felt the heat on my neck but the bullet missed me.’
‘Thank Christ!’ He kissed her, the stubble on his cheek rough against her face as he leant there for a moment, smoothing her hair with trembling hands. ‘What on earth did you do to him?’
‘Pepper.’ She gave a little giggle, on the edge of hysteria. ‘It was on the counter. Sophie never puts stuff away.’ She turned to her cousin. ‘You were brilliant! How did you think of a chainsaw?’
Sophie grinned sheepishly. ‘It’s true I’m not tidy like you. I was working with it, lopping the shade tree branches where they overhang the roof, and when I was done I left it out the back. I woke up and remembered it and thought I’d better get it in out of the dew. I was going to put it on the verandah for now. Then I saw what was going down . . . So I tried for a distraction. It was all I could think of at the time. Lucky it started first pull.’
‘It worked a treat,’ Connor said. ‘Gave us our chance, so thank you.’
‘Isn’t he one of the coppers that came to ask you about Gerry, Tilly?’
She nodded. ‘Yes. He’s a crook, and a murderer. He killed the other one tonight, the sergeant. He—’
At this point Thomas Leary appeared in bare feet and rumpled sweats. Obviously confused, his eyes widened as they fell on Wilmot, writhing ineffectually on the floor. ‘What was that infernal racket?’ he demanded. ‘I thought a plane was coming down on the roof. And did I hear a gunshot? What’s going on? Is he a policeman?’
‘Well spotted,’ Connor said. ‘If you’re feeling charitable, you might like to wash the pepper from his eyes? Tilly threw it at him while he was trying to kill us.’
Leary baulked, goggled at him, then crossed uncertainly to the sink before gazing helplessly around at the cupboards lining the walls. ‘What? Where . . .?’
‘I’ll do it.’ Tilly filled a jug and bent over the swearing man. ‘Open your eyes.’ He did so to disclose bloodshot eyes that were continually tearing. He swore at her as she splashed water over his face and swollen cheeks. ‘You’re alive,’ she snapped, ‘unlike the men you’ve killed. And if you don’t stop that language, your eyes can go unflushed. It’s no skin off my nose.’ He glared at her, the veins of his temple swelling, but the swearing stopped.
‘What are we going to do with him?’ she asked when she had finished her ministrations and had beckoned Connor to the far end of the kitchen.
‘I’ve been thinking about that.’ He yawned and stretched. ‘For the moment, can you find a blanket? We’ll leave him handcuffed and tether him to a verandah post till morning. That ought to hold him. Then we’re all going to get some sleep. But first I want to speak to Des. He’s the only one I can reach that I know I can trust. He’ll be back in Darwin by dawn. I’ll get him arrange a plane and take Wilmot in myself. They’ll all know about Burns’ murder by then, and every corrupt cop in the station will be ducking for cover. I’ll contact a few of my own men just to be on the safe side. We might even hold him ourselves until the dust settles. We do have the facilities.’ He yawned again and nodded. ‘Yeah, that’ll be the way to go. If any of the senior cops object – well, their dead sergeant’s a powerful argument for doing it my way. Which reminds me, love, what became of his gun?’
‘I threw it under the house.’ Tilly said. ‘I just wanted to get rid of it.’
‘I’ll retrieve it in the morning. It’s evidence. I wonder where the bullet went?’
‘Into the wall, or the china cabinet, though nothing’s broken, so maybe not.’
‘We’ll check it out tomorrow. You’ll be swarmed with police,’ he warned, ‘taking statements and collecting evidence.’
Sophie wandered over in time to hear this. ‘What about my animals? Can I let them out of those damned cages?’
‘Have you somewhere else to hold them?’ Connor asked. ‘They’ll need to be photographed. If you could keep them captive for a few days . . .?’
‘We could use the enclosure,’ Tilly suggested. ‘The cockies could go in the hen-house, perhaps? And the possum cage would hold any little ones. I don’t know about the reptiles,’ she said doubtfully.
‘We’ll fix something up. The professor can make himself useful.’
It suddenly struck Tilly. ‘There’s only you and me left, Soph! They’ll all have to be fed on top of everything else. I wonder how Luke is, and when he’ll be back?’
‘Worry about it tomorrow,’ Connor said. ‘Can you get that blanket now? I’ll secure our resident thug, and then we can all get some rest.’
Chapter Thirty-eight
It was very late by the time they all retired. Connor took one look at Tilly’s bed, and then pulled the mattress onto the floor. ‘Not so far to fall if I roll over.’ He stripped to his boxers and lay down. With a sigh, Tilly spooned in beside him and reached to hold the hand that held her snug against him.
‘What a day!’ She sighed and shuddered, remembering. ‘I’ll have nightmares about it for months.’
‘Well, it’s over now.’ He kissed her hair and his arm momentarily tightened around her. ‘And you’re safe here with me. Sleep now. It’s not long till morning.’
‘You saved my life.’ Her voice was drowsy as she pushed the words out against her closing eyes. ‘I think I love you, Connor.’
‘We saved each other. And I know I love you, dear heart.’ It was a voice on the edge of hearing, no more than a whisper in a dream, but Tilly heard it. She slept smiling, the words a promise for the future.
The following day started late for them all. The caged wildlife had to be fetched back from the camp and released into their temporary homes, then fed and watered. When it came to the two olive pythons, Sophie waited until Connor finished photographing them and then propped the cages open.
‘We’ve nothing to feed them on,’ she said, when he eventually noticed their absence. ‘If Luke was here . . . But he’s not. If you want them back, you’ll have to go catch them yourself.’
‘They were evidence!’ He was put out and showed it. ‘Where’d they go? Which direction?’
‘I wasn’t watching,’ Sophie said shortly. She too was suffering from lack of sleep.
When his gaze switched to Tilly, she held up her hands. ‘Don’t look at me! I might tackle baddies, but I’m not taking on snakes. Just so you know,’ she added firmly.
By the time they were through with the feeding, and everyone, including their captive, had breakfasted, the plane could be heard approaching. Wilmot, handcuffed again following his breakfast, was hustled into the vehicle. Tilly slipped into the seat behind him, determinedly clutching the refilled pepperpot, which she showed him as a warning against trying anything. Another Customs officer was on the plane to take charge of the awkward business of getting Wilmot aboard without the use of his still-secured hands. Connor threw a small travel bag in after them and turned to take Tilly in his arms.
‘You will be careful?’ she said anxiously. ‘How will you get back?’
‘I’ll work something out.’ His eyes crinkled in a smile as he kissed her, saying, ‘Take care, love. I’ll check on Luke as soon as I get a free moment.’
‘Thank you.’ She kissed him back. ‘Sophie’ll be ringing about him now.’
When the plane lifted off, she drove home to find the professor watering the vegetable garden. Sophie, he said, had gone to the camp to attend to the chores there. She had left a message with him from the hospital reporting that Luke
was concussed but thankfully had an undamaged skull. He would be released when his current drowsiness passed, possibly as early as tomorrow.
‘Well, that’s a relief,’ Tilly said. ‘How long are you staying Thomas? Not that we want to hurry you away. But I doubt the police, when they get here and that’ll probably be late today, will let you anywhere near the cave.’
‘I’ll just have to adjust my schedule then.’ He pushed his spectacles up his nose and directed the hose at the cabbages. ‘I’m assuming that the past twenty-four hours aren’t the norm out here, but it seems to me you must all do a lot of adjusting in your daily lives. So I’ll hang around and I may even be able to help. Bottom line is, I do want a look at those bats, and even if it takes a week, then – as long as I’m welcome – I’ll stay till I’ve done so.’
‘I’m sure you’ll be very welcome.’ Curiosity got the better of her. ‘Last night, it took you a long time to come out of your room. With all that racket going on, did you really not wake up?’
He looked sheepish. ‘You probably notice I snore very loudly? It’s to the point where it wakes me, so I use ear plugs. It means I don’t hear alarms, phones, even people yelling. But it seems chainsaws will do it.’
‘Ah. Well,’ she considered, ‘in terms of helping, do you know anything about engines? The diesel will need fuelling. You have to pump it from a drum into the tank, and then roll another drum over from the fuel dump for next time. Matt usually did it on a Monday, so it must be about due.’
He nodded. ‘I can manage that.’
‘Thanks. I’ll be in the house if you need me.’ There was plenty to do. The laundry basket was full, the cake tins empty and she would probably be feeding extra that evening. She hoped that the police would come equipped to camp, and because it was the height of the tourist season there were still travellers to book in and out. The professor, for all his diffidence, proved a useful sidekick willing to pitch in, whether it was peeling vegetables or feeding the hens, who were temporarily locked out of their home by the visiting wildlife.
It was late in the afternoon when Des, still in jeans and shirt, and a young, uniformed constable turned up in a four-wheel drive loaded up with a swag and camp gear – presumably Des’s. She was driving and Des, when he got out, yawned and stretched as if he had just woken. He probably had, Tilly thought as she greeted him, for he couldn’t have slept at all the previous night.
Des, whose surname she had forgotten, introduced his companion as Constable Helen Prentiss. They had come to fingerprint and collect statements from the three of them. The fingerprinting, he explained, was due to the presence of firearms at the crime scene in the cave, and the fact that an officer had discharged his weapon here at the house. He also wanted the bullet, if it could be found.
‘I can show you where it went,’ Tilly said. ‘Connor took Wilmot’s weapon away. And the other one’s still in the cave, though I don’t know if it’s recoverable. What’s happening in town, Des? Has Matt been locked up, and Wilmot? I know Connor was worried about who he could trust at the station.’
‘That situation’s been remedied,’ he said curtly. ‘Officers have been stood down and a new superintendent sent in. It took a good man’s death,’ he added bitterly, ‘but there’s a proper shake-up going on now. And a few soon-to-be ex-cops’ll be joining Wilmot in gaol.’
She made them tea and then they took turns at giving their statements. When she had finished hers, Tilly said honestly, ‘The times and the distances might be out. I wouldn’t swear to them. It all seemed to happen in seconds – Gerry getting shot, and then when I hit Matt and took the gun. I was so terrified. Maybe it was longer. And when we were driving, it seemed like hours, but it can’t have been because we got back to the cave quite quickly. So maybe I exaggerated the time there.’
‘That’s perfectly normal,’ Helen assured her. ‘I think you kept your head very well.’ She smiled kindly at Tilly, who smiled back.
‘Have you spoken to Luke?’ Tilly asked Des.
‘Yes. His memory’s patchy. He wasn’t able to tell us much, so you’re our main witness for Gerald Hillyer’s murder. And we’ll certainly be contacting the Indonesians about that refugee boat you mentioned. If we can find some evidence to link Mercer to that—’
Tilly broke in. ‘But he admitted it. He came right out and—’
‘Hearsay,’ he said, cutting her off. ‘Not admissible in court.’ He capped his pen. ‘Right, fingerprints, then if one of you could accompany us to this cave?’
‘Not tonight.’ Sophie spoke decisively. ‘It’ll be dark in half an hour, and none of us got much sleep last night. So dinner’s on the agenda for us and bed, but we’ll be happy to assist you tomorrow.’
The following morning, Tilly woke to utter stillness; even Leary’s truly horrific snoring had ceased. All she could hear was the drip of moisture falling from the roof edges as she dressed swiftly and headed for the kitchen. A light mist hovered above the river and she lingered, staring, until the harsh cackle of a kookaburra shattered the silence. Des, who had rolled his swag out on the verandah, was already up. She saw the neat cyclinder of his rolled swag and his boot tracks in the sodden grass leading away to the river. Helen, lacking her own bedding, had slept on the sofa in the lounge. Tilly hoped it had been more comfortable than it looked.
Tilly herself had slept like the dead, untroubled by dreams – probably, she thought now, breathing in the fresh morning, because of Connor’s late night call. Everything had gone well. The good guys, he had told her, were back in charge and the villains behind bars. Due to the nature of their crimes, neither Mercer nor Wilmot would be granted bail. ‘Too big a flight risk,’ he’d said. Of course, the men in the vehicle slated to meet up with Matt were still at large, but the video camera on the fuel pumps at Alloway had a record of all vehicles that had passed by that day, and it was only a matter of time before the driver, at least, was located.
‘And Luke?’ Tilly had asked. ‘How is he?’
‘Doing well. They’re discharging him tomorrow. He remembers driving to the cave and then nothing until he woke up on the plane on his way to hospital. His main concern seems to be about missing his chance with the professor.’
‘Oh, he hasn’t. Thomas and I are heading out to the cave this morning with Des. He wants to try and recover Matt’s gun. We’ll ring Luke later and tell him so. When will you be back?’
‘Soon as I can manage, love.’ They had talked a little longer; she smiled now, remembering his words, then stretched, deliciously aware of a new energy and expectation in her heart. It was just as Sophie had promised her: life was good again. Humming a little tune, she went back inside to start breakfast.
They took two vehicles to the caves, the two police following Tilly and Leary out.
‘The road seems a lot better than it did the other night,’ the professor observed. He wore an air of expectancy this morning and had brought along a fine mesh net on a telescopic handle.
‘Daylight helps,’ Tilly agreed. ‘It’s a shame Luke can’t be here. What will you do if it turns out that he has discovered a new species? Will you publish a paper?’
‘Oh, yes, once the research is done. Probably in Nature magazine. Don’t worry, your friend will get the credit of discovery. But,’ he added, pushing at his spectacles, ‘we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s wait until we see what we’ve got.’
At the cave, Tilly pulled up and sat a moment before alighting. She felt the greatest disinclination to continue, but Des, parking behind her, walked briskly towards the entrance, waiting with obvious impatience for her lagging steps to catch up. He carried a large torch, prompting her to caution him about the presence of the bats.
‘Don’t shine it up.’
‘Not until I say, anyway,’ Leary said singlemindedly. He looked every inch the mad professor, his beanpole length echoed by the now fully extended net handle and the box tucked under one arm. He kept pushing at his spectacles, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.
Leary grudgingly agreed and, resisting the urge to clutch at Des’s arm, Tilly followed him into the cave. It was as humid and smelly as she remembered. It was only her imagination, she told herself, that she fancied she could still catch the taint of death in the muggy air. The darkness was disorienting, and she stared about in bewilderment trying to picture where she had been when she threw the gun into the fissure. Des’s prompting didn’t help and in the end she said, ‘Just give me the torch. I can’t see anything while you wave it about.’
There was still the shape of one cage imprinted in the guano, the rest destroyed by foot traffic. She stared at it, picturing the stacked shapes next to which Luke had sprawled. She had hit Matt and run that way to secure the gun and distance herself from the horror of Gerry’s corpse, so it must be somewhere here, she thought, moving along the cave wall, that she had spotted the break in the rock.
The rustle of wings sounded above her and the fine disturbed dust caught in her throat. Sweat beaded her forehead and her heart pounded with remembered fear. She would never willingly enter a cave again. Then the light lit on a deeper blackness within the glistening stone and she breathed out thankfully. ‘Here. I dropped it down there. And I really don’t think you’ll get it out again.’
Des tried, but the cleft proved longer than his arm. He returned to his vehicle, rummaged among the load and eventually returned with a set of oven hooks, long sturdy lengths of wire with a hooked end that were designed to lift hot camp-ovens from campfires. Tilly waited outside with the professor while the two officers occupied themselves fishing in the cleft with their improvised tool. The echoes of a faint shout showed when they succeeded, and shortly they emerged with the weapon encased in plastic.
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