Farm Kill

by Robert W Fisk

  "The Te Kouka Swamp overflow," said Zinsli, suddenly realising that he had an escape route. He could crawl through the overflow pipe and get on to the detour road. There was no need for him to go back through Te Kouka. As the road was the bypass route while State Highway One was under repair, he would easily get a ride down to Christchurch. That's where he would be when the bodies were discovered in the ashes.

  "You." Zinsli looked at Alex. "Find something to tie you all up with. Be stupid and I'll kill your daughter."

  Alex knew there was light rope hanging behind the door in the laundry room by the back door. She thought for a moment of running for help but realised there was nowhere to go.

  "Keep calm," she told herself, even though panic was rising in her chest. "If I stay calm, then Zinsli might, too."

  Richard realised that if Zinsli was tying them up, there was some hope that they would live. Zinsli seemed rational until you thought about Greg and Ashleigh in the back of the truck and Sally locked I the store room. The use of the rifle to intimidate them had shaken him. He too decided to give as calm an appearance as he could.

  "What exactly is your problem?" he asked Zinsli. "Perhaps we can help."

  Zinsli said nothing, watching Alex as she tied Jo's hands behind her back.

  "Tighter," he said.

  Then it was Richard's turn. Again, Zinsli checked that Alex was doing the job to his satisfaction.

  "Now tie them to the chairs," he said.

  When Alex had finished Zinsli said, "Now it's your turn."

  He leaned the rifle against a dining chair, keeping it within easy reach. Alex was a slight woman. He thought he would have no problem with her. He was wrong. Alex fought and clawed and bit as Zinsli tied her to a dining chair.

  "I know Sally is here somewhere," he said. "I need to find her. And I have two other guests to join you. If you behave, you will be safe."

  They did not believe him. He left the room. He had not gagged them. There was no-one to hear them anyway.

  38.

  The Police arranged for the two families to stay in the same hotel and assigned one of Richard and Alex's old friends, Officer Barbara van Buren, as Family Liaison. Newly married, she and her husband Malcolm Greenslade had just returned from their overseas honeymoon. Both were devastated at the news. Malcolm was assigned to rescue work and its aftermath in the district around Grantville.

  Barbara was very attached to the younger Wests, with Richard having rescued her younger brother Chris when he disappeared in Fern Valley. She was in tears when she rang both families, the Wests and the Paki-Pakis, to say that a helicopter flown to the scene had found no trace of anyone, neither at the mudslide nor in the immediate vicinity.

  Flight times from London were of the order of twenty four hours. Allowing for booking delays and the International Dateline, neither family was expected to arrive until Wednesday. Barbara was delighted that, thanks to the kindness of strangers towards the Paki-Pakis and the prompt action of the Wests, both parties would arrive on Tuesday.

  Barbara received a message from Bill Paki-Paki, asking for a map of the area where his daughter had been swept away. Barbara sent back a reference to Google Maps.

  Bill Paki-Paki was in the air, with his iPad turned off. The plane landed at Melbourne, three and a half hours away from Christchurch Airport. With two hours to fill in, Bill opened the map and immediately saw what others had missed. He opened Google Earth and set if for 3D view. A drain ran from the swamp and under the bypass road at the place where the mudslide had happened.

  39.

  Zinsli went through the house. He found Sally's clothes in the bathroom, left there when Alex found warm clothing for Sally, and rinsed out her soiled skirt and top. Zinsli recognised her top. Sally had been wearing it when Zinsli put her in the store room. Zinsli was angry. He went back to the kitchen holding the top.

  "She was wearing this. She's been here. Now tell me where she has gone or I'll blow your daughter's brains out."

  Alex put her hand to her mouth. Jo remained outwardly calm.

  "Don't know what you're talking about," said Richard, calmly. "What is it?"

  "It's the top Sally was wearing. She came here and changed," said Zinsli. "You've been here all the time. Where is she?"

  "No. We weren't here in the house all the time. We were out checking animals and looking for damage," said Richard. "If Sally came home then left, we might not have seen her."

  Zinsli hesitated. "You would have heard the ATV," he said.

  It was a good point. Richard and Alex were silent. Zinsli knew he was right. He put the rifle against Jo's head and began to count.

  "Five. Four. Three. "

  "Stop!" said Alex. "I'll tell you."

  Zinsli continued to hold the gun at Jo's head. Because they knew, they all had to die. But he didn't want one burnt corpse to have a bullet hole. It had to seem like an accidental death. For them all.

  "Speak," he said.

  Richard spoke for Alex. "Sally arrived in a big freezer truck. She changed her clothes. She was worried you would find her so she drove off."

  "Where?"

  "Towards the back of the farm. Is there another way out?"

  There was no other way out, but Zinsli realised that if Sally drove as far as she could, then walked over the ridge, she could eventually reach the road where this family had come to grief, but further on.

  Greg and Ashleigh were in the back of the refrigerated truck that Sally was driving. All three were together. The tracks of the heavy truck would be easy to follow. He would follow the tracks, overpower Sally then bring Greg back to the house and burn him, Ashleigh and these three all in one go. First he had to find the truck.

  He left the ATV in the machinery shed and drove Greg's pick-up truck along the trail left by the truck. He missed where it had turned down to the river, believing Sally was heading for the bypass road. The track was slow and bumpy.

  He switched on the radio to catch the time and the news.

  'The search for the West family has been discontinued as police and Search and Rescue struggle to find other survivors. The Wests, Richard and Alexandra and their fifteen year old daughter Jo are believed to have died when a mudslide engulfed their car on the bypass road between Christchurch and Grantville. An elderly man has been saved in Grantville after his car was hit by a falling tree as he drove out of his garage. Arthur Maker was trapped for seven hours until found by neighbours who were concerned for his safety.'

  Zinsli shook a fist in the air.

  "Yay!" he shouted. "Killed in a mudslide! I know just what to do with them!"

  The pick-up truck reached the fence line at the end of the property. There was no refrigerated truck. No matter; he knew what to do with the Wests; luck was going his way.

  And it was. As he drove back to the Somerville's house, he saw his lights reflect off the refrigerated truck. It was parked behind some cabbage trees and flax down by the river, hidden from view if you were travelling up the road. He drove the pick-up truck fast so that Sally would not have time to escape, if she was still with the truck. He would burn Greg and Ashleigh's bodies in the main farm house. As for the Wests, they were going to get an injection each, and suffocate in the mudslide, which would still be soft enough to swallow their bodies and fill their lungs. It was unlikely the autopsies would look for traces of drugs. Sally. He needed to keep her alive for just a little longer.

  The three Wests were tied up. Greg and his partner were stiffs. That left Sally. He opened the truck door on the passengers' side and found Sally

  And Greg.

  And Ashleigh.

  Zinsli recovered quickly. "This is loaded and I will use it," he said, aiming the rifle at Greg's head. "Come out of the cab on this side, one by one."

  As Greg got out of the truck, Zinsli spun him to the side of the refrigerated box. He held the rifle against Greg's head, just far enough away so Greg could not swipe at it. Ashleigh came next. Zinsli pulled her on to the far side of Greg. />
  "Hands up high on the side of the truck," he said.

  Ashleigh did as she was told.

  "Now you, Sally," said Zinsli.

  Sally slipped across the bench seat and slid to the ground.

  "Over with them," said Zinsli, still pointing the gun at Greg's head. "Now, arms on the front person's shoulders, move to the rear of the truck. "

  Zinsli had military training. This was no different from searching a house in Afghanistan at midnight, except these people could understand English. Sally led the way with Ashleigh's arm on her shoulders. Greg's arms were on Ashleigh's shoulders.

  "Open the door," said Zinsli.

  His luck really was holding.

  40.

  Barbara van Buren was frustrated in her plans because Bill Paki-Paki's flight had been diverted to Wellington, across Cook Strait, due to the earthquake. She phoned the Regional Commander and explained the importance of the print out from Google Maps she held in her hand.

  "Constable, we are absolutely flat out with recovery operations and guarding properties," said Inspector Martin Frobisher. "There is no way I can release a helicopter to look for dead bodies."

  "But Sir, one misper is the daughter of the previous Minister of Police," said Barbara.

  "Alexandra West is not a misper. She is dead," said Inspector Frobisher. "And we cannot show favouritism. The general public would have my head if I diverted resources for political gain."

  Barbara thought Frobisher frequently diverted resources for political gain but she kept her mouth shut. "Thank you, Sir. May I use local resources if and when they become available?"

  Frobisher was silent for a moment. The dead woman and her husband had recently received much publicity, and the papers and television highlighted them in recent news. It would look bad if it came out that he had made no effort to assist van Buren find the dead bodies.

  "Yes, van Buren. As long as it doesn't cost more than a thousand," he replied.

  Barbara saw through Frobisher's offer. A thousand dollars would not get her a chopper.

  "Thank you, Sir. I will not exceed a thousand dollars."

  Barbara was livid. She hung up the phone, and then she sent a text to Bill Paki-Paki letting him know that she had a budget of a thousand dollars to search the pipeline and its surroundings for signs of his missing daughter but that all local resources were engaged in rescue or property protection activities. Bill was in the air and would not get her message until he landed.

  Also diverted to Wellington were Jeanne and Robert West. They were delighted when they received an email from Barbara van Buren to say that Bill and Syd Paki-Paki would land in Wellington. They asked the Air New Zealand Information Centre in Wellington Airport to arrange a rendezvous with the Paki-Pakis.

  "Great to see you both," said Bill when he saw Richard's parents. They all shook hands and then stood silently, uncertain how to proceed.

  "I don't believe they are dead," said Jeanne. "And that's not just a mother's wishful thinking."

  "Well, there is no evidence they have died," said Bill. "But there is plenty of circumstantial evidence to suggest so."

  "No," said Sydney. "There is evidence their car was swept away. That's all Bill."

  "Have they searched the site?" asked Robert. "Apart from an aerial view?"

  "The young driver walked around. He is still trapped in his truck, caught between a landslide and a bridge," said Bill. "He saw the mud slide. Apparently it was pretty severe."

  "But they would have been inside the car," said Robert. "Surely they would have had time to get out. I mean, it's not like the car fell into a river, is it?"

  "Worse," said Bill. "I'm afraid a mudslide exerts huge force. You can't open the car doors, for instance."

  "How deep was the mud?" asked Jeanne.

  "Apparently, it came down a cutting in the roadway like a wave at the beach, lifted the front of the car and then pushed the car backwards down the road and over a bank. Brendan Geddes, the truck driver, went back an hour or so later and found the car had been carried down a small gully until it hit something, and stopped with its bonnet in the air. Geddes got a stick and poked the drying mud. He said he couldn't find anything solid, but the windows were closed and he had only the sunroof to work with."

  Robert was on to it immediately. "So the sunroof was open?"

  "Or broken when the car was on its roof," said Bill. "But I believe they are still alive. Look."

  He held out his laptop and opened the lid. "See? Here. There is a culvert running under the hill. That would have cost a packet to put in, so I assume it was an important protection for the village further down the valley in case this dam..." Bill pointed to Greg's pond, "burst in a flood or an earthquake. Or if there was another type of serious flood, the pipe would take the overflow from the swamp here," he drew with his finger to show what he meant, "under the hill and the bypass road to the gully where the car was found."

  Jeanne asked, "So you think that they might have used the pipe to escape? Why not just climb up the bank?"

  "The car could have been totally submerged at that stage. Brendan Geddes said that the whole car disappeared, and the whole roof had been under mud."

  Robert's cell phone rang.

  "Excuse me," said Robert. "Hello, Robert speaking."

  "Hell Mr West. It's Kelvin Jordan here."

  "Hello, Kelvin, it's nice to hear from you." Robert West covered the cell phone with his hand and spoke to the group. "It's Kelvin Jordan, the journalist who gave up his seats for us." He returned to the cell phone. "We have arrived, diverted to Wellington. Kelvin, something exciting has happened. Bill, Wiremu Paki-Paki, thinks there might be a chance that the West family escaped from the mudslide by climbing up a pipe used to drain a swamp. If you go on Google Maps and then Google Earth you can see for yourself. It's just up the road from the village of Te Kouka."

  "Can I quote Mr Paki-Paki?" asked Kelvin. "Is he with you?"

  Robert handed the phone to Bill, who made a statement that was guarded but expressed his thoughts, a register he had become used to when he had been Minister of Police. His story started at the beginning, returning home from a hui, early in the morning, and ended with Brendan Geddes poking a stick through the sun roof. He added that no tracks or traces of the family had been seen, which gave credibility to his theory of them using an overflow pipe to crawl to safety. Te Kouka had no electric power or phone services and was still cut off by a fallen bridge.

  Bill handed the phone back to Robert. "Where are you now?" he asked.

  "Some hours behind you, in Brisbane. I fly into Dunedin as Christchurch Airport is out of action until it has been checked out for damage."

  Bill's phone rang. It was Barbara van Buren, wanting to know if Bill had got her message.

  "Yes, and I am very excited," said Bill. "You know the instinct cops develop over time? Well, my gut feeling is that they are alive but cut off from civilisation. Can you get a chopper?"

  "No," said Barbara. "It's still chaos here in Grantville. The Area Commander has given me a budget of a thousand dollars. That's all. He thinks your family is dead and had some serious work to do with guarding empty properties and checking for survivors door to door."

  "If I pay, can you get a chopper?" asked Bill asked Barbara.

  "No. We really are flat out here. Te Kouka will be visited in due course but the initial fly over and a CB call said no-one was in imminent need."

  That meant either someone was dead or nobody was seriously hurt.

  "I'll get a private charter here," said Bill. "We'll fly to Granville and contact you then."

  "Four of you? Needs a big chopper," said Barbara. "No way will Frobisher pay for that."

  "Never fear, Bill is here," said Bill, quoting the chant his men used when he was a uniformed officer on the Thin Blue Line. "I'll let you know when it's a goer."

  Barbara was right. There were no helicopters available. No matter how many times he tried, Bill found that there were no helicopters
in Wellington or surrounding cities that were available for a flight to the South Island.

  41.

  Philip Zinsli left Greg's pick-up by the cabbage trees and drove back to the farm house with Ashleigh and Greg tied up in the back of the refrigerated truck and with Sally beside him in the cab. Zinsli had made Greg tie up Ashleigh and Sally's hands, then Zinsli had tied up Greg's. It had been a busy night. Zinsli needed to set the house up so that the scene looked like Greg and Ashleigh had drunk too much on her last night at the farm, and then had resorted to using drugs. He had some gear from Cyril the Squirrel to help dress the scene. Not being a user, Zinsli was a little uncertain as to what drug to use. John Hopgood had supplied him with ketamine, a drug he had often used in his work in the hospitals and on the farm.

  Because her hands were bound, Zinsli helped Sally out of the cab, following her into the house with the rifle pointing at her back. Greg and Ashleigh were left in the back of the refrigerated truck. Richard, Alex and Jo heard the truck. Tied to chairs, they could do nothing. The lantern on the table gave a dim light as Zinsli and Sally walked into the room. Zinsli made Sally sit on a chair, to which he tied her. He went back to the truck and brought in Ashleigh and Greg. He made them sit in two chairs that he brought in from the kitchen.

  Everyone was tied up. Zinsli wanted to wait for dawn in order to see his way around the swamp to the drainpipe. With time to spare, he made a cup of instant coffee and some toast, which he cooked over the embers in the coal range. Later, he would rake some coals from the coal range and set fire to the wooden floor. It was all playing into his hands. He really was having a lucky night.

  "What do you intend doing with us?" asked Richard.

  "Nothing, my friend. I am going to set you and your family free," Zinsli replied.

  "I don't believe you," retorted Richard.

  "I have done nothing wrong," said Zinsli. "My previous wife disappeared. She has never drawn on her bank account, so I believe she is dead. No doubt the police will track down her murderer. I know it wasn't me. She was seen leaving Grantville with a man in a car. My guess is she ran away with him, maybe for sex? And he killed her."