‘The same as Janet Hodgson’s killer?’
‘Yes.’
‘What did he look like?’
‘I couldn’t turn my head but I could see him out of the corner of my eye and he had brown hair, I think, and fair skin. He was wearing a cap so I could only see bits of his hair poking out. He didn’t seem overly tall or big but he was sitting down.’
‘What was his voice like?’
‘Australian — I mean, he didn’t have an accent.’
‘Anything else about him you can remember? What was the cap like? What was he wearing?’
‘The cap was dark blue. He was wearing a khaki jacket and jeans. I think he had sandshoes on but I can’t be sure. Oh, and he was wearing a wedding band.’
Ed blinked in surprise. It wasn’t unheard of for serial killers to be married but it was unusual.
‘So what happened?’
Cass took a long sip before she responded.
‘We pulled over to the side of the road. It was dark by then and he came around to my side of the car and lifted me out. He dragged me round to the front of the car and propped me up against the bumper bar. Then he sort of crouched in next to me and waited.’ Cass paused and swallowed a few times, tears started to run down her cheeks at the memory. ‘He waited for a truck to come and then he grabbed me and just tossed me out in front of it.’
She covered her face with her hands. Ed stared at her. He felt sick. He reached out and patted her shoulder, trying to comfort her. She uncovered her face and looked at him.
‘He was so afraid. You have to catch the bastard that did this.’
‘I’ll do my best, Cass.’
‘I haven’t helped much have I?’
‘Every bit helps, at least we know it was the same person and we know a bit more about him. With a bit of luck we might get more at the next one, that’s if you’re OK to keep going?’
Cass looked out the window at the cars pulling in and out of the petrol station. The last thing she wanted to do was have another vision. Every time she closed her eyes she saw the semitrailer bearing down on her. The fear was worse than the pain. The pain of the impact had seared through every nerve in her body but it was over in an instant, leaving only the nothingness of death. The fear was something she would never forget. It would haunt her dreams. A person who could cause that much fear and suffering couldn’t be left free to hurt someone else.
‘I want to keep going. I need you to catch this guy.’
Ed let out a long breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding. They finished their coffee and got back in the car. Ed pulled out of the station and they headed for Adelaide. Cass closed her eyes. She went quiet for so long that Ed assumed she was asleep until her voice interrupted his silent stewing.
‘So how long have you been a police officer?’
‘Since I was eighteen, nearly twenty years.’
She wanted to know what it was like to be a police officer. He told her some of the funnier situations he’d found himself in over the years. Before he knew it they were pulling into the car park where Marcy Lucas was killed.
Ed glanced over at Cass. Her expression was unreadable but she’d gone white again and her hands were clenched in her lap. Ed parked the car and they both sat there for a few moments. It was approaching five o’clock and there were only a few people around. ‘Her car was parked over there in the space next to the blue van. We think he attacked her as she was walking to her car.’
‘Where did she actually die?’
‘She was found lying behind her car.’
‘OK, let’s get on with it,’ Cass said.
She strode over to the car space and started to walk around its perimeter — Ed had to break into a jog to keep up with her. This time she got a hit almost straight away. The minute she reached where the car would have been she stopped. Ed just stood behind her and waited. He didn’t want to see her face again. Once was enough.
He was expecting her to stand frozen to the spot but it was different this time. After a few seconds she threw her hands up and started to struggle with an invisible opponent. Ed had to step back to avoid being battered by her flailing arms. Then she threw her hands up to her throat and fell to the ground, gurgling and gasping, her legs kicked out as she struggled to breathe. Ed started to panic; could she actually suffocate?
A couple of students noticed the commotion and came over to see what was going on. They looked on nervously, whispering to each other.
‘Should I call an ambulance, mate?’ one of them called out.
Ed had been so focused on the battle Cass was having at his feet that he hadn’t noticed that they had an audience. He suddenly realised how strange it must look.
‘No, she’ll be all right in a minute. It’s a type of epilepsy,’ he lied.
This was met with doubtful looks. One of them pulled out his mobile and started to dial.
‘I’m a police officer,’ Ed said. He fished around in his pocket for his badge and flicked it out. The young man with the phone came over and had a look. He didn’t seem satisfied but he stepped back.
While he was sorting out the onlookers, Cass went still. He looked down. She was staring sightlessly at the sky. Another surge of panic hit him. He knelt down and lifted her head and shoulders off the ground, resting her against his legs. He felt for a pulse. The steady throbbing against his fingers was a huge relief. He looked at her chest, it was rising and falling almost imperceptibly as she took shallow breaths. ‘Cass? Cass, can you hear me?’
He picked her up and carried her over to their car. Struggling to balance her weight, he managed to open the door and slide her inside. He wound the seat back so that she was lying down and ran around to the driver’s side and climbed in, puffing from the effort. He cranked up the heat again then sat there helplessly, stroking her hand, waiting for her to come back from wherever she was. He was still sitting there when a police car pulled into the car park and stopped in the space right next to them.
‘Shit, shit, shit,’ he muttered, watching the two officers climb out and come around to his side of the car. Their eyes took in the prone form of Cass next to him and he could tell he was going to have to do some serious explaining.
He wound down the window. ‘Hello officer, I’m Detective Dyson, from Fairfield.’ He handed over his badge. ‘This is my friend Cass. She wanted to come and see the university grounds but unfortunately she’s had a fit, she’s epileptic.’
‘You’re a long way from home, Detective Dyson. I’m PC Glen Noakes and this is PC Julia Harding.’
‘Are you all right, miss?’ PC Noakes called.
While Ed had been focused on the two officers, Cass had finally come to. She was dazed and shocked but aware enough of what was happening to realise that she had to hold it together.
‘I just need to rest,’ she whispered.
The two officers looked at her closely. She managed a thin smile.
‘I’ll be fine. Ed will look after me.’
‘OK, we’ll just go over and speak to those students. If you could wait please?’ Harding said.
Noakes stood by the car while Harding went over to the students still huddled next to the blue van.
‘They’re just making sure. They’re worried that I might have hurt you and you’re too afraid to say anything,’ Ed said under his breath. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll be out of here in a couple of minutes.’
Harding finished talking to the students and walked back to join her partner. She leaned in the window.
‘Sorry, detective, just had to be sure. You look after her now. She looks like she needs some rest.’
‘No problem, you have to do your job. If there’s nothing else we’ll be on our way?’
‘Yes, that’s fine, have a safe trip.’
Ed started the car and they pulled slowly out of the car park. He watched the two officers retur
n to their car. Harding picked up the radio as soon as she got in.
‘They’re still checking. She’ll be radioing in my details and rego right now just to make sure I’m legit. Can’t blame her, I’d do the same thing.’
Cass nodded mutely.
‘What can I do, Cass? Do you need another coffee?’ Ed asked.
‘No, just take me home. I’ll fill you in on what I saw then. Right now, I just need to rest.’ She leant back and closed her eyes. Ed pulled over to the side of the road and took his jacket off. Gently, he laid it over the top of her.
‘Thanks,’ she whispered.
Ed drove through the city, navigating what was now peak-hour traffic. He’d just hit the beginning of South Road, which was bumper to bumper, when Cass startled him by speaking. He’d assumed she was asleep.
‘It was the same man, and she recognised him,’ she murmured.
He waited for her to say more, but she didn’t. When he had a chance to look at her she still had her eyes closed and a minute later he heard her gently snoring. She slept and he drove, pondering what this new development might mean. If the vic knew the killer then there was a good chance they might be able to track him down.
‘We’re gonna get you, you sick fuck,’ he hissed through clenched teeth.
PART THREE
Agamemnon: The gods fail not to mark
Those who have killed many.
The black Furies stalking the man
Fortunate beyond all right
Wrench back again the set of his life
And drop him to darkness.
Aeschylus, Agamemnon
CHAPTER
21
After we left Adelaide I could barely keep my eyes open, I was so exhausted. I’d never had two visions in one day and the aftermath was crushing. I couldn’t think, I couldn’t move and I could barely speak. I was too exhausted even to cry.
As soon as we left the campus I let the exhaustion take over. I muttered something to Ed, God only knows what, and the next thing I knew he was squatting next to me with the door open, shaking my arm. We were in my driveway.
‘Cass, are you awake?’ He sounded so anxious I guessed he must have been trying to wake me for a while.
I groaned and blinked a few times, trying to shake myself out of the fog.
‘I don’t know if I’ve got the energy to move,’ I mumbled.
Something in my expression must have told him I wasn’t kidding. I really didn’t know if my legs would hold me. He just nodded and, in one swift movement, bent over and lifted me out of the car. Even in my daze I couldn’t believe how strong the guy was; he made me feel like some dainty little wisp of a thing, and with all Gran’s good food I am certainly no featherweight. He slammed the car door with his butt and carried me to the front door. I gave in and just rested my head on his shoulder. It felt so good.
Gran must have heard the car pull up because she was waiting at the door, lines of worry etched on her face. ‘Is she all right?’
‘I think so, just exhausted.’
‘Bring her into the lounge room and I’ll make a pot of tea, she needs something restorative.’
I felt like I should say something, remind them that I was there too, but I just couldn’t be bothered. The warmth of Ed’s body was making me sleepy again and I wanted to shut my eyes and go back to sleep. I must have done that because the next thing I knew I was lying on the couch and Gran was waving a cup of tea under my nose and stroking my brow.
‘Drink this, Cass.’
‘I just want to sleep, Gran,’ I complained.
‘I know, dear, but Detective Dyson needs to know a bit more about what you saw before you can go to sleep again. He has to know if you saw anything about the killer that might help identify him.’
‘Where’s Mum?’
‘She’s in the study with a client. She’ll be finished soon.’
I sat up reluctantly and took the cup from her. I looked over in the corner. Ed was sitting quietly in Grandad’s old armchair. I was surprised to see him there. Normally Gran ushered visitors towards the settee. Gran wasn’t sentimental about many things but that chair embodied some of her happiest memories of when she and Grandad used to sit in this room at the end of the day, talking or just enjoying each other’s company. Ed had obviously moved up in her estimation quite dramatically.
Our lounge room was a cosy room of no particular style. All three of us were bower birds, inclined to buy pretty things to line our nest. The result was a room filled with brightly coloured silk cushions, tapestry throw rugs, a couple of Persian carpets and a varied collection of lamps and knick-knacks. It was a very female space but, surprisingly, Ed didn’t look uncomfortable or out of place.
I took a long sip of tea and involuntarily screwed up my face. The taste alone was enough to shake me out of my comatose state. I could pick out a few of the herbs she’d put in: a touch of peppermint, some rosemary and ginseng but that was where my knowledge of herbs hit a brick wall. I had no doubt that there were other things as well but I just concentrated on trying to hold my breath while I drank it because even the heavy-handed addition of some honey hadn’t made it very palatable.
‘Would you like a cup, Mr Dyson? I’m sure you’ve had a difficult day too.’
Ed had been watching my face while I struggled to swallow each mouthful.
‘No thanks, I’m fine, really.’
‘You’re not thirsty then?’ She had a twinkle in her eye as she asked the question. She knew damn well that he was probably gasping for a cup of coffee but was too polite to say so. ‘I’ve got some coffee brewing in the kitchen if you would like a cup?’
Ed gave an audible sigh. ‘I’d love a cup, thanks.’
Gran left to fetch his coffee and we sat there looking at each other over my cup of tea. I was starting to feel more like myself and images of what I’d seen at the uni were beginning to crowd into my head.
‘Thank you for looking after me.’
‘To be honest, you scared the crap out of me. When you collapsed at the uni and I couldn’t wake you up, I actually thought you might be dead.’
‘I never remember any of that but other people who’ve seen me have a vision have been pretty freaked out.’
‘Yeah, well, your grandma did warn me, but being told isn’t the same as experiencing it firsthand. Let me tell you, the scream you gave at the first scene was enough to scare ten years off my life.’
‘I screamed?’
‘Loud and long and ear shattering.’
‘That must be why I have a sore throat.’ I smiled thinly. It was an attempt at humour but really there was nothing funny about it. Gran chose that moment to come back in with a tray laden with coffee, milk, sugar and two enormous plates of apple pie and ice cream. She put the tray down next to Ed and passed each of us one of the plates.
‘I don’t think I really feel like eating, Gran,’ I said feebly, knowing that resistance was futile.
‘Nonsense, I bet you haven’t eaten since lunchtime!’
‘No, we haven’t,’ I said.
‘It does look good, ma’am. It’s been a long time since I had homemade apple pie,’ Ed murmured, the spoon already halfway to his mouth.
‘Well then, eat, you’ll both feel better. I’ll leave you to it. Give me a yell if you need anything, I’m just going to be in the kitchen. I have some herbs I need to bag up. I’ll tell Anita not to disturb you.’
‘Thanks, Gran.’
Silence followed her exit as we both sat there and wolfed down her divine apple pie. Nobody on earth could possibly make better pie than she did. I was three-quarters of the way through devouring my serve when I heard a contented sigh and the clatter of spoon on china from the other side of the room.
‘That was fantastic! Does she cook like that all the time?’
‘Yep,’ I muttered t
hrough a mouthful.
‘If I lived here I’d weigh three hundred kilos. I’d be one of those people you see on TV who has to be lifted out of the house with a crane.’
‘Welcome to my pain. I gave up on being thin a decade ago. I couldn’t deal with the deprivation.’ I let out a sigh of my own as I placed the spoon on my spectacularly clean plate and leant back against the couch. It was a remnant from the seventies, covered in donkey-brown velvet and stuffed with feathers that tended to sink after a while. I squirmed against the cushions, trying to mould them to my back.
‘You look just fine. I hate really skinny. Women should have curves.’
A gold star for Mr Dyson, I thought. He just keeps getting better. Enough idle chit chat though, the pie was over and I needed to tell him what I’d seen. The food and tea had been a welcome distraction but now it was back to business. With a deep breath, I got down to it.
‘Marcy Lucas was at her car when she was attacked by a man who came up behind her. She heard him coming and turned around in time to see him. That was when she said, “Oh, you’re the guy from the expo, aren’t you? What are you doing here?”’
Ed sat up straight. He looked at me eagerly. ‘Was that exactly what she said?’
‘Yes, exactly. Then he jumped on her and tried to hold a cloth soaked with something horrible over her mouth but she managed to fight him off. I think she might have hurt him, but she wasn’t quick enough. He grabbed her again and started to strangle her.’ I put my hands up to my throat at the memory and tears filled my eyes. I’d been fighting for breath, terrified, my heart pounding and unable to force any air into my lungs, which were screaming for oxygen. ‘Then he put the rag over my — I mean, her mouth again and everything went black.’
‘Is that where it ended?’
‘Yes, she must have died before she regained consciousness.’
‘And it was definitely the same man?’
‘Yes, I’m as certain as I can be. It was very dark. The light near her car wasn’t working. I saw his face. He was probably in his twenties with brown shortish hair. He was pretty average looking, medium build, not overly tall. He was the sort of guy you wouldn’t look at twice in the street.’
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