Cry Blue Murder
Page 12
From: Celia Beasley CeeceeB@gmail.com
Saturday 11 June 4:11 PM
Man, did you see the news today? Apparently the police found some isolated shack near Bendigo belonging to their prime suspect, but when they got there the whole house had been totally stripped and cleaned. There was no furniture, no curtains, no bedding and no carpet – even the underlay had been removed, like the guy didn’t want to leave one single shred of evidence except a wedge of – get this – CHEESE! Tossed out the back door. I’ve left the TV on for updates. Jaime said that if it turns out he’s from Ashbourne, she’s going back to Evelyn and doesn’t care if they don’t have a school harp.
While we’ve had the TV on, Grandma and I have been working on the quilt and it’s starting to look, well, like a quilt – 17 squares sewn. Grandma’s actually pretty great for somebody who watches reruns of Burke’s Backyard and stinks of eau de cologne.
CCB x
From: Alice King Alicekingofthejungle@gmail.com
Saturday 11 June 5:37 PM
Hey CC – Tess told me about the Bendigo thing. Sounds like the freak’s lair, all right. But still no arrest. I hope Hallie’s ok.
I think you need some good news for a change! Something heartwarming and hopeful. Or maybe it’s just that I feel suddenly so hopeful, like I’m not carrying around such a huge burden anymore. I spoke to Dad and it’s pretty much official that Mum is better, or better enough. She’s even taking visitors now and saying she wants to come home – asking about us!!!! Her alive kids who still need her!!!!! So, if you’re still up for the Cambi market, keep that Sunday free and hopefully that creep will be locked up by then too and we can walk to the cinema and get you a beige honeycomb choc top after too.
Alice x
From: Celia Beasley CeeceeB@gmail.com
Sunday 12 June 8.48 AM
I love that! Mrs Carmichael is tops. Next Sunday for Cambi market is perfect. I’d better get working on more stanzas.
Ooo, I’m cold – even though the heating’s on, it’s so chilly. It’s the kind of dark morning when you need a brownie with your hot chocolate – what would Mum say?!
Will email again later,
xCCB
PS Stanza for another dress?
Four girls walk,
arms linked,
a paper chain,
and in their wake, a siren screams:
cry blue murder.
From: Celia Beasley CeeceeB@gmail.com
Sunday 12 June 7:45 PM
Oh Alice, things are out of control here.
I was working on the quilt in Cleo’s room, and just as I was knotting a thread, Andrew and Cleo came in holding out a chemist envelope of photos. Andrew asked me whether I’d taken them, which I hadn’t – why would I take photos when my sister’s practically a pro photo-journalist? Anyway, Andrew told me they were from Grandpa’s SLR and that he got them processed for Cleo at the chemist. Most of them were standard Cleo stuff: random close-ups of doorknobs, socks and battered autumn leaves. Then I got to a group of pictures and Cleo made a sick noise I hadn’t heard before – like a dog vomiting. The first photo was of two lumps, but when I looked closer I saw it was Cleo and me. Asleep. Someone had taken a photo of us, Alice, of Cleo and me – curled up in our doonas, FAST ASLEEP. I started breathing fast and Cleo started crying, but I had to check the other pictures and there were six of them. Three of Cleo and me, two close-ups of Cleo, and one of me, all taken through Cleo’s bedroom window, and all asleep. I was just trying to figure out how this could have happened and who might have done it, when I looked up. The light outside was stormy and yellow, but there on the glass were two greasy handprints.
I shrieked and Cleo looked up and groaned. Andrew started swearing and said he’d kill the guy and went straight to the credenza, and got one of Dad’s guns. Then Mum walked in and asked why the hell Andrew had a gun. Andrew said it was deactivated and explained the whole story but Mum told him to put the gun away, man-up and call the cops.
When the police finally arrived, their car had no siren, only flashing lights, and the street was kind of eerie without a siren wail. With everything lit blue it really felt like the world was holding its breath. And all I could think about, Alice, was that at some stage somebody had been staring through the window, through Cleo’s bedroom window, somebody with my Grandpa’s camera in their greasy mitts. And I just stood there wondering why I didn’t call the police as soon as I saw the chalk – just like you said. And wondering whether the killer is actually after our Cleo, because the girls are getting younger again, Alice, and if he ever took her, we’d never hear her scream.
A policeman with big boots and a pad asked Mum questions and made lots of notes. It turns out that Grandma’s been leaving Cleo’s backpack outside because it always stinks of rotten banana. The camera was in it. The policeman said we were very brave and that he’d get back to us in the next few days.
After the police left, I didn’t want to stay at home, because it felt all dirty, and it didn’t feel like ours anymore – like when you find someone else’s hair on your soap. But Mum turned up the heating and squeezed OJ and kept saying ‘Oh, my babies, oh my poor babies’, over and over again. Then we rang Dad and Andrew’s going to move in with us till Dad gets home and Mum’s going to ‘fix Cleo’s blinds, for Pete’s sake’, and Dad asked us not to tell Grandma about the handprints and photos because of her heart.
I know it should have all felt normal again then, but it didn’t. Tonight I opened the door of Mum’s bathroom and Mum was crying in the shower, quietly, with her back to the door, but I could see her shoulders shaking through the steam and she looked so collapsed and so beaten.
Alice, I don’t know what’s going on, but I just want Dad home and the killer caught and everything back the way it was. I want to be able to run outside and see the sky and play four-square in the street and just do all the things we used to do.
I’m tired, Alice. I want this to be over.
xCCB and weary
From: Alice King Alicekingofthejungle@gmail.com
on Sunday 12 June 10:43 PM
Oh my LORD, CC. I just don’t know what to say, other than OMG. You and Cleo must be totally shaken. Are you absolutely sure the handprints don’t belong to your dad, though, or is that just a totally dumb question? God, it’s so creepy to have photos of yourself asleep and not know who the hell took them. I’m in shock. Don’t know what to say, other than PLEASE BE CAREFUL.
Alice xx
From: Celia Beasley CeeceeB@gmail.com on Monday 13 June 7:13 PM
Hi Alice
The police called by this morning and spoke to Mum. They took more photos and poked around the garden.
I ended up going to school, we all did. Since we found the photos, home doesn’t feel safe – like the doors and windows are all just walk-right-in open. Anyway, it turns out Bella has a cousin at Barrington in Hallie’s class. Lotta (Bella’s cousin) said that Hallie’s still not at school and she’s now back in hospital as she went mental when they took her to that house near Bendigo. She can’t do anything like feed herself or brush her own hair or even answer questions and she’ll almost definitely have to repeat. Apparently she’s really weak and she keeps having all these nightmares, and she wakes screaming and screaming although she’s sedated. Nobody’s allowed anywhere near her – not even the police anymore.
Tonight, Mum was so tense she drank too much wine and fell asleep on the couch so Grandma let us get pizza for dinner and, then she helped me with my patchwork. We’ve now sewn 46 squares and even Jaime had to be impressed (although she looked really closely at all the squares and said things like, ‘Isn’t that my favourite jumper?’ And I said, ‘As if’, because as if I would ever make that mistake, especially when the jumper she’s talking about looks like a dead muppet.
We called Dad
again tonight. He said his conference was ‘perfectly satisfactory’ which in Dad talk means his speech was amazing and hopefully there’ll be some new business. He sounded more relaxed than he’s been for years and he’s coming home on Wednesday. So there are some nice things . . .
xxx
From: Alice King Alicekingofthejungle@gmail.com
Monday 13 June 9:28 PM
Hey, CC,
Well, it’s officially the second week of winter and I’m hoping those damn crows will take off somewhere because they woke me again at five in the morning and all I could think about was someone lurking around taking photos through the window. Not that they could get me on the second floor, but still. Crows are creepy and they make you think creepy things. Hopefully they’ll migrate. I’m SO looking forward to coming down on the weekend, even if Dad has invited a bunch of rellies over for lunch on Saturday. Maybe Tess will pull her finger out and actually do something useful for a change, like help.
Mum and Dad are insisting on going to eight o’clock mass on Sunday morning before the market. So, given that I’ve managed to get out of going myself, do you mind if the ol’ parentals pick you up about 9am? Your place is right near their church. Then you can all swing by here and I promise to be waiting outside. We can go straight on to the market and head for the donut van! That’s my plan, CC. That and other things, like hopefully finding lots of cool fabric for your poems. I’ve already got patterns and Mum’s got a whole room set up with an iron and pro gear and all. Hey, if you need my mum (or dad) to talk to your parents, I can get one of them to call – Dad’s one of those parents who like to call, unfortunately.
Got to fly.
Let me know if 9am Sunday is okay for you.
Love Alice xx
From: Celia Beasley CeeceeB@gmail.com
Tuesday 14 June 7:02 PM
Hey Alice
Well, Sunday’s all organised! Your dad called and spoke to Grandma and she said, ‘He’s such a charming man’, Grandma said she wants to meet you so you can tell her what a boarding house looks like these days. I think she thinks you sleep in funny old-fashioned brass beds, 12 to a row, like she did.
It’s so wintery here and the kitchen windows are foggy enough to play hangman. They make me feel damp, like it’s sleeting inside. Last night, rain-fingers were knocking and knocking on Cleo’s window and the wind roared and all I could think of were those greasy hands. I know we’re safe, Alice, but I still feel hunted. Hot donuts and poetry-dresses should do the trick – make life look, well, a little more Frankie.
See you soon, Alice. I can type ‘soon’ now and mean it. Really soon. Five days soon.
xCCB
THE HERALD
Police closing in on Cocoon Killer
Sarah Montcliffe
June 15
Police are presently conducting interviews with a man they believe to be a prime suspect in the recent abduction of schoolgirl Hallie Knight and the abduction and murder of Adeline Taranto, Cornelia Walker and Esther Davidson. While the man’s identity cannot be disclosed, he has been described as a white Caucasian male, approximately 35 years of age. The man has worked at a number of independent girls’ schools around Melbourne including Barrington Hall (attended by Knight) and Ashbourne School for Girls (attended by Taranto). Police are also interviewing a possible female accomplice. No further information has been issued by the police.
Detective Senior Constable Maurice Bell has urged the public to maintain calm and rest assured that investigators are doing everything possible to find the killer. ‘A clear picture is certainly starting to emerge,’ said Detective Senior Constable Bell. ‘Each day brings us closer to an arrest.’
From: Alice King Alicekingofthejungle@gmail.com
Wednesday 15 June 7:44 AM
Hi CC
Has anyone been arrested yet? Please let me know ASAP! Ashbourne OMG?*&&!!!! Do you know who it is??
Well, this sounds boring as batcrap after all of that, but Dad told me he’d spoken to your gran about the weekend. He didn’t mention her having a voice like a freight train, though, hehehe. Just that she ‘loved a chat’, which is Dad’s way of saying he couldn’t get her off the phone. Anyway, he said she seemed pretty rattled about all the drama and was probably just relieved to have a conversation with another adult. Dad can be pretty reassuring when he wants to be. Speaking of dads, is yours home today? You said Wednesday, no??
Make sure you let me know ANYTHING as soon as you find out. Speak soon. SEE YOU SOON!
Alice xx
From: Celia Beasley CeeceeB@gmail.com
Wednesday 15 June 7:54 PM
Hi Alice
It was all everyone was talking about today but nobody has ANY IDEA who it is. This morning in assembly we were told that no arrest had been made as the suspect is still ‘helping police’ but all the male teachers seemed to be there, so I’m not sure how helpful he’s being.
After school, there were lots of TV cameras lined up at the gate and Jaime put her blazer over her head to cover her face because she says her agent gets cross when she’s filmed without a contract. She just looked guilty. Dipper.
Anyway, when we got home, the doorbell rang and Mum made me answer it. There, on the veranda, were Avril and Mia, with their mum. Mrs Bant said, ‘Hi CC’, and then she gave the twins a bit of a push. There was this terrible silence and they looked at each other, back and forth like a metronome. Mrs Bant said, ‘Girls’, and by this time Mum and Cleo had come to the door and we were all standing there, looking at each other all awkwardly through the wire, and then Mum said, ‘Oh hi, Lisa, hi girls, lovely to see you’, and that rebooted the exchange.
Mrs Bant prodded the girls again and then Avril smiled at me and said, ‘CC, it was us who wrote on your drive and took the photos of you girls asleep with Cleo’s camera’.
Then Mia jumped in. ‘It was meant to be a bit spooky to pay you back, but we know it just looks mean now.’
‘Meaner than when we thought it up.’
Then they said they were really sorry.
And Mrs Bant went on about how terribly embarrassed they all were, and how sorry and how furious she was when she discovered what they’d done. And then she explained how twins are never solo and so they don’t know what it means to be ganged up on, because things that look mean when you’re alone seem like a good idea when you have a wing-girl. Like that made it any better.
Then Avril started crying and that made me cry, but not for the reason they thought, but because I realised there was no excuse for what they did and no apology was going to make it any better.
Mum invited the Bants in and offered them licorice tea and tried to talk about stuff like lunches-with-the-girls and life-long-bosom-buddies until I couldn’t bear any of them, so I just left, Alice. Walked out without saying a single word.
After they’d gone, Mum went on about how dreadfully the twins had behaved but it would have been gracious to have accepted the twins’ offer to play tennis. Then Jaime came home from rehearsal and she wasn’t surprised to hear it was a practical joke, only she assumed it had been directed at her because when you do musical theatre you take the tomatoes with the roses. And Cleo scribbled she’d always known it was somebody we knew and probably the twins and that it was ‘Case-solved Cleo Beasley’, She then started flicking through all these photos she’d taken with her spy-camera – of the twins standing with their mum at the front door and the front of their mum’s Mazda as it reversed down the drive. I walked out, because by then I was sick of both my sisters, the twins, the Cocoon Killer and the entire day.
It may be winter, Alice, but I’m spring cleaning old friends and making room for new!
xxCC
THIS IS A VIDEO-RECORDED INTERVIEW BETWEEN DETECTIVE SENIOR CONSTABLE MAURICE BELL AND RODNEY JAMES WEAVER OF BRUNSWICK CONDUCTED AT THE ST KIL
DA ROAD POLICE STATION ON THURSDAY 16th JUNE. OTHER PERSONS PRESENT, MY CORROBORATOR, DETECTIVE SERGEANT BEN NEWMAN AND MR WEAVER’S LEGAL COUNSEL, CHARLIE DALLING.
Q1Okay, Rodney, do you agree that the time by my watch is now 12.46pm?
AYes.
Q2Can you state your full name, address and date of birth for me?
ARodney James WEAVER – 3 Donald Street, Brunswick – September 18.
Q3Okay, Rodney. Now, I think you know why you’re here.
CMy client —
AI have no idea, sir. Seriously.
Q4Look, mate, we just visited Grandma’s shack and it was pristine. Completely clean. But the spooky thing is that the whole place was also completely bare, Rodney. Bare as a soccer ball and the question I have for you is, why?
CMy client is not obliged to answer.
ANo, look, I’ve got nothing to hide. I’ll tell the truth. I’m re-stumping. That’s the beginning and end of it. The floor slopes all the way down – there are massive gaps near the skirting and mice have been getting in. I was going to try and get down there this week again, but it depends a bit on my schedule.
Q5Mice? Must have been all that cheese you left around. Stilton cheese. Anyway, if you’re re-stumping, Rodney, have you booked a tradie?
ANo, no. I was going to do it myself.
Q6You’re quite the jack of all trades, aren’t you, Rodney? Re-stumped a floor before? Sounds like a pretty big task for a bloke to take on, especially a bloke with as many ‘affairs’ on his plate as you have, Rodney.
CCan we keep this clean, please?
AI haven’t re-stumped before, but I’m going to give it a shot. Look, I can see why you guys are after me, but I didn’t kill any schoolgirls. I shouldn’t have lied about the car, but it wasn’t me.