A Conundrum

by P. J. Peacock

  Bede left the lounge, and instead of trying to find Meredith and her friends, went looking for Gabriel instead. She found him in the billiard room talking on his phone to the police, by the sound of it. She waited calmly, leaning against the side of the billiard table until he’d finished.

  ‘Well, what’s happening now? Who is he, and what have you done with him?’

  Gabriel smiled, and sliding his arm around her waist, drew her slowly to him. ‘Damian and Martin have him and his friend trussed in the back of the car. I’ve just informed Inspector Campbell about what’s happened, and he’s asked us to bring them into the police station now. It seems they have been causing a bit of trouble with the locals, and they’ve had a few complaints about them. Damian isn’t sure who they are, just that they’ve been hassling him in Perth. The inspector can sort it out.’ He kissed her softly on the lips. ‘But I need to talk to them for a bit before we drive them to the station, so do you think you can keep everyone happy here for half an hour?’ He raised his left eyebrow in query.

  She frowned at him. ‘I think you’ve practised that in front of the mirror for years.’ She smiled into his eyes, and then continued thoughtfully, ‘Justin wants to go home now, but we can stall him for a bit. I know Meredith wanted to stay for dinner.’

  He waggled both eyebrows at her. ‘I can do one at a time.’ He kissed her swiftly. ‘Are you all right with all this?’

  ‘Yes, just go, I’ll find Meredith.’

  Driving back later, Bede thought back over the evening. Gabriel, Martin, and Damian had taken the two troublemakers to the local police station, and Damian had laid charges of harassment and assault against them both. Gabe had warned it probably wouldn’t stick since Damian had attacked one of them unprovoked, but then, Damian could prove the assault in Perth as he’s landed in Charles Gardiner Hospital with his broken arm and cuts and bruises. He had reported the attack to the police at the time.

  It was an uneventful drive back, and they weren’t prepared for the uproar that greeted them as they pulled up. It took the combined voices of both Gabriel and Martin to achieve quiet from everyone milling around, all talking at once. Gabe pointed a finger at Jonathan, one of the young workers on the estate, to tell them what had happened. He also demanded to know where Pete was.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Thieves Again

  Meredith came quickly down the steps. At that moment, calling out, ‘Pete is on the floor of the library, unconscious. Come quickly.’

  The library had been ransacked, books scattered all over the floor, with Pete lying on his back. Meredith was crouched down beside him, gently helping him to his feet. Most of the staff had followed them into the house; and Jonathon, a pleasant youth, reported, ‘There were two of them. They came in a black Toyota 4WD with Perth number plates.’ He stopped for a moment, and then continued sadly, ‘Unfortunately, I didn’t get the number plate. It was covered in dirt.’

  Pete, climbing slowly to his feet, revealed, ‘Christ, sorry about this, but I was too slow. There were two of them, and they knew what they were after. They took the two antique books. They’ve only been gone a few minutes, so if you take the copter, you should be able to track them. They’re driving a big, black 4WD with Perth number plates.’ He paused, grimaced, then continued, ‘But I didn’t get the number.’

  There was still blood trickling down his forehead, and Gabriel thought he seemed to be trying to convey something else, but at that point, he collapsed back onto the floor, his legs simply crumbling under him. They were all furious, Bede and Hera were confused and concerned about Pete, and Justin was simply stunned as he gazed around at the shambles.

  Hera immediately went across to Pete’s side. She helped him to his feet again, and asked Jonathon to help her assist him onto the sofa. Meredith came in at that moment with a bowl of warm water and some soft clean cloth to bath his head. ‘We need to look at this without the blood,’ she said. ‘You may need stitches.’

  Pete cursed softly under his breath and watches as Gabe, Martin, and Bede raced from the room. Still cursing softly, he suddenly yelled, ‘Be careful, you three.’

  Gabe waved to acknowledge the warning, as they pelted across to the hanger with Bede in front. ‘It’s all fuelled up,’ she shouted. ‘Pete was going to spray early tomorrow morning.’ The three of them wheeled the machine onto the pad and quickly climbed aboard.

  It took only a few moments for Bede to have the engine revving and then they were airborne. They started circling. It was coming on dark, but would be a good hour before they lost all the light. There was still the spotlight they used for shooting brumbies when and if they needed it, Bede thought. It didn’t take long to spot the vehicle. It was racing down the Wills Track at about 100 kilometres an hour. The road was a secondary road, but in good repair.

  Bede spoke into the intercom, ‘They’re heading west. The track meets up with the Great Northern Highway just north of Newman, but it’s about 250 kilometres, and there’s nothing between here and there, so I don’t know how they think they’re going to get away.’ Just at that moment, there was the sound of a shot pinging off the fuselage. Bede pushed the control forward, and they immediately started to climb out of range of what had obviously been a handgun.

  Gabe swore in a language Bede didn’t understand, and Martin put his hand gently onto her shoulder. ‘Stay out of range, and we’ll just follow for the moment.’

  In the meantime, Gabriel reached across and picked up the radio controls, noting with approval the latest in French communication technology. ‘We need to speak to Inspector Campbell, and get him to set something up.’ He looked at Bede with raised eyebrows. ‘Road blocks?’

  She grinned at him. ‘It’s easier out here. There is nothing and almost no one for miles. We can notify the couple of homesteads between here and Newman, and notify Newman itself.’ She shrugged, ‘They won’t get far, they’re idiots if they think they can.’

  Gabe continued to talk over the radio, while Bede and Martin watched the speeding car. ‘Who do you think they are, Martin?’

  ‘Well, I’d say someone from Europe not used to the distances out here, and I think opportunists. They couldn’t have known we’d be at the club until late.’ He paused thoughtfully. ‘Unless they have some connection with those two idiots at the club.’ He paused again and exchanged a glance with Gabe, still speaking to Inspector Campbell.

  Gabe nodded, then with a wicked grin, ‘The inspector asked if you’re carrying a rifle. He seems to think you probably do for culling brumbies, and suggested we try for the tyres. What do you think?’

  ‘Well, I have to fly this thing, and I’m not a good enough shot. We don’t want to kill them.’

  Gabe grinned again. ‘But I am. If you can keep it steady, I’m sure I’ll manage.’

  Bede indicated a compartment at the back of the passenger seats. ‘It’s in there, not loaded, but you’ll find the ammunition in a separate locked compartment behind the seat.’ She handed a key back to him.

  Gabe set about loading the rifle. It was a L1A1 SLF. ‘Nice rifle’, he said with a grin, ‘and in good condition.’ Bede snorted in derision, but took the helicopter lower and parallel to the speeding car. Martin moved out of the way, sliding the cabin door open; and Gabriel positioned himself in the opening, wedging his left shoulder securely, and with one foot, keeping him balanced on the landing skids. He raised the rifle to his right shoulder. ‘Okay, Bede, keep her steady.’ He took careful aim.

  His first shot hit the road just in front of the car, and they skidded to the left. He aimed quickly again, this time hitting the front tyre, causing the vehicle to swing crazily across the road. The driver was fighting the skid, trying desperately to keep the car from rolling over. Bede brought the copter lower and prepared to land in front of, and as close to the damaged car as possible. She held her breath, hoping that the driver and the passenger they could see were not hur
t. They needed information, and potentially, this pair knew quite a lot.

  ‘Keep back, Bede, they’re likely to start shooting. We’ve got the greater range, but they might be a bit impulsive.’ He prepared to leap down as soon they touched, and had the rifle to his shoulder. He fired one more round into the back tyre this time, as the Toyota finally swung to a stop.

  The passenger and driver both erupted from the car, swearing and cursing in Czech. Martin, grinning, climbed down to join Gabe. ‘Well, well, well, I recognise these two. Things might finally start to make some sense.’

  Gabriel was scowling, but keeping a tight control on his rage; and with the rifle held loosely beside his leg, crossed to confront Kamila and Jakub, both still cursing. Bede switched the engine off, and as the rotor of the Robinson slowed, she too climbed down, watching the drama unfolding.

  Kamila stormed toward Gabriel, while Jakub tried to calm her down. ‘You pig, Gabriel, you could have killed us. Are you still jealous of Jakub?’ She rushed at him with arms flailing. Jakub finally caught her, as Martin stepped between her and Gabriel.

  ‘You bitch’, he snarled, ‘why do you think Gabriel would be jealous, and where exactly do you think you were going? You stupid cow, do you really think you could get away with such a stupid robbery here? In the middle of the Australian bush?’ He drew a deep calming breath.

  ‘Calm down everyone,’ Gabriel sauntered up, still casually holding the rifle at his side. ‘Now perhaps Jakub’, he looked toward the tall, dark man still holding the still struggling Kamila, ‘would like to explain what’s going on? Which of you two fired on us, and I agree with Martin’s question, where did you think you were going?’

  They were all caught in the spotlight from the helicopter, as Bede switched it on.

  She thought they were speaking Czech. She didn’t understand anything said, but obviously, they all knew each other well. The beautiful, slim woman trying to attack Gabe confused her, and her tall companion trying to restrain her, was not having a great deal of luck. Martin seemed furious, but Gabe, as usual, was his cool unruffled self. But he was pale, and he still had his finger on the trigger of the rifle. ‘Could you please all speak English?’ she said mildly, as she strolled to Gabriel’s side.

  Gabriel turned to her, and transferring the rifle to his left hand, put his arm around her shoulders and drew her into his side. ‘Bede, meet Kamila and Jakub, I told you about them. They’re dubious associates of Justin and Lucien, which raises interested question. Did you notify the inspector that we’d caught them?’

  ‘Yes, and Pete is fine by the way.’ She glanced at the two irate seething Czechs. ‘Which one of you smashed him over the head?’

  ‘My guess is Kamila,’ Martin hissed.

  ‘Right’, she snarled, ‘he deserved it. He knocked me out the last time I saw him, the bastard.’ Kamila was sulking now.

  Bede was startled and had to close her mouth quickly. What the hell was going on? She moved away from Gabe, turned frowning to look first at him, then Martin, and lastly, the two book thieves. She was suddenly very cold and frightened. ‘I don’t know what the hell is going on here, but it’s obviously not what I thought,’ she said as she grabbed the rifle from Gabriel’s loose grasp before he had time to react; and moving several steps back from him, brought the rifle up quickly to cover all four. ‘Don’t move, any of you, and don’t think I won’t use this.’

  Gabriel, frowning but still relaxed, took one step toward her. ‘Bede, take it easy, don’t overreact. I, we, can explain.’

  ‘Stop, don’t move. What exactly do you plan to explain?’ She was furious and shaking with rage. ‘This has all been some sort of swindle, hasn’t it? And you’re all involved.’ She moved another step carefully back toward the helicopter. ‘Which one of you actually killed my father, or was it Pete, the ever loyal employee, that Kamila knows very well of old. You all obviously know each other well.’

  There was an awful stillness now. All four were facing her quiet and watchful even the sulky Kamila had straightened.

  ‘Keep your hands where I can see them, all of you.’ The light from the spotlight keeping them all in sharp relief. ‘I may not be the sharpshooter as you are, Gabriel, but I’m quite capable of firing off two or three shots before any of you can grab me. And believe me, from this distance, I can’t miss, and I’m not sure which of you four I’ll shoot first.’

  She continued to move backwards, slowly and carefully, sliding her feet across the loose stones on the road. It wouldn’t be a good move to stumble at this point. She moved the barrel of the rifle carefully from one to the other. She couldn’t believe she had been such a fool, but couldn’t allow herself to think about any of this yet. She had to get to the helicopter, take off, and call Inspector Robinson. She also needed to disable the Toyota more completely. It was a hire car, so probably had more than one spare tyre in the back. Without the car, they wouldn’t be able to escape. She could fly on to Newman, and get the police from there to come out and pick them up.

  ‘Bede, this is not what you think.’ Gabriel held out his hand. ‘Please, Bede, let me explain.’ He took a step toward her.

  ‘Stand still, I said don’t move.’ She was moving more quickly now, only a couple of steps and she’d be able to get the cabin door open, then she needed to somehow take off before they reached her.

  ‘Bede, listen to me, please. This really is not what you think.’

  ‘Yeah sure, your former girlfriend is in Australia and steals the two extremely valuable books, while we’re away from the homestead. How did she know we would be away? And Pete, loyal Pete, she knows Pete from before, before when and where? Before Pete killed James, or was it one of you two? Or perhaps it was the very versatile Kamila or her husband.’ She was sobbing now, raised the rifle quickly, and blew out the other back tyre of the hire car, then swung it back to still keep them covered. All four were still, Martin quietly watching Gabriel. ‘I suggest you stay put. There are no waterholes around here. The police will pick you up.’

  ‘Bede’, Gabriel was seething he’d lost all the colour in his face, and his hands were clenched so hard the knuckles gleaned white in the light from the helicopter, ‘for Christ’s sake, stop this now. Martin and I had nothing to do with James’s death or the stupid theft of those bloody books.’ He swung around to Kamila and Jakub. ‘Tell her, or we’ll be stuck here all night.’

  Kamila shrugged her shoulders, and her face took on a mulish and sulky look, but she did speak, ‘It’s true, Gabe and Martin had nothing to do with this. They had no idea we were here.’

  Bede was at the cabin door now. ‘You’d say whatever he told you to. I don’t believe you.’

  Martin, quiet until now, finally spoke, ‘Bede, Gabe is telling you the truth. We, neither of us, knew these two were in the country. We suspected Justin was up to something, but had no idea these two were here.’ He swung back to Gabriel. ‘I told you before, you should have levelled with her from the start.’ Turning around to Bede, ‘Just take a moment to think, Bede, you know Gabe is besotted with you. He wouldn’t have allowed these two anywhere near you if he’d known what they were up to.’

  ‘How can I believe you? You’ve been lying to me from the start.’ She was looking at Gabe now, but still keeping the rifle levelled at them all.

  ‘No, Bede, I haven’t lied to you at any point. I admit I haven’t been completely honest with you, but I’ve never lied to you.’ He was quiet for a few moments then continued gently, ‘It’s finding out about Pete that’s rattled you, Bede, but think. He’s been on the property all this time on James’s invitation. He’s been protecting you all. James tended to be a little paranoid, and as it turns out, he was right to be worried, but Pete is completely loyal to all of you.’ He moved one step toward her. ‘Bede, I would never let anyone or anything hurt you, deep down you know that. When we arrived, Martin and I were suspicious of Pete’s role here, so we di
d some checking. He was just as suspicious of us initially. Yes, Pete has a connection to the family as you’ve guessed, but you’ve jumped to the wrong conclusions. James obviously had been concerned about something for a long time, but he didn’t let on to anyone what it was. He just went ahead and arranged for Pete to be here, and keep an eye on you all particularly when he was away. The reason there are no details in his file is because Pete has in the past had a similar role in the family as Martin and me.’

  Bede was at the helicopter now, and paused.

  Gabriel held his hand out toward her palm up. ‘It’s Pete’s story, Bede, but I can tell you a little. He had a difficult and messy relationship break up and left Europe. That was a long time ago, and he’d been wandering around the Middle East when James bumped into him. He asked him to come here and live on the property, keep an eye out for any potential problems, but he didn’t tell him exactly what he was concerned about. James was always paranoid and far too secretive.

  ‘Bede, you’re the only one who can fly this thing, so you’re completely safe. We need to go back to the homestead and try to work this out. You can’t really mean to leave us stuck out here all night. Please?’ He seemed more relaxed, his colour had returned, and the corners of his lips twitching slightly. ‘Please? The whole day has been one shock after another, starting with George’s death, and then the nonsense at the club. You do know me, Bede.’

  Kamila yelped, ‘George is dead?’ She swung around and punched Jakub in the shoulder. ‘I knew we shouldn’t get involved in any of this. Now, we won’t get the rest of our money.’

  Jakub spoke for the first time in heavily accented English. ‘Shut up,’ he said and turned to Bede. ‘We had nothing to do with any killing.’ And more gently continued, ‘You don’t know either Kamila or me, but believe me, we have killed no one. It’s not my scene.’ He was thoughtful for a moment. ‘I’ll admit to stealing the odd item or two, and spying, maybe some rough stuff, but definitely no killing.’ Taking a deep breath, he continued thoughtfully. ‘Well, not unless Kamila’s life was in danger.’ He paused again. ‘Or mine, of course.’