by D. B. Tait
Julia shuddered and squared her shoulders. It looked to Dylan as if she was forcing herself to get control. She turned and faced him.
“Why did you read my file?”
“You know why. I was looking for something else. What we talked about before. It’s important, Julia,” Dylan said.
She stood at the foot of the stairs and glared at him.
“You won’t give up, will you?”
He regarded her levelly and said nothing.
Her shoulders slumped and she turned to climb the stairs. “What does it matter now, anyway? What does anything matter?” she muttered, and disappeared up the stairs.
Dee turned to him.
“What’s going on Dylan? What did she mean?”
He shook his head. “I can’t tell you Dee.” He frowned. “I know what Blossom said upset her, but it was more than that. Did she ever talk to you about what happened that day? About the murder?”
Dee sighed. “Not really. She didn’t talk to anyone about it much, not even her solicitor. As soon as the police arrived the day after and searched the car, she admitted she did it. All the evidence pointed that way.”
There was hesitance in Dee’s voice.
“But you had some doubts?”
She sat in a kitchen chair as if the weight of the world had descended upon her.
“The whole thing just seemed incredible to me. Incredible that Julia would’ve gone up there in the first place. She’s a sensible girl. If her best friend told her the local priest had molested her, I would’ve thought her first response would be to get her some help, not confront the molester. I tried to talk to her about why she went up there but she wouldn’t say anything. Just muttered some nonsense about saving others.”
“And you, Eleanor, and Blossom weren’t around. Is that right?”
Dee nodded. “Bloss had gone on a school camp at Bundanoon. The whole thing was a nightmare. Because she was away for a few days, Ellie and I decided to do an overnight camp in the bush. When we got back on what would’ve been the day of the murder, we found Bloss had been sent back early because she’d been sick. She had a raging fever and Julia was nursing her.”
Something tingled down Dylan’s spine. “Blossom was with Julia?”
Dee nodded.
He frowned. That detail wasn’t in the file. He sat on a kitchen chair opposite Dee.
“In the file and sentencing comments, it’s obvious the only reason the police turned up at your place in the first place was because Eleanor was heard to have a loud and aggressive fight with Father Pat some days before. And when I talked to Mrs. McKenzie, Father Pat’s housekeeper, she said you were at his house the day before he was found. But you said you’d gone camping. What’s that about, Dee?”
She shifted in her chair and avoided his eyes.
“Did she say that? I can’t really remember.”
He watched her with surprise and growing concern. “Come on. This is me you’re talking to. The man who’s bared his soul to you and lived to tell the tale. What happened?”
She lifted her head to him. Tears were shimmering in her eyes. “It was a bad time for us, Dylan. We were going through a rough patch.” She took in a deep breath and pushed it out. “Ellie had busted.”
Dylan stirred in his chair and reached for her hands.
“Somehow Father Pat found out her relapse and threatened Eleanor with blackmail. Told her if she didn’t pay him he’d report her to the authorities and get Blossom taken away. That was Ellie’s worst nightmare.”
“Blackmail? I wouldn’t have thought Eleanor would ever let herself be blackmailed.”
Dee smiled. “She didn’t. Told him to go to hell in loud and uncompromising ways. But beneath it all she’s fragile. It didn’t help her relapse.” She hesitated. “You know about Father Pat, don’t you Dylan?”
“That he was a pedophile? Everyone knows that.”
She shook her head. “Not that. Before that became known. Father Pat was very well loved by lots of people in Katoomba. He was charming. Charismatic. Both Ellie and I were refugees from Catholic childhoods and had nothing to do with the church. When he arrived in Katoomba, he went about getting involved in a range of groups and causes to do with social justice and everyone thought he was great. A breath of fresh air. Young people loved him,” she said wryly. “We entertained him in our house, for god’s sake. Not only did he abuse everyone’s trust through his activities, but it became clear he’d been collecting information about a whole range of people and was blackmailing them.”
“There was nothing about this in the files.”
“I don’t think the police even knew. There was no point. Julia confessed and that was that.”
Dylan thought there was a lot more to it. Although, on one level she was right. Once Julia confessed, any other lines of enquiry would’ve been abandoned by the investigating officers.
“So why did you go and see him?”
Dee pushed her fingers through her hair, making it stand on end. “Ellie and I had gone camping to get away from everything. She was struggling with staying sober and we were arguing. I got fed up and drove back into town, determined to go and see Father Pat to tell him I’d expose him. I was furious. But he wasn’t there. I found out later he’d been down at Bundanoon with Blossom’s school excursion. So I drove back to the camping site. We worked it out,” she said with a sad smile. “Why are you asking me these questions? What does it all matter now?”
“He was with Bloss?” he said sharply. “I didn’t know that.” He stared at his friend with his mind racing. There was something just on the edge of that picture he couldn’t get in focus.
“What? What are you thinking?” Dee asked.
He squeezed her hands and got up to leave. “It doesn’t matter. I’m just trying to get a picture of that time. Something else has come up about events that happened around then involving some of the cops who worked Julia’s case. Don’t worry about it. Go to bed. Happy birthday, by the way.” He pulled out a small package from the pocket of his jeans. “I didn’t get a chance to give this to you.”
Dee smiled as he placed the box in her hands.
“Open it later.”
“No way. I’m opening it now,” she said, pulling off the tissue paper. Inside the box was a gold chain. She lifted it up and laughed with delight to see a tiny gold life buoy hanging from the chain.
He bent to kiss her on her forehead.
“Just a reminder what you did for me and some other people we both know too. You’re a life saver Dee. Don’t forget that.”
She stood to hug him, tears now freely flowing down her cheeks.
“Thanks Dylan. It wasn’t hard you know. You did all the work yourself.”
He shook his head. “On the first anniversary of Melanie’s death you were there for me Dee, when I doubt I would’ve gotten through the night alive let alone sober.”
“You’ve come a long way since then, Dylan. It’s great to see. You’re a good man.”
A dark whisper in the back of his mind laughed at him.
She doesn’t really know you, does she? Doesn’t really know what you’re capable of.
He stomped it down and smiled down at her.
“Get some sleep. I’ll see you later.”
Chapter 20
“She needs to go back to hospital, Eleanor. She’s unstable and vulnerable. This fantasy about her and the priest has become an obsession. If she doesn’t get proper treatment she could relapse or worse.”
Julia stood on the stairs and listened to Douglas plead with Eleanor and Dee.
She’d spent an almost sleepless night, fighting nausea and turning over and over Dylan’s words in her mind. He seemed so convinced a child could not have killed Father Pat. But what about the DVD? O’Reardon had confirmed that it showed Blossom killing the priest but he was hardly a reliable source. What if he was lying? But why would he? And if that were the case, someone else had to have set the whole thing up, leaving Blossom unconscious
and vulnerable.
Julia continued her way down the stairs, her mind in torment. She had to talk to Dylan, find out exactly what was in the forensic evidence.
Douglas stood beside the kitchen sink close to Eleanor, almost standing over her. Dee sat at the table sipping on a cup of tea, frowning at him.
She doesn’t like him, Julia thought. Unusual. Dee tended to like everyone.
Eleanor stepped away from him and stood closer to Dee. “We can look after her Douglas. It’s better she stays here. We just need to explain to her that what she thinks happened, couldn’t have happened. She’ll understand eventually.”
Eleanor glanced at Julia with a pleading look on her face.
“That’s right,” Julia said. “She needs to know the truth.”
“That’s an odd choice of words. She knows the truth now,” Douglas said, frowning.
Julia opened her mouth to tell them but something about the expression on Douglas’s face stopped her.
“I mean she needs to understand the truth. What about we keep her here for a few days and see how she is. If she keeps up the fantasy we’ll reassess with you. How does that sound?”
Douglas looked at her doubtfully but finally nodded. “Don’t hesitate to call me if she becomes unstable again. I don’t want anything to happen to her.”
“Of course we will.” Julia hesitated. “Is Sally okay? She didn’t seem too happy last night.”
He looked at her blankly for a moment then smiled. “Yeah, she’s fine. She’s pissed off with me, but she’ll get over it. I told her I’m moving down to the south coast and she’s annoyed with me. It means there won’t be a consultant psychiatrist up here for a while.”
“That’s a big decision,” Eleanor said, clearly put out. “When are you leaving? Does Blossom know?”
“Not yet. I’m going to tell her at our next session so don’t mention anything to her.” He smiled at Eleanor. “I’m not leaving for a month or two. Time to get my patients referred to a couple of my colleagues down on the plains.” He hesitated, searching Eleanor’s face with concern on his face. “Life goes on Ellie. You know that. I’ve been wanting to live near the sea for a long time. Now is the time.”
Eleanor sighed and nodded. “Of course. It’s just that, regardless of what happened last night, Blossom’s been doing well. Off the drugs and clearer about her future. We just have to get over this hump.”
“And we will,” he said. “If you think you can look after her without her going back to hospital and I see her more intensively, I’m sure we can do a lot in a couple of months.”
“Thanks Douglas. You’ve been a great help,” Eleanor said, ushering him out. Something passed between the two of them as they moved into the hallway. Julia could hear a continued murmured conversation go on as they stood at the front door. She turned back to Dee who was staring out the window with a blank look on her face.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
Dee shook herself like a dog emerging from water and smiled.
“I’m fine. Did you get any sleep? You look pale.”
“I’m okay. Just a little muzzled around the edges.” She paused then opened a kitchen cupboard and pulled out a cup, regretting again the loss of her mermaid cup. Sitting next to Dee, she poured herself some tea. “What’s the story between you and Douglas?’
Dee jumped as if slapped. “What? What do you mean?’
“You don’t seem too keen on him.”
Dee shrugged. “He’s okay. Knows his stuff.”
“But?”
Dee waved her hand in front of her face as if swatting an irritating fly. “But nothing. There are more important things to worry about. Like Blossom. What are we going to do about her?”
Julia sipped her tea and stared levelly at Dee. “She’ll be fine. She just needs to keep seeing Douglas and listening to the truth.”
Eleanor came back in and sat at the table. “She doesn’t seem to want to believe the truth.”
Julia shifted in her seat and placed her cup deliberately on the table. “I’m going to talk to Dylan. See if he can have a more detailed talk with her. She might believe him if he goes through all the evidence with her.”
Which also meant Julia could get some more details herself. She needed to understand why he was so certain a child could not have killed Father Pat. She tried to remember what was said at the committal hearing and when the judge sentenced her. The whole period of time after she was arrested was a confusing swirl of darkness and pain, with patches of jagged red stabbing into her brain.
She knew she’d gone off the rails. Her mind had shattered along with her life. All she remembered thinking about was how important it was to make sure they didn’t know Blossom was in the house. She vaguely remembered being pleased that her DNA was found at the scene because she cut her finger. That seemed to be the main evidence. She couldn’t remember anything about the prosecution saying an adult must have killed the priest. But then why would they? There was never any question about it so it never came up.
But if only an adult could have killed the priest, then what was on the DVD? She shuddered as the more important fact, the fact she’d tried shutting away in her mental box, burst out in a sudden, searing blast. Ten years. Ten years of her life she’d never get back.
She bent her head and covered her face with her hands, trying to hold in the sob.
“Julia? What is it? What’s wrong?” her mother asked, reaching for her.
She scrubbed at her face with her hands, then raised her head, pushing her hair back off her face. “Nothing,” she said. “I’m fine. Just a little tired and overwhelmed by it all.”
Eleanor gazed at her dubiously.
Steps on the stairs made them all turn their heads at the same time.
As if we have something to hide.
Julia shook off that train of thought and watched Blossom as she ignored them all, crossed to the cupboard and removed a cup, sat in a chair at the table and poured herself a cup of tea. Pulling the Sunday paper toward her, she flipped the pages and became engrossed in, what looked like to Julia, the latest story about Kim Kardashian.
“How are you feeling this morning?” Dee asked cautiously.
Blossom looked up from the paper with a blank expression. “Fine,” she said, and resumed reading.
“Give it up, Bloss,” said Julia, mentally rolling her eyes. “You can’t drop a bombshell on us like that and expect everything will go back to being normal.”
“Why not? Isn’t that what this family does so well? Ignore the truth and hope it will go away?”
“Blossom, how many times do you have to be told that you didn’t kill Father Pat? Even Dylan confirmed it. What more proof do you need?” Eleanor grasped her daughter’s hand then sighed loudly as Blossom pulled away.
“Proof is unreliable, isn’t it Julia? Proof can be tampered with.”
“Not in this case, Bloss. You didn’t kill Father Pat.”
“But I remember,” she said. “He may have drugged me, but I distinctly remember having the knife in my hand.”
“Do you remember using it?” Julia turn and asked her point blank. “Do you remember stabbing Father Pat?”
Blossom paled and shook her head. “No… no… I can’t remember that bit.”
“That’s because you didn’t do it.”
Blossom stared at her with big, bewildered eyes. “Are you sure?” she asked in a whisper. “I keep seeing things…”
“I am certain,” Julia said in a firm voice. “Of course it haunts and disturbs you. But you didn’t do it. You didn’t.”
For the first time, Blossom looked convinced. Julia knew it was because for the first time she herself was convinced. Truth had a way of being persuasive.
“I’m going to get Dylan to talk to you. He might be able to go over the evidence with you in detail. Do you want him to do that? Would it help?”
Blossom nodded.
“I’ll go and talk to him now. Better sooner than lat
er. Can I borrow the car?”
Eleanor nodded, looking like she’d been hit by a bus. Dee just continued to stare at Julia with eyes full of questions.
That couldn’t be helped. Finding out the truth was what mattered.
And then what?
Julia pushed away the burgeoning thought that she’d let someone get away with murder.
Chapter 21
She stood behind the grove of silver birches and peered at the house. Smoke drifted in a lazy spiral from the chimney and the windows were painted a cheery red, like something out of a children’s story book. Not the kind of house she expected a detective in the police force to live in. Not only was it cute, it was set off the road on a big piece of land. Isolated from neighbors or other potential annoyances. Said something about the man, she guessed. He liked his privacy.
She pulled her coat closer around her body and shivered. The day was overcast and windy; the sky looked bruised as if waiting to expel a load of toxins. Matched her state exactly. He whole body felt like she’d been hit by a car. She still felt nauseous.
Saint Julia, Blossom had called her. Idiot Julia. Insane Julia. Deluded Julia.
She’d been so sure she’d done the right thing, even after she got out, even after seeing the state Blossom was in. She’d reasoned if she hadn’t done what she’d done, Blossom could be worse or dead. At eight years old she’d been vulnerable and unstable. More so since Eleanor had relapsed. She’d needed protection. The kind of protection Julia didn’t have at the same age.
With long practice, Julia shut out what had happened to her all those years ago when she’d gone into temporary foster care after Eleanor’s last and catastrophic drug-fueled breakdown. Instead, a cavern of loss opened like a physical wound in her chest.
She gasped and bent over as grief pounded her again. She never knew a feeling could hurt so much. It was a fist gipping her heart and squeezing. The guilt, despair, and misery she’d felt when she was first locked up were nothing compared to the loss of ten years of her life.
Straightening, she took in a deep breath and let it out. She’d been doing a lot of that lately.