After some time, she raised her head, her damp hair brushing the skin of his wrist as she looked around the bathroom.
Ryder released her hand. ‘Feeling okay?’
She nodded, drawing his overcoat more tightly around her body. Reaction had set in. Keeping a close eye on her, Ryder stood up. Her body would shake for about ten seconds as her system tried to rid itself of the pent-up stress. A period of stillness would follow, before the shaking started up again.
‘You’ll be okay,’ he said gently.
She nodded miserably.
He wished he could make it go away for her, wished that this tragedy wouldn’t change her forever, but he knew it would. He checked his watch. Flowers should be back any minute with Lewicki.
‘I’m not worried about myself. It’s just so sad for Libby, and her family.’ Her lips trembled. ‘She … didn’t … deserve this.’
‘No one deserves this.’ Ryder tore a few tissues from a nearby box and handed them to her.
‘Vanessa,’ he said as she dabbed at her eyes. ‘I need you to answer some questions for me. Do you feel up to it?’
She squared her shoulders and nodded.
‘Why was Libby in your room?’
‘She’d bunked in with me before.’ She blew her nose loudly then screwed the tissues into a ball. ‘Her roommate … enjoys … a roll in the … snow … so, on the nights she brings a guy over, Libby’s been sleeping on my trundle.’
It was such a simple explanation, and yet it answered so many questions.
Fresh tears tracked down her cheeks. ‘When I chased after you last night, I didn’t tell her where I was going. I didn’t even say goodnight.’
Regrets.
Always regrets.
‘Did Libby have a problem with anyone down here?’
‘No.’
‘She didn’t mention in passing that someone might have been giving her a hard time?’
Vanessa shook her head. ‘Libby got on really well with everyone. The guy she followed down here got himself a new girlfriend pretty quickly and, sure, she was a bit embarrassed about being dumped. But she never said he’d been awful or anything.’
‘Sarge?’
Ryder swung around at the sound of Flowers’ voice ringing out in the corridor. ‘In here.’
Flowers came into the bathroom, a roll of crime-scene tape in his hand. Lewicki was right behind him. In all the years he’d worked with Lew, Ryder had often cursed his friend’s habit of rising and dressing at the crack of dawn. Not today.
‘Lew, take Vanessa to my room and stay there. Don’t leave, under any circumstances.’
Vanessa surged to her feet. ‘I want to stay here, with the others.’
‘You don’t have a choice,’ Ryder said firmly.
He turned away from her blazing eyes and spoke to Flowers. ‘I need to call Homicide. Get the room taped up then chase down the doctor. I want Vanessa checked out, too.’
‘Right away, Sarge.’
Ryder stayed, watching as the other three slowly made their way out the swinging door and into the corridor. Lew was already talking quietly to Vanessa as they left.
When the door swung closed behind them, Ryder pulled out his phone and brought up Gray’s number. He paced the floor until the Inspector picked up.
‘It’s Ryder, sir. We have a situation at Charlotte Pass. A childcare worker has been murdered overnight in the staff accommodation. I need as much manpower as you can spare, plus a team of forensic pathologists and the Coroner. I’ve been using Harriet Ono in Canberra for the forensics on the Delaney case.’
‘Jesus. Do you think they’re linked?’
Ryder paused. His gut instinct told him yes, but he had nothing concrete to connect the murders. He chose his words carefully. ‘My instinct tells me the killer’s still in the village.’
‘What else do you need?’
‘A short-term contract for Roman Lewicki. He’s here, eager to help with the case.’
‘That’s good news. Anything else?’
‘Counsellors. There’s only one village doctor. And warrants for everything. I can find whoever’s responsible, but I need to do it my way.’
‘What are you planning?’
Ryder took a deep breath. ‘No one enters or leaves Charlotte Pass. All oversnow transport and snowmobile transport is to be suspended. Cleared personnel only, and they have to be choppered in. And I want all the lifts shut down so no one can ski out.’
There was silence at the other end.
‘I want a media ban, too,’ Ryder went on. ‘They’re already lodging in Perisher and reporting from there. Let’s keep them there.’
Ryder could imagine Gray mulling everything over. He opened the door and left the bathroom. In the corridor, Flowers was securing crime-scene tape in a cross-formation from the top corners of the doorframe to the bottom. Vanessa and Lew were nowhere to be seen.
Ryder paced the hallway and waited for Gray’s reply. He checked his watch: 6.40 am. ‘Inspector,’ he said, running out of patience, ‘I’ve been clear about what I need. If you can’t give me authorisation, will you take it up the chain of command?’
Ryder pressed the phone harder against his ear as he waited for Gray’s answer. After a few long seconds which felt like forever, the Inspector’s gravelly voice came down the line. ‘You’ll get everything you’ve asked for.’
‘Thank you. The sooner I lock down Charlotte Pass the better.’
Twenty-two
The kids’ club had a whiteboard, and the drawings stuck to the windows gave Ryder’s investigation team privacy from the curious eyes outside. He and Flowers had put a fine-tooth comb through the place before moving in, looking for anything that might point to a motive for Libby’s murder. Their search had turned up nothing.
‘Coordinate a search for the murder weapon,’ he said to Detective Benson, who had arrived on a chopper with a team of detectives around eight-thirty. ‘There are extensive abrasions on her throat and neck. They could be from some kind of cord or rope, perhaps an ocky strap. We’ll know more once the forensic pathologist is finished.’ Ryder pored over the photocopied map of Charlotte Pass spread out on one of the kid-sized tables. He and Benson perched awkwardly on chairs designed for small people while Ryder drew lines on the map with a pencil. ‘Split the resort into four sections. Start with Long Bay. The first responders and forensic teams are already there, so you’ll need to work around them. If you turn up nothing, move on to the inn. It’s the largest hotel. Then, do the smaller, private lodges. Finally, there are random buildings scattered around the place.’ He marked each with a cross on the map. ‘This one’s the ticket office, which is closed. Same deal goes for these small lifties’ huts.’ Ryder glanced at Benson. ‘I don’t like our chances. The murder weapon’s probably buried in the snow.’
‘It’s the most likely place, but you never know. People make rash decisions when they’re panicked.’ Efficient as always, Benson folded up the map before struggling to his feet. ‘I’ll get started.’
Ryder stood for a few moments watching him leave before calling Flowers over. ‘Made any headway?’
Flowers flipped through his small, spiral-bound notepad. ‘I’ve spoken to Libby’s roommate. She hadn’t heard of Libby having a problem with anyone. She’s shocked and traumatised, and blaming herself for asking Libby to bunk in with someone else. As for the bloke Libby followed down here … His new girlfriend is the chef up at Platypus Lodge. She has a room up there, and he was with her all night. They stayed up late talking to some guests, then turned in around half-midnight. According to her he didn’t move all night, and was still sound asleep when she rose to start work in the kitchen at five-thirty this morning.’
‘What’s your gut feeling about them?’
‘He has a reasonable alibi and zero motive. If Libby was the target, how would he even know she’d be in Vanessa’s room last night?’
Ryder paused before asking, ‘Do you think Libby was the target?’
Flowers’ eyes bored into his. ‘Do you?’
‘No. I think Vanessa was.’
A loaded silence hung between them. His junior partner had been watching him all morning, most likely wondering if Ryder sleeping with Vanessa would have an impact on the case. ‘Is there anything you want to ask me? Anything you need to get off your chest?’
Flowers held his gaze for several long seconds. ‘Not me,’ he said with a shake of his head.
‘Okay. Did you offer those three young people counselling?’
‘Yes. They’re over at Long Bay now. The ex-boyfriend wasn’t keen, but his girlfriend urged him to go.’
‘Anything else?’
Flowers consulted his list. ‘Libby’s parents have been notified of her death,’ he said, his voice shaking a little.
Ryder closed his eyes for a second. Another devastated family.
‘Okay, you can go ahead and release her name to the press. And, Flowers, it’s okay to be shaken up by this. I sure was.’
Flowers nodded. ‘I’d spoken to Libby a couple of times,’ he said with difficulty. ‘I might have misread things, but I got the feeling she liked me. I was trying to work up the courage to ask her out for a drink.’
Ryder sighed and laid a hand on the younger man’s shoulder. There really wasn’t anything else he could say.
Flowers swallowed and looked down at his list again. ‘Benson has the extra satellite phones you asked for.’
‘Did you grab one for yourself?’
‘Yep.’
‘Get one for Lewicki, too, then pass the rest around,’ said Ryder. ‘If we don’t have enough, let me know. I’ve spoken to Gray. He’s giving Lew an official role. Is that all?’
Flowers looked at his watch. ‘Four more police personnel are fifteen minutes from landing, due to set down at ten past nine.’
‘Okay. I want you to stay here and take charge of the new team.’ Ryder grabbed a file off Libby’s desk and handed it to Flowers. ‘This is a list of all guests staying at Charlotte Pass, as well as a full inventory of resort staff. I want you to make a spreadsheet—we need a register for people entering and leaving the various buildings. We need to know who comes and goes, and when; they’ll have to sign in and out.’
‘Too easy, Sarge.’
‘Have the new team distribute them to the lodges. It’s vital the owners understand the importance of this. I want to be able to look at a register and know at a glance who’s inside that particular building. And they can take a roll-call while they’re there. I need a starting point.’
Ryder turned at a soft knock on the internal door. Terry was coming towards them. ‘Get started right away, Flowers. We can give Terry the one for Long Bay while he’s here.’
Terry hooked a thumb over his shoulder. ‘Di Gordon’s heading up the hill, looking like she’s on a rampage.’
Ryder sighed. He’d expected some pushback from her when he’d announced that he was locking down Charlotte Pass, but she’d been too shocked to string a coherent sentence together. He’d left her to digest the news, hoping a little time might help the husband-and-wife team come to terms with the situation. He would need their cooperation and support in managing the guests while they carried out the investigation.
‘Sorry to bother you at a bad time,’ Terry said, ‘but I have staff worried about the hit they’re going to take to their working hours. Plus, we’re supposed to guarantee the people on visas a certain number of hours per week.’
Ryder listened, pleased Terry didn’t seem to be harbouring any ill feeling about their tense exchange earlier.
‘Everybody’s shaken up,’ Terry went on, ‘but they’re adamant they’d rather be working than hanging around watching the medical teams come and go. What’s the chance of opening up the mountain a bit later, maybe with a skeleton staff?’
There was merit to Terry’s request, and though it would make Benson’s job easier if a whole lot of residents cleared out of Long Bay, Ryder wasn’t prepared to take the risk. ‘I’m afraid it’s nonnegotiable. Everyone’s confined to the village. If we open the lifts, it’s too easy for people to ski into the back country.’
Terry sighed. ‘I had a feeling you’d say that. But I told them I’d come up here and ask anyway.’
Ryder nodded. ‘Stick around for a minute, will you?’ He explained about the entry/exit system they were putting in place. ‘Station someone on the door at Long Bay, someone you can trust. Here’s a list of everyone who’s living there. You might already have a copy of that, but take it anyway. And I need you to do a roll-call for me.’
‘Okay. No problem.’
‘Detective!’
Ryder swung around to see Di Gordon stride across the room, body puffed up with indignation. Judging by her body language, the cooperation he’d been hoping for wasn’t going to be forthcoming.
‘You can’t do this,’ she snapped as she stopped in front of him.
‘I’ve already done it, Mrs Gordon.’
‘What about my guests?’ she said, looking Terry up and down with unveiled hostility, as if willing him to disappear. To Ryder’s amusement, Terry folded his arms and widened his stance, holding the woman’s stare until she finally shifted her gaze back to Ryder. ‘My guests have jobs to get back to. Others have reservations and are waiting to check in. They’re stuck down in Perisher Valley. Where are they going to go?’
‘I’m sure they’ll work something out.’
‘They’ve paid in advance.’
‘They can go home.’
She gaped at him, her mouth opening and closing. ‘It’s chaos at the Perisher desk. This will do untold damage to our brand.’
Ryder took a deep breath and hung onto his temper, but only just. ‘We have a killer in the village, Mrs Gordon,’ he said tightly.
‘I’ve never heard of this kind of thing happening before.’
‘There are plenty of examples if you’d care to look them up. Martin Place was shut down during a siege. Workers in the surrounding buildings were confined to their offices until the situation was resolved. We have a situation here, and now, if you don’t mind, I’m very busy.’
She hesitated for a moment, then when it was obvious Terry wasn’t going to move, and she wasn’t getting anywhere with Ryder, she said, ‘Then you leave me no option but to talk to your superior.’
‘Can she make trouble for you?’ Terry asked as they watched her leave.
‘Nope. She’ll be charged with obstructing the police if she keeps going.’
Terry nodded, one corner of his mouth lifting. ‘So, how’s Vanessa doing?’
Ryder had been wondering the same thing. ‘She’s asleep at the moment. Well, as of half an hour ago she was.’
‘When she wakes up, can you let her know we’re all thinking of her?’
‘I’ll do that.’
‘Thanks.’
When Flowers had completed drawing up the register, Ryder gave the sheets for Long Bay to Terry. ‘One last thing,’ he said, ‘make sure everyone knows there’s a nine pm curfew. No exceptions. Pub’s closed tonight.’
Forty minutes later, just as Ryder had begun to obsessively check his watch, Lewicki sent a message to say Vanessa was awake.
She was in his room, sitting on the side of the bed where only hours earlier they’d made love. When he sat down beside her, she turned bleary eyes on him. He had no words that would make her feel any better. He could only hope that just being there would help.
She clasped her hands tensely in her lap. ‘I’ve seen dead people before today.’
‘The ones you pulled out of tree wells?’
She nodded. ‘A couple of people had heart attacks and died on the slopes, too. But they were strangers. And they weren’t murdered.’
He reached out and took hold of her hands. Cold fingers wrapped around his. ‘Do you know who did it?’ she asked.
‘Not yet.’
‘I can hear the helicopters taking off and landing. Lewicki told me you’ve locked down th
e resort.’
He nodded. ‘It’s a drastic move, but it’s the most effective way of flushing out the perp. And it’s cheaper in the long run than a protracted investigation. What’s in that?’ he asked, nodding towards the corner where a blue-and-red–striped carry bag sat straining at the seams.
‘Oh. The girls in Long Bay had a clothing drive for me, seeing my room’s a designated crime scene. They put my toiletry bag in, too. Someone dropped it over while I was asleep.’
‘That was thoughtful of them.’
‘I haven’t had the energy to go through it yet.’ She rubbed her hands along her thighs. ‘I’ll have to get out of these jeans at some point.’
‘There’s no hurry. You’re not going anywhere.’
She glanced at him. ‘I don’t know whether it’s shock, or the medication the doctor gave me, but I have brain fog. And I can’t stop going over everything in my mind. Small things. Things that used to seem important but now … well, everything’s different.’
‘I know,’ Ryder said quietly. He longed to put his arms around her, but because of what had happened between them, and what’d he’d subsequently said to her, he held back. Instead, he stood up and tugged on her hand. ‘Lew’s taking a break while I’m here. Come and sit on the couch, it’ll be more comfortable. I need to ask you a few questions.’
She stopped when they reached the sitting room. ‘Can I use your phone? I need to call home. Lew said the queue for the landline downstairs was a mile long with people calling their families. Apparently, the network’s slowed right down.’
‘Yeah, absolutely.’ Ryder gave himself a mental uppercut. Of course, she wouldn’t have had a chance to call her parents, she’d not long woken up. He took the phone from his coat pocket and handed it to her. ‘I’ll be in the office.’
‘Thanks.’
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