He was rubbing his temples when Janice strolled over to his desk.
‘Hey, I’ve got some paracetamol in my handbag if you need it. I buy in bulk.’
He smiled. ‘No, it’s just a headache brought on by too much bullshit and not enough caffeine. I didn’t realise organising things in the big smoke was such hard work.’
‘We don’t like to make things too easy, it’s part of our job creation policy.’
‘So to what do I owe the pleasure? Did you come over here for the better scenery?’
‘Nope, the scenery over here’s not that good, and you can tell Dave I said that,’ she said with a laugh. ‘Actually, I was talking to one of my mates in the Unley Station and she asked me to pass on a message to you; apparently I saved her a phone call.’
Ed sat up straighter in his chair.
‘That woman you had a flag on? Cassandra …’
‘Lehman.’
‘Yeah, that’s the one. They had another call out to her place late last night. The newbie constable who filed the callout missed the flag. It was only spotted today when they entered their case report.’
‘Shit, is she all right?’ He stood up, automatically reaching for his jacket.
‘Whoa, take a breath, she’s fine. It’s good news actually. They caught the guy stalking her. Turns out it was the brother of one of her friends.’
‘He’s in custody?’ He sank back into his chair.
‘Yeah, they’re waiting for a psych eval. The guy has a long history of mental health problems. The guy was in her backyard banging on the door. He didn’t even try to run. He was yelling his head off about her being a witch in league with the devil or something along those lines. Your friend was pretty shaken up but in one piece. Apparently the guy had killed a cat and left it on her doorstep as well. What a nut-job.’
She studied him intently. ‘You look pretty upset. I take it this woman is important to you?’
He took a deep breath and leant back. ‘She is.’
She dropped her voice, ‘Does she know how much you care?’
He shook his head. ‘I made a mess of things. I didn’t know how I felt until it was too late.’
‘Dyson, take it from one who’s older and wiser, it’s rarely too late. It’s down to whether she feels the same way, and how far you’re prepared to go to make it up to her. Here’s Jill’s number, from Unley.’ She passed him a post-it note. ‘You can call her if you want to, but if I were you I’d just call Cassandra.’
She patted his shoulder and walked back to her desk.
Ed stared at the number. He was feeling a whole bunch of emotions at once: relief that Cass was OK, anger that the prick had tried to attack her yet again, satisfaction that he’d been caught, annoyance that he’d probably get off without any gaol time and lastly, disappointment that Cass hadn’t called him and asked for his help.
Janice’s words echoed in his head. There was a lot of truth in what she’d said. If Cass meant that much to him he should try to make it up to her. He owed it to both of them. But did she still feel the same way about him? After the way they’d parted on Tuesday he wasn’t sure if she was even talking to him. He’d regretted getting angry with her as soon as she’d got out of the car.
He sat with his phone in his hand. He wanted to call her. It rang, making him jump.
‘Dyson.’
‘Detective Dyson, this is Renee Stewart from the dog squad. We’ll have a handler there tomorrow with one of our dogs.’
He rang off. He should have felt pleased. But his heart wasn’t in it anymore. It was a victory, but it felt very hollow.
CHAPTER
38
In the early hours of Thursday morning, after the police had finally packed up and left, Miss Emily’s spare bed looked wonderfully inviting with its crisp pink sheets and ruffled pillows that smelled faintly of camphor. The mattress must have been a relic from the pre-war era though, because it was the most lumpy, unforgiving surface I’d ever had the misfortune to attempt to sleep on.
I tossed and turned for hours, trying to banish thoughts of Michael and his crazy ranting. I ran through all the techniques I used to block out images from my visions as well as the new ones Dr Metzger had taught me. Nothing worked. Every time I shut my eyes and did my best to relax, his face and taunting voice played through my head. I finally fell asleep at around four from pure exhaustion only to be woken up at seven by Miss Emily bringing me a cup of tea.
‘You look terrible, you poor thing,’ she tutted as she took in my rumpled hair and the suitcases under my eyes.
I took the tea from her with a grateful sigh. ‘Thank you, you’ve been so kind.’ I tried to smile but guessed the effect was probably more alarming than reassuring.
‘I think you should call your mother.’
I realised I hadn’t even thought to check and see if she’d called me back. I’d have to call her this morning or she’d think something was wrong. That’s because it is, you idiot! the voice inside my head yelled at me.
I thought back to what Mum had said about Claire the week before. She’d been bang on the money when she’d said there was something dark around her. When would I learn to listen to my mum?
I realised Miss Emily was watching me expectantly. I still hadn’t answered her question about calling Mum. ‘I promise I’ll call her this morning. She doesn’t need to worry now that they’ve got him.’
‘I know, but she’ll still be worried. All mothers have a sixth sense, you know.’
If she only knew! I nodded and drank my tea then launched myself out of bed. I had to get to work and then I had to contact the property manager to organise for the doors to be fixed. I couldn’t bear the thought of another night of torture in pink.
I insisted on going home to shower and change. Door or no door I wanted my own things and my own bathroom. I also wanted to survey the damage and take the time to ring Mum in private. Some things were not suitable for Miss Emily’s ears.
The police had wedged my front door closed and placed crime scene tape across it, as if that would stop a potential burglar. I’d been too tired last night to even imagine someone going through my place and robbing me straight after someone had tried to kill me. How much bad luck could one person have? I peeled away the tape and went inside. My things were still the same as I’d left them.
I propped the front door shut again, showered in my door-less bathroom, and changed into my most comfortable pair of leggings and an oversized green woollen jumper. I made a coffee, and checked my messages. Mum had called twice, once the night before and once while I was in the shower. She answered on the second ring.
‘Cass? Oh my, I’ve been so worried! What happened?’
I sighed, knowing there was no point in pretending. With most parents you could be economical with the truth when you thought it was in their best interests, not my mother. ‘They caught the guy who was stalking me.’
‘That’s not all of it. What happened?’ she demanded.
I sighed again. ‘He was Claire’s brother – you were right about her. He turned up here last night and started making threats. He tried to get in.’
‘Why?’
‘He’s unbalanced.’
‘But why you?’
‘He’s a religious fanatic. He thinks I’m in league with the devil or I’m a witch or something. He spouted all this stuff from the Bible about my kind being cleansed from the earth.’
‘Oh my God, Cass. In my whole life I’ve only come across a couple of people who felt that way and neither of them wanted to kill me. It’s really bad luck.’
‘Yeah, bad luck and the fact that I’m now living in a much bigger place with a lot more crazies around. The ratio’s probably the same per capita, there’s just more people.’
‘It says a lot for living in a small town, don’t you think?’
I wasn’t prepared to go home over this. One crazy person was not going to scare me away, particularly now he was in custody.
‘So he
’s locked up?’ she said, filling the pregnant pause.
‘For now. Hopefully they’ll refuse him bail.’
‘What if they don’t?’
The thought made me turn green. ‘If they let him out I’ll come home. Anyway, I need to get to work or I’ll be out of a job.’
‘You be careful.’
‘Mum! Relax, the threat’s gone.’
‘I still feel a shadow over you.’
‘Mum! Stop it already. I’m going to work like a normal person and I’m going to have a normal day.’
‘I love you, Cass.’
‘You too.’
I hung up feeling better but a bit frustrated at the same time. It would be nice to have a normal conversation in my family.
Fat chance.
By the time I got to the end of my last tutorial I was feeling so tired I wanted to throw up. The few hours’ sleep I’d cobbled together last night wasn’t nearly enough.
In Jewel Bay and working as a freelance editor I’d kept all sorts of weird hours. It wasn’t unusual for me to start work in the early evening and not finish up until three or four in the morning. Ed had come calling unexpectedly one lunchtime only to find me still in bed. I’d answered the door dressed in pink flannelette pyjamas patterned with frolicking kittens.
Since I’d moved to Adelaide I’d been trying hard to keep more normal hours but Michael’s attacks had put paid to that.
I walked out of the tutorial with my eyes half closed. I was in such a daze I almost missed Claire, who was camped out in the hallway waiting for me. She looked exhausted too. Her hair was curly instead of straight, she had hardly any makeup on and if you added the bags under her eyes to the ones beneath mine, you’d have a whole set of luggage.
‘Cass?’
I stopped and stared at her. Nothing in my life had taught me how to react in a situation like this. I didn’t know how to feel. ‘Hey, Claire.’
‘I’m so sorry!’ She rushed up and before I had a chance to think about it she’d wrapped me in a bear hug and was crying on my shoulder. ‘I can’t believe my own brother would do something so horrible. I don’t know what to say! I feel so terrible.’
I pushed her to arm’s length and fished in a pocket for a tissue. I waved it in her direction. ‘Not your fault,’ your brother’s a freakin’ weirdo. The thought invaded my head. I felt awkward. Part of me did blame her. I was pissed off that I’d been the target and she’d been the one who’d painted the symbol on my back.
‘Michael’s always had issues but I never thought he was capable of this. I never imagined he’d try to hurt you. You’re angry with me, I can tell.’ More tears spilled down her cheeks.
Students walking down the corridor were giving us curious glances as they passed. I looked nervously towards the closed door about ten metres away: Bennet’s office. We really needed to be somewhere else.
I relented. ‘You’re right. I’m pissed off I was attacked, but I know you didn’t mean for it to happen. Come on, let’s go and have a drink, we can’t stay here.’
Claire sniffed and wiped her face. She looked much younger without all the makeup. I’d have to tell her that one day.
We headed across to the Botanic Hotel. Once we were tucked around a table with a glass of wine in hand I started to feel better.
Claire looked at me. ‘I didn’t know if you’d even want to talk to me.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because it’s my fault.’
‘You’re not responsible for Michael.’
‘But I told him about you. I know how fanatically religious he can be and I still told him.’
‘You just didn’t think about it.’
‘Sometimes I forget that he’s not my parents. I used to get a thrill out of doing stuff I knew would antagonise them. Making friends with you would have pushed all of my dad’s buttons. I guess I never got out of the habit of thumbing my nose at their fundamentalist crap. When I told Michael, part of me felt some pleasure knowing it would irk him.’
‘And I thought my family had issues!’
‘I don’t know how you can joke about it! He nearly killed you.’
I sighed. ‘I’m trying to deal with it as best I can. Humour is my way of avoiding the issue and not being mad with you.’ I took a long swig of my wine and decided to change the subject. ‘I saw a shrink yesterday. I was going to tell you last night but I didn’t get the chance.’
‘I didn’t think you actually would.’
‘For once I listened to the advice people were giving me. I was having more of those panic attacks.’
‘Did it help you?’
‘I think it did. He talked about confronting my fears and stuff. When I see him next week I’ll tell him what happened last night. My biggest problem is sleep deprivation. I hardly slept at all and that was only partly due to Miss Emily’s mattress.’
Her eyebrows shot up. ‘Huh?’
I gave her the gory details of the pink bedroom. ‘I can’t spend another night there. I did some ringing around when I had a break between my tutes and I’m hoping that by the time I get home my front door will be back in place again.’
‘You have to let me pay for that.’
‘You’ll do no such thing.’
‘You’re not nervous about being there by yourself?’
‘A bit. What’s happening with Michael, anyway?’ I tried to make the question sound casual but only half succeeded. I’d been wanting to ask her since the minute I saw her.
‘He’s in custody. The lawyer reckons he probably won’t be granted bail. His hearing’s tomorrow.’
I nodded. Simply talking about him had brought me out in a sweat. I forced myself to relax my grip on the stem of my wineglass for fear I’d snap it in two.
Claire was watching me. ‘Cass, I can see how upset you are. Why don’t you ring the shrink now?’
‘Now?’
‘He might squeeze you in if he knows it’s an emergency. What happened to you last night was terrible.’
‘Nah, I’ll be OK until my next appointment on Tuesday.’
‘Do you want me to come over tonight?’
‘Thanks, but I’m so tired I really just want to go home and sleep. I’ll be OK.’
CHAPTER
39
Dave wrinkled his nose and wound down the van’s window. An unmistakable odour of dogginess filled the air. Bruno could use a bath. Maria Russo, the handler, noticed Dave’s reaction and barked out a short laugh.
Ed got the feeling she preferred dogs to most of her human colleagues. She was short and solid, with hair cropped military short. She had multiple piercings in each ear and the tail of some kind of tattooed serpent or dragon peeked out from under her collar. Her manner was terse to the brink of rudeness and she wasn’t into small talk, which had made the two hours since they’d picked her up at the airport seem much longer.
Dave was clearly out of his depth with a woman completely immune to his charm, so Ed was left to try and fill the conversational void. He’d exhausted his limited knowledge of dogs in about fifteen minutes.
Ed’s phone rang.
‘Yep? All right, thanks.’
He turned to them. ‘We’re good to go. There’s a long driveway up to Smythe’s house so there’s no chance of us surprising him.’
‘Bodies aren’t that easy to get rid of,’ Dave said.
‘That’s assuming there is one. Let’s hope he doesn’t go completely feral and decide to start shooting at us,’ Ed said.
‘He doesn’t seem the type,’ Dave said.
‘Is there a type?’ Russo said, giving the dog a treat from her pocket. He was a massive male German shepherd with a mane of hair and an impressive set of gleaming white teeth.
Ed started the van and waited while the two sedans filled with the rest of the team pulled out and drove off. He followed closely behind. They were about two kilometres from Smythe’s place.
They pulled into Smythe’s driveway a short time later and made their way al
ong the winding gravel that was flanked by a windbreak of trees on one side and untamed scrub on the other. A thin fog hung over the tops of the bushes, cloaking the landscape and muting the greens and browns into watercolour hues. It was a big property, nearly three acres. Ed wondered where Smythe had found the money to buy it.
‘Must be nice to be one of the landed gentry,’ Russo said, echoing his thoughts.
‘Yeah, but I don’t think we’re about to step into an episode of Downton Abbey,’ Dave said.
They pulled around the last bend and the house came into view. True to Dave’s predictions there was nothing refined or stately about it. It was a modest redbrick building with a return veranda. A couple of sheds clustered off to one side and Ed counted five cars; two that looked like they might run and the others in various states of restoration or decomposition, depending on which way you viewed it.
They pulled up as close as they could get to the house itself and wasted no time getting out. Some of the team moved around the sides looking for doors, others approached the front door and knocked, announcing themselves in loud voices.
Ed hung back while Dave went up to the front door with Johnson, another detective from MCIB. Russo stood next to Ed with Bruno. Their brief was to wait, out of the way, until the rest of the team had gained entry, explained the warrant to Smythe and conducted a preliminary sweep. They would follow and do a more thorough search while Bruno did his thing.
They stood there watching as Smythe opened the door. Despite the cold he was wearing a singlet with jeans and thongs. Even from a distance Ed could tell he was annoyed. He waved his hands around as he argued with Dave before snatching the warrant.
Smythe went back inside with Dave and the others in tow. The minutes ticked past while they waited for the signal that they could come in. Bruno whined softly and tugged at his lead.
‘So you’ll head inside first and then let Bruno start to search the rest of the property?’ Ed said.
‘That’s what we agreed; inside, then the sheds, then around the house and sheds and then we’ll gradually expand to the perimeter of the search.’
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