‘Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned,’ Jo said.
Rod continued, ‘But then she transferred her attentions to Chainsaw and became just as obsessed with him. So when you stepped back into the picture, she had to get rid of you.’
Cam saw Jo glance at Ruby. His daughter’s stiffening posture indicated she did not wish to hear any more.
‘I’m just going downstairs for a coffee. Do you want anything, Dad?’ Ruby asked.
Cam shook his head. ‘Off you go then, love.’
Cam waited for the door to close behind her. ‘Is she . . . is she all right with this?’
‘She’s getting there.’ Jo hesitated. ‘I think it’s something you need to talk about further down the track.’
Cam swallowed, nodded his head.
Rod said, ‘Angelo and Ruth murdered Bell when they discovered him spying on them at the dam – ’
‘They used the fire truck to dump the body?’ Cam asked.
‘That’s right.’
‘She must have stayed in the truck. The footprints were his,’ Cam mused.
‘And she set the prefab alight,’ Rod continued. ‘After she’d locked you in, she and Angelo murdered Vince, leaving behind the apology note she’d stolen from Jo. After that, she went back to the school and Angelo joined Cliff for the fire call. They timed it perfectly.’
‘And Vince was involved with Cliff in the tanker theft?’ Cam asked.
‘Yes. He deliberately bungled the investigation in return for a hefty kickback. Cliff only wanted the tanker for parts. Ruth put him in touch with Chainsaw and he sold the fertiliser to the bikies through her. He swears he didn’t know why they wanted it. Ruth was concocting the amphetamines in the school lab for Chainsaw, not Cliff. Cliff was clueless about everything except the tanker. He was never even an official bikie associate, though I think he was working on it. The relationship Ruth had with him was authorised by Chainsaw to keep Cliff on side. Ruth used him just as she used everyone else.’
‘Cliff was the only witness who told the truth about the colour of the smoke,’ Cam mused.
‘True. Ruth’s report of the fire was a diversionary tactic. Why would she report the fire when she was the one who lit it? They’d obviously have preferred the body to be destroyed by the fire, but when it wasn’t, because of Cliff ’s interference, it was no big deal. They realised they could easily frame Cliff with it – they wanted him out of the way anyway. They planted his jemmy in the submerged car, laying other false clues like the car seat, to make it look like he murdered Vince.’
‘And it was Angelo who made the attempt on Mrs Rooney’s life?’ Cam asked.
‘They thought she might tell you about Miss Featherstone’s financial predicament.’
Cam sighed. ‘I got all that pretty wrong, didn’t I? I was sure Cliff was behind all this.’
‘You got it mostly right, just the wrong bloke,’ Rod said. ‘Anyway, Cliff’s been very cooperative, given us Chainsaw on a plate. We arrested him a couple of days ago on his way to Darwin. The money that allegedly came from Jane Featherstone’s will was actually bikie money they’d laundered through the school via Ruth so they could get the science lab done up. If everything had gone as planned they would have doubled their investment within a couple of years. The lab Ruth established was the most sophisticated illegal lab the country has ever had, and because it was under the guise of a school science lab, nothing in it seemed out of place.’
‘They couldn’t have used a whole tank of fertiliser, surely?’ Cam asked.
‘No, Ruth took what she needed and the rest was distributed to other SS chapters around the country.’
Cam’s head sank back into the pillow. He closed his eyes. It was hard to take everything in. He could hear Jo and Rod talking as if from the other end of a tunnel. When he heard them mention Leanne, his eyes shot open again.
‘What was that?’ he said.
‘I said I’ve put her in for a commendation for bravery – that was a fantastic shot. It looks like the medal’s going to go through. Apparently she was top marksman in her class at the Academy.’
Jo laughed. ‘She told me she used to shoot rats in the shed with her dad.’
Cam said, ‘That’ll give her a boost. But how’s she handling the . . .’ He waved his hand, unable to find the words.
Rod knew what he was trying to say. ‘She knows she had to kill Ruth, that she had no choice. I think she was more upset when she heard about Gay Cronin feeding Herb’s ashes to the chooks.’
‘That’s rough,’ Cam said, but it was hard not to smile. ‘Who’s in charge of the station now?’
‘Constable Dowel; I think you’ll find everything in order when you get back.’
Cam let out a deep breath. If I get back, he thought. His eyes strained to read the card on a bunch of white roses next to his bed. ‘Get well soon, love from Anne and Jeffrey,’ it said.
For some reason he misted up again.
Rod took this as his cue and slipped from the room, leaving Jo and Cam alone. Cam closed his eyes, felt her cool fingers on his forehead.
‘It’s all over now,’ she whispered.
The silence stretched. He almost drifted off.
Finally he opened his eyes again. Grabbing at some loose tendrils of thoughts, he shook his head. ‘No, it’s not.’
Jo frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘It’s not over. There’s still the matter of a certain dangerous driving charge filed by Vince.’
She laughed. ‘Oh, we can fix that,’ she said, leaning over to brush her lips against his.
And because the dreams you have on the brink of waking are the ones that tend to last, he kissed her back.
Also by Felicity Young
The Dr Dody McCleland Series
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Tania Hudson, Margaret Johnson, Christine Nagel, Trish O’Neill, Iain Pattison, Lynne Patrick, Susannah Rickards, Carole Sutton, Larry Votava, Michael Young, Ben Young, Peter Young and Superintendent Simon Young (NT Police, retired). Also Tom and Pip, for putting up with wrong turns, blank stares and general withdrawal into the ‘zone’ while the book was being written.
Extract from lyric of ‘Women in Uniform’ by G Macainsh reproduced by kind permission of Mushroom Music Publishing.
About the Author
Former nursing sister FELICITY YOUNG has no problem ensuring the accuracy of procedural details in her crime writing – her brother-in-law is a police superintendent. These days, when she’s not busy penning novels, rearing orphan kangaroos or satisfying her thirst for action and adventure as an active member of the local volunteer bushfire brigade, Felicity manages her own Suffolk sheep stud in a small West Australian country town.
Copyright
Impulse
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First published in Australia in 2015
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
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Copyright © Felicity Young 2015
The right of Felicity Young to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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