Devil's Lair

by Sarah Barrie

  ‘Power?’ Indy prompted.

  ‘She was a control freak not a murderer,’ Paisley muttered as she dragged her hands across her face.

  ‘Can you explain that?’

  Paisley shifted in her chair and picked at her fingernails. ‘Mum never really believed in any of that shit. It was all smoke and mirrors. Séances, rituals, fortune telling, curses—they were all manipulations.’

  ‘For what purpose?’

  ‘Whatever she wanted. Right, Paisley?’ Jared asked when Paisley didn’t speak. ‘Your mother’s “group” was a bunch of drug addicts she’d handpicked from her work at the hospital. She’d play on their illnesses, feed them their drugs and they’d do anything for her. You want your dose, you do as I say. You fail? The evil spirits will get you. She completely screwed with their heads.’

  ‘Your father never proved any of that!’

  ‘Mostly they just gave her money or things because she’d tell them the devil ordered them to do it, right? She wanted a new television, someone would steal it for her. Rough someone up? No problem. Torch a house? Too easy. And because if you crossed her something would inevitably happen to you, even the sane people in town started to wonder, started to get spooked. People were nice to her all right—people kept their mouths shut. Not because they didn’t believe she was a witch, but because they did. This house has been used for evil for generations. Everyone in town knows that.’

  ‘I thought this was supposed to be about Adam?’ Paisley snapped.

  ‘Adam wanted what she had. The power. The fear. The control. She was performing satanic rituals with a group of fragile personalities on mind-altering drugs. What could possibly have gone wrong? Adam, with no empathy for anyone or anything, who only cares about what he wants, is introduced to black magic through your mother. He believed it, didn’t he? He thought it would bring him supernatural power; the guy was just as sick then as he is now. Only he got off on torturing animals back then. And now it’s people.’

  ‘Yeah, I told you—he was evil. But because he was one of us we had to tolerate him.’

  ‘What’s with that?’ Indy asked. ‘What’s the “one of us” thing you all say?’

  Paisley was silent for so long, Callie didn’t think she was going to answer, but eventually she dropped her head back and spoke.

  ‘The coven wanted a name, but Mum thought an official title would draw too much attention to her little gathering. So it was always simply you were one of us, or you weren’t. That’s it. Look, it wasn’t an easy way to grow up, but most of that stuff was kept from us.’

  Indy folded her hands on the table in front of her and pinned Paisley solidly with her gaze as she asked, ‘Where’s your mum now?’

  Paisley’s head shot up. ‘I’m not bringing her into this! She tried to end it, tried to make it right. Do you honestly think I’d tell you all this if I thought you’d find her? I told you because you need to understand Adam. What he wanted. That’s it.’

  Indy and Jarred exchanged glances. ‘I’m sure she tried to make it right,’ Jared said. ‘It’s her method I’m questioning. All those drugs found in Adam’s house a week after the night of Ava’s drowning were the same ones your mum had been doling out. It was a setup, wasn’t it? For something he did. Only whatever it was, it would have drawn too much attention to the coven, so she improvised, made it about something else.’

  ‘You don’t honestly think I’m going to verify that?’ Paisley said.

  ‘Paisley,’ Indy said kindly. ‘We’re not asking questions so we can persecute you or your mother or anyone else from back then. We just need everything we can get on Adam. When we get him, I want him locked up forever.’

  ‘Can you do that? Can you put him in prison and know that he’ll never be released this time? Ever?’

  ‘Yeah. With enough evidence, I can.’

  Paisley hugged her arms around herself and stood, walked across the room and stared out over the gardens. ‘When I woke up that night and Ava was gone, Adam had drawn a gravestone with RIP on it on the door,’ she said. ‘The cellar door was always locked during rituals and I couldn’t make the parents hear me. I ran down to the river. I heard whimpering and saw our little dog Pixie tied up the way the group would tie one of the goats for sacrifice. The other kids were carrying on, stumbling around, laughing, but when they saw me they stopped, looked behind them. Adam was sitting on a fallen tree by the river. He had Ava on his lap, like she was asleep. He told me they were going to let me join their circle. All I had to do was sacrifice Pixie. I refused. She was my dog and I loved her. I didn’t want to join his stupid circle. I went to untie her and he got up and dangled Ava by one leg over the river. She started to make this pathetic little noise and I realised she hadn’t been sleeping, she was hurt. He’d already hurt her and he was going to drop her in the river if I didn’t do what he said.

  ‘I told him he wouldn’t dare, but I knew he would. He didn’t care about getting in trouble, not like a normal kid would. And he told me it was such a shame I was left in charge, that I let Ava wander down to the river to drown. And they did nothing. The others did nothing. They all just stood there, staring. They hadn’t believed him up until then, they said later, but they still could have stopped it. They just didn’t. So I picked up the athame and I told Pixie …’ Paisley’s voice broke and she swallowed hard before continuing. ‘I told my dog I was sorry. And I killed her.’

  ‘Oh, God, Paise. That’s horrible.’ Callie put a hand on her friend’s shoulder. Why had she never told her any of this? Why hadn’t Dale?

  ‘Adam laughed this triumphant laugh and said he couldn’t believe I did it. And he let Ava go. Like a piece of rubbish. He just dropped her straight into the water and raced over to see if Pixie was dead. And the others … they ran away. They didn’t help. I screamed and screamed. It was so dark in the water. A storm had come across. It was raining. The current was moving … The adults finally heard and they came. They tried to help. Adam just kept laughing.’

  A solemn silence filled the house while everyone processed that. After a deep sigh, Paisley turned, her face saturated with tears. ‘The elders had a meeting, scenarios were hashed out. The truth of it was, Adam had them over a barrel. If they went to the authorities, the details of the coven, the rituals, the sacrifices would come out. Families would be torn apart, pulled through the courts. It wouldn’t just be Adam who suffered for what he’d done. It would be all of us. So yeah, the adults planted drugs in his bedroom. Then they had the kids call the police, tell them he was dealing. There was a raid. Because he was only sixteen he went into juvenile detention. They did that to save the coven. To keep it straightforward.’

  ‘But then he got out,’ Jared said.

  ‘Determined to pay back everyone who put him in there. Mum kept track of everyone when they left, when they changed their names.’ She walked unsteadily back to a chair and sat. ‘She sent them the black envelopes. They almost had to be sent out once before: the first time he got out. But Adam was only out a few days then he bashed up some cops. He was back in pretty much straight away. In Risdon this time, charged as an adult. The envelopes were a warning, that’s all. So everyone would know he was out. To be careful. And yeah, Mum supplied the group members the drugs they needed. So what? It’s easy to sneer and call them drug addicts, but a lot of those drugs were for the patients themselves—drugs the families couldn’t afford. And yeah, there were others—carers—who maybe needed something to keep them going. Everyone always says, oh, that poor person has all those problems, lucky they have a carer. But who worries about the carer? Worries about the impact it all has on their life? If the system were fairer for everyone, none of them would have been in that situation in the first place. They wouldn’t have been desperate.

  ‘So, there it all is. Will that do, will you stop chasing me now?’ Paisley asked Jared bitterly.

  ‘Thank you, Paisley,’ Indy said. ‘And you need to realise that none of that was your fault. You were just a little girl
in a horrible and impossible situation. I think you should talk to someone about all this. I heard guilt in your voice that just shouldn’t be there.’

  Paisley got up again and shook her head. ‘I think you should go now.’

  ‘Just one more question,’ Indy said. ‘What do you think he’s going to do next?’

  ‘Anything he wants,’ Paisley said. ‘And because this time he knows you’re out to get him, you won’t. He’s crazy as fuck but he’s smart with it. Whatever you do, don’t let him know it’s you on his trail.’

  ‘Of course.’

  Callie saw them out, then went back into the lounge room. ‘I didn’t realise things were that bad for you growing up. I’m so sorry, Paisley. That night must have been horrific.’

  ‘That night was the worst of my life. The rest of it … It wasn’t as bad as it sounds. The meetings were only once a month and we didn’t see much. And it got us some pull in town. Everyone was nice to us and we’d get free ice creams at the corner shop on Sundays,’ she said with a grin that wasn’t quite convincing.

  Callie crossed the room and hugged her friend. Paisley held on. Burst into tears again.

  CHAPTER

  32

  ‘So how is she today?’ Connor asked after Callie relayed the conversation between Paisley and Indy and Jared over lunch.

  ‘A little quiet. She’s flying home today, finishing up at Highgrove and driving back with all her stuff next week. I hope Indy finds Adam soon. I know there’s no reason to think he’ll bother us, but it’s dredging up the past. It’s hard to move forward with all that going on.’

  ‘I feel pretty awful joking about her witch of a mother after hearing just how bad it was.’

  ‘She never said. I can’t even think about it without feeling sick. Paisley was trying to justify her mother’s behaviour. Part of me is furious neither she nor Dale ever said anything. That’s a whole chunk of their lives that was kept from me. Though I’m not surprised she doesn’t want everyone to know.’

  ‘Let’s hope she can put it all behind her now, get on with seeing her dream come true for Waldron Park.’

  ‘Hi,’ Indy said as she came in. ‘I was hoping to grab Callie for five minutes.’

  ‘What’s going on?’ Callie couldn’t help but be suspicious when Indy had her friendly-cop face on.

  ‘Nothing serious. Just a couple of things I wanted to ask you yesterday but it got a bit intense with Paisley. I think we outstayed our welcome.’

  Callie nodded. ‘She was a mess last night. Bringing all that up was difficult for her.’

  ‘Bad enough she went through it, worse she never got a chance to get over it, heal, because it was all hushed up. She didn’t feel she could talk about it.’

  Indy dug out her phone and scrolled through her images, showed Callie one of a Tasmanian devil head, its mouth open in what might have been a growl. ‘Have you seen this before?’

  ‘No. Why?’

  ‘It’s a gang tattoo. Some of the members are in prison, Adam was the leader. The people wearing these tatts know who you are. They know Caroline is Callie. Have you got any idea why that might be the case?’

  ‘No. Were they friends of Marcie?’

  ‘I’d love an answer to that myself. Paisley had already told me there’s no list, no record of members, and she can only remember a handful of them. I’m guessing because of the nature of what they were doing there, they wanted anonymity.’

  ‘What about Adam’s parents? Dale’s?’

  ‘Adam’s mother walked out on him and his father five and a half years before Ava’s death. His father disappeared shortly after the night of that meeting. We haven’t been able to locate either of them. Dale’s parents and a couple of others I’ve been able to locate refuse to talk until Adam’s caught. They’re scared.’

  ‘Was Adam the one who raped Marcie’s daughter? Paisley said he got out and hurt some police. It sounded very much like what you’d told me.’

  ‘Yeah. It was him.’

  Something was niggling at the back of Callie’s mind, something Paisley had said that Jonah had also mentioned. And then it hit her. ‘They weren’t allowed to play with monsters.’

  ‘That’s what Paisley said,’ Indy replied. ‘Why?’

  What the hell was that rhyme Jonah was reciting? ‘“Back to bed, back to bed … pull the covers over my head. Monsters, monsters go away … I am not allowed to play”.’ Callie lifted her gaze. ‘Jonah told me that. He asked if strange things had been happening in the cottage, and he told me he knew a lot about monsters. That his nan had taught him.’

  ‘Jonah’s nan?’

  ‘And there’s something else. The day I met him and he found out I was staying in the cottage he said, “You’re one of us.” I didn’t think anything of it at the time but …’

  ‘Who’s Jonah’s nan?’ Indy asked.

  ‘I never asked. But he said they lived in the blue house back a bit closer to the bridge from Waldron Park.’

  ‘I need to go and find it,’ Indy said. ‘Why don’t you come with me? You know Jonah. It might make things easier.’

  ‘Happy to.’

  ‘Do you think this is it?’ Indy asked as they sat outside a pretty old fibro with a wild garden.

  ‘I think it’s a strong possibility. It’s the closest blue house to my place.’

  ‘It’s the only blue house we could find.’

  ‘So I’m going to go with yes, but you’re the detective.’ She exchanged grins with Indy.

  ‘Let’s go.’

  Indy stepped onto the veranda first.

  After a couple of knocks, Adelaide answered the door. ‘Yes? Oh, hello, Callie. What a nice surprise!’

  ‘Adelaide,’ she replied, pretty surprised herself. ‘Adelaide is the community nurse who looked after Cliff,’ she said to Indy. ‘Adelaide, this is my friend, Indy.’

  ‘Nice to meet you,’ Indy said. ‘We were wondering if you had a few minutes to have a chat about Jonah?’

  Adelaide’s face went blank, and for a moment Callie thought they must have the wrong house after all. ‘Jonah? Why on earth would you bring up Jonah? Come in, please.’

  The house was as neat as the woman. Nothing was flash, hadn’t been updated for what she guessed could have been a good thirty years, but everything was spotlessly clean. Callie looked around, hoping to see Jonah, but there was no sign of him. In fact, there was no evidence whatsoever a child even lived in the home. It didn’t seem right.

  ‘Now, can I offer anyone refreshments?’

  ‘We’re fine, thank you,’ Indy said as they were led past a frilly kitchen into a small sitting room.

  ‘Then how can I help you?’ Adelaide asked, sitting on a velvet lounge chair.

  Indy sat opposite so Callie followed suit. ‘I’m interested in talking to people who were involved in a support group run by Eileen Waldron many years ago.’

  ‘Oh dear,’ Adelaide said sadly. ‘Why would you be digging back into all that?’

  ‘We think that might be connected to something else going on today. You’d be familiar with Adam Mansfield?’

  ‘I knew the Mansfields. Lovely people. The boy, Adam, was a troubled soul.’

  ‘Well, now we’re interested in talking to him in connection to several recent violent murders.’

  Adelaide stared thoughtfully into space. ‘I suppose that’s not really surprising. But I’m afraid I haven’t seen any of those people in a very long time. Now, why don’t you tell me why you’re asking about Jonah?’

  ‘He mentioned something to Callie about monsters. It was very similar to something a surviving member of Eileen’s family said.’

  ‘He spoke to you?’ she asked Callie, hand over her heart. ‘Led you here?’

  ‘Yes. I hope I won’t get him in trouble. I enjoy his visits with Molly, though I know he’s not supposed to be there.’

  Adelaide’s eyes welled and she took out a small white handkerchief and dabbed at them. ‘He has Molly with him?’ she asked.
‘Oh.’ She walked over to a dresser and dug around, pulling out a photo. ‘I do miss him.’

  Indy glanced at Callie, but she just shrugged.

  ‘What do you mean?’ Indy asked.

  Adelaide put the photo down. It was old, black and white. A young boy was cuddling a small dog. ‘My brother Jonah died almost fifty years ago.’

  The earth seemed to tilt while Callie’s breath halted in her lungs. Dizziness filled her head and black spots appeared in front of her eyes, making it difficult to look at the photo. ‘No,’ she said, even as she saw the evidence in front of her. ‘No, I saw him. I talked to him!’

  ‘It’s that place!’ Adelaide said. ‘It’s wrong out there, it’s just wrong.’

  Callie wasn’t quite ready to believe it. The chair scraped back noisily as she recoiled from the picture and got to her feet. ‘He said you were his nan.’

  Adelaide blew her nose and wiped her eyes. ‘We were raised by our nan. Wonderful woman.’

  Callie’s head was shaking almost of its own accord. ‘I saw him!’ She felt herself caught from behind when her knees buckled.

  ‘Let’s go outside,’ Indy ordered and all but pushed Callie out the door.

  She couldn’t breathe. It didn’t make any sense. ‘I’m telling you I saw him. Spoke to him. He was as real as you and me!’

  ‘Get your head down before you pass out.’

  Callie did as she was told.

  Indy disappeared for a minute, came back out. ‘Let’s get you home.’

  She stumbled to her feet. ‘I’ve been speaking to a kid who’s not there—patted a pup that’s been dead fifty years. What the hell is wrong with me?’

  ‘It’s that place,’ Indy said, mimicking Adelaide and opening her door. ‘There’s nothing wrong with you. But maybe there’s something wrong with Waldron Park.’