Chapter 50
EVAN
I patted the dirt down with the shovel, making a nice, smooth mound of earth where I’d buried the box of my father’s trophies.
The spot I’d chosen was between two of the aluminium sheds, an indistinct patch of weeds where the soil was soft and mossy from lack of sun.
My phone rang as I was heading back to the house, dusting my hands off on the legs of my jeans.
‘I want to ask you a few uncomfortable questions,’ Russell said.
Immediately, the hairs on the back of my neck began to rise.
Russell didn’t have any problems asking uncomfortable questions.
In fact, saying the wrong thing and making people around him uncomfortable were some of his favourite hobbies.
I stopped beside a rusty body of a Landau that had grass growing across its entire windscreen, blocking out view of the interior. ‘What’s happened?’
‘Well,’ Russell said. ‘What’s happened is that Dodge’s entire team has been stood down from duty by Gail Caplan.
During that process, Knowles has been doing his handover to his counterpart on Gail’s team, and he’s started telling the guy about the traffic cameras.
The ones he’s been working through, one at a time, interviewing all the drivers who came in and out of Redbelly that night. ’
I put my head down and kept walking.
‘Knowles has tried to find the printout that you had at the beer garden,’ Russell said. ‘But he can’t find it. Because Dodge has it. So Knowles figures he’ll just make his own printout directly from the traffic cam database. Only, he notices that there’s an extra car on there now.’
‘Okay.’ I drew a long breath. ‘Okay, Russell.’
‘That car belongs to an Uber driver. Knowles calls the Uber driver, and what does he say?’
‘He says he drove a guy named Christopher Powder into Redbelly on the night Chloe was murdered,’ I said.
‘Are you shitting me, Evan?’
‘No,’ I breathed. ‘No. I’m not. I covered up the fact that Chris was in Redbelly at the time of the murder. He’s the young guy at the pub. The one that was on the CCTV.’
‘I’m going to fucking kill you!’
‘It’s not a big problem.’
‘ “It’s not a big problem”?!’
‘I’ll admit to it.’ I went to the house, pulled the door shut. ‘It won’t blow back on you. I’ll say my son was there, engaged in underage drinking, and I panicked and covered it up.’
‘How could you do that? How could—With your history— What were you—’
‘Could you take a minute and breathe, and complete a sentence?’ I said. There was silence on the line. ‘You’re not completing any of your sentences, Russell.’
More silence. I went to my car and slipped into it, sat in the sun-warmed stillness.
‘Listen, Evan.’ Russell paused. I got the feeling there was someone else there, inhibiting him. I could hear the airy roar of a car in the background. ‘I’m catching a weird vibe off you.’
‘Okay.’
‘I don’t know. Maybe it’s just … not having seen you for a while. And the past few days. Are you and Delle okay? Is Chrissy okay?’
I bit down hard on my lips, wiped tears from my face. ‘Yeah? We’re fine. Everybody’s fine. I just, uh … I did something dumb. Again. I’m embarrassed. There’s nothing more to it.’
‘Mmm.’ Russell was quiet again for a long while. Uncharacteristically quiet. ‘I want to see you. Where are you right now?’
‘I stopped at Dad’s.’
‘Okay, stay there. I’m heading to Pemulwuy, so I’ll have to drive right past. I’ll meet you at the end of the road.’
‘Why are you going to Pemulwuy?’
‘I’ve got evidence to hand in. On Linda Special’s case. I’m hoping for DNA.’
‘What?’ I put my head against the steering wheel. Pressed the phone hard against my ear. ‘Are you kidding me? You’ve got something new? How? It’s been fifty years!’
‘I’ll explain later. I’ll drop in what I have, rustle them up to move on it straight away, and see if we can’t get a DNA profile for this fucker. If he’s the same guy who killed Chloe, this whole thing is going to explode.’
I covered my eyes.
‘I’m supposed to bring Bridie home,’ Russell went on.
‘Georgia just ripped my dick off about her being here in the middle of all this. So, I’ll drop off Bridie, drop off the samples for testing, go back and smooth it over with Georgia while I’m waiting for the results.
I’ll hit the lab just before it closes. I’ll tell the techs they’re not going home until I get my results. I’ll lock the doors if I have to.’
A plan was forming. I wrung the steering wheel with one hand, squeezing my phone with the other. ‘Georgia can wait until tomorrow, can’t she? It’s getting late. If you leave Bridie at Redbelly, I could drop her home in the morning.’
‘No. It’s okay. I’ll see if Georgia will go face to face with me,’ Russell said. ‘I’m trying to be … Um. I’m trying to be a bit … different. Trying to make things better for Birds. Life would be a lot easier for that kid if I got on the same playing field as her mother.’
‘Sounds like those therapists have been getting into your head.’
‘They’ll do that.’
‘If it was me, I’d go see Georgia by myself,’ I said. ‘Leave Bridie in Redbelly Crossing. You don’t want to be facing off with Georgia with Bridie standing right there.’
‘Maybe. You might be right.’
‘I think that’s the way to go.’ I eased a long, unsteady breath. ‘You, um. You’re going to take the ’Stang?’
‘What else would I take?’
‘Oh, I just wondered if you’d take someone’s country car,’ I said quickly. ‘Aren’t you worried about the Mustang’s paint job?’
‘I want to go pedal to the metal. I’ll put the paint touch-up on an invoice to the New South Wales Police. Along with the floor I just pulled up and twenty-seven cold beers I intend to have the night we close this.’
My tears were flowing freely now. I looked like shit in the rear-view mirror. ‘You going to leave there soon, then?’
‘Soon as I can. Wait for me at the end of the road. I don’t want to go anywhere near the farm.’
‘Okay. Drive safe, mate. See you soon.’
‘Yeah. See you soon,’ Russell said.