Challis - 01 - Dragon Man (28 page)

I didnt know her at all.

You never talked to her? Visited
her?

Certainly not.

Did she ever visit you?

Good heavens, no. Look, all of my
mail is being held for me at the post office. I got in late last night and have
a lot to do. If you dont mind, Id like

Do you know who her friends were?

Sutton was asking questions on the
run, now, following Stella Riggs around to the side of the house, where she
pointed a remote control at the lock-up garage. The door slid open, revealing a
white Mercedes.

How should I know who her friends
were? Nothing to do with me.

Recent visitors, regular visitors,
strangers, nothing like that?

Theres her boyfriend. At least, Im
assuming it was her boyfriend. His car was always there.

Boyfriend, Sutton said.

One of your lot. A policeman. In a
police car. Always there. Tall, gloomy-looking fellow. Now, if youll excuse
me, I have a lot to do.

Sutton returned to the car. He
muttered, as Pam Murphy started the engine, Theres a prize cow.

* * * *

Sit
down, Sergeant, Challis said, one hour later.

But van Alphen continued to stand,
and first he gazed grimly at Challis, then at Scobie Sutton, and finally at
Senior Sergeant Kellock. He pointed at Kellock. Whats he doing here?

Kellock cleared his throat. Im
representing the interests of the uniformed branch, Sergeant.

Bullshit. Youre here because youre
pissed off that I questioned your decision on Bastian, you and McQuarrie, and
youre hoping to see me sink.

Sutton said, Van, why dont you
just sit?

Fatigue had sharpened the planes of
van Alphens face. Not for the first time, Sutton was struck by van Alphens
resemblance to Challis. They were lean, hard-working men driven by private
demons. As though aware that the greater challenge came from Challis, van
Alphen sat, finally, and squarely faced the inspector across the desk.

Challis said, You claimed just now
that the Senior Sergeant hoped to see you sink. Are you expecting to sink? Is
there anything you wish to tell us?

Im not stupid, sir.

Nobody suggested you were.

Im as tuned in to canteen gossip
as anyone, even when its about me. You think I killed Clara Macris.

Challis said, Do we?

Van Alphen folded his arms. He sat
rock still and apparently filled with contempt. It was contempt for a police
force that didnt protect its own, Sutton decided, and not aimed at Challis in
particular. Van, we need to know more about your relationship with the dead
woman, he said.

Van Alphens narrow head swung
slowly around until they were staring at each other. No wonder the locals hate
him, Sutton thought.

What relationship,
Constable?

Fine, Sutton thought, if thats the
way you want to play it, Ill drop Van and call you by your name and rank. Sergeant
van Alphen, we have a witness who saw a police car at Clara Macriss house on a
number of occasions. Weve checked the vehicle logs and duty rosters. You often
signed a car out.

Really. Is that a fact?

Challis stepped in. You
investigated the womans mailbox fire, is that correct?

Yes.

You made follow-up visits to her?

I may have done.

Either you did or you didnt. It
wasnt that long ago.

She was badly shaken up.

And you went around and gave her a
cuddle, hoping shed come across for you, Kellock put in.

Challis darkened. Senior Sergeant,
please leave the room.

I have a right to be here,
Inspector.

Challis was clipped and dismissive. No
you dont. This is a murder investigation. Constable Sutton and I investigate
murders. You dont.

This is my station.

Challis slapped his hand on the desk
and shouted, And this is my investigation. Now get out.

Kellock stood slowly, massively, and
with feigned good grace left the room.

Challis grinned. After a while, van
Alphen allowed himself a wintry smile.

Clara Macris was a user, Challis
said. According to the toxicology report on her body.

I thought she might have been.

Challis nodded. But thats all we
know about her. And its one aspect of her that must have led her into contact
with other people.

Van Alphen shrugged. I guess so.

Do
you
know who was
supplying her?

No.

What did she tell you about
herself?

Nothing much.

Did you like her? Sutton asked
suddenly.

Van Alphen blinked. Yes.

Is that why you kept going back to
see her?

Van Alphen said irritably, I didnt
keep
going back to see her at all. I may have dropped in a couple of
times.

Did you have sex with her?

No.

Did you want to?

Oh, so thats why I killed her. I
wanted a fuck, she didnt, so I killed her.

Well, is that what happened?

No. I mean, no, I didnt kill her.

Challis had been watching this,
leaning back, his right foot resting on his left knee, tapping a pen against
his teeth. He straightened again. What did you talk about?

Nothing much.

She didnt tell you about her
private life?

No.

What about your old cases, Van?

Van Alphen frowned. My what?

Youre not very popular. Has anyone
threatened you? Been following you? Could someone have wanted to kill your
girlfriend to get back at you?

She wasnt my girlfriend. No-one
was following me.

Come on, Sergeant, were offering
you a lifeline here. You were sleeping with her, werent you?

No.

Were you supplying her with drugs?

Was I what?

You heard. She had a habit. She
told you shed sleep with you if you supplied her with drugs.

I cant believe Im hearing this.

Now, you shouldnt have chosen those
words, Sutton said to himself. They dont ring true. He decided to push it. Where
did you get the drugs? The evidence locker?

It seems, van Alphen said, looking
at the ceiling, that I should have a lawyer present.

Or did you rip off a dealer? Is
that how you kept her supplied?

Youre making an awfully big leap
from my visiting her a couple of times on official business to my supplying her
with drugs in order to sleep with her.

More than a couple of visits,
Challis snapped. Your car was seen there several times, by several of the
residents of Quarterhorse Lane.

Van Alphen muttered something
sullenly.

Speak up, Van.

I said, she thought someone was
after her.

The tension ebbed from the room.
Challis said gently, Were you sleeping with her?

Yes.

What did she tell you about
herself?

Almost nothing. She came from New
Zealand, I suspected she was a user, and thats about it.

Who did she think was after her?

She didnt, wouldnt, say.

What led her to think someone was
after her?

She thought the mailbox business
was a warning.

You told her about the other
mailboxes?

Yes. I think I convinced her, but
in general she was pretty agitated. The abductions didnt help. She told me she
thought it was a smokescreen, that she was the intended victim and it was just
a matter of time.

You must have formed an opinion of
her, Van, Sutton said. Who she was, whether or not she was hiding anything.

Van Alphen looked at the ceiling
again. I formed the belief that she was running away from something.

Like what?

Some heavy people. A vicious
husband or boyfriend. Someone she owed money to. Someone she ripped off.
Something along those lines.

But she didnt say?

No.

Running away from trouble in New
Zealand, do you think?

Ive no idea.

But you think they found her?

Van Alphen looked at Sutton and said
carefully,
She
thought theyd found her. But she was generally
predisposed to think that. She was scared. If anything out of the ordinary
happened, she misconstrued it, thought it applied to her alone.

Except, Challis said, this time
she didnt misconstrue it.

I guess so.

Youre not making this up?

There were firemen there with me
the night her mailbox got burnt. Theyll tell you, she was scared out of her
brain, when anyone else wouldve simply been pissed off.

Sutton nodded. Theyd already talked
to the firemen.

So, where does that leave me? van
Alphen said, challenging them.

Challis said, Senior Sergeant
Kellock wants you suspended.

I bet he does, the prick.

But were not going to suspend you,
Challis went on. However, I dont want you on outside duties while we continue
our investigation. I dont want you talking to anyone. I want you indoors,
making a list of anyone youve helped put away, or anyone with a grudge against
you for anything at all.

Van Alphen sneered. Feels like a
kind of suspension to me.

And you feel like a
not-quite-so-straight copper to me, Challis snarled. Thats all. You can go.

* * * *

Challis
bounced at a clip down the stairs. He sounded almost breezy,

Hows your daughter, Scobie?

Sutton hurried to draw alongside
him. Was Challis really interested, or going through the motions? A handful
now that shes home all day long..

Will you send her back to the
childcare place when it reopens?

Probably. See how it goes.

Good.

Maybe Challis had wanted kids,
before things blew up on him. They reached the ground floor and Sutton changed
the subject. Boss, you dont think Van killed her, do you?

Challis pushed through the rear door
into the car park. The heat hit them. I doubt it. But he was more than just a
concerned copper to her. Thats why I want to have a talk to Stella Riggs. She
seems to be the only independent witness.

I dont know what else she can tell
you, boss. Wasted trip.

Scobie, Im not questioning your
interview with her. I just want to be on firmer ground before we start digging
any deeper into van Alphen.

Scobie snorted. She wont thank
you.

Wont she?

Shes a stuck-up bitch.

Then Ill have to unstick her. Any
luck with the gypsies?

None.

They could be in New South Wales by
now.

They had reached the Commodore. Pam
Murphy, lounging on the grass beneath the line of gums that separated the
police station from the courthouse, brushed leaves from her uniform and hurried
toward them. Challis leaned on the roof of the car. What about Ledwich? Still
think theres something iffy about him?

Boss, weve checked him pretty
thoroughly. His alibis arent crash hot, but we cant prove that he
wasnt
at
work each of the times were interested in. The Pajero business is a fizzer.
The registration had elapsed and hed lost his licence, yet was still driving
around in it, and was scared the police and the insurance company would find
out, thats how I read it.

You think thats why he was so
edgy? Trying to avoid discovery?

Sutton shrugged. Its one
explanation.

They drove out of the car park. Back
to Quarterhorse Lane, Constable, Challis said.

Stella Riggs showed them into a
broad, gleaming room with polished floorboards, a vast open fireplace, several
roomy leather armchairs and twin matching sofas, an antique drinks cabinet, and
windows that offered a view across vineyards and orchards to Westernport Bay in
the hazy distance. Around to the right, the ground was scorched bare.

As I told your man here, Inspector,
I didnt know the woman.

Sutton bridled. She wasnt British,
but sounded it, in voice and attitude. Before he could respond, Challis said, Yet
you knew something of her movements.

All I
knew,
Inspector
Challis, was that she was often visited by a policeman in a police car. On two
occasions I actually saw him. I gave your fellow a description. She turned to
Sutton. I trust you passed my information on. It wouldnt surprise me if

Challis said, You never visited
her?