Silent Fear (24 page)

Holly stared out at the empty street. ‘Maybe something’s happened to him.’

‘Like what?’

All the drunks she’d seen injured or dead marched before her eyes. ‘You name it.’

‘He’s perched on a bar stool perving on a barmaid,’ Lacey said. ‘Any money.’

Holly said, ‘I’ve been thinking about calling Seth.’

‘That’s one avenue to try.’

‘What do you think?’

‘You realise he’ll have your number then.’

‘He’s got it already.’ She told Lacey how she’d called and told him to stay away that morning.

‘Do you really want to speak to him?’

‘If I can find out about Norris.’

‘You realise it’s not even half past eleven.’

‘What would you do?’

‘I’d go to bed and try to sleep while also being ready to fend off the drunken oaf when he stumbles in.’

Holly rubbed her forehead. ‘I can’t shake the feeling that something bad’s happened.’

‘You’re like those panicky people who call because they had a strange and fleeting pain and yes it has gone now but perhaps it’s something serious and won’t you send an ambulance to check me out even though I now feel perfectly well?’

‘It’s nowhere near the same thing.’

‘Honey, I don’t know what else to tell you. Call Seth if you want. Go driving around the pubs and see if you can find them. But first take a step back and think, because it’s not like Norris’s been gone all night. He’s just a little late. You’ll run around and around and eventually he’ll wander in after a ripper of an evening and you’ll be pissed and tired, and don’t you have to work tomorrow? And that meeting. You need your head working right for that.’

‘Gee, thanks,’ Holly said. ‘You’ve been a real help.’

Lacey sighed. ‘I know you don’t believe me, but it’ll be fine.’

Holly hung up.

*

She changed into black pants and a blue button-up shirt and put her notebook in her handbag. She opened her work wallet and looked at the photo of her and Norris in the plastic sleeve opposite her service badge, then took a photo of him alone off the front of the fridge and put it in her handbag too. She wrote a note asking him to call as soon as he got in, and laid it on the hall floor where he couldn’t miss it, locked the house, then backed the car out of the drive.

The closest pub was packed and noisy. She walked through the crowd but Norris wasn’t there. She went to the bar. The barman had trouble hearing her. She held out the photo and he smirked.

‘What’s so funny?’ she said.

‘Wives comin in here looking for their man.’ He waved a freckled arm at the crowd. ‘Like they think I actually notice.’

‘Have you seen him tonight or not?’

‘What’d I just say?’ He walked away to talk and laugh with a man at the other end of the bar.

Holly took out her work wallet, turned the plastic sleeve inwards against her hand, and walked after him. He glanced at her with a grin, which froze when she held up her badge, long enough so that he saw the gold metal but not so long that he could read the words
NSW Ambulance Service
.

‘Do I look like his fucking wife?’

Red spots flared high on his cheeks. ‘Sorry.’ His mate focused on his beer. She held out the photo again. He studied it, then shook his head. ‘Never seen him before, sorry.’

She turned away without a word and walked out.

She went through three more nearby pubs in a similar way, then checked out two pizza places in the same area, but nobody had seen him.

She sat in the car and watched the dashboard clock tick past twelve thirty as she phoned his mobile again. Still voicemail. She called home but it rang out. The car rocked on its tyres as a truck blew past, and she picked up the notebook.

‘
Hi, it’s Seth. Blah blah blah, beep, et cetera.
’

Her mouth was suddenly dry. ‘It’s Holly. Please call me back.’ Her number would appear on his screen but she recited it anyway. ‘Thanks.’

She hung up, then dialled his landline. It rang out.

She sat holding the phone in her sweaty hands and wondering what the hell to do now.

TWENTY

E
lla was at home in bed and deep in a dreamless sleep when her mobile started ringing. The sound dragged her up inch by inch, her exhausted body resisting, her mind half a step ahead and shouting that it could be a breakthrough, wake up, wake up!

She fumbled with the buttons, then with getting the thing to her ear. ‘Yep.’

‘Um, hi.’ A woman’s voice, anxious and unsure. ‘Is this Detective Marconi?’

Ella struggled into a sitting position and turned on the bedside light, then flinched at the glare. ‘Who is this?’

‘My name’s Holly Garland, I’m a paramedic. We met yesterday.’

‘I remember,’ Ella said. ‘How are you?’

‘Not so good actually. I’m sorry to bother you so late, but I wondered if you’ve taken my brother Seth in for an interview.’

‘Not that I know of,’ Ella said. ‘Why?’

‘He was with my fiancé, Norris, today while I was at work. I came home and they weren’t here, and they still haven’t turned up and I can’t find them. I hoped – I thought – if Seth was at the police station for an interview, Norris might be with him.’

Ella was fully awake now. ‘Seth Garland is missing?’

‘And my fiancé, Norris. Norris Sanderson. I know it’s only been a few hours but he’s never been out of touch like this. It’s completely out of character and I’m worried.’

Ella was out of bed and pulling her trousers on one-handed. ‘When did you last talk to him?’

‘At about eleven thirty this morning,’ Holly said. ‘I was at work and wanted to go home but Seth was there. Then Norris left a message on my voicemail at about twenty past two this afternoon. I didn’t try to call him until about eleven tonight, and it went to voicemail. I checked with a friend who said he too got voicemail when he tried to call at five. His brothers haven’t heard from him either.’

‘What did Norris say in the message?’

‘That he wanted to tell me something, then he changed his mind and said he’d tell me later.’

‘And what about when you last actually spoke?’

‘We argued,’ Holly said. ‘I wanted him to tell Seth to go home. He was all excited because he said Seth had some friends who might want to buy this house he’s been hoping to sell for ages.’

‘He tell you the friends’ names?’

‘No. I hung up on him.’

Ella thought there was a good chance that the boys were simply out on the town and would turn up later with sore heads and empty wallets. But the fact that it was Garland, the neat freak who’d been lumbered with the world’s messiest flat-mate who’d then been murdered, combined with something about Holly’s anxiety got her heart pounding and her head madly searching for links. ‘Are they in a car?’

‘Probably in Seth’s, but I don’t know what he has.’

‘Okay,’ Ella said. ‘Let me check a few things, then I’ll call you back.’

‘Thank you so much.’

Ella jammed her phone in her pocket, yanked on the rest of her clothes and rushed out the door.

*

The office at one thirty in the morning was blazing with light. Detectives typed reports into computers, yawned over coffee cups, talked to one another about witness statements, and read information on the whiteboard.

Ella saw that the door to Dennis’s office was open, and she tapped and went in. ‘Has Seth Garland been brought in for interview?’

‘No. Why?’

‘His sister rang me. He’s missing.’ She told him the story. ‘I know it doesn’t sound like much, but think about it. First Henreid, now Garland, plus there’s the mess issue.’

‘How long’s it been?’

‘Holly talked to Norris on the phone at about two in the afternoon and they were at the house then.’

‘Not even twelve hours.’

‘I know, they’re probably out boozing it up. Doesn’t mean we can’t check a few things.’

‘Okay, fine.’

She started to head out, then turned back. ‘You ever heard of Dante Novak?’

‘Nope. Who’s he?’

‘Nobody,’ she said.

In the main office she dragged her chair in close to her computer. She would’ve liked to put in Novak’s name, but her name would appear in the records as having searched for him and questions might be asked as to why. She didn’t fancy explaining that Murray’d put a bug in her brain and it was annoyance at him combined with sheer curiosity that had her checking. Instead she typed in Garland’s details, thinking he may have been picked up by a local patrol for drink driving or similar. He wasn’t anywhere in the system though, and had no criminal record either. He owned a black Audi with the personalised plates SG 111. Next she entered Norris Sanderson’s name. He had no record either. On a whim she put in Holly’s name too, but she was as clean as the others.

She reached for her mobile.

Holly answered on the first ring. ‘Did you find him?’

‘They’re not here and not at any other station that I can find,’ Ella said. ‘Garland’s car hasn’t been reported stolen or been in an accident either. They haven’t come home or been in touch yet?’

‘I’m at home now and they’re not here, and I’ve sent him multiple texts and practically filled his voicemail box. Nothing.’

‘You said “him”,’ Ella said. ‘You haven’t been calling Seth too?’

‘Earlier I did. Got voicemail there too.’ The paramedic’s tone was hard.

Ella said, ‘You don’t like your brother much, do you?’

‘Like they say, you can choose your friends.’

‘And you two have been out of touch since you last saw him, which was twelve years ago at your parents’ funeral, right?’

‘Look, I’m sorry, but is this relevant? I really just want to find my fiancé –’

‘The more I know about them, the better idea I’ll have of things to check and places to look,’ Ella said, hoping Holly would take the bait and swallow the lie. Nobody was going to do anything more than she’d already done. She would put a note in the system so if the car was found trashed somewhere she’d be notified, but otherwise their names would go into the stew of hundreds of pieces of information police had to deal with every day, most of it more important than two guys who’d more than likely gone out, got drunk and were sleeping it off in a park somewhere.

‘Have you called Seth’s flat?’ she asked.

‘There’s no answer.’

‘Have you ever been to his flat?’

‘I just said we didn’t get on. There’s no reason for me to go there.’

‘But you have his phone numbers.’

‘He wrote them in my notebook when I asked him to write down Paul Fowler’s details at the scene. I meant to rip that page out. Shouldn’t you be asking me questions about Norris too?’

‘In a moment,’ Ella said. ‘What did Seth do to you?’

‘What makes you think he did something to me? Sometimes people just don’t get on. I appreciate you calling me back and letting me know what you found, and I’d like you to call me again if you get any more information, but otherwise can we keep to the topic? Or I’m going to have to get off the line myself. In case Norris calls.’

‘I’ll talk to you later then,’ Ella said, and pressed the button to end the call.

*

Holly looked at the phone in disbelief. She’d only wanted the detective to stop talking about Seth, not hang up on her. She hadn’t had a chance to tell her a single thing about Norris.

She fought the urge to fling the phone across the room.

She had to calm down. Had to think.

Ella was only interested in Seth, probably because of his involvement in her murder case. That meant she would only look for Seth. Holly could call her back and try to tell her about Norris’s friends and brothers, about how his focus was his work and making money, that he wasn’t one for loud bands and partying all night, but she knew Ella would shift the subject back to Seth as soon as she could. Holly had nothing to say about him that could help, and all the rest of it she wanted to keep to herself.

It was after two in the morning. The house felt like a silent brooding hulk around her. She headed out the door, calling Norris again as she went.

Voicemail again.

‘Hi,’ she said. ‘I don’t know where you are and I’m really worried. I’m going over to Seth’s place and I hope you guys are there, drunk or stoned or whatever. I don’t care, I just need to know you’re okay. I love you and hope to see you soon.’

She tried once more to tell herself she was overreacting, that nothing bad had happened, but her mind was crammed with memories from the job, people sobbing that they couldn’t believe this had happened to them, bodies lying motionless in the mangled wrecks of long nights out.

She got in the car, swung out of the driveway and accelerated down the street, the headlights a bright but lonely tunnel in the darkness.

*

Ella filled two pages in her notebook with information from the statements made by Fowler’s other friends, then went to tell Dennis her plan.

‘Any news from the surveillance on Sutton and Trina?’ she added.

‘Sutton’s at Trina’s house,’ he said. ‘Been there since seven.’

‘Fowler’s not been dead forty-eight hours and he’s already staying the night? What wouldn’t I give to hear their conversation. Maybe our next step could be to get a bug in that house.’

‘It’s in the plan.’

Ella checked her watch. It was quarter past two. ‘I’m off. Oh . . . do you reckon you could get someone local to check Garland’s place in Brighton-Le-Sands?’

‘See what I can do.’ He reached for the phone.

Ella went downstairs to her car. Holly might be no help when it came to Garland, and Sutton was off limits while being watched, but there were still two other friends to interrogate. Sam Roberts-Brice lived with his wife in Erskineville, and Jared Kelly with his girlfriend in Tempe, and at this hour of the night resistance was low, partners were cranky and the pressure could only increase.

*

She was driving through patchy traffic under orange streetlights in Homebush when Dennis called her.

‘Brooks said some lights just came on in Trina’s house,’ he said. ‘Can you divert there in case Sutton leaves? We’ll need one to stay on Trina and two to tail.’

‘On my way,’ she said.

She switched her flashing grille lights on but kept the siren off and reached the townhouse estate in five minutes. She spotted one unmarked car parked in a line of vehicles near the gate, and parked her own further up and on the other side of the street. She crossed the dark and silent street, then sidled through the gateway, pausing in its shadow. She could see movement by Trina’s front door, someone pacing back and forth under the light. She saw the other unmarked car backed into a visitor’s space across the pool from Trina’s, and crept from shadow to shadow along the fronts of the houses to reach it. She could see that Sutton was on his phone but couldn’t hear him.

Marion Pilsiger was in the driver’s seat; she raised her hand at Ella, then put her finger to her lips. Ella eased the back door open. The interior light had been turned off and she slipped in and gently closed the door. Marion held up her mobile phone. Ella saw the screen was lit by a call from Louise Brooks and heard a man’s voice.

‘What the fuck did you think was going to happen?’

Ella got instant goose bumps. It was Sutton. He spoke in a cross between a hiss and a whisper. Ella watched him pace. She couldn’t spot Louise Brooks at all but knew she had to be there somewhere, silent in the darkness, her phone held out to transmit his words.

‘Did you think they’d leave it at bashing Sam? We talked about this after he left hospital, remember. We fucking voted. You wanted to keep the place open as much as anyone.’

So the assault on Sam Roberts-Brice was related. Ella held her breath while Sutton paused.

‘Sure you can get out. You walk away, that’s how. No, no, forget about your fucking money. You knew the risks. You walk away and you keep your mouth shut.’

We so need a tap on that phone.

‘Oho, really? It’s time you started thinking before you speak. I had nothing to do with it. He was my fucking friend too, don’t forget. No, she’s irrelevant. No, listen. That’s completely beside the point.’

She? Being Trina?

Another pause. ‘What’s there to talk about? I just told you – okay, all right. Jesus, keep your fuckin pants on. I’ll be there.’

There was a beep, then the jingle of keys. Ella realised that though Sutton had ended his call, Louise Brooks’s line to Marion’s phone was still open. She watched him pull the front door shut, then get into his white station wagon in Trina’s visitor’s space and start the car. Marion’s phone blinked and beeped as Louise cut the call. Ella still couldn’t spot her.

‘That’s Louise’s car on the street?’ she whispered to Marion.

‘Yeah.’

Sutton backed out of the space, then drove forward. Because the driveway was a loop he wouldn’t be coming past them, but they both slid down in their seats anyway.

‘Once he’s out I’ll bolt and get in my car,’ Ella whispered, hand on the door.

‘I’ll let Dennis know,’ Marion said.

Sutton braked as he approached the gate, then drove through. Ella jumped out of the car and pushed the door to, and spotted Louise running in a crouch along the opposite driveway. They reached the gate at the same time.

‘Nice work,’ Ella whispered.

Louise grinned. ‘Thanks.’

They peered out to see Sutton’s tail-lights. He’d turned right. Ella’s car was facing the same way.

‘I’ll take lead,’ she said.

They ran to their cars. Ella started hers and drove fast to catch up, but not so fast that Sutton would notice. Louise’s headlights flashed in Ella’s mirror as she U-turned in the street and followed.

Ella dialled Dennis one-handed. ‘We’re turning onto Punchbowl Road. Louise is behind me. He was talking like it was a planned hit. He said “they” weren’t leaving it at bashing Sam.’

‘Marion brought me up to speed,’ he said.

There were a few cars and a couple of small trucks about and she manoeuvred through them until she could see the back of Sutton’s station wagon. ‘It sounded like whoever he was talking to is upset and wants out of whatever’s going on, and also wants to meet. I assume that’s where we’re going now.’

‘Okay,’ he said.

She dropped back a little, pulled behind a taxi, moseyed along as if her hands weren’t sweaty on the wheel, the nervous energy wasn’t electrifying her limbs.