STRANGE BODIES (a gripping crime thriller) (7 page)

‘No, no, you’re not. Actually there was one thing I was going to ask you. Do you know any of the current fire wardens or rangers who look after that area?’

Jim looked doubtful. ‘I only know first names. No, you ring the local forestry office. They would know. See, they’re all volunteers, the county fire wardens. They get together for drills and such on the weekends. Yes, best if you give them a ring.’

Holly concluded, ‘As I said, really nothing new there, sir. But he did mention his brother had seen other people at that old hermit’s house.’

‘Good work, Holly. Thanks.’ They broke the connection.

‘Sounds as though he’s settled down, so we’ll call in and see him. We’ll go to Penrith first—courtesy call on Sergeant Marino. What time do you think we’ll get back, Kerry?’

‘If we take a ‘copter it’s about fifteen minutes. Otherwise about an hour or more, even on the express grid. If you want to interview Jim again we’ll need a car. May be best if we head to Penrith by ‘copter then borrow a vehicle. I’ll give Marino a call about that now.

‘Jim Lawrence lives about fifteen minutes from there. So say half an hour with him. I reckon we’ll be back by three at the latest.’

‘Good. We’ll get over to the Richardsons’ house around three-thirty then. I’ve seen the forensic report and the CSI findings. Surprisingly sparse … very little personal stuff there, I’ll want to talk to their housekeeper in due course. See who else has been visiting recently.

‘I don’t really think we can get much more out of Mr Lawrence but I’d still like to see him, meet him. So ‘copter then car it is.

‘We should be back by three, Mrs Halifax. Fraser’s staying here today but I’ll take him with me to see Miss Browne Wednesday evening. Confirm that with her, please, and if Verity Burne is there too all the better.’

‘If anything comes up, DCS Thomas is in charge while I’m busy with this.’

He turned to Bob Fraser and said, ‘Well, you and this Scottish Ms Lightfoot can reminisce, but find out what you can about the set-up there.’

‘Right, sir. It’s only ten minutes away in Paddington, one of those big terrace houses, I think.’

They headed up to the roof where the big jet chopper was waiting to take them to Penrith.

Chapter 13

At Penrith they were met by Sergeant Frank Marino. After introductions, Jacobsen asked, ‘Anything more since we last spoke, sergeant?’

‘Well, yes and no, sir. We called in to see Jim Lawrence to see how he was going, left an officer there for the day. Nothing new, though he did say again the gates hadn’t been shut for years to his knowledge and that’s really bothering him. I reckon he’s figured if he’d been able to drive up there he wouldn’t have seen those bodies. Poor old bugger’s having constant flashbacks about finding the bodies, seeing them hanging there. Bad enough for my lot and we’ve seen plenty, though none as bad as this. The murderer wanted them found sometime—there’s no other explanation.

‘Now, the other thing—the old bloke who died, that old bush hut—we’ve been trying to track down anyone who may have known him. Old Bert, he was known as, but Jim said he wasn’t sure that he’d ever heard his last name. He had an idea it might be something like Anderson or Ashton. We’ve got one of our blokes searching records, but it all seems elusive. The land was owned by a company which no longer exists and we haven’t had any luck tracing the directors. Even the firm of lawyers named as executors, knows next to nothing about it. They received a notice last year advising them the owner was deceased and to wait for further communications with regard to his estate and the property. They haven’t heard anything since then. The signature was unreadable and the return address was bogus.’

‘We suspect those people, the Richardsons, were killed there. It’s deserted, it’s close—a very convenient killing ground. So secluded no one would hear their screams. But, and a big but, you’d have to know it’s there,’ said Adams.

‘My thoughts exactly, sir.
Someone
had to know that place was there. Now, we did a door knock along the first bit of road, you know, where you turn off on to the paved road. There are only about twenty or so houses along there, all on big blocks, well spaced, lots of trees around, and only one person knew anything about that house and the old bloke.

‘He was a cross-country runner and used to do his training around there many years ago. He spotted a new opening in the bush beside the road so out of curiosity trotted down to see if there was a shortcut back to the main road. He said he thought it might have been one of the tracks the loggers or the fire wardens used.

‘Anyway this old bloke fronted him half-way down the path and pointed a bloody great shotgun at him. Fired a shot over his head and told him to get the hell off his property. Which he did, quick smart. He saw a newish car and heard voices but didn’t stop to check. Of course that would explain the gap in the foliage if a car or van had forced its way through recently. So that’s the sum total of what we know about old Bert. The thing is, our jogger couldn’t find the bloody place again. We took him up and down there and no luck.

‘We’ve had a look at the aerial maps and sat images but it’s so heavily overgrown around there we can’t pinpoint it. Now I was thinking if you’re going to see Jim Lawrence, he might be able to pin it down for you a bit closer.’

‘Well, that’s an advance on what we had, sergeant, and excellent initiative on your part,’ said Jacobsen. ‘Got a car for us?’

‘Yep, over here.’ He walked across to a massive all-terrain vehicle, all glossy black duco and gleaming chrome. He grinned and patted the roof with a proprietary air.

‘One of the new ATVs … not the orange and black. More your sports model. Eight seater SolarCAT, primed and ready to roll. Hover jets up to about three metres, they reckon, though I’ve never tried above two. Got its own built-in air compressor too, but you should be good for the trip there, even Melbourne and back if you fancied it. Cooler, with water and juice on board, satnav, full comm system, got the lot.’

‘Something tells me this is not a police vehicle but your own, sergeant.’

He nodded and winked. ‘You could be right there, Commander.’

‘That’s service above and beyond. When we get back we’ll have a brief word with your boss, thank him and so on. Now I’ll just have a word with our pilot before we go. Can you find a spot in your break room for him till we get back?’

They pulled up outside Jim Lawrence’s house, pleased to see no sign of the media. Adams noticed with some surprise that the property was quite large, around a hectare, he estimated. The house looked to be at least a hundred and fifty years old, in beautiful condition, with wide shady verandas and immaculate paintwork. After the introductions, and a paw shake from Rolf, they all trooped into the comfortable kitchen where a big pot of tea was waiting and the mouth-watering odour of freshly baked bread filled the air.

While they all had cups of tea and slices of fresh bread slathered with thickly spread butter and jam, Jacobsen told Jim about the cross-country runner and what he’d said.

‘… so that’s the sum total of what we know about the old chap. The thing is, Jim, we can’t find the bloody place and we were hoping you …’

‘Of course, Mr Jacobsen,’ Jim broke in. ‘I can probably pin it down for you. Hang on.’ He walked through an arch into the adjacent family room and flicked the cloth off an old computer sitting on a desk to one side. He turned it on and at their surprised looks said, ‘Have to keep in touch with the family; my Julia’s up in Queensland. The old beast might be over ten years old but it still works fine. A mate updates it for me every now and then. Now, I had all the old forestry maps for the state on here; I never wiped them so let’s see. Hmmm, right.’

He pinpointed the area he wanted and enlarged it. ‘Right, come and look at this. That’s the dirt road where it comes off the paved road. Now if we go about halfway along it you can see a very faint thin line. That’s it. Your newer sat images won’t show it, too overgrown by now.’

‘Can you get co-ordinates for our satnav for that, Jim?’ asked Jacobsen.

‘Easy-peasy. I’ll just print this out for you.’

‘That’s bloody fantastic, Mr Lawrence. Now can I link to you to shoot all that info down to central? I want it all on the record,’ said Adams.

‘Yes, of course, sir. Go right ahead,’ said Jim. ‘I’ll do anything to help catch the buggers who did that to those poor people.’ He closed his eyes for a seconds as a shudder went through him.

‘Mr Adams, do you think it’d be alright if I go up and visit my daughter, Julia. She’s been asking me to come for a long visit with them since Jen passed.’ He brightened at a thought. ‘Rolf gets to run around as much as he likes.’ He reached down and ruffled the dog’s shaggy coat.

‘Where’s your daughter live, Jim?’ asked Nick.

‘They’ve got a farm up on the Darling Downs, outside Toowoomba. Beautiful country up there—some veggie crops, run a few goats, chooks, emus, horses, well stocked dam. They’re pretty self sufficient, own creek and dam, solar power, wind generators, everything recycled, worm farms, even mushrooms growing in an old mine—all that sort of stuff.’

‘Sounds like they’ve got it made,’ said Donna Price, sounding impressed.

‘Family home goes back three or four generations. Clive Goode, my son-in-law, is an only child. His mum and dad still live there in their own house, just down the road. They run the property together and the boys help out. Horse mad, the pair of ‘em. I s’pose they’ll be banning horses next,’ he said gloomily. ‘Got a couple of guest huts, do that farm holiday stuff too. Yes, I think I’ll head up there as soon as you people don’t need me anymore.’

‘Give it a couple of days, Jim. We’ll get back to you but I’m sure it’ll be okay. Get in touch with your daughter, fix it up, for say, day after tomorrow.’

They said their thanks and goodbyes and headed back to the car. There was a brief discussion on whether to continue up the mountain in the ATV or to head back to Penrith and the chopper. A loud clap of thunder and a bank of black clouds rolling in across the mountains made the decision easy.

‘Back to Penrith,’ said Jacobsen. ‘We’re about to get a storm which means heavy going on the dirt roads up there. I vote we do it in the chopper.’

‘I’ll call through and alert the pilot,’ said Adams. He spoke to the man then said, ‘Pilot says it’s a bit ordinary up there. The met report’s says heavy cloud cover all over the mountain and a massive thunderstorm moving in across the whole region. He thinks we ought to head back to Sydney while we can. So get us back to Penrith as quick as you can.’

‘Shall I use the emergency lane, siren and flashers, sir?’

Adams thought for a second or two and, though tempted, said, ‘No, better not. Well, not unless another cop car starts chasing us.’

They belted in tightly as the big car sped back to Penrith, the first spots of rain splatting against the windscreen. The helicopter made it back to Sydney before the wind reached gale force, but only just. The pilot was wrestling for control, vision obscured by blinding sheets of rain. As they landed on the roof the pilot asked them to hurry.

‘Gotta get this baby to a safer place or the wind’ll blow it off the roof. The anchors here aren’t meant for anything other than a light wind.’

They scrambled out and the pilot took off, whirled high in seconds, heading for the relative safety of the airport. The wind gusts threatened to blow them over the edge and they were soaked to the skin before they even reached the door. They headed for the main office, shivering in the cool of the aircon. All headed for the locker rooms and the warmth of the hot-air driers.

‘I think we could all do with some lunch,’ said Adams. ‘I’ll get something sent up.’

Someone said, ‘Look out the windows. Could be a cyclone blowing up out there.’

They crowded to the windows though there was nothing to see, just sheets of water battering at the glass and a sky lit by vivid flashes of lightning. Even through the double glazing of the bomb-proof glass they could hear the wind howling around the corners of the building and thunder crashing like an angry sky giant in hobnail boots.

‘I’ll get food sent up to the conference room. We’ll reconvene in fifteen minutes,’ said Adams.

Before he headed for his private bathroom he said. ‘Bob, I’m out of touch for about fifteen minutes. Can you order hot soup and sandwiches for us? Thanks.’

Chapter 14

Adams gave them time to fill their faces and to clear their heads with a bit of idle banter. A break at this time would do them all good.

‘Take a seat anywhere. Lottie, come and sit next to me, please. You can keep my notes since you’re the best at it.’ He handed her his e-book. ‘These are the points I want to go over, so just nudge me if I get off track.’

Bob Fraser was introducing Kerry Jacobsen to the others he hadn’t met yet. ‘How many is that?’ A quick head count showed one still to come … DCS Thomas. The room went silent as they heard him talking to Mrs Halifax in the adjoining room.

All eyes were on him as he walked in to be greeted with a table full of big grins.

‘What! What!’ he rumbled. ‘Can’t I have a brief word with someone without you lot getting ideas.’ He turned to Commander Adams. ‘Sorry sir,’ he said.

‘Never mind that, we’ve wasted too much time already. Obviously we can’t locate the hut today. This storm’s a bit of a set-back but we can review what we’ve got as soon as you lot get up to date. Now settle down.’

Once they had all found seats and dragged out e-books, minicomps, v-phones and all the other paraphernalia necessary for a meeting, Adams asked them to make sure they were all synched through the comm pads on the table.

‘I’m going to transmit a summary of what we know so far about the Richardsons … images on wall screens north and south, text on your own units.

‘As you know, the bodies were found hanging by their necks from a tree, but this was not the cause of death, even though the media insists on calling them the Fig Tree murders. There are numerous wounds to both bodies and when we get the autopsy report I’m sure we will find clear evidence of torture.’

He frowned. ‘That’s right. I haven’t received the full report from the ME’s office yet. DI Jacobsen, would you contact Dr Rainbird or someone else there, see if they can send it through to us? By the way, people, for those of you who haven’t met him, this is Detective Inspector Kerry Jacobsen from Surry Hills CID. He is the one responsible for bringing us in to this case.’

The DI nodded then walked over to the side to make the call.

“Well that was quick work. I’m not mistaken,’ he glanced at his own screen, ‘the ME’s report is coming through now.’

‘Dr Rainbird said he’s sending the reports now. He’s waiting for one more tox report but it’ll be a day or so, he said.’

‘Tell him thanks … we’ll get that later.’ He quickly flicked through the report.

Adams got up and paced the clear area behind his chair. ‘ME’s report. Everyone read it yet? Right, catch up later if you haven’t. DCS Thomas, summarise please.’

‘Both victims were drugged, tox report is not back yet but there are marks on both victims which indicate injections. In addition, tape residue, a slight stickiness on the back of the left hand of each suggests a deeper degree of drug administration, intravenous anaesthesia.’ He looked up from the report. ‘In my experience that usually means some sort of line left in a vein so that a drug can be introduced at will.

‘It appears they were kept alive for at least some hours after they were abducted, as death did not occur until some time Sunday. They died within an hour of each other. Cause of death … exsanguination, they both bled to death. It says refer to image eighteen. Can we get that up, please?’

On a wall screen the naked body of a man was stretched out on a stainless steel autopsy table under harsh lights. He had been washed clean of the dirt, the insects, the debris of death. The belly gaped open showing where the intestines had spilled out of the massive incision from mid-section to pubis, not the usual incision made during an autopsy but one inflicted by the murderers, pre- not post-mortem, according to what they read.

DCS Thomas read further, walked over to the screen and pointed. ‘The incision you see here was done fairly carefully, in as much as no organs appear to have been cut, just the skin and fat layers. There was no attempt to stop the bleeding.’

He looked up. ‘Can you even begin to imagine what the poor bugger was thinking, feeling.’ A few murmurs came from around the table, these experienced officers shocked at this recitation of horrors.

‘Not now, Gabe. Just the summary please.’ Adams was as sickened as the rest of them but kept his reaction damped down.

‘Yes, sir. The superficial skin damage you can see here on both sides of the chest and abdomen was caused when the two bodies were separated in the morgue. Some sort of glue was used to join the bodies and there was no way to separate them without further damage. A thin layer of the male victim’s skin was carefully peeled away to allow the woman’s body to be removed. Still waiting for the report on the glue, but the report suggests it’s one of a number of over the counter superglues that can be bought anywhere.

‘Next, on the male, clear evidence of torture is apparent. This includes multiple cuts on both arms with a sharp object, a scalpel or something similar, deep burns to the toes and soles of the feet, fingers and palms burned, effectively eliminating fingerprints. A nail on the left hand was removed, and the penis was severed, the resultant wound cauterised with something, possibly a laser wand. The penis is missing. Christ Almighty! This is all pre-mortem! I need a drink!’

‘That’ll do for now, Gabe. Get yourself a bottle of water out of the fridge. Now why were they tortured? Ideas, please. Anyone?’

Adams didn’t believe in spoon-feeding his officers; they were expected to have a degree of independent thought and the brainstorming sessions he held during each case were usually highly productive.

Donna Price said tentatively, ‘To reveal something? They may have had some knowledge the killers wanted? Or what about money? Have their bank accounts been accessed yet?’ She looked around to see if anyone else had ideas.

‘That’s a good idea,’ said Adams. ‘Jacobsen, I don’t recall anything about their finances in your first reports or the follow up. What can you tell me?’

‘Well, sir, we ran into a problem there. We had a warrant but no matter what we did we couldn’t get into their accounts. We put in a request for the Cyber and Electronic Crime Investigation people to see if they could penetrate the blocks, but nothing yet. They hadn’t got anywhere with it when I spoke to them earlier today.’ Jacobsen’s frustration showed.

‘Thanks, I’ll get on to DI Lucas in CECI later and see what he thinks. I suspect we’ll find that the accounts are empty, the money transferred to who knows where. And the person who did it put the blocks on the account. This suggests we’re looking for someone with superior e-skills. I think there’s even more here though.’

‘And now, DCI Kane, Brenda, how do you feel about continuing the ME’s report? I know it’s not your team but you’ve had extensive medical training and can interpret any med jargon. For the benefit of those who don’t know, DCI Kane was a major in the Australian Army Medical Corps before we were fortunate enough to obtain her services to head our Victorian team.’

The sturdy, grey-haired woman had managed to combine a distinguished military career with marriage and the two permitted children. She stood up and walked over to the screen.

‘Certainly, Commander, thank you. I think we can move on to the female victim now, if that’s alright with everyone.’

She continued, ‘Can we have images 25 and 26 please … front and back views. As you will note, the wounds are similar but not quite the same. The female was raped, both vaginally and anally, and the male was anally raped. It appears that a rough object was used, as considerable damage was inflicted.’ Kane spoke without referring to notes, her voice a crisp, but uninflected monotone as she went through the catalogue of horrors.

‘There is no suggestion or speculation in the report as to what was used but small pieces of green plant matter were retrieved from the cavities. There is no evidence of sperm and it appears unlikely that anything other than a foreign object was used. Again, they are waiting for the lab report.’

‘Why does it take so long for these lab reports, Commander? Can’t we do something about it? Light a fire under someone?’ asked DI Warne.

‘Later, Warne, later. News on that shortly. Sorry, Brenda, continue.’

‘Quite alright, sir,’ she said, but looked hard at DI Warne. ‘The eyes are missing but that appears to be animal action … in the original statement taken from Mr Lawrence, he mentions a bird pecking at the eye sockets. Wounds appear to be consistent with this.

‘As you can see from the rear view of the female victim’s body, carving on the back spells out the word, “Fake”, nothing else. The same word appears on the male’s back. Well, that’s certainly true of her as there is a note to the effect that this woman was claiming to be of mixed European and Negroid races. There is incontrovertible physiological evidence against this and there are indications that she was taking tanning pills … brand name, Dark De-light, and further, her hair had been dyed black but her natural hair colour was a light brown, as evidenced by the roots of her hair and also her body hair.’

She looked at the Commander questioningly. ‘Did we know about this?’

He glanced at his notes then said, ‘The Richardsons claimed to be South African, with Mrs Richardson of mixed race. Their application for migration to Australia stated grounds of racial discrimination against her, and she further claimed to have received threats against her life. They were a wealthy professional couple, they had the requisite amount of money, their health was excellent and the South African government had no objection to their leaving. Please go on.’

‘Thank you, Commander. Other than the wounds, the bodies of both the male and female victims were in excellent physical condition, and their muscle tone was good, indicating regular exercise. There is no evidence of disease, they were well nourished and carried no excess weight. The rest is just more of the same and I don’t think will help us. In other words they were two normal, healthy adults, aged in their late forties to early fifties.’

Kerry Jacobsen took that. ‘Yes. Now it gets mysterious. As immigrants they would have been microchipped on arrival. The chips don’t show on a scanner, their arms have been so badly slashed. Maybe it was to remove them, though that is supposed to be impossible. When we found them they were covered in every insect, bug and beetle known to man, and there were maggots and other nasties burrowed deep in the wounds too.

‘We had a hell of a job getting them down but we bagged them first so nothing was lost, as far as we know. As you can see, we couldn’t get finger or palm prints … too badly burned.’

‘What about DNA?’

‘We’ve sent a sample to the
WorldReg
but they may not be on that. They’re not on ours, which still doesn’t cover everyone.’ He looked thoughtful. ‘I hear the government’s about to mount another strong push to get all citizens into the DNA database.’ Jacobsen looked around as if to canvass opinions, but the bland expressions and studied interest in the wall screens suggested no one was about to express an opinion.

There were always persistent rumours that
BigSys
could monitor even private conversations. It probably wasn’t true but no one was prepared to risk it. Odd things that had happened to a few loud-mouthed citizens.

Mrs Halifax tapped at the door, stepped in and said, ‘Excuse me, Commander. I’ve just received some news I think you should hear. A message from Sergeant Marino.’

She read from the note in her hand.

“The old house near the murder site has been located, but it has been totally destroyed by fire. The alarm was given late last night and a fire unit went in. The heavy rain prevented the fire from spreading to the surrounding bush, but an intensely hot medium must have been used as there is almost nothing left.”

Adams said. ‘I think we should try a bit harder to find out who owned it. It was a perfect spot for a murder and I think the fire pretty much clinches it.’

Jacobsen said gloomily, ‘And the fire unit will have destroyed any evidence between the house and the road.’

A buzz of conversation rose at this bad news. Mrs Halifax walked over to Adams and said in a low voice, ‘Commander, I have an important call for you. Can you take it in your office?’

This was one of their code phrases, indicating that Mrs Halifax wanted to pass some confidential information to him.

He followed her into his office and shut the door. ‘This is a bad blow, the fire, I mean. I think it confirms that the actual murders took place there. Now, what’s up?’

‘I’ve been monitoring and recording as usual and something’s not quite right. I can’t pin it down to anything except instinct, but I think someone else is monitoring us.’

‘How can that be possible? I thought this place was fully secure.’

She said grimly, ‘It’s supposed to be. Obviously someone has managed to plant a bug, or has some other way of getting in. The whole of this floor was swept this morning. Could one of these people have brought one in?’

Adams thought for a minute. ‘We know all these people. Gabe and I hand picked them and you and I did the deep searches. No, I think this is coming from outside.’

She thought for a minute. ‘I’d say the only person who’d have an interest in the investigation would be the murderer.’

‘Our murderer must be a genius if he can monitor us without our getting a blip. And he, or an associate, blocked access to the Richardsons’ personal details and bank accounts. I don’t know what I’d do without you, Mrs H, you keep me grounded.’ He gave a brief laugh and patted her shoulder.