Sunlit Shadow Dance (13 page)

Beck was a
good listener and he felt she was in Susan’s corner, showing
sympathy for her plight. But as the conversation progresses he
began to become just a tiny bit uncomfortable. It was nothing
specific that he could put his finger on, it was just that her
curiosity seemed to make her want to burrow deeper into this girl
and what she was doing now with questions like; where she was
living now, was she now living with someone or on her own?

They were all
perfectly reasonable questions which someone in her position would
want to know. But he felt unease with this direction. He became
evasive in his answers, saying he did not know even when he
did.

He knew she
could read this in him and while at first she did not let on it
started to become like a cat and mouse game.

She ended up
by saying, “I know you know more about where she is and how she
came to be found than you are letting on, but let’s leave it that
way for now. I can see why to keep this information secret for
now.”

As they went
their separate ways he felt he had another ally in Susan’s corner;
Beck understood what was at stake. She said would use her influence
to try and untangle all these mixed up threads.

It was now
December and getting close to Christmas time. Vic thought about
Jane’s request to know her parents. He also remembered her mother’s
plea to see her daughter again and meet her grandchildren. It
seemed time to do something, though he was not sure what that
was.

His occasional
talks to Buck and Anne had not revealed any new threats, but he was
still nervous about disclosing their location to other people. For
now interest in Susan was fading. But he knew it would stay that
way for a minute if there was real information to go on. So he kept
being really careful. He did not use a credit card or go to banks,
he got paid in cash for work, he mostly rang others on a public
phone; all to reduce the risk.

He hated to
think what effect it might have on Jane if she was tied to Susan
and her past life. Jane had made no more requests for information
about her parents and seemed to have no desire to know about other
parts of her past life and, since the night of them becoming
lovers, he felt they had made a pact not to try and reopen the
past.

But yet, for
the sake of Jane and her parents he wanted to allow this connection
with them to happen. He did not know whether it would trigger
memories but he felt it was time.

The challenge
was to work out how to do it without this becoming a way to trace
him or her. In the end he rang Anne to ask her, as she seemed to
have the best ideas about this. She was also a logical link to
Jane’s parents, the childhood friend who was keeping in touch with
them.

Anne said at
once, “How about a Christmas reunion? David and I are going to his
family property for Christmas. It is over the Blue Mountains at the
back of Sydney. His parents know Susan’s parents well as a result
of the engagement and the trial. They have stayed in touch. Plus
there are other cousins in Sydney who Susan’s parents may want to
visit. So I am almost sure that if we invited them to come out for
a visit they would.

“
I talked to both Susan’s parents on the phone last week. I
try to ring once a fortnight. They both said how much they wished
to see their daughter and their grandchildren before they grow up
too much. They did not seem to have anything important planned for
Christmas.

“
Perhaps, while we at the farm over Christmas-New Year, David
could arrange for you to visit us, he would tell the farm staff
that you are a friend we met in the NT and say you are bringing
your girlfriend and her two children to all come and stay for a few
days. At the same time David’s parents could invite out Susan’s Mum
and Dad, and her brother Tim too. They can stay at the main house;
there are plenty of spare rooms.

“
There is an empty cottage about two hundred yards from the
main house where you could all stay. It is down near the creek and
surrounded by bush, so it is very private.

“
That way, when you come to visit as our friends they will be
there too, but there will be no obvious connection for the workers
to notice, not that I don’t trust them, but it is still best if
they do not know.

“
As it is a property in the country there will be no snooping
journalists or other people who will gossip. It will just be a
visit of my good friend Vic and his girlfriend, Jane, and children,
staying in a cottage on the farm, while Susan’s parents are there
as guests of David’s parents. No one will know they are really
Jane’s parents. I think that will work.

“
For your travel, it is best if you drive down; assuming that
old banger of a car that Buck bought you is still reliable,
because, if you fly your movements are readily traceable. If you
drive, stay in cheap motels or caravan parks along the way and
don’t use a credit card, then I think there should be very little
risk of anyone working out who you are.

“
Perhaps, to be even safer Jane should dye her hair a
different color, strawberry blonde would look good with her blue
eyes; that would make it even harder to for anyone to guess her
identity.

“
So let’s make it happen. I know her parents will jump at the
chance to see her and meet their grandkids and I can’t wait to see
my friend again, even if she does not remember me.

“
Ring back next week once I have had a chance to get it
organized.”

That night,
when they were in bed together, he asked Jane, “Remember how you
said you wanted to know your parents. Would you like to meet them
at Christmas time?”

Jane hugged
him extra tight and said, “I would love that.”

Next morning
she had a pensive look on her face so Vic asked, “What is the
matter?”

“
I feel scared I won’t know who they are when I see them. Or
what if they don’t want to see me?”

Vic said, “I
promise they do really want to see you and also to meet David and
Anne who they have never met, their first grandchildren. I will ask
them to post a photo of themselves so you know what they look
like.”

With that it
was agreed. Next day they told David and Anne they were going to a
place near Sydney to visit their grandparents and they were wild
with excitement too.

Slowly the
days ticked over towards Christmas. Vic had his car serviced. He
told the mechanic to give it a careful check to ensure that
everything was good and safe for a long trip.

Sometimes he
saw Jane looking pensive again and would ask her why.

She always
smiled brightly and said, “It’s nothing really, I am just scared
about whether I want any of my old life back. I am so happy here. I
could not bear for anything to spoil what we have now.”

A week before
Christmas a photo arrived in the mail with an English address. It
was a picture of Jane’s parents and her brother Tim. On the back
was written. “We all can’t wait to see you again.”

Jane looked at
it hard for a minute before she put it down, saying. “I wish I
could remember them but I can’t. I do think I want to meet them.
But I am so very scared lest our good life comes apart. It is as if
there is a bad monster hiding in the shadows, wanting to break
loose and smash all we have.”

Two weeks went
by before Alan heard from Beck again. This time she rang him
saying. “I think I have worked it out, found a way forward. I have
spoken to the Attorney General and he has talked to the sentencing
judge and also to the coroner who investigated all the girls who
disappeared.

“
All are of the opinion that we are in uncharted water here,
it is nothing like any case they have encountered before. Their
general view is the nearest thing to correct legal procedure would
be a retrial where fresh evidence is brought forward to justify
Susan’s actions, with or without her consent.

“
They also agree, based on what you told me about her mental
state and lack of memory, that a retrial would be of little value
and pose a serious risk to her wellbeing, with a great risk of more
mental harm or a new breakdown.

“
Apart from harm to her, should the government seek to force a
retrial, it would play very badly in the court of public opinion. A
very large number of people have sympathy for her plight since the
TV program telling her story went to air. To them she is guilty of
nothing but bad luck. Of course, as they come to her defence, all
the nuts on the other side would vilify her too.

“
An alternate option discussed was for the trial judge to
resume his sentencing hearing following the coronial, based on the
evidence that it revealed, including the tape in which Susan told
Anne how she killed this man after he tied her up and that she
believed he intended to kill her and feed her to the crocodiles.
But it would be difficult to treat this as formal testimony if
Susan is not able to be cross examined on it. Without that evidence
being admitted it would be hard for the judge to find that no
sentence be imposed. And continuing the sentencing hearing, even if
done in private, would be impossible to keep secret.

“
So, as a result, it would be clearly known that Susan is
alive somewhere, whereas now it is only a vague rumour. With the
level of media scrutiny that would follow any revelation it would
become extremely difficult for her to stay hidden, even if she did
not return to Darwin for the hearing.

“
So my boss, the coroner and the trial judge want to do two
things. The first is for a court appointed psychologist to evaluate
Susan and confirm that her absence of memory appears genuine. This
examination could be done in a confidential manner without
disclosing that it occurred or where. It could occur in a major
centre like Brisbane or Sydney to assist in secrecy.

“
The second thing is they will seek advice from a former judge
of the High Court about the option for a pardon, if her memory loss
is confirmed. All are satisfied, based on the phone text evidence
from the sentencing hearing, along with the account of what
happened by her friend, Anne, given at the inquest, that there is a
good basis for her conviction to be set aside and her not to serve
out a prison term. But they need to find a way to do this
legally.

“
So a pardon appears the best option but they want eminent
legal advice, given in confidence, to confirm this. Today I will
prepare a brief to seek this advice by mid-January. If the advice
confirms that a pardon is legally sound, then the Attorney General
will seek confidential agreement of the other members of the NT
Executive Government before proceeding.

“
So I expect we will have a definite answer in the New Year.
Meanwhile I thought you should know. Officially my lips are sealed,
as are yours, but it would be good to know if there is agreement by
the other party. I would not want to have this formally announced
without it.

“
I have even found a legal precedent that it does not require
the consent of the guilty party to seek a pardon on their behalf.
So it seems this could be done in absentia and, once granted, she
would be free to get on with her own life. While the pardon would
have to be disclosed, her location would not have to be. So it is
possible for her to continue her life in whatever way she is now
doing. It does not mean that nobody will track her down, but it
gives her a chance to stay hidden if she wants to.

“
The Attorney General could announce that, following the
inquest and the representations of her family, he has sought and
been granted a pardon for one ‘Susan Emily McDonald’ to her murder
conviction.

“
If it goes ahead we need to arrange a psychological
assessment and a letter of request for a pardon from her parents,
as her next of kin.”

The next day
Alan rang Buck and asked him to pass this on to Vic and others as
required. Buck rang Anne and told her. In return she told him of
the just arranged meeting of Susan and her parents in a fortnight
at Christmas. They agreed that Vic and Susan’s parents could talk
about it there. To Anne it sounded like a way forward, but it would
be for others to decide.

Vic and Jane
set off the weekend before Christmas. The car was packed with their
camping gear as they had decided to find places along the way in
the mountains to camp, to treat this trip as their own holiday,
done in easy stages, before they came to the farm.

Last night Vic
had called Anne again, told her of their approximate plans, three
easy days of driving, coming around the back of the mountains and
avoiding the big cities of Sydney and Brisbane, the first night
camping in the New England, in a national park at the back of
Armidale, the second night between the Hunter Valley and Mudgee, at
the back of the Blue Mountains, and arriving in the middle of the
third day. He had an address and directions from Lithgow to David’s
family’s farm.

They were
three wonderful days, swimming in crystal clear mountain pools,
giving the children swimming lessons, teaching them to dog paddle
and stay afloat without help. They climbed hillsides and waterfalls
with panoramic views, cooked on an open fire and enjoyed the music
of birds and glimpses of wildlife. They went walking in the night
with a torch, picking out forest animal eyes, possums and gliders
in the trees, wallabies and native cats on the ground, frogs that
croaked in the creeks. They made love in the night under star
filled skies and in the dawn as the first birds called.