My Island Homicide (23 page)

Chapter 40

By Wednesday morning, Jack had been missing for three days. I tried not to think about it and no-one was mentioning it. Work went on. The new legal service lawyer phoned to let me know the prosecution witnesses he would call at Dave Garland's committal next month. I jotted down the names: Georgia; Robby; Amanda Small, the head of the special ed unit; Veronica Heard, the Darnley Island principal; and the teacher aides. He was happy for some of the witnesses, such as Georgia, to give evidence by phone rather than flying to TI from Cairns. At the committal hearing, the prosecution would present its case to persuade the magistrate there was enough evidence for the murder charge to go to trial before a jury. The defence lawyer's job at committal was to either challenge the prosecution's evidence or lock the witnesses' testimony so they couldn't change or add facts at the trial. If the magistrate found there was a case to answer, the murder trial would take place in the Supreme Court in Cairns.

I knew the teacher aides would be unsettled by appearing in court. They would struggle to understand the legal jargon and become uncomfortable speaking in English. On a positive note, I realised, the committal would be a sort of rehearsal for the later trial. Once they had given evidence at the committal and realised they could survive it, they would be less nervous on the day of trial, the final performance.

For the first time in three days, I had managed to distract myself from thinking about Jack. So I wasn't prepared for the phone call from Surveillance Australia. The search for Jack was being scaled back. I put the phone down and tears dripped onto my desk. I don't know how long I sat there. Lency appeared in the doorway and read from a piece of paper. ‘Robby called to make another complaint about stolen property. He's coming at half-three.' She looked up, then rushed in. ‘What's happened? Are you okay?'

‘The search is being scaled back.'

She placed her hand over her mouth and left.

Later, Robby came in with Alby, who had a collection of small plastic cars.

‘The thief got lucky,' he said and passed me a typed list of missing items: a pair of joggers, an electric drill, a handheld GPS, a whipper snipper belonging to Education Queensland, a fish finder. Robby had locked the door for ‘a while' after the first incident, thinking it was a one-off, but lately had left it open.

‘Why didn't your dog bark?'

‘Alby and I must have been out walking with him.'

I stared at Robby's list. My throat closed as tears welled in my eyes again. I needed Jack. This thieving syndicate was his baby.

When I left at 4.30pm, I sensed a figure approaching me from behind and I jumped back in fright. It was Franz, his arms limp by his sides, near the soft-drink machine.

‘Which way
,
bala
?'

I wasn't holding out for an answer but he stared through me. Then he closed his eyes, shuddered like he was in pain and opened them again.

‘You want me for take you go
haus
?' I took his hand. He turned his head just as the door of the station was bashed open.

‘They've found him. They've found Jack.' Jenny was screaming. ‘Jack's on his way in the chopper.'

I rushed back inside to reception, biting my lip, trying not to cry. It was no use. Jenny ran to me.

‘He's safe. He's safe.' We hugged and bawled. Finally she said, ‘I need a snot rag,' and reached for a box of tissues under the counter. ‘They found him two hours ago, floating on a log, way off Booby Island, on his way to Indonesia. He always said he wanted to go to Bali to learn surfing.' We laughed, blotting our eyes with tissues.

It turned out a spotter onboard a Surveillance Australia aircraft returning from the sighting of an illegal Indonesian fishing vessel had noticed Jack's bright orange lifejacket. A chopper was dispatched and he was winched to safety and was now being transported to the TI hospital.

‘Oh shit,' I said, remembering Franz. I went back out as far as the footpath but there was no sign of him, just a child's hat. On the band was written ‘Alby Ramu, Prep' and a phone number. Robby must have dropped it when he came in to make his complaint. I picked it up and went to find Jenny.

She dropped me home before heading to the hospital to wait for Jack. Jonah was stirring something in a cast-iron casserole dish. The bench was a mess of garlic skins, cutlery, knots of ginger, small knives, big knives, jars and bottles. The spices made my eyes water.

‘Jack's on his way in by chopper.'

Jonah heaved a great sigh and smiled for the first time since Monday morning. And within half an hour, the drone of a chopper sounded at the hospital as Jonah and I were picking the flesh from a couple of mud crabs.

Jenny dropped in after visiting Jack. Her colour had returned. She was beaming.

‘I'll make us some tea,' said Jonah, ‘and you can tell us what happened.'

Jack had been a few kilometres past Dollar Reef, riding the waves side-on. In the valley of a wave, the engine died and the dinghy pitched in the three-metre swell, took on water and capsized. He managed to get hold of a lifejacket, a half-full drum of water he'd had onboard for ballast and some rope, which he used to secure himself to the drum. He thanked his lucky stars when he found the EPIRB, until he realised the battery was dead. It should have been replaced two years earlier. In the detritus that had spilled from the dinghy, Jack found a small length of hose. He used this to drink from the drum when the wind dropped down the next day. Within a couple of hours of capsizing, he came across the log and was in the lap of luxury for someone shipwrecked at sea.

‘He reckons he's going to kill his cousin when he gets out of hospital,' Jenny said, laughing, and then became serious. ‘I've got something to tell you too.'

‘That sounds like you got women's business to yarn about,' said Jonah who placed in front of us two steaming mugs of strawberry, raspberry and cranberry tea, part of his latest supermarket order from Cairns. ‘I better take the dogs for a walk.'

After Jonah and the dogs had thundered down the stairs, I asked Jenny about her news.

‘I kicked Fred out. When Jack went missing, I thought, “Shit, life's too short.” So I went home and told him I wanted commitment from him and a baby or it was over. You know what he did?'

I shrugged. How could anyone know what men did half the time.

‘He packed up and asked me to drop him to his mother's place, just like that. I haven't heard from him.'

‘I'm so sorry,' I said, squeezing her hand ‘But it sounds like it's all for the best.'

‘Yeah, I know what I want. No point staying with someone who's not going to give it to me.'

I woke with a good sized headache and somehow bumbled my way through the morning's work. It was Jack's first day back at work after his rescue. His face was crusted with scabs and the pale pink of new skin. I spotted him at times rushing from the printer then in the direction of the interview rooms. At one point a lanky young man with a ferocious slouch followed him through the back door. My guess was that he was charging an offender. Eventually he walked in and I went to hug him but he pulled away.

‘Terrible sunburn. It's still killing me. You wouldn't think a blackfella could peel so bad.' The skin on his arms was also covered in great, brown scabs. ‘Big shame job.'

‘Why?'

‘I shouldn't have left when I did. And I didn't tell anyone I was leaving then. So stupid.'

‘Call the
Torres News
. We need a front-page article on boating safety and what not to do.'

‘Right-o.' He held up a laptop in an exhibit bag. ‘It's been a big morning. Ask me about this.'

‘What about that?'

‘It's a laptop.'

‘Mmm.'

‘I almost charged 17-year-old defendant Daniel Arua with stealing this laptop from one of the nurses. His uncle found it on Daniel's bed and threatened Daniel so badly the kid's come in, shit-scared.'

Jack made sure Uncle Samuel promised not to hurt Daniel if he told the truth. The legal service lawyer was called and let the interview go ahead after speaking with Daniel. Jack offered him a deal. If Daniel provided the name of the person behind this arrangement, he would face a lesser charge, like being in possession of tainted property. If Daniel agreed to plead guilty, the prosecution would ask that the magistrate consider imposing a good behaviour bond, the best outcome for any charge. The poor boy burst into tears and said he was just doing what he was told.

It was no surprise when Daniel named Westy, AKA Zavier Kulya Westlake, as the person he worked for. He said there was another man,
kole
man, Uncle James.

‘
Em
got them coloured eyes
, debil
eyes,' said Jack.

I became confused and Jack explained that sometimes pale blue or green eyes look spooky, like devil's eyes.

‘It's gotta be James Bax,' said Jack. ‘He's got the perfect set-up. He is the Horn Island end of Eagle Express couriers. He flies freight to the Torres Strait and then backfills the aircraft with stolen property he's paid people shit money to steal.'

‘And imagine his good fortune when he was reunited with his old friend Melissa. If he didn't already have a dealer up here, she became it.'

Jack cracking the thieving racket should have made my head feel a hell of a lot better, but by the time he left, it was throbbing. I downed some paracetamol and set about catching James Bax in action. I rang Sergeant Selena Webster on Horn Island. I told her I needed her to get Eagle Express to bring a parcel of something, anything, over to TI.

‘You're onto something, aren't you?' she asked in her gravelly voice. ‘Let me in on the action.' So I told her what was happening. ‘There's something about that prick I don't trust. I've been watching him, but he's too fuckin' clever.'

‘Can you organise for Eagle Express to deliver an envelope or something, urgent police business?'

‘My pleasure. There are always deliveries in the arvo after the plane flies up from Cairns in the morning.'

I filled Lency in on the plan and asked her to leave reception unattended when the time came. An hour later, Jack danced in and threw down his notebook. ‘Zavier Westlake just signed a statement. It's James Bax. He's named three other males who work for Bax, all under 20.'

I explained the plan to Jack. ‘We'll need to arrest him, then search his place on Horn Island, plus the Cairns premises.'

Jack pointed outside. ‘There he is now, pulled up in a “No Standing Anytime” zone. I'll ticket him.'

‘No!' I yelled and jumped up. ‘This is organised crime, Jack.'

‘I'm joking.' He made a few smooth dance moves. ‘I'll go out the back and come in the front to trap him in the foyer.'

My head was still spinning from the effort of jumping up. The bell in reception rang. Through the one-way glass, I focused on James Bax, standing in the middle of the foyer, reading the missing person's posters, a clipboard tucked under his arm. He was handsome, movie-star handsome; the only flaw I could see was the patch of stubbled hair around a scar on his scalp, presumably from where Natalie Schwartz's husband had hit him.

I went into the foyer.

‘Can I help you?' I asked, admiring the way his collared T-shirt fitted his torso like a glove, showing off broad shoulders and narrow waist.

He passed the clipboard to me, a lock of dark hair falling over his left eye. ‘You must be short-staffed if the big boss is signing for parcels.' He flashed me a smile that could have advertised orthodontic work. His skin was such a deep olive his pale green eyes appeared to glow.
Ossi debil
eyes. They
were
spooky.

I signed the delivery receipt and held the board out to him. ‘James William Bax?'

He froze, just like suspects do on TV when a police officer says their full name. And as if we were in a movie, James spun around to the door, his arm stretched out, just as Jack entered.

‘You're under arrest,' I said, ‘for stealing.'

‘Fuck me.' James threw his hands in the air, the exact same way offenders do on the screen. One thing was for sure – he'd been watching too many cop shows.

‘You don't have to say anything, but if you do it can and will be used against you in a court of law.'

‘Fuck me,' he said again and ran his fingers through his silken black hair. He mumbled something but I couldn't catch the words.

‘Sir, if you accompany me to the interview room, I won't have to use these cuffs,' said Jack. He led Bax through the spring gate. ‘And please pass me your mobile phone.'

I should have been over the moon we'd solved the case, but my head was killing me now. I left Jack to sort James. He would be transported to Cairns on the police Air Wing tomorrow and police would object to bail.

I went in search of something to stop the pain. I swallowed a couple of Panadol and headed home, desperate for some shut-eye till the drugs kicked in. A flock of sulphur-crested cockatoos were in the sea almond trees across the road, fighting over the
meke
nuts. Their squawking made my head throb. It wasn't till I began climbing the stairs that I realised Mum and Yenah were visiting, screeching with laughter, not unlike those cockatoos. As soon as I opened the door, Mum, Yenah and Jonah turned to me, silent and serious. It was as though I was a teenager again and had been caught doing a walk of shame.

‘Okay, what have I done?'

‘We're worried about you,' said Mum, sipping a cappuccino.

‘What do you want me to do?'

‘
Yu matha
go look the midwife,' said Yenah, taking the
sweater
from her left shoulder and wiping away the thin line of milk froth from her lip.

‘All right. It's my 28-week antenatal visit tomorrow.'