Challis - 04 - Chain of Evidence (47 page)

He fumbled for the siren. He hadnt
been in a patrol car for fifteen years. Not that he needed a siren. It was unmistakably
a police car that he was driving.

Jarrett accelerated through the
intersection and swept past. Scobie made a wild U-turn and went after him.
Afterwards he wondered if he should have done that. It panicked Jarrett. He was
later told that Jarrett would have killed Kellock anyway, but right then Scobies
job was to save Kellock and arrest Jarrett.

He put his foot down. Both cars flew
along the stretch between Balnarring and Coolart Roads, through undulating
farmland, spring grasses tall in the ditches and the roadside trees heavy,
sombre and still. Up the gradient and there was Coolart Road and another stop
sign and warning humps. The Toyota hit the first one at speed, and Scobie was
told later that Jarretts finger must have tightened involuntarily on the
trigger of the shotgun. All he knew now was, the rear window of the Toyota was
suddenly messily red, opaque, and the vehicle was slewing across the road and
into a tree.

* * * *

62

It
was several hours before Pam Murphy could go home. She went to her little house
in Penzance Beachweatherboard cottage under pine trees, ten minutes walk from
the beachwondering if shed participated in something that would alter her
perception of the job, and of herself. She went home wondering if she and Ellen
Destry could have affected the outcome in any way.

Pros and cons.

On the pro side, their .38s were on
the ground and Laurie Jarrett was holding a shotgun on them. Plus, hed shot
out one of their tyres. Plus, theyd done the right thing and formally reported
the incident, alerting the police of several local jurisdictions and calling
for roadblocks.

On the con side, they hadnt called
it in with any urgency. There had been an air of inevitability about their
actions after Jarrett had taken Kellock away. The inevitability had been in the
air even before that. Jarrett was going to kill Kellock and they couldnt stop
him. But they hadnt tried very hard.

On the pro side, Kellock was a
killer. He also abused children sexually, procured them for sexual abuse, and
stood by and watched and encouraged the sexual abuse of children. He was a
police officer. You could argue that he deserved to die.

And Laurie Jarrett was entitled to
get his revenge.

On the con side, I am a police
officer, thought Pam. So is Ellen. We have protocols to follow, standards to
meet. We have a duty to save and protect, just as much as we have a duty to
exert justice.

On the pro side, there had probably
been nothing they could have done about any of it.

And so Pam went home, showered and
poured herself a big, strong gin-and-tonic. My body is my temple, she said
wryly to the hollow air of her sitting room. Normally she went for a run or a
long walk on the beach after work, but that could wait until tomorrow. She didnt
want cheering up, necessarily, or even to wallow in misery. She wanted to
think. She wanted to think about ethics, responsibilities, chance and fate. She
played a Paul Kelly CD. His wry take on things suited her perfectly just then.

* * * *

Scobie
Sutton went home to his wife all twitchy. To his way of thinking, hed
precipitated a violent death that afternoon.

Oh, you poor boy, Beth said when
he told her all about it. She took him to the sofa and perched there, holding
his hands in her lap.

There was nothing I could do.

Of course there wasnt.

It wasnt my fault. He was holding
a shotgun to Kellocks head.

Its okay, love.

This has all been such a mess.

I know it has. And I havent
exactly been a help to you, with my moods.

Well, that was true. Scobie felt a
little aggrieved. But at least she was there. The sensations of her were familiar
and welcome, her warm hands and the press of her breasts against his arm.

Things will get better, youll see,
she went on.

Thats what his mother had always
said. Thats what he and Beth always said to Roslyn. I hope so, he said in a
small voice.

She said perkily, Ive got a job
interview.

You have? Thats wonderful.

A short term contract with the
shire, but better than nothing.

With the shire that sacks its
workers via e-mail. Exactly, said Scobie in his bucking-up voice.

As he saw it, his and Beths way was
modest. A woman like Grace Duyker had a different way. That wasnt to say that
one was right and the other wrong, he didnt think, just so long as he kept
telling himself that.

* * * *

Ellen
didnt go home. At 11 pm she was still in her office writing up her notes.
There was no urgency, she didnt have to do it now, but the world outside was
mad and in CIU it was quiet. She put down her pen, swivelled in her chair and
looked out on the purple night. After a while, she went to the incident room
and began to dismantle the displays of maps, charts and photographs. So much
paperwork. Shed once worked an investigation of six months duration. It
generated over fifty boxes and folders, containing thousands of search
warrants, extradition documents, interview transcripts and field notes.

Well, this was going to be another
big one. It wasnt over yet. Kellock might not have been the end of it: there
were surely more men involved, some of them possibly his colleagues in the
police. And what of the women? Was Kellocks wife part of it? And who would
look after Alysha now, stop her going off the rails? Most of her abusers were
dead but there were various cousins and siblings whod profited from her abuse.
Ellen vowed to see them into jail. That, together with a possible life sentence
for Laurie, would dismantle the Jarrett clan. Peace would reign on the estate
for about five minutes.

Sergeant Destry.

McQuarrie stood in her doorway. Sir,
she said, standing but not scrambling about it.

Hed come from some function. He was
wearing his full dress uniform, with plenty of ribbons and patchesall earned
from staying in power, not merit or achievements. She realised from his voice
and manner that she was in trouble about something. She didnt know what, but
if McQuarrie was the kind of policeman to get such a thrill out of dressing up,
hed hate being called away to do actual police work, so she was probably in
some deep shit.

Hell of a mess.

Yes, sir.

Unbelievable. He shook his
well-combed head. If you hadnt let Jarrett go, this would never have
happened.

Ellen flushed. Her old blackness
built in her head, a dangerous blind pressure. As I told you,
sir,
we
had nothing to hold him on.

McQuarrie took a step back. He
looked very fine in his uniform, if short. I dont like your tone. And whats
this I hear about a circle of paedophiles? Tell me its all a huge mistake.

No mistake, sir, and she laid it
out for him. She was harsh and careless; she wasnt going to spare him. She
also said, I know he was your friend, sir, to see what he would do.

The colour drained from his face. He
swallowed and recovered. Is that how you see me? One of them?

She was pretty sure that he wasnt
part of Kellocks ring. It had been a useful speculation, though, back when she
was afraid and the men around her seemed sly and creepy.

Of course not, sir, she said
evenly. But there may be others, and we have to root them out.

She could see him thinking, the
murky lights going on in his head. The pressure looming, the top brass and the
press and the government leaning on him.

She decided
to
push it. Oh,
another thing, sir, regarding that private lab you hired for our forensic
testing. The press are getting wind of their sloppy procedures: shall I refer
all calls to your office?

McQuarrie said nothing but sat
slackly, his uniform not quite so immaculate now. Ellen sat with him. And then,
out in the car park, there was a familiar rattle, an old, tappety British
motor.

That would be Hal, she said,
beaming at the super. Home.

He must have driven night and day.
She felt a little dizzy and apprehensive. Shed left dishes in his sink, and
hadnt replenished his stash of office coffee, and the subject of where she
would live now hadnt been discussed. At the same time, she felt buoyed by her
achievements, and by an old, familiar stirring in the pit of her stomach.