The Murder Suite: Book One - The Audrey Murders (7 page)

Driver read the note. “That’s a nice touch,” he said approvingly. “My wife would like this place. You have done a nice job here.”  

“Thanks” said Audrey.  “It has been a lot of hard work but I love it.” She paused, “Are you looking for anything in particular?  Maybe I can help you.” 

“Nope just wondering when was the last time he was in the room.  Did he pack up everything in his truck before he went to dinner or did he come back and pack everything up later? It is a bit of a mystery.”

“The room was empty of his stuff when I cleaned it early this morning” said Audrey.” He had just left the complimentary robe on the bed; a few wet towels in the bathroom and a couple of dishes in the sink.  He had drunk the complimentary wine from the fridge but nothing out of the ordinary comes to mind.”

“When did he make the reservation?” asked Driver. 

“Oh, just a couple of days ago” said Audrey.  “He booked online and paid by credit card in advance.  Do you want to see the booking? She asked. 

“Not now” said Driver looking perplexed.   “Are you sure you didn’t hear the truck return last night and leave again early this morning?” he asked.

“I am so sorry but I sleep with earplugs in and I take a sleeping pill at night to help me sleep” said Audrey. “I have trouble sleeping and have taken sleeping pills for years.  Just the PM aspirin type, she explained - not prescription.  You can buy them over the counter.  Last night I took a couple of PMs and I had a wine with dinner so I slept like a baby.   I am so sorry.  If I knew something like this was going to happen I would have been more aware of things.”  

Driver looked at her distress.  “You weren’t to know,” he said “This has taken us all by surprise. Hopefully he has just run off somewhere and is feeling embarrassed his truck ended up in the bay.” 

“I hope that is what happened,” said Audrey.  “I feel sort of responsible I didn’t insist on driving him back last night.  But, I am a single woman, living alone and I have to be careful of strange men especially when they have been drinking so heavily.  I was quite relieved when he said he wanted to walk – I just presumed he was headed over to the pub for more beer and didn’t want me to know.”    

Driver nodded.  He seemed content Audrey couldn’t offer any further leads and maybe she was right. He may have wandered over to the pub when he left Audrey and that was why Driver had not seen him when he walked out into the street. He needed to go back to the pub and ask more questions.  Maybe someone did see him in the pub last night.  It was a big crowd and he could easily have been forgotten.

C H A P T E R   2 6

It was all over the news. “Auckland man missing in the far north presumed dead.  His black Toyota truck was found early Sunday morning submerged upside down in Whangaroa harbor.    Divers have not found his body.   Locals say he was a guest in a nearby chalet.  He had dined in the waterfront restaurant the night before and no one had seen him since. Constable Driver said that divers will continue their search at first light today.”

“We suspect it was an accident,” said the local constable “and we do not expect foul play”.

Constable Driver looked at the front page of the paper.   What a start to his new career in Kaeo.  First week on the job and he is already quoted in the national media. Today his family is arriving from Auckland.   He really needed the support of his wife.  They had been married thirteen years and he still loved her as much as on their wedding day.  He missed his boys too.  

Driver’s last twenty four hours had been some of the busiest in his whole career.  His Father and Grandfather were both cops so he knew what was involved in cases like this. 

Although he had told the press he felt the incident was an accident there were still so many questions not answered.  He looked at his notes for the umpteenth time.  Something just didn’t seem right.  If he had driven into the bay when he left the restaurant why had he packed everything from his motel room before dinner? Had he planned his suicide earlier in the day?   Or did he want it to look like he had drowned and, in reality, wanted to start a new life somewhere else?  But why?  His wife said they had already agreed on the separation details and she was getting the house.  His boss had said he was a good employee and he had agreed to give Doug a leave of absence while he sorted himself out.   Maybe he was just depressed and he really had planned it all.   The woman, Audrey, seemed a nice lady and she had mentioned he had been drinking heavily before and during dinner.   Driver put his notes away and headed out to the accident location.  The divers should be searching again now. Maybe they have found the body.  The driver’s door had been ripped off during its path down the rocky cliff to the water. Blackmore had obviously been thrown out of the vehicle.  But where was his body.

Driver decided to stop at the pub on the way to the site to see if, in fact, Blackmore had stopped off for a beer after dinner.   He would ask Marge to see all the credit card receipts from Saturday night.  Maybe Blackmore paid with a credit card.  Audrey had said he had paid with his bill with a credit card.   He would pull his credit card records and check all his payments leading up to the accident.   He just couldn’t put this case to bed. Not yet.

C H A P T E R   2 7

Audrey felt wonderful.  She had the best night’s sleep for as long as she could remember.   Today she had guests checking into both suites so she had a busy day ahead of her.   On her way up to the Suite A she looked down at the road.  There was very little traffic this morning.   She had heard the road down to the waterfront was closed due to the accident.   She imagined the restaurant and pub were still open for the local residents.  It was mostly the locals on the waterfront who frequented them anyway.

Audrey loved lilies.  She had them delivered to the petrol station in Kaeo every week from Kerikeri.  Arranging them in the clear tall vases made her feel like she was giving her guests that little something extra.  Their sweet fragrance permeated throughout the room removing any smells left over from the guests before.  The oils she used on the native timber throughout the chalets also had a fresh clean aroma. 

Audrey took pride in her suites.   She tried not to think about her financial situation.  She only had a few months to go to either sell the property or face forced liquidation. 

              She knew the locals would take pleasure in her demise.  They thought her foolish with her money and she felt they were a little envious of her success. But Audrey was not going to let anything spoil her good mood.   Only three days to go and she would have a new project to take her mind off things.   She had done a little research on her weekend guest in Suite C and she was looking forward to his arrival.  

The phone was ringing in her suite.  Audrey ran downstairs to answer it. “Three Suites” she sang into the phone “Can I help you?” 

“Audrey?  Is that you?  

“Yes” she answered cautiously.

“It’s Pearl.  Isn’t it awful about the guy who was staying at your suites?  What was he like?   They are still searching for him in the bay. The divers have been there all morning. Do you think he tried to commit suicide? “ 

Audrey knew who Pearl was.  She had talked to her on occasion, sometimes in the local grocery store and sometimes at the waterfront restaurant.  She seemed like a bit of a busy body.  Audrey knew the best way to get rid of her was to say nothing. 

“Yes, it is awful” she said. “I have no idea what happened.  He seemed like nice guy.” She paused. “I’m so sorry, Pearl, but I have to go. I have guests arriving any minute and I still have some cleaning to do.  Nice talking with you.” And with that she hung up the phone.

“Bloody hell” she said out loud.   She knew that would not be the last of Pearl.  This was the most exciting thing to have happened to the small settlement of Whangaroa and the locals would be reveling in every moment of the intrigue.

C H A P T E R   2 8

Driver ordered Blackmore’s credit card records. They would be faxed to his office shortly.   He had stopped by the pub and talked to the couple, Marge and Mike, who owned it.  They were both serving at the bar that night.  “It was one of our busiest nights,” they had told him and they honestly did not remember if they served Blackmore or not.  Driver had asked for the receipts from the night’s takings.  Marge agreed to sort them out and he could pick them up on his way back from the incident site in an hour or so. 

Divers were still in the water.  They had found some clothing, shoes, towels and other miscellaneous stuff.   Driver had guessed it had fallen out of the back of the truck.   There still was no body and the divers said there was a bit of a tow in the bay and confirmed there was a good chance the body had been washed out into the harbor and would be in the open sea by now.    The Pacific Ocean was known for its white water sharks and Driver thought there might not be much of him left if that was the case.  

He picked up the bar’s receipts on the way back to the station.  He would go through the guy’s credit card records and if he couldn’t find anything of consequence he would have to close the case as an accident and move on.  He was getting pressure from higher up and the cops in Kerikeri were already unanimous the guy had obviously been depressed and extremely drunk and whether or not it was suicide or an accident they didn’t suspect foul play.  Only trouble was - he didn’t have a body yet.

As soon as Driver pulled into the station he saw the huge furniture truck in the driveway.   Oh shit! I forgot about the furniture arriving.  He noticed his wife’s car was not around so she had not arrived yet.  Driver parked on the road and apologized to the truck driver for keeping him waiting.

“No worries” said the driver,” We just got here and we’re having a smoke.”

Driver opened the front door of the house and let the guys in.   “The boxes are all marked with the appropriate room – so just go ahead and start unloading. My wife should be here shortly.”   

“No problem” said the driver “We can take it from here.  You must be busy, what with the guy who drove into the drink?”

“Yes, not good” said Driver as he headed over to the police station on the other side of the driveway. “Just let me know if you need anything. I will be in the office.”

              It was in the fax machine, all Blackmore’s credit card transactions for the past month, right up until Saturday night.  Then there were no more entries.   Well if he is alive and on the run somewhere, he certainly isn’t using his card, thought Driver.  He ran his fingers down the latest charges.  Audrey was right.  There was an online charge for the Three Suites for four hundred and fifty dollars.  He noticed a couple of charges in Kaeo - one, at the petrol station, and another at the local grocery store.   The last one was thirty-five dollars at the Whangaroa waterfront restaurant.  Well, that was that then.  Nothing suspicious - or out of the ordinary.   He would have to close the case and tell the scuba team to pack up their things and leave the site.  Nothing more they can do now.  

The forensics had made their report on the truck and they confirmed the truck was in perfect working condition and was driven off the road into the bay either deliberately as in the case of a suicide or accidently due to excess alcohol intake.  Either way it wasn’t a homicide.  Driver started to type out his report.    Half an hour later he heard his kids shouting with glee.  His family had arrived.  He walked out into the bright sunny day to welcome them to their new home.

C H A P T E R   2 9

Maria pulled into the driveway of their new home and parked behind the furniture truck. The boys were eager to get out of the car. It had been a long drive and they were both antsy.  She saw her husband walking towards them.  He looked pleased to see them. Maria’s life as a policeman’s wife had been difficult.  Not because he was put in constant danger or even because of his long working hours, it was because she like to smoke weed and keeping her habit hidden from her husband was proving more and more difficult.

              When Maria heard they were moving to the far north she was relieved. She knew it would be much easier to get a regular supply up there.  Her supplier had given her a contact up on Old Hospital Road.  He said it was well off the beaten track and she would never been seen coming or going.  He could supply anything she needed.  Maria had learned to keep her addiction under wraps.   She could control it.  She never got high around the kids she just needed some weed now and then in order to cope.  

              Being a mother and a housewife proved more difficult than she thought it would be.   It was a life of constant boredom and repetitive, domesticated drudgery.  She never liked cooking, cleaning or doing laundry. Now that seemed to be all she did.  

              The furniture guys were still unloading the truck.  It looked as though they would be there for some time.   Maria joined the boys and their father in their new house. The boys were excited because they could each have their own room for the first time.  Maria walked around the freshly painted and carpeted bungalow admiring the style and charm of her new home.  She hoped she could be happy here.  Maybe even get involved in the local community.  Attend church and be involved in the boy’s school.  She would try harder to be a good wife and mother.   She felt in her jean’s pocket for the little container that held her sanity.  It was almost empty. She would have to make a short trip soon.