Evil at Echo Point

by Grace York

  "Who was he fighting with?" Addison asked.

  "Some travellers," said Jason, not taking his eyes off the scene. "A couple of brothers and their friends. I think they're staying at the free camp. One of the brothers was being a bit of a tool, and Ricky has a low tolerance for outsiders."

  There was a commotion further down the beach, and Addison turned to see four people hurrying towards them. It looked like they'd come from the path leading up to the free camp.

  "Is that them?" Addison asked Jason.

  "That's three of them," he said as the group approached. "The short guy with them is Joey, a local."

  Addison didn't recognise the three visitors as they passed her on their way to Isaac and the body. There were two young men and a woman, who couldn't be much older than Olivia. The woman was in tears, and she stopped and turned away when she saw the sheet-covered form on the rocks. One of the young men stopped and put his arms around her. The other continued on until he reached Isaac.

  After a moment's discussion Isaac again lifted the sheet. The young man bent at the knees and put a hand over his eyes. He stayed there, squatted beside the lifeless form, and Addison noticed his body shaking. She knew grief when she saw it.

  "I guess that solves that," said Jason. "That's one of the twin brothers."

  Twins? Addison thought she'd recognised him. She took a few steps forward for a closer look. Could it be?

  "Do you know their names?" she asked Jason.

  "The one who was fighting with Ricky was called Trent. I'm not sure about the other one. Why?"

  "Was it Chad?"

  "Yeah, that could be it. You know them?"

  "I know of them," said Addison. "I thought everyone did. They're Trent and Chad Burchard. Sons of Malcolm Burchard."

  "Who's Malcolm Burchard?"

  Addison took a look around the beach, but as yet no-one with a camera had turned up. They would, though. Getaway Bay was about to get the attention of the entire nation. Again.

  "Malcolm Burchard owns the Burchard mining company," she explained. "He's one of the richest men in the country. His twin sons are heirs to a fortune."

  Jason's eyes widened. He lifted his chin in the direction of the brother still crouched beside the body.

  "In that case, one brother just got a whole lot richer."

  3

  Once the forensics team had arrived, Addison rounded up Adam and Olivia and insisted they go back to the beach house.

  "Mind if I join you?" Jason asked.

  "Of course not," said Addison. "I assume you like pancakes?" It had taken a food bribe to get Adam to agree to leave the beach.

  "I love them. Thanks, Addison. Kendall and I were supposed to spend the day together, but I guess that's not going to happen now."

  "No, I'd say not," said Addison, glancing back at the scene one last time as they set off for the car. "Do you need to go and say goodbye?"

  "I don't want to get in the way. We came in her car, so she's right for a lift. I'll text and let her know I'm going back with you." He pulled out his phone and sent a message off.

  "I'm sorry you won't get to spend the day together," said Addison. She knew how hard both of them worked, and with Kendall's shift work and Jason running his own business, time off on the same day together was rare.

  Jason shrugged. "It's okay. I know how much Kendall loves her job, and she's really good at it. She won't rest until this is solved, and I love that about her."

  It was the first time she'd heard him say he loved her, and Addison couldn't help but smile despite the circumstances. She'd only known Jason a year but in that time he'd renovated the beach house for her and come to be part of her extended family. She had a definite soft spot for the young man.

  "So who do you think killed him?" asked Adam, as he and Olivia caught up with Addison and Jason.

  "Steady on," said Jason. "We don't know if anyone killed him. It could have been an accident. It's pretty dangerous up on The Point. If he wandered too far from camp in the dark, it wouldn't have been hard to go too close to the edge. And that's a sheer drop onto rocks. Not many people would survive that fall."

  "Yeah, don't jump to conclusions," said Olivia. "Just because Getaway Bay seems to be the murder capital of Queensland…"

  Addison gave her daughter a playful slap. "Stop it, the pair of you. It must have been an accident, like Jason said. The poor father."

  "The way I hear it, he's not that poor," said Adam. They'd reached the car, and Adam and Jason climbed into the back seat. Addison handed Olivia the keys and got into the passenger side. She didn't feel like driving after what she'd seen.

  "That's not what I meant," said Addison. "Apparently he lost his wife when the boys were very young. Now he's lost one of his sons as well."

  When they were all buckled in, Olivia reversed out of the carpark and headed for the beach house. "Do we know which one it was?" she asked.

  No-one knew. Adam and Olivia speculated for the rest of the short drive home, while Addison and Jason remained quiet. Addison couldn't help thinking of Malcolm Burchard, and how difficult it must be to lose a child. She wondered if he even knew yet.

  Addison looked over at Olivia as she chatted with Adam while negotiating the coast road. Even when they're grown up, they're still your babies.

  When they arrived at the beach house Layla was sitting on the front verandah with a cup of tea. She'd stayed the night in her old room to save going home to the art gallery after midnight last night.

  "Early morning drive?" she asked as the four of them traipsed up the stairs. "What's going on?" she added, seeing the looks on their faces.

  "Dead body on the beach," said Adam before racing inside, no doubt to get his laptop so he could start Googling the Burchard family.

  Layla followed them inside and they assembled in the kitchen, where Lenny and Brooke had the coffee machine in operation.

  "What's up?" asked Lenny as he passed Brooke the milk.

  Addison filled Layla, Lenny, and Brooke in on the events of the morning, from the phone call that started it all to the discussion as to which Burchard brother might have been under the sheet. The Burchards were identical twins, so none of them had a clue.

  "Which one was fighting with Ricky?" Adam asked Jason. He'd brought his laptop down from his room and was sitting at the kitchen counter, multiple web pages open, reading off facts about the Burchard family and their mining interests.

  "Trent," said Jason.

  "Figures," said Adam. "He's the one who's always reported on by the media. There are plenty of stories about him. The word 'playboy' is mentioned quite a few times."

  "Doesn't he have a girlfriend?" asked Olivia.

  "Erin," Adam confirmed with a nod. "These are older stories I'm looking at." He continued scanning his screen. "Sheesh. This guy seems like a tool."

  "Yeah, that's the impression we got last night," said Jason. "I mean, Ricky's not the easiest character to get along with, but Trent really had it in for him. It's like he was trying to pick a fight. Apparently, it was a spill-over from something that happened in the surf earlier in the day."

  "How did it end up?" asked Lenny.

  "Don't know," said Jason. "Kendall and I had had enough by then. To be honest, I rarely surf anymore. Too busy with the business. The guys invited me down to the bonfire party because I've gone every year, but I think that will be my last time. I'm getting a bit past it."

  "Aww, he's all grown up," said Layla with a grin. Jason gave her a playful slap across the shoulder.

  "What about the other brother," Olivia asked. "What's his story?"

  "Chad. He's the sensible one, by all accounts," said Adam. "It says here the brothers are about to turn twenty-five, at which point they'll go to work full time in daddy's business. Chad is ready to settle down, but Trent is having trouble giving up the freedom of travel and spending the family fortune."

  "Hang on a minute," said Layla. "If they're so rich, what were they doing free-camping at Echo Point?"
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  "Good question," said Jason. "I had no idea who they were. Most of the local boys probably didn't either. Not a lot of them read the news. We just thought they were travelling surfers, like the usual crews we get through here."

  "I guess we'll find out soon enough," said Addison. She wasn't looking forward to the town being the subject of the nation's attention again. At least this time it wouldn't be over a murder in her own home, though.

  Once Brooke and Lenny had finished making coffee and tea for everyone, Addison hustled them over to the other side of the bench and took back control of her kitchen. Even though it could well have been an accident, another death in Getaway Bay had her rattled.

  She needed to take her mind off it all.

  She needed to cook.

  4

  After a new year's breakfast of pancakes with mixed berries and maple syrup, Addison tried to take her mind off the morning's bad news by settling in her favourite reading chair in the great room and diving into a new book on her Kindle.

  Her son Justin and his fiancée Emily had visited for Christmas, but unfortunately they'd had to return home to Melbourne on Boxing Day as Emily, a journalist, had to go straight back to work. But Addison had enjoyed their short visit and loved the new Kindle they'd given her for Christmas. It had taken a bit of getting used to, but once she'd been shown how to get books onto it by Emily, who had a lot more patience than Justin, she was away.

  Now, though, she was having trouble concentrating. She wanted to call Isaac and find out what was happening with the case, but she didn't want to bother him. If nothing else she was concerned about the heat. January was the middle of summer, and Getaway Bay had certainly been getting its fair share of the sun lately. She knew Isaac usually kept a hat and sunscreen in his car, but she doubted he'd thought to take either of them with him down to the beach at six this morning.

  Addison figured it wouldn't hurt to phone and ask if he needed anything. He could always ignore the call if he was too busy to answer. She'd pulled out her phone and was just searching for his number when she heard a car on the gravel drive.

  It was Isaac.

  Addison put the phone and Kindle away and went out to greet him. He looked hot and exhausted as he stepped up onto the verandah.

  They both spoke at once.

  "I'm sorry—"

  "Come inside—"

  Isaac held up a hand. "I can't stay. I need to get back to the crime scene. I just wanted to apologise for calling you this morning. For making you worry about Jason."

  "It's okay," Addison replied. "Wait, did you say crime scene?"

  Isaac nodded. "I'm afraid so. The body has injuries which aren't consistent with the fall. There are also signs of a struggle at the top of the cliff, near the lighthouse. We're treating this as a suspicious death."

  Addison took two steps backwards until her calves hit the verandah's lounge chair, and she sank down onto it.

  "You think he was murdered," she said. It came out as a whisper, although she hadn't meant to keep her voice down.

  "We do. But I need you to keep that to yourself for now please, Addison. I suppose you know who the victim is?"

  "One of the Burchard twins," she said.

  "Yes. Trent Burchard. He and his brother Chad were camping up at Echo Point, together with a friend, and Trent's girlfriend Erin. They were apparently trying to stay out of the papers for a change.

  "Erin has been taken to the hospital in Riverwood to be treated for shock. It's only a matter of time before the media gets hold of this, and we're hoping to get as much done as we can before we're in the spotlight again."

  "Of course I'll keep it to myself," said Addison. "Do you have any suspects?"

  "We're interviewing everyone at the campsite, and everyone who was at the party on South Beach last night."

  "Jason and Kendall were there," said Addison, before realising he would already have spoken to Kendall.

  "Yes. Kendall mentioned the argument between Ricky Maddison and Trent Burchard. We're onto that. But it's early days. The forensics team have a number of sites to process. Hopefully they'll find some evidence and we can go from there. You know how I feel about witness statements."

  Addison did indeed. It was a view shared by most police officers. Witness statements were notoriously unreliable, and unless there was hard evidence to back them up, they weren't considered particularly useful to an investigation.

  "Okay. Is there anything I can do to help?"

  "Not really. Headquarters are sending us a couple more uniforms to help keep the crime scenes secure, but they're still hours away. With it being New Year's Day, most police worked last night. The force is stretched to its limits at this time of year."

  "I can understand. What about from an administrative point of view? Do you want Adam and I down at the police station later?"

  "That could help," said Isaac. "I'll get Kendall to text you when we're on our way back there. It might help to have you there when we debrief."

  "Done," said Addison. "You know Adam's been researching the Burchard family all morning."

  "I don't doubt he has. Tell him to keep on it and to let me know if there's anything in the last few years that might help us."

  "Like what exactly?" Addison asked.

  "Arguments, fights, people Trent has managed to get off-side. That sort of thing."

  "That should keep Adam busy for a while."

  "I'm counting on it," said Isaac with a smile.

  Adam had proven to be a valuable addition to the Getaway Bay sleuthing team, but his enthusiasm sometimes meant he crossed the boundary between police volunteer and official police work. Keeping him out of trouble was a constant battle for Isaac and Addison.

  "So you're heading back out there now?" Addison asked the detective.

  "Yes. I haven't been to the campsite yet. I want to get an idea of their set-up, and how far away from the lighthouse it is."

  "It's lunchtime," said Addison. "Can I make you something before you go?"

  Isaac shook his head. "Thanks, but I really should be getting back."

  "You have to eat, Isaac. You've been out there since early this morning. Come inside for two minutes and I'll make you a sandwich. You can take it with you."

  Addison turned and went inside before he could protest, and was pleased to hear Isaac follow. It was silly to go out there for the rest of the day on an empty stomach. He had a murder to investigate.

  Making him a sandwich was the least she could do to help.

  5

  Addison and Adam arrived at the police station just after six that evening. Addison had assumed it would be late by the time Isaac and the team returned, so she'd made a chicken and avocado salad and found some bread rolls in the freezer to go with it. Some of Ed's sourdough would have been a better accompaniment, but with it being a public holiday she figured Ed's bakery wouldn't be open.

  "That looks awesome," said Constable Diaz when Addison laid the food out on the spare desk in the corner.

  "You can't work properly on empty stomachs," she said.

  Adam pulled cans of soft drink out of a small esky he was carrying and added them to the desk. He kept the last one for himself.

  "So what did you find out?" he asked, popping the ring top on the can and taking a long drink.

  "A lot, but nothing concrete yet," said Isaac. He took one of the plates Addison had thought to bring and piled it high with salad and a bread roll. "Thanks for doing this," he said to Addison.

  "No problem. I didn't think anything in town would be open today."

  "Even the Red Lion is closed," said Diaz.

  "And rightly so," said Addison. "They would have had a busy night last night. They deserve a day off."

  When they'd all filled their plates and grabbed a drink, Isaac gave them a brief rundown of what they'd discovered so far. Or at least as much as he could tell them.

  "The victim is definitely Trent Burchard," he began. "His twin brother Chad positively identified him. T
he two of them had been camping at the free campsite at Echo Point along with their friend and bodyguard Brody Hitchcock and Trent's girlfriend Erin Sinclair."

  "How is she doing?" asked Addison, remembering Erin had been taken to the hospital in Riverwood to be treated for shock.

  "She'll be fine. They're keeping her in the hospital overnight for observation. Chad and Brody are staying in Riverwood too, at a motel near the hospital."

  "What about their campsite?" asked Adam.

  "That's a crime scene," said Kendall. She was seated at her desk, fingers typing away on her keyboard, a plate of salad barely touched by her side.

  "What do the three of them say happened?" Addison asked.

  Isaac put down his fork. "They admit Trent had argued earlier in the night with Ricky Maddison. Maddison said it was about Trent pushing in on the locals in the surf, or some such thing."

  "Dropping in," Diaz corrected.

  "What?" said Isaac.

  "It's called 'dropping in', I believe," said Diaz.

  "Okay. Trent had apparently been dropping in on the locals in the surf, and they didn't like it. Ricky was nominated to speak to him about it. Chad said Trent wasn't good at taking criticism, and it escalated into a physical altercation."

  "Chad and Brody managed to pull Trent away," said Kendall, "but not before he copped a good whacking from Ricky. The four of them left the party early and went back to their campsite."

  "How early?" Addison asked.

  "No-one can be sure exactly, but it was definitely before midnight. They weren't there when the surfers brought in the new year."

  "So how did he get over the cliff?"

  Kendall consulted her notes. "According to Chad and Brody's statements, the group celebrated the new year quietly at their campsite. Trent seemed in good spirits, even with his black eye, and he and Erin shared a kiss at midnight. Erin then went to bed in the tent she shared with Trent, and the three men stayed up a while longer."

  "What did they do?" asked Adam.