by Jane Harper
‘Bree’s got an appointment,’ Beth said. ‘We were told we could leave.’
‘I understand that, but you’re being asked to stay. For now, at least. Come on.’ Carmen turned towards the lodge. ‘You can bring your bags.’
Falk watched the twins exchange a glance he couldn’t read, then reluctantly pick up their backpacks. It seemed to take Bree a long time to shut the car door and walk away. They trudged over to the lodge. As they passed the kitchen window, Falk could see Jill and Lauren staring out. He avoided making eye contact.
Carmen cleared the handful of searchers from the lounge area and ushered the twins inside.
Jill and Lauren had come out into the lobby now, their faces long with curiosity. Falk shut the door on them and turned to the twins.
‘Take a seat.’
He and Carmen sat down side by side on the ancient couch. Bree hesitated, then curled up in a chair opposite. She was picking at her bandage again.
Beth stayed standing. ‘Are you going to tell us what’s going on?’
‘Sergeant King will explain when he gets here.’
‘When will that be?’
‘He’s on his way.’
Beth glanced out of the window. In the carpark, an off-duty searcher had his two-way radio to his ear. He listened and gave a shout, calling over two others who had been loading something into a car. He pointed at the radio. Word was spreading, Falk guessed.
Beth looked at him. ‘They’ve found her. Haven’t they?’
The floorboards creaked and settled in the silence.
‘Is she dead?’
Falk still said nothing and Beth threw a sideways glance at her sister. Bree’s face was frozen.
‘Where? Near the cabin?’ Beth said. ‘It has to be. There hasn’t been enough time since they found it to search much further. So she was there the whole time?’
‘Sergeant King will –’
‘Yeah, I know. You said. But I’m asking you. Please.’ Beth swallowed. ‘We deserve to know.’
Falk shook his head. ‘You’ll have to wait, I’m sorry.’
Beth paced over to the closed door. She stopped in front of it and suddenly turned. ‘Why aren’t Lauren and Jill in here as well?’
‘Beth. Stop.’ Bree looked up at last, her fingers picking at her arm.
‘Why? It’s a fair question. Why is it just us in here?’
‘Seriously, Beth. Shut up,’ Bree said. ‘Wait until the sergeant gets here.’
Falk could still hear King’s voice on the phone. Wavering in and out, but clear enough where it mattered.
When we found her body, we found something else.
What?
Beth stood very still. She was staring at her sister.
‘Why is it just us?’ she said again.
‘Stop talking.’ Bree was stiff in her chair, her fingers still pulling at her bandage.
Beth blinked. ‘Unless it’s not?’ Her eyes darted to Falk. ‘Not us, I mean. Not both of us.’
Falk couldn’t help shoot a glance at Bree, with her grey and fraying bandage and, underneath, the infected bite wound.
When we found her body, we found something else. King’s voice had been hard to hear.
What?
Hiding in a dead tree right next to her. Bloody big carpet python.
At last, Bree met her twin’s eye. ‘Shut up, Beth. Don’t talk.’
‘But –’ Beth’s voice shook.
‘Are you deaf?’
‘But –’ Beth faltered. ‘What’s going on? Did you do something?’
Bree stared at her. Her hand had stilled, the bandage forgotten for once. ‘Did I do something?’ She laughed, short and bitter. ‘Just don’t.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You know what I mean.’
‘I don’t.’
‘Really? Okay, then. What I mean, Beth, is don’t stand there in front of the police and ask me what I did like you haven’t got a clue. If you really want to do that, then let’s talk about what you did.’
‘Me? I haven’t done anything.’
‘Seriously? You’re going to pretend –’
‘Bree,’ Falk started. ‘I’d strongly advise you to wait –’
‘Pretend you’re all innocent? Like you had nothing to do with it?’
‘Nothing to do with what?’
‘Jesus, Beth! Are you really doing this? You’re really pointing the finger at me? With them right here?’ Bree waved towards Falk and Carmen. ‘None of this would even have happened if it wasn’t for you.’
‘None of what would have happened?’
‘Hey –’ Falk’s and Carmen’s attempts to interject were drowned out. Bree was on her feet now, eye to eye with her twin.
Beth stepped back. ‘Listen to what I’m saying, I have no idea what you’re talking about.’
‘Bullshit.’
‘No. I mean it.’
‘That is bullshit, Beth! I can’t believe you’re actually doing this.’
‘Doing what?’
‘Trying to wash your own hands and drop me in it! In that case, why the hell should I even try to help you? Why shouldn’t I look after myself and tell the truth?’
‘The truth about what?’
‘That she was already dead!’ Bree’s eyes were wide, her dark hair swinging. ‘You know that! Alice was already dead when I found her.’
Beth took another step back and looked at her twin. ‘Bree, I don’t –’
Bree let loose a wail of frustration and spun around, her eyes pleading as they fell on Falk and Carmen.
‘It wasn’t how she’s making it sound. Don’t listen to her.’ Bree’s hand shook as she pointed at her sister. ‘Please. You have to make Sergeant King understand –’
‘Bree –’
‘Listen, Alice was already dead.’ Bree’s beautiful features were twisted and there were tears in her eyes. ‘I found her. On the path, early on Sunday morning. And I moved her. That’s when I got bitten. But that’s all I did. I didn’t hurt her, I swear. That’s the truth.’
‘Bree –’ Carmen tried this time, but Bree cut her off.
‘She was just slumped there. She wasn’t breathing. I didn’t know what to do. I was scared someone would come out and see her, so I grabbed her. I was only going to hide her in the bush until –’
Bree stopped. She glanced back at her sister. Beth was gripping the back of a chair so hard that her knuckles glowed white.
‘Until I could speak to Beth. But then I tripped and I felt the snake near my arm.’
‘But why did you hide her, Bree?’ Beth had tears in her eyes.
‘Jesus. You know why.’
‘I don’t.’
‘Because –’ Bree’s face was flushed, two hot spots of colour on her cheeks. ‘Because –’ She couldn’t seem to finish her thought. She reached out a hand to her sister.
‘Because why?’
‘Because of you. I did it for you.’ She stretched, grabbing her sister’s arm this time. ‘You can’t get sent away again. It would kill Mum. She never told you, but it was so bad last time. She got so much worse. It was horrible, watching her so sad, knowing it was my fault and –’
‘No. Bree, it was my fault I got sent away last time.’
‘No, it was my fault.’ Bree tightened her grip. ‘It wasn’t my neighbour who told the police you robbed me, it was me. I called them because I was so angry with you. I didn’t realise it would go that far.’
‘That wasn’t your fault.’
‘It was.’
‘No, that was my fault. But this –’ Beth stepped back, slipping her arm from her sister’s grasp. ‘This is so bad, Bree. Why would you do this?’
‘You know why.’ Bree reached out again, her fingertips snatching at thin air. ‘Of course you do. Because you’re my sister! We’re family.’
‘But you don’t trust me at all.’ Beth took another step back. ‘You honestly think I could do something like this?’
Outside, Fal
k saw movement as a police car pulled up on the gravel. King climbed out.
‘But what else am I supposed to think? How am I supposed to trust you, after everything you’ve done?’ Bree was crying now, her face blotchy and flushed. ‘I can’t believe you’re standing there lying. Tell them! Please, Beth. For me. Tell them the truth!’
‘Bree –’ Beth stopped. She opened her mouth as though about to say something more, then closed it, and without another word, turned her back.
Bree reached out, her good hand scrabbling and her cries echoing around the room as Sergeant King opened the lounge door.
‘You are a lying bitch! I hate you, Beth! I hate you for this! Tell them the truth!’ Bree was struggling to speak through her tears. ‘I did this for you.’
With their faces twisted and angry with betrayal, Falk had never seen the twins look more alike.
Day 4: Sunday Morning
Alice Russell had stopped dead.
She was just visible a short way ahead on the northbound trail, the moonlight pooling around her. The cabin was well out of sight now, tucked away behind the trees.
Alice’s head was bowed, and her backpack was on the ground, leaning against a large rock. She had one hand pressed to her ear. Even from a distance, it was clear from the phone’s blue-white glow that her hand was shaking.
Chapter 26
The twins were taken away in separate police cars.
Falk and Carmen watched from the entrance hall. Lauren and Jill stood in the reception area, their mouths slack with disbelief, until Sergeant King instructed them to wait in the lounge. An officer would call them into the lodge office one at a time to refresh their statements, he said. They should be prepared to come down to the station in town if it was deemed necessary. They nodded wordlessly as he drove away.
Lauren was called to the office first, her face sunken and pale as she crossed the floor. Falk and Carmen stayed in the lounge with Jill. She seemed like a shrunken version of the woman they had met a few days earlier.
‘I told Alice it would serve her right if she died in a ditch,’ Jill said out of nowhere. She was staring into the fire. ‘I meant it. At the time.’
Through the door, they could hear Margot Russell howling. The liaison officer’s voice barely cut through the sound. Jill turned her head away, a pained look on her face.
‘When did you know your nephew had photos of Margot?’ Carmen said.
‘Not until too late.’ Jill looked down at her hands. ‘Daniel finally told me the whole story on Tuesday, but only because the photos were out in public by then. But he should have told me long before that. If he’d been honest on that first night when he came to our campsite, maybe none of this would have happened. I would have let Alice leave when she asked.’
‘How much did Daniel tell you that night?’ Falk said.
‘Only that his wife had caught Joel with some photos and that’s why Daniel had been late getting to the retreat. Maybe I should have put two and two together, but it honestly did not even occur to me that the photos could be of Margot.’ She shook her head. ‘Things were a lot different when I was at school.’
Through the door, the sound of crying was still audible. Jill sighed.
‘I wish Alice had told me herself. I would have let her go back after the first night if I’d known. Of course I would have.’ It sounded a little like Jill was trying to convince herself. ‘And Joel is a stupid boy. He won’t be able to fix this with an apology. He’s a lot like Daniel was when he was young; does whatever he wants, never thinking more than an hour into the future. Kids don’t understand though, do they? They just live in the moment. They don’t realise what they do at that age can still haunt them years later.’
She fell silent, but her hands shook as she clasped them in her lap. There was a knock and the lounge door opened. Lauren peered in, pale and hollow-cheeked.
‘It’s your turn,’ she said to Jill.
‘What did they ask?’
‘Same as before. They wanted to know what happened.’
‘And what did you tell them?’
‘I told them I couldn’t believe Alice hadn’t walked away.’ Lauren looked at Jill, then down at the ground. ‘I’m going to bed. I can’t face this.’ Without waiting for a response, she withdrew, shutting the door behind her.
Jill stared at the closed door for a long moment then, with a heavy sigh, stood. She opened the door and walked out, with the sound of Margot’s cries echoing all around her.
Day 4: Sunday Morning
Alice was almost shouting into the phone. Her cheek glowed blue in the light of the screen as her words floated along the path.
‘Emergency? Can you hear me –? Shit.’ Her voice was high with desperation. She hung up. Head down, she checked the phone. Tried again, punching in three digits, all the same. Triple zero.
‘Emergency? Help us. Is anyone there? Please. We’re lost. Can you –?’ She stopped, took the phone away from her ear. ‘Shit.’
Her back rose and fell as she took a deep breath. She pressed the screen again. A different number this time, no three-digit repetition. When she spoke, her voice was far quieter this time.
‘Federal Agent Falk, it’s Alice. Russell. I don’t know if you can hear me.’ There was a tremor in her voice. ‘If you get this message, please, I’m begging you, please don’t pass the files on tomorrow. I don’t know what to do. Daniel Bailey has some photos. Or his son does. Pictures of my daughter. I can’t risk upsetting him right now, I’m sorry. I’m trying to get back to explain. If you hold off, I’ll try to think of another way for you to get the contracts. I’m sorry, but she’s my daughter. Please. I can’t do anything that might hurt her –’
A rustle and the tread of a footstep behind her. A voice in the dark.
‘Alice?’
Chapter 27
Falk and Carmen sat alone in the lounge, not saying much. The sound of Margot Russell’s sobs had floated through the door for a long time, and then all of a sudden had stopped, leaving an eerie silence. Falk wondered where she’d gone.
They heard a car pull up on the gravel and Carmen went to the window. ‘King’s back.’
‘Any sign of the twins?’
‘No.’
They met King in the lobby. His face was greyer than usual.
‘How did it go at the station?’ Falk said.
The sergeant shook his head. ‘They’re getting some legal advice, but for now they’re both sticking to their stories. Bree’s insisting Alice was already dead when she found her, Beth reckons she knows nothing about any of it.’
‘Do you believe them?’
‘God knows. Either way, it’s going to be a nightmare to prove anything. A forensics team from Melbourne’s up at the site now, but she’s been lying out in the rain and wind for days. There’s dirt and mud and bits of rubbish everywhere.’
‘Was there anything of interest in her backpack?’ Carmen said.
‘Like a stack of BaileyTennants’ financial records?’ King managed a very grim smile. ‘I don’t think so, sorry. But here –’ He rummaged through his backpack, and pulled out a USB stick. ‘Photos of the scene. You see anything you need, you can ask the forensics guys to show you when they bring it all down.’
‘Thanks.’ Falk took it. ‘They’re looking at that grave beside the cabin as well?’
‘Yeah. They are.’ King hesitated.
‘What?’ Carmen was watching him. ‘What is it? Have they confirmed it’s Sarah?’
King shook his head. ‘It’s not Sarah.’
‘How do they know?’
‘It was the body of a man.’
They stared at him. ‘Who?’ Falk said.
‘We got a call at the station an hour ago,’ King said. ‘That ex-bikie in jail has struck a deal he’s happy with, and he’s told his lawyer he reckons the body in that hole is Sam Kovac himself.’
Falk blinked. ‘Sam Kovac?’
‘Yeah. This bloke says the bikies were paid to get rid of him
five years ago. Sam had been talking up his connections with his dad, attempting to get in with the group, probably. But this guy reckons Sam wasn’t right in the head, too unstable to be trusted. So when the bikies got a better offer, they took it. The buyers weren’t interested in how it was done as long as the body was never found. They just wanted Sam to disappear.’
‘Who were the buyers?’ Carmen said.
King glanced out of the window. The wind had dropped and the bushland was strangely still for once. ‘They went through a middleman, but apparently it was an older couple. Well-off. Prepared to pay well. But weird. Not quite right themselves.’
Falk’s mind reached for possibilities, found only one.
‘Not Sarah Sondenberg’s parents?’ he said, and King half-shrugged.
‘Too early to say for sure, but I reckon that’s who they’ll be looking at first. Poor bastards. I suppose twenty years of grief and uncertainty can do things to a person.’ King shook his head. ‘Bloody Martin Kovac. He’s ruined this place. He could’ve given those poor people some peace. Maybe avoided a bit of heartache himself. Who knows? Either of you got kids?’
Falk shook his head, picturing Sarah Sondenberg, with her newspaper-print smile. Her parents, and what the past twenty years must have been like for them.
‘I’ve got two boys,’ King said. ‘I always felt for the Sondenbergs. Between you and me, if it is them, I can’t throw too much blame their way.’ He sighed. ‘I reckon you can never underestimate how far you’d go for your child.’
Somewhere, deep in the lodge, Margot Russell’s plaintive wail started up again.
Day 4: Sunday Morning
‘Alice?’
Alice Russell jumped. Her fingers fumbled to end the call as she turned towards the voice, her eyes wide as she realised she was no longer alone on the path. She took half a step back.
‘Who are you talking to, Alice?’
Chapter 28
Falk felt completely deflated. From the look on Carmen’s face as they followed the path to the accommodation cabins, she felt the same. The wind was up again, stinging his eyes and snatching at his clothes. When they reached their rooms, they stopped and Falk turned the memory stick Sergeant King had given them over in his hands.
