Like Twigs in a Storm

by Ross Richdale

  Jane shrugged. "So who's left?"

  "Ludlow, the girlfriend. I believe she's the murderess. All we have to do now is prove it."

  *

  Janice agreed to accompany the two detectives to the police station. Within moments of arrival, she was in an interview room with Sergeant Stein and Constable Frankton.

  "Is it true Grant Ryland fathered a foetus you had aborted, Miss Ludlow?" Stein slipped the question in after reducing the young woman to tears.

  "How did you know that?" Janice glanced at the floor but her trembling hands exposed her nervousness.

  "Answer the question, please."

  "Yes," she whispered.

  "And your father doesn't know about this."

  Janice raised her tear stained head "It's none of his business." Her voice trailed away.

  "You were scared of both men weren't you?" Jane Frankton slipped in.

  "Yes."

  "Was Ryland blackmailing you into performing sexual favours?" she pushed.

  "Yes," Janice whispered. "He threatened to tell my father of our affair."

  "But your father already knew," Stein interjected. "He ordered you out of the house. Your story's not consistent, Miss Ludlow. "

  "I don't know," Janice sobbed. "All I know was that Grant Ryland forced himself onto me."

  "You mean he raped you?" Jane added.

  "I don't know," Janice whimpered. "I guess it was."

  'You guess it was, Miss Ludlow. Surely you know whether or not you allowed the man to have intercourse with you," Stein snapped in a louder voice.

  Janice wiped a hand over her eyes, down her nose and across her lips before bursting into tears again. Jane handed her a tissue and glanced up at the sergeant.

  "Did he rape you, Miss Ludlow? Yes or no!"

  "Yes," she whispered. "Not at first. I was flattered by his attention, he told me his marriage was over and I believed him. Later, though, after Dad disowned me I tried to break it off. That's when it started."

  "How?" Jane asked softly.

  "He spiked my drink and I have only vague memories of him touching me. Later, he threatened me. It went on and on," she sobbed. "I even tried to leave town but he found me." Her voice changed to a sobbing whisper. She accepted a tumbler of water and continued her harrowing story.

  "So why didn't you report it, Janice?" Stein's voice sounded almost friendly.

  "I was afraid of him and also my father's reaction."

  "Your father! You're twenty years old. Why are you still afraid of your father? Did he also attack you sexually?"

  Janice looked horrified. "No, nothing like that. Dad was so prim and proper... ultra-conservative. Everything is just a hangover from when I was a child. He used to hit me with a belt for the slightest thing." The girl's hands began to wring and her body trembled. "I'm still terrified of him."

  "And Grant Ryland became a personification of your father. He terrified you too but it was worse because he attacked you for sexual gratification and you were too scared to say no. Is that correct?"

  "Yes," Janice sobbed. "I had nobody to turn to."

  "So you decided to kill him!" Sergeant Pat Stein snapped.

  "No! I didn't. That is not true!" She stood up. "You're trying to frame me, you bastard!"

  The girl's expression changed as she gritted her teeth and wiped the tears away. "You have no right to do this to me. I have done nothing wrong and wish to be represented by a lawyer."

  Stein glanced at Jane Frankton. "Very well," he replied. "That will do for the moment, Miss Ludlow. You may go."

  Janice glared at Stein and walked to the door. Just as she reached it the sergeant spoke again. "I would advise you to get that attorney, Miss Ludlow."

  "So what now?" Frankton asked

  The sergeant glanced up. "We proceed with this one, Jane," he muttered. "She may have been provoked, it may not even be murder but I'm dead certain she is the one who sabotaged that aircraft and killed Ryland."

  *

  Janice arrived home to an empty flat, stared around the familiar scene but it offered no comfort.

  "The bastards," she swore, poured herself a drink of wine and screwed up her nose. The unfamiliar taste was quite tart but the ingredients did relax her a little. She poured another and glanced at her watch. Damn, she'd missed the eleven a.m. lecture.

  She had a shower and changed into a new dress she'd bought the week before. She couldn't even remember why she'd been attracted to Grant in the first place. He was a chauvinistic prick.

  Janice finished her glass, wrapped her bum bag around, grabbed the half empty bottle of wine and headed out to the car. She'd go and visit Lavina. Perhaps the cops had talked to her as well.

  The drive across town to Ashley Grove was peaceful but the place was empty. That was unusual. Lavina was usually at home until about two when she drove in to pick up Cathy. Janice sat in the car to wait but, once again, the doubts rushed back into her mind. Even her father encroached on her thoughts. God, he was a miserable old bugger, too. When she was Cathy's age, she remembered how she'd howled for hours when he'd banned her from going to a school dance.

  A month later, she'd sneaked out and had gone to the next one anyhow. Her father had found out and hit her across the arms with his leather belt while, the whole time; her mother had stood whimpering in the corner. Her mother died only a year later. Tears welled in Janice's eyes. She'd never really known her mother, but that time Mum had stepped in and stopped the beating. It was the only time she ever remembered her mother standing up to the old man.

  Janice sighed. Her mum's threat that day to walk out and take her with her had a pacifying effect on her father. That was the last real thrashing he gave her. But nothing she did could please him.

  Janice shrugged. "I still can't," she muttered to herself. "But who's the lonely one now, Dad?"

  Then like an idiot she had to get mixed up with Grant Ryland, a man even more moody and violent than her father. Poor Lavina had stuck by the bugger for years. Now he was gone and the bloody police were blaming her. My God, I'd have shot the bastard, not just stuffed the Cessna up. Whoever did it, did the world a favour.

  Janice unscrewed the wine bottle and took another sip to steady her nerves. The alcohol was so soothing. After another twenty minutes Lavina hadn't returned so she scrawled a short note on a piece of notebook paper, poked it in the keyhole of the side door and drove away. She headed to the highway and out of town. She needed company and immediately Barrie entered her thoughts. That's it! She'd go and see Barrie! With her mind made up, Janice gave a burp and felt a little better. He was the one good thing that had happened to her over the last few months.

  The trip to Upper Forks Road was covered at a far greater speed than Janice usually travelled but the hundred plus kilometres an hour jolted her blurry mind when she hit the gravel, the car shuddered and almost ran off the road.

  She slowed for a few moments but gradually drove faster as her confidence returned. Stones pinged under the car and tyres screamed on the tight bends. Luckily, no opposing traffic came along the narrow road.

  The inside back wheel hit loose gravel and sent the vehicle diagonally across the road towards a small bank.

  "Shit!" Janice growled and swung the wheel the other way, over compensating and then attempting to correct her mistake.

  She braked. The car slid off the loose side gravel, skidded across a grass verge and plunged down a small bank to end up in a small gully surrounded by shrubbery. The fright of the sudden stop jolted Janice back from her inebriated state. She unlocked the seat belt and staggered out of the vehicle. The cold crisp air cleared her head a bit, but she felt terrible.

  She began to tremble at the aftershock. She climbed back in the car, started the motor and after spinning the front driving wheels, managed to get nowhere. The car would need to be towed back up to the road. Cursing her bad luck, she climbed up through the shrubs and looked along the deserted road.

  "Bugger," she snorted and set off to walk th
e rest of the way.

  The old school appeared but the countryside was still empty. Suddenly, Janice felt sick, sort of hot and cold all at once. She made the edge of the road just in time before emptying her stomach contents into the ditch beside the road.

  "Serves me bloody right," she muttered but had to admit she felt a little better. She needed to go to the bathroom urgently, though.

  Of course, she'd go up to the school. Steve had repainted the old outside toilets and they were never locked. Janice just made into the little wooden building when the walls began to spin. Unnoticed, the door creaked in the wind and banged shut behind her. She shook her head but felt all sweaty again. The room began to spin. She reached the tiny sink, turned on the old tap and even felt the icy cold water on her hands before her feet buckled under her. As her head fell forward, a sharp window ledge caught her chin. Janice collapsed onto the cold concrete floor with her new dress covered in blood and water splashing from the tap above.

  *

  CHAPTER 15

  "Poor Janice," Lavina sighed when she read the note shoved in the keyhole.

  "What is it Mum? You've been keeping something from me all afternoon and now there's this note from Janice."

  "I've been in talking to Steve and missed Janice when she came to visit. That's all."

  "Mum! Don't lie to me. What's it all about?"

  "Get changed and I'll make you some afternoon tea. I'll explain everything then, okay?"

  Cathy stared at her mother for a moment. "Are you in trouble?"

  "No sweetheart." Lavina sighed and hoped it was true. "The police called today and said someone may have sabotaged the Cessna. They're trying to find out what happened."

  "And they're blaming you?" Cathy gasped.

  "No but they've also been talking to Janice."

  "She wouldn't have done it, Mum. Janice isn't that sort of person."

  "That's what I said. Steve told me not to worry, but I am."

  "You reckon she'll go off her head again like when we found her in the cave?"

  "She didn't go off her head, Cathy. She was just depressed. Anyhow, she said in her note she was going to the farm. I'll ring Barrie and see if she's okay."

  A few moments later, Barrie told her he hadn't seen Janice and there was no reply from her flat.

  Lavina rang Steve back. "I'm worried. The note was written at lunchtime so she should have reached the farm by now, Steve. She mentioned being interviewed by the police and that was it. I would say she's pretty distressed."

  "After you left, Simon Aikin phoned back," Steve said. "He's filed a complaint at the police station about how you were treated."

  "Good!"

  "He's also prepared to represent Janice, if she wishes."

  "We have to find her first."

  "I'll drive out to her flat then come home," Steve said. "If we haven't heard from her by then we'll drive out to the farm!"

  "Right," replied Lavina and rang the farm back again.

  *

  Mid weekdays were a lonely time for Barrie, Janice had been back at varsity since Monday and wasn't due back until Friday afternoon along with Steve and Lavina.

  Lunchtime came and went, the weather was drizzly and there was an hour before he began his afternoon lamb beat. Barrie switched off the radio and was about to head out to the implement shed to feed the orphaned lambs when the telephone rang. It was Lavina with her worrisome news.

  Barrie hung up and wondered what he could do. Like Lavina, he realized Janice would be at the farm if she'd come straight out. He rang her flat but there was no reply. Of course, she may have decided to go to her afternoon lecture. Barrie glanced at her time table stuck on the corkboard above the telephone, rang the university and asked for an urgent message to be relayed to her. Fifteen minutes later, though, he received a phone call to say Janice was not in the lecture theatre.

  "Oh hell,” he muttered and headed down the road in the Land Rover.

  Twenty minutes later he saw Steve's jeep coming the other way and both vehicles stopped beside each other on the muddy gravel with windshield wipers swishing in the steady rain.

  "She hasn't arrived," Barrie shouted across the gap.

  "What about further up the road past the farm?" Lavina asked from the passenger's seat. "Have you driven up there?"

  "No," Barrie replied. "But why would she go past the farm?" He saw the worry in Lavina's eyes and shrugged. "Okay. I'll turn around and follow you back."

  Ten minutes later Steve screeched to a stop beside the skid marks across the road just before the school. Followed by Lavina and Cathy he followed the tracks down through the shrubbery.

  "Oh hell," Cathy gasped with her exclamation reflecting everyone's feelings. They'd found the wreckage of Janice's car. Seconds later everyone realized the wreck was empty, the door was open and Janice's footprints were in the muddy soil.

  Steve felt the bonnet. "The engine's cold. I'd say the car's been here for at least an hour."

  "So why didn't she get to the farm?" Barrie said. "Could she have fallen in the stream and been swept away?"

  'No," Lavina said. "It's too small." She walked around and shouted, "Look, another footprint. She must have climbed back to the road. Come on!"

  At the roadside, three more footprints were found heading up the road but after that, nothing. Barrie frowned and stared at the others. "She may have headed across the paddocks or gone to the school for shelter. It's been raining all afternoon."

  They drove the short distance to the school but it was deserted. They decided to split into two groups with Barrie and Cathy returning to the house and walking back through the paddocks where there were several gullies to be checked while Steve and Lavina checked along the stream edge in case Janice came back down and followed it.

  Later the four, now wet and tired, met in the kitchen to decide what to do next. Nothing had been found, not even footprints and the whole roadside, streambed and lower farm had been searched.

  "What about the canyon?" Cathy suggested. "Could she have gone back there?"

  "I doubt it,” Barrie replied, "She wouldn't have had time."

  "I rang the neighbours but nobody has seen her," Lavina added. "She never arrived home at the flat. I checked that too, in case she'd been given a lift back to town."

  "What about the hospitals?" Steve suggested. "She may have been picked up and dropped at one of them."

  After ringing both area hospitals, he shook his head. "Nothing," he muttered. "I guess we ring the police."

  "No," Lavina said. "I don't think Janice would want that."

  "Why?" Barrie asked. His normal calm personality was replaced by agitation.

  "The police were pretty ruthless to me this morning," Lavina said and explained what had happened, '"It seems from what Simon told us, they had her at the police station for over an hour. I don't think it would have been a pleasant time."

  "Well what do we do?" snapped Barrie. "My God, it's still raining out there. If she's hurt in a ditch somewhere..." He stared wildly around.

  "We've searched all the ditches, Barrie," Lavina replied in a kind voice. "Everywhere within walking distance of the crash site has been searched. Luckily, there's no bush at this end of the valley."

  "She has to be somewhere," Barrie snorted. "I'm going to have another look. I'll take the dogs. They may help."

  "I'll come," Steve said. "Lavina, what say you and Cathy drive up and down the road in the jeep? You might just see something."

  Lavina nodded. She knew Steve was thinking of Cathy. Even though the teenager hadn't complained, her foot would be aching by now. The youngster had a determined expression, but had black lines under the eyes. "Come on, Cathy," she said. "Let's take the jeep. We've got about half an hour before it gets dark."

  "I know who did it," Cathy said a few moments later as they drove slowly up the road beyond the farm and pulled into a picnic site.

  "Did what?" Lavina asked. Most of the surrounding countryside was now in shadows but a sm
all streak of sunshine still hit the hill behind them.

  "Killed Dad. Those criminals he was working for did it. Perhaps they were here today and captured Janice."

  "What are you talking about, Cathy? What criminals?''

  "Dad was flying things up north for them. He made a couple of trips that I know of. There were probably more."

  Lavina frowned. Grant had had several over night flights but had told her it was to try to get the farm refinanced. She remembered having an argument with him and saying he was wasting his time. He'd said something about receiving a payment soon that would help pay the mortgage off.

  "What do you know, Cathy? This could be vital information."

  "He was visited a couple of times, always on Thursday when you were in town at that course you attended. The first time was when I was home sick from school with the flu and the second during the holidays. Dad always thought I was a little kid who wouldn't understand anything and often spoke to adults in front of me. He spoke on the telephone often, too. I think he stored things here and delivered them in the Cessna again a few weeks later."

  "I never saw anything stored anywhere on the farm."

  "What about Granddad's wine cellar?" Cathy suggested.

  Lavina frowned. "There's no wine cellar, Cathy. That was just an old story your Granddad told you when you were a child. He used to sit you on his knee and tell you all sorts of little stories about fairies and things. You were only three or four at the time. I'm amazed you remembered."

  "It's true, Mum," Cathy said. "He showed it to me one day. I remember I was so scared. There were concrete steps, a couple of swinging light bulbs and a wooden rack with old dusty bottles in it. It smelled all musty. I can still remember the odour."

  Lavina stared at her daughter. “Where was it?"

  “That's the trouble, I don't know. Donna and I hunted for it last holidays but found nothing. I know Granddad took me into the implement shed but that's all I can remember."

  "Interesting," Lavina said. She smiled at her daughter. "But let's find Janice, shall we?"