Yes, what he’d been waiting for! The top of Musudroka’s head appeared above the lower battlement behind Ilai, who was now warming to his audience, gripping Melissa tight against his body.
‘Neither God nor our chief will help us!’ He whirled Destroyer.
Musudroka’s head edged from one side of the fortress crown. Melissa looked up. Ilai felt her movement, whipped his head around.
Horseman hurled himself up, arms outstretched. He grasped Ilai’s ankles, jerking them out. Musudroka forced Ilai’s head back with one hand, seized his neck in a chokehold with his other forearm. But Ilai did not let Melissa go. Blindly, he swung the club behind him, but Musudroka avoided the blows—he must have squeezed into a niche. Ilai’s strength seemed superhuman, and his hold on his hostage did not weaken.
But Ilai had to break the chokehold or he couldn’t hang on much longer. He transferred Destroyer to his left hand, ramming its length against Melissa’s body. His right hand punched and pried at the arm squeezing his throat, but Musudroka managed to tighten his hold. It was a weird tug-of-war, with Horseman’s weight dragging on Ilai’s ankles and preventing him from kicking, while Musudroka rammed the man’s head against the stone battlement.
Soon the choke sapped Ilai’s strength and he fought for breath. His right hand fell from his throat. A beat later, he dropped Melissa, and Horseman caught her to his body, breaking her fall. Two constables dashed forward to grab Ilai.
Horseman wanted to hold her forever, despite the torrent, despite pain, despite everything. She didn’t return his grasp. He feared she was unconscious. But after what seemed an eternity, one hand reached round his waist and held him. Thank God.
‘Say something, Melissa. How are you? Can you stand?’
Eventually she whispered, ‘I think so, Joe. Try me.’ He gently lowered her until her feet were on the slick rock, his arms round her. ‘Yep, I think I’m okay.’
Horseman had no choice but to release Melissa to an insistent Mere Tora and her motherly friends who scrambled up the fortress, helped her down, and took her away.
Musudroka had hoisted himself over the fortress crown, ready to subdue Ilai. But Ilai sat bent over on the rock, heaving as his lungs demanded more air than he could take in. Musudroka laughed in relief as Horseman joined him and they shook hands.
‘Great work, Tani. You can have the pleasure of snapping the cuffs on our prisoner.’ Ilai said nothing as Horseman recited the caution and Musudroka cuffed him.
‘I want one of you to hold each arm at all times. Don’t let go,’ Horseman instructed the two constables. They led Ilai down from the fortress.
Elated, Musudroka laughed. ‘All my practice as a kid scrambling up waterfalls, sir!’
Ash and his team rushed them. ‘Fantastic, you two. Tani, you did good!’
‘Yes, he did. Hang on, where’s the club?’ Horseman asked.
Singh stepped forward. ‘Got an evidence bag on you, Ash? It’s still lying behind you, up on the rocks. I’ve been watching it, but as I’ve got Ratu Osea in custody…’
‘Got it.’ Ash scrambled to retrieve Destroyer.
Horseman had almost forgotten the chief. ‘Ratu Osea, vinaka for trying to intervene with Ilai. Sergeant Singh will escort you to Suva for questioning at the police station. I need to search your house as well as Ilai’s, with your permission.’
‘You do not have it. Not without a warrant. I wish you to remove my handcuffs, Inspector. You have my word I will not try to escape.’
‘Not possible, I’m afraid, Ratu. I wish it were, but…’ Horseman replied.
‘I need to return to my house to pack some things.’
‘Not possible, again. A constable will escort Adi Ana while she packs some things for you. Don’t you have all you need in your Suva house?’
The chief glared, but he walked quietly between Singh and the constable towards the bridge and his uncertain future.
‘Ash, plenty for you SOCOs to do. Photographs here and up at the school. Collect any evidence. Seal the chief’s house as well as Ilai’s.’
‘Right away, sir. Alisi got quite a few shots of the action. Don’t forget the Fiji Times and Fiji One are here too.’ The so-called action had fired up the patient, methodical Ash.
‘Good Lord, I completely forgot about them. Too late now.’ He knew what the super would say when he saw the afternoon’s events on tonight’s TV news and in Monday morning’s paper. ‘Sergeant Singh, radio Superintendent Navala please, tell him about the media. Can he get them to hold the story? Press could jeopardise the trials.’
Now for Ilai. ‘Tanielo, lock Ilai in the vehicle, keep the two constables on guard. Do not permit them to speak to Ilai under any circumstances, no matter what he does or says. He could trick them. I’ve got some things to do here before I leave.’
He tracked down Melissa in the pastor’s house, smothered in the ample bosoms and hearts of Mere Tora and her friends, who plied their patient with hot, sweet tea, just like his own mother would have done. No way would they release her into his arms, so he didn’t try. They reached for each others’ hands.
‘How are you, Melissa?’
‘No bones broken. A few cuts and scrapes. Maybe some bruises tomorrow.’ Her smile reached her blue eyes this time. ‘Unlike you, I won’t need physical therapy.’
‘Me?’
‘Rock injures ribs and muscle when you throw your body at it, Joe. You’ve got a bunch of cuts, too. I guess you’re running on adrenaline right now. But one leg’s carrying most of your weight and you limp badly.’
‘Well, maybe if the therapist is Melissa Martini, I can be persuaded.’ He turned serious. ‘I’m so relieved you’re…’ His voice seized.
‘I was very scared, Joe. I’ve never been so scared in my life.’ Serious again. Was she reproachful? She had every right to be.
‘Melissa, I am so sorry I got you into this. I’m to blame for everything. It could so easily…’
‘What nonsense you talk,’ interrupted one of the ladies. ‘You may dominate a rugby game, but you can’t control much else! Ilai put Melissa in danger, not you! You saved her. Be sensible, Josefa Horseman!’
‘Io, Josefa,’ said Mere Tora. ‘And I know you would have saved my Kelera, if anyone could. Are you sure Ilai killed her?’
‘No, not yet, but probably. We’ve arrested him. Sergeant Singh and I will question him properly in Suva. Did any of you suspect him?’
The ladies shook their heads. ‘He’s always been a quiet man. A hard worker, devoted to our chief,’ Mrs Bovoro said.
Another spoke up. ‘You know, since his wife died, and even more this year, I noticed he would disappear, often for hours and hours, couldn’t be found. I thought it was odd, but I assumed he was just getting older, and liked to be by himself more.’
‘He never got over the children settling in New Zealand. Sometimes he spoke bitterly about them,’ Mere Tora added.
‘Io, Ilai spoiled what was to be a wonderful day. No one will want to see our pottery now.’
‘Vili would have been proud to have visitors tour his spice project,’ Mrs Bovoro said.
Mrs Tora said, ‘I think God didn’t want the reconciliation ceremony to happen. Everything went fine until then. He just put His foot down after Kelera died. “Enough!” he said.’ She broke into sobs, muffled by a shoulder as her friends hugged and patted her.
Horseman felt awkward, unable to express his admiration and sympathy. ‘Vinaka vakalevu, ladies. Now, I need to take Melissa back to Suva.’
‘We’d love to keep her with us, but I know we can’t. We must get back to the descendants of Mr Weston. What will they think! At least we can give them tea.’
After prolonged farewells, they got away just as the rain was easing. Melissa was correct, his right knee couldn’t support him. He made a supreme effort to hide it from her, but failed. Someone passed him a stick and he hobbled to the vehicle.
45
Singh switched on the recorder at half past five. As the
twin tapes started to spin, she announced the date, time, and the names of those present in Interview Room Three.
‘I understand you have declined to consult a legal representative, Mr Takilai,’ she said.
‘Yes, I have,’ Ilai answered. ‘I have no need of advice from foreigners.’
‘I can arrange a Fijian solicitor to talk to you, if you wish,’ Horseman offered.
‘No, that is not necessary. I have decided to answer your questions.’
‘Very sensible of you,’ Horseman said.
‘There is nothing to hope for any longer. My chief has betrayed me.’
‘Tell us about the theft of the club you call Destroyer from the Fiji Museum,’ Singh began.
‘Ratu Osea did not consult me.’
‘Does he usually consult you about his plans?’ Singh asked.
‘Io, very often.’
‘Why didn’t he consult you about this matter?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe he wanted it to be a secret, but he knows I would never talk about any of his plans unless he wanted me to.’ Ilai sounded aggrieved.
‘What exactly did he tell you about the theft of the club?’
Ilai’s account accorded pretty well with Tomasi’s statement. Maybe Ilai was going to tell the truth after all. His mad rage was apparently gone.
‘Was stealing the club a good idea, Ilai?’ Horseman asked.
‘I don’t think so. The apology and reconciliation ceremony for the Weston descendants was enough. The descendants sincerely forgave the past sin of murder. They did not want to see the club burned. They had no knowledge of it whatsoever. Even I did not know it still existed until my chief told me. To destroy our history, the strength of our spirit, was unwise, in my opinion. Just to make a dramatic show. I could not let it happen.’
Horseman privately agreed. ‘When did you learn this was the plan?’
‘The day Tomasi brought Destroyer to Ratu Osea’s Tanoa house. When Tomasi knocked on the door, I went out to receive the club. The chief did not need to talk to Tomasi, so he went away.’
‘What reason did the chief give for stealing the club from the museum?’
‘He said it belonged here, was rightfully ours. He didn’t like visitors gawking at it. I agreed with him, as I did most of the time.’ Horseman glanced at Singh to take over.
‘Why did you use the club to kill Viliame?’ Singh asked.
Ilai glared at her, suspicious. After a few moments, he said, ‘It was fitting. A young man, so impatient and ambitious, so full of arrogance. He needed a lesson from tradition. Destroyer was the right instrument.’
Horseman said, ‘You didn’t give him a chance to learn from that lesson, Ilai.’
Ilai snorted. ‘He had many chances. He came to clan meetings with proposals, written out in some modern, meaningless way. I thought he meant well, we all tolerated him, even granted him some land to use. He didn’t do too badly. Then he looked into electricity with the government in Suva. None of his business; he had no permission to act as Tanoa’s agent at all. Same story with the Henny Penny shed. HP require an electricity supply. We successfully farm to feed ourselves with some to sell. We have mahogany, and when that is harvested, we will be rich enough. We were polite to Viliame, but all his actions flouted our custom. The chief and clan elders are the ones to make decisions. Not young men! How dare he?’
Ilai’s anger was flaring again. Best to defuse. ‘How did Ratu Osea react to Viliame’s schemes?’
‘He felt the same as me. But I knew he would never act. He hoped the NLTB would transfer Vili so he couldn’t get back to Tanoa so often. But after years of hassling and arguments from the boy, I’d had enough.’
‘I can understand how you felt, Mr Takilai,’ Singh said. ‘But this is not enough to make you murder someone, is it? A respected elder of a chiefly clan, like you? I don’t think so.’
Ilai’s eyes narrowed. ‘You bring a woman’s intuition to the matter. You may be right. I discovered he was violating our respected pastor’s daughter. Every time he was here. In the spice gardens, like pigs. In the vanilla curing shed. Another example of his contempt for custom and, in this case, what is holy!’
‘How did you find out about Viliame and the pastor’s daughter, Ilai?’ Horseman asked.
‘I’m observant. As the chief’s deputy, it’s my role. They would leave the spice gardens together, then split up and each would return to the village by a different path. Yet their houses are not far from each other. There’s only one conclusion to draw when a couple try to stop people seeing them together.’
‘Maybe so, Ilai. But why did that anger you so much? They would make a suitable young couple, wouldn’t they?’
‘She was a pure virgin until that arrogant boy set his sights on her! They both deceived their parents!’ Ilai’s anger flared again.
Horseman sought to calm Ilai. ‘I’m sure that has happened before in Tanoa, Ilai, because it happens everywhere else. Parents get angry at the time, then the couple marry, and all is forgiven and forgotten.’
Ilai lifted his eyebrows. ‘Dina, dina. But she had a lovely innocence. He destroyed that. I killed him for that.’
Singh asked, ‘Did you make an observation post for checking on Viliame and Kelera? Our officers found a neat hideout in the lantana between the upper and lower paths to the spice gardens.’
Ilai looked less hostile now. ‘Well yes, that was a good place in daytime. At night it’s not easy to see faces, even in moonlight. However, I know everyone in the village by their shape and gait.’
‘Did you wait there for Vili last Saturday night?’
‘No, I waited just off the lower path, which is the one he used most often. Ratu Osea was in Suva, so I borrowed the club from his house. Two clean blows, that’s all it took. I carried Viliame to the church and arranged him in a posture submissive to God. I cleaned the club and returned it.’
‘Why Kelera?’
‘I felt increasing distaste for her. No, disappointment, really. She displayed excessive emotion after Vili’s body was found. I thought perhaps Viliame did not force her. She could very well be a willing partner in sin, maybe an equal partner. My heart broke, that I had been so wrong about her. I heard you, Sergeant, talking to her at the school. She freely admitted she was his lover but he didn’t want to marry her! Then it came to me, how Fijians treated widows in the old days. Do you know?’ Singh shook her head, although she was well aware of the pre-colonial custom.
‘They were strangled, and not efficiently. But I was kind. It was quick, with strong sinnet cord.’
Singh looked appalled. Horseman said, ‘You’d better tell us all about it, Ilai. When and where.’
‘I need to explain, Inspector. Simple questions like “when and where” won’t let you understand the full truth. I kept watch over Kelera for a long time, especially after Viliame died. I wanted to protect her. She and her family are from Kadavu, you know, not even from Viti Levu. Young Tanoa men might take advantage of her, just like Viliame did. Her parents are very devoted to church work, and not watchful enough over their children. They knew how much time she spent working in the spice gardens, but did nothing to rein her in.’
‘Perhaps they approved of her work there.’ Singh understood why Ilai’s sons had all migrated to New Zealand.
‘Well, I never wish to make a nuisance of myself. However, I did unavoidably run into Kelera quite often. I used to check that she was safe in her classroom where she liked to work after school and in the evening. I wanted to know when she was going to the river, which can be dangerous. When she saw me she would greet me politely, even the time I sneezed while I was sitting against her classroom wall and she came to the window and looked out.’
His voice softened. ‘She said, “Bula vinaka, Ilai”. Io, a few times this last week she discovered me watching over her. I think Viliame’s death affected me as well. But I had hope. With Viliame gone, my secrecy was not so important, I believed.’
A tender half-smile play
ed at Ilai’s mouth. His obsession with Kelera was not driven by hate.
‘What did you hope for, Mr Takilai?’ Singh asked.
‘Well, she’s a serious young woman, well-educated, hard-working, not frivolous. Even though she sinned with Viliame, I could forgive her that. It was he who tempted her to sin. Therefore, I hoped that she might make me a suitable second wife.’
‘Please continue, Mr Takilai.’
‘Last Thursday after school, Kelera dropped her basket at her house and hastened across the bridge. She started walking along the road. I followed, but she was out of sight when I got to the car park. I got into my ute, soon caught her up and offered her a lift. She wanted to go to the police station to make a phone call. She was subdued. I said I had business in the next village and could give her a lift home in an hour. She said the call would be quick. I thought it was probable she was going to call one of you detectives, and when I asked the constable when I returned, he confirmed she had done so.’
Singh had suspected the Kumi officers had not told all they knew about Kelera’s visit there. Now it was obvious their loyalty was to the ruling families of Tanoa, not to the police, not to the law. In short, they were spies for the chief. She would get them all transferred if she possibly could. ‘Did you meet her on the way back?’ she asked.
‘I did, but she’s a fast walker and was near the river when I came along. She said she would continue on foot, but I drove along beside her, just to make sure. I soon realised she didn’t like that, so when I parked my ute, I told her I needed to check the engine and waited five minutes until she entered her house.
‘At daybreak on Friday morning, the day of Viliame’s funeral, I saw her through my binoculars. She was dressed in black, ready for the funeral, but she carried her school basket up to her classroom. She is a most conscientious teacher, you know.’ He sounded like a proud uncle.
‘Instead of hiding out of sight, I entered her classroom where she was marking the children’s exercise books. I told her I could forgive her mistake with Viliame. I realise now I timed it badly. She asked me to leave her alone, but I needed her to understand. I tried to explain again how I was looking after her, and would continue to do so. Why was she frightened? She tried to walk past me, but I couldn’t let her.’
Death by Tradition: Fiji Islands Mysteries 2 Page 24
