The Murder Suite: Book One - The Audrey Murders

by Leonie Mateer

  For some reason the locals used their home phones more than their cell phones. Mobile phones in New Zealand were expensive and Audrey hated texting so she seldom used it. Usually in the floods, the phone lines went out with the power lines. If you didn’t charge your mobile phone you were out of luck trying to communicate.

  Audrey always made sure she had batteries for the portable boom box so she could get news from the local radio stations. She realized she should check the guests had enough candles and matches in case the power went out soon. She made her way out into the blustery wind and pouring rain to do her last minute checks.

  C H A P T E R 3 5

  The rain finally stopped. The sun shone over the drenched farmland as the waters subsided and green grass began to surface through brown muddy waters. Residents opened their doors to a new day with rakes, shovels and hoses in hand. It was a community effort cleaning up after a flood. Chain saws buzzed in the distance as trees were removed from blocks paths and roadways. Roadside workers went from mud slip to mud slip clearing away the damage so the roads could open again. Farmers replaced fallen fences and cleared out waterways. The town of Kaeo mopped the muddy floors and hosed down their walkways. By the afternoon everything was pretty much back to normal. Low lying areas still had pools of muddy water but roads were clear and businesses were open to all. The furniture truck was on its way back to Kaeo having spent the night in Kerikeri along with Maria and the boys.

  The police house didn’t get any water damage as the water just reached the top of the foundation and didn’t go into the house. Thanks to the sand bags placed at all the doors.

  Constable Driver hadn’t got much sleep so decided to take a nap while waiting for the family to arrive. It had been a tough night. He was called to a number of burglaries. It seemed as though the local lads took advantage of the flood to break into quite a few empty houses. Driver had been swamped in paperwork all morning. He needed some time out. He walked over the old sofa in his office. It has been his refuge during long nights. As he stretched out and grabbed a cushion for his head he heard the door of the police station open. Damn! What now?

  “Anyone here?” He heard a gruff voice calling out. “Hey Constable, you in here?” Driver got up and walked out into the lobby. He could smell Smithy before he saw him.

  Smithy was not much of a bather. By the looks of him, he had slept in the same clothes for some time. Driver knew he lived alone with just his old dog for company.

  “What can I do for you?” he asked.

  “Bruiser found something in ditch under the road and I don’t like the look of it so I decided to bring it to you.” Smithy removed a large parcel wrapped in an old sack. Driver couldn’t see what it was.

  “What is it?” he asked as he bent over the sack.

  “It’s a bone - a bloody big bone. It’s not a pig bone, or cow bone, or dog bone - it looks more like a human tibia bone,” informed Smithy. “Don’t like the look of it. Looks as though it has been chewed up by animals.”

  “Holy shit!” said Driver. Where did you find it?”

  “Across the road from my place down where the big water pipe goes under the road. Looks as though it got trapped in the branches and stuff. Thought I should bring it straight to you. Bruiser here found it and brought it home this morning. Last night I found him trying to pull the bone out of the ditch but the water was too swift and it was shitting down so I made him leave it there. When I saw what it was it fair scared the shit out me.”

  Driver looked at the bone in more detail. It was muddy with, what looked like, clawed bits of flesh hanging in mangled strips. There appeared to be bite marks on the bone. It didn’t seem to have been out in the open very long, maybe a day or two. It was pretty awful to look at.

  He hadn’t seen too many dead bodies and thought the bloody leg bone was more gruesome than anything he had seen before.

  Driver called the Kerikeri police station and asked the forensic team to meet him at the ditch near Smithy’s house. They needed to do a full search in case other bones or even a body could be located. Driver thought it might be the guy, Blackmore. Maybe his body had been washed up from the harbor somehow and ended up in a storm drain under Wainui Road. He thanked old Smithy and took the parcel into his office where he found a sterile paper bag and large cardboard box and carefully placed the bone inside for the forensics team to analyze. Driver liked it when a case got solved. He didn’t like missing pieces and this case had worried him. He got into his car and headed off to Wainui Road with his lights flashing.

  C H A P T E R 3 6

  Pearl saw the police car heading off down Wainui Road. The lights were flashing and Constable Driver looked like he meant business.

  I wonder what’s going on? Thought Pearl. She couldn’t resist it. She hopped in her little car and followed the constable down Wainui Road. She saw old Smithy and his dog at the corner by the Chalets. Smithy gave a wave as the police car came to an abrupt halt. She didn’t like to appear nosey so she went around the car and took the next driveway up to the Chalets. She would stop for a cuppa with Audrey. She knew they would have a bird’s eye view of the road from the Chalets. Pearl’s curiosity really had the best of her. What could be going on? She hadn’t seen anything.

  Pearl looked for any sign of Audrey. She wasn’t quite sure what suite was the office. She parked her car on the lower level behind Audrey’s blue Rav4. Then she saw the “office” sign by Suite B and made her way over to the door. Audrey was at her computer deep in thought. She jumped when Pearl knocked.

  “Sorry to bug you” said Pearl but I was heading off to Tauranga Bay and I noticed Constable Driver and Smithy below your property next door. They are looking at the storm water pipe that runs under the road. Do you know what is going on? I thought I should tell you”.

  “What?” said Audrey, the color draining out of her face “Constable Driver? He is at the culvert”?

  “Yes, said Pearl. “Looks as though they are searching for something.”

  Then they both heard the sirens. They were getting closer and closer and then they stopped at the small driveway at the end of Audrey’s property.

  There were police dogs and policemen everywhere. It looked like a crime scene. Constable Driver was stopping the traffic. Smithy was waving the locals on in the other direction. Pearl was getting more and more excited. “I wonder what it is?” said Pearl.

  Maybe they have found that guy, Blackmore. Maybe his body washed up in the flood. Come on Audrey, let’s go down and find out what is happening?”

  Audrey couldn’t move she felt frozen in place. “You go Pearl. I had better stay here with the guests. Call me when you find out what has happened”.

  “OK” said Pearl forgetting all about a cup of tea. “Ill call you” and she ran to her car and took off at great speed down the driveway and out on the road.

  Audrey watched as Pearl stopped to talk to Smithy. She saw them looking up at the Chalets. This is not good, thought Audrey. She walked to the fridge and poured a full glass of wine. She wished she still smoked. A ciggy is just what she needed now. She drank the full glass and walked outside to the edge of the bank overlooking the road. She couldn’t quite see what was going on down by the drain. She walked back to Suite B and climbed up the steps through her tropical gardens and across the freshly mowed lawn behind Suite C.

  The road at the top led down to where the commotion was taking place. She didn’t want to venture too close to the scene but just close enough to hear what was going on.

  She followed the road for a couple of minutes then climbed down into the valley. No one could see her there. She was hidden by the hill and the valley was covered in trees and native ferns.

  The flood had left the valley floor muddy and strewed with logs and branches. She walked down as far as she dared until she could see where the pigpen had been. It was now just sheets of corrugated iron torn apart by the raging waters. No one would know it once was a pen. Audrey took a deep breath and exhaled out loud.
What a relief. The flood has destroyed any evidence. But she knew the police had found something in the culvert drain. It could have come from anywhere. She would just have to keep her wits about her. She headed back up the valley and into her car. She knew the police would be visiting her soon with more questions and wanted to be prepared. She just had a quick trip to make and now was a good time.

  C H A P T E R 3 7

  Constable Driver and the team from Kerikeri spent a good two hours searching the ditch where Smithy’s dog had located the leg bone. It was a human leg bone. The forensics guy had already confirmed it. They took it away and would do a DNA test on it. But the general consensus was, it was most likely to be Blackmore’s leg. But what was it doing in the ditch on Audrey’s property. It was unlikely it had been swept in from the harbor, as the water was flowing down the valley and into the harbor not the other direction. It had to have come down from the mountains. It made no sense, none whatsoever. No other bones were found. Driver thought maybe a wild pig or dog had found the bone near the bay washed up on the shore and had carried it down to this location. But it was quite a way for an animal to drag such a heavy bone.

  The team packed up and went back to the site where the car had gone into the harbor. They followed the muddy water’s edge along the bank for a mile in each direction but there was no sign of any body parts. They decided to meet back at the Kaeo station where they could have a cup of coffee and a formal meeting. This was serious. A man had lost a leg and. likely, his life. Now they could have a homicide on their hands.

  The group studied all the evidence and started forming an investigating team. Detective Constable Mason from Kerikeri was put in charge. Constable Driver would be the local man on the case and a couple of detectives from Auckland city would stay locally and work full time on the case. As soon as forensics confirmed Blackmore’s DNA the next step would be to confirm; if it was an accident, his body was ravaged by some animal when it was swept up in the storm or if, in fact, it was a homicide and there was someone out there who wanted Blackmore dead. If it was not Blackmore’s DNA then they had two open cases. Constable Driver didn’t want to close the Blackmore case until the DNA results came in.

  They looked at the list of possible suspects who could have committed a crime such as this. The list was long; local Maori gangs in the area, known druggies and half a dozen mentally challenged homeless guys who wandered the area. Also, recently reported burglaries had Driver concerned there was a new team in town causing havoc.

  Driver’s first job was to check everyone on the list over the next couple of days and create a suspect list so they could start eliminating them one by one. He knew where he was going to start first.

  C H A P T E R 3 8

  Maria dropped the boys off at school. They had decided to try out the local school but she had a feeling they would soon transfer to Kerikeri. She didn’t like the look of the local kids. They looked pretty rough. She wasn’t particularly impressed with the teachers either. She would give it a few days, and if the boys didn’t like it there, she would transfer them to one of the two Kerikeri schools. There was also a good private school in Kerikeri but Maria knew on a policeman’s wage it would be out of the question. The Kerikeri school bus left right across the road from their home so it wouldn’t be a problem.

  Without the boys Maria was free until three o’clock. She had a full day all to around herself. First she must go up Old Hospital road and follow a gravel road a couple of miles to a yellow house with a red roof. She followed the directions and found herself parked up a driveway surrounded by old derelict cars and bikes. The place looked like a dump. She walked up the path and knocked at the door.

  She had disguised herself in a brown knitted hat pulled down over her ears. Her dark long hair was hidden from sight, a pair of old overalls covered her designer jeans and Red Band gumboots replaced her sandals. If ever anyone found out she was a policeman’s wife, her husband would be kicked off the force and she would be sent to jail. The cops were getting tougher and tougher on drug dealers and drug users. She was walking a fine line.

  The Maori man standing in the doorway was huge. Bald head, heavily tattooed and with more gaps than teeth. His massive arms protruded from a cut off denim vest. His blue and black scarf flagged he was a Black Power gang member. He looked scary as shit. As he turned to lead her inside she saw his gang patch - a closed black fist. She had dealt with this gang before. They had a strong hold on the drug business in the far north. If he ever knew she was a cop’s wife she would be dead. Thank goodness she had come recommended and with cash and was in and out in minutes.

  On the way back into town she stopped down a side road leading to nowhere. Leaving the car, she sat on a log in the sun and rolled a joint. As she inhaled the sweet vapor she felt relaxed for the first time in days. Feeling great, she stripped off her disguise, slipped on her new high-healed sandals and shook out her long black shiny hair. She might even get a massage. She had seen a sign on the side of the road. It was just what she needed. It was going to be a great day.

  C H A P T E R 3 9

  As soon as the cops left the area Audrey started with her new plan of moving the pigpen up into the mountain away from any flood areas. She stopped to pick up the trailer from the dump area. It was not easy getting the trailer out of the soggy ground and it took numerous attempts. Once on the car she stopped to pick up more sheets of corrugated iron and a few posts and drove up the gravel road to the top of the hill and through the farm gates to the edge of the pine forest.

  It took her most of the day to resurrect the pigpen but by early evening she was happy with the results. The pen could not be seen from the Chalets or from the road. It was completely hidden by fresh gorse bushes and pine trees. It was also close enough to the car track so she didn’t have to drag anything too far to dump it.

  Once back at the Chalets she changed into clean jeans and jacket and did a chemical test of all three spas. This was also an excuse to talk to the guests and check if everything was OK. Everyone seemed happy but they were curious about the commotion by the police that morning. Audrey explained a man’s car was found in the harbor a couple of days ago and they were still looking for him. They presumed it was an accident. “Poor man” Audrey said. “They say he was a heavy drinker”.

  Audrey was on her way back to Suite B when she heard a dog’s bark. She turned to find old Smithy and his dog coming up the driveway. She met him at the top of the driveway and quickly hustled him away from the sight of the guests and onto her private patio. Smithy wasn’t the type of clientele she welcomed to the Chalets. In fact he had scared away potential guests in the past. She offered him a seat at her outside table and patted his dog. Audrey liked animals. She had always preferred them to people. They were more honest.

  “I saw you with the police this morning” said Audrey. “What was going on?”

  “Bruiser here, found a human leg bone in the ditch just by the culver pipe,” grunted Smithy. “Strangest thing. Can’t figure out how it got there. Bruiser found it last night during the downpour but I wouldn’t let him stay and dig it out. He went back this morning, dug it out and brought it home. I took it straight to the police station. Gave me the creeps. They have confirmed that it is a human bone,” he confided with vigor.

  Audrey had stopped breathing. Her worst nightmare had come true. They had found a bone. Damn. Damn, Damn! Was all she could think.

  “That’s awful. Oh my God, Maybe it’s an ancient bone from a Maori burial site which has surfaced in the flood?”

  “No way” said Smithy. “It was a fresh bone, still had some blood and skin on it. The cops think it might belong to the missing guy from the harbor.”

  Shit! Thought Audrey as she put on her best smile “Would you like a cup of tea or coffee?” she asked.

  “Tea would be good,” said Smithy.

  Audrey walked inside her suite to think. What the hell? She put on the kettle and took a bowl of water out for Smithy’s dog. “Won’t b
e a minute” she called back as she returned inside. At the kitchen bench she realized her legs were shaking. She put two cups, the teapot, milk and sugar on a tray and returned outside. “What do the police think?” asked Audrey casually.

  “They think it must be that guy, Blackmore’s, leg. Forensics will do a DNA test to make sure it is his, but that’s what they think. Personally, I think someone murdered that son of a bitch for drug money. This town is not what it used to be. Now the druggies have taken over the town. “P” is everywhere. I wouldn’t be surprised if it isn’t those dirty low downs living in the old caravan up there by Tauranga Bay. They don’t look right to me and they are always begging a ride and money. The cops said there have been a lot of burglaries lately. I wouldn’t put it pass them to rob that guy Blackmore and throw him in the harbor along with his car. I saw them at the pub on Sunday night and they were pretty far gone.”

  Audrey listened with renewed interest realizing that no one even slightly suspected her. Of course the police would think it was either the druggies or the gangs if there was a murder in town. She relaxed for the first time since Smithy and his dog had appeared on her driveway. She was safe.

  Smithy rambled on for some time about how the town used to be a well -respected farming town. “Generations of good men have farmed this land for two centuries. We used to know our neighbors now they are murdering each other,” he grumbled. “Must go.” He said suddenly as he called his dog that had disappeared to the garden and was sniffing around with enthusiasm. “Here Bruiser” he called again.

  Audrey was alone again and lost in thought. Tomorrow was Wednesday and the guests were all checking out in the morning. Cleaning both suites and getting them ready for new guests would take all day. But she would take a ride up to the caravan by Tauranga Bay. She had seen them a couple of times walking down the road towards Whangaroa. It was a good five-mile walk.