Matt slumped back on the pillow, frustrated at his weakened state.
‘Guess we can leave it until tomorrow,’ he said.
Anna snuggled against him and he lay still, enjoying the feel of her. She felt like she had when he’d first touched her all those years ago, and for a moment he wondered why he’d ever left her. But from somewhere deep inside the feelings of loss, betrayal and failure rose again. He should push Anna away, he thought, but he didn’t have the energy – and anyway, he didn’t want to.
‘We belong together and I’ve always believed that.’ He wasn’t sure where those words had come from or why they were foremost in his mind, but he knew they were true. And now here she was, curled up next to him on a single hospital bed. A bloke couldn’t be more lucky, he thought, as he stroked her arm.
Anna twisted around to face him. ‘I love you,’ she said. ‘I always have and always will.’
Matt looked at her seriously and ran his fingers over her face. ‘I love you too,’ he said softly. ‘And I’m sorry.’
‘So am I.’ Anna leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.
‘So, Matt, let me make sure I’ve got it all straight. He kicked you and then he shone the torch in your eyes while he leaned down to pick up something. We’re assuming it’s the assault weapon.That’s when you saw this tattoo?’ Sergeant Jones, one of the two detectives who were standing at the end of his bed, looked up from his notes.
‘Yeah, that’s right.’
‘Can you describe the tattoo?’
‘I can’t really remember it, I just know there was something on his arm. It was green and maybe about the size of an apple. I think I’d know it again if I saw it, but it seemed like squiggles all linking together. It was only a quick glance. I was concentrating on other things.’
‘Righto. So is there anything else you can remember that might help us?’
‘Well, it’s not really to do with the attack, but I’ve got a strange message on my phone. Anna, do you know where my phone is? The last thing I remember it was in my pocket.’
‘I think it’s in the drawer of your bedside table.’ She opened the drawer and rummaged through Matt’s personal effects. Finally she held it up.
‘Here.’ Matt took the phone from her and dialled his message bank, then held it out for the police officers to listen.
‘I’m pretty sure the bloke who’s doing most of the talking – the one needing money – is a guy called Alec Harper. He lives in Spalding. But none of it makes sense. He shouldn’t need money – he’s supposed to have heaps. A while ago I did have a stupid thought he might be trying to steal to get some cash, but he’d never be able to pay the farm off with the small amounts he’d be making.’ I don’t know who made the call, but there’s something familiar in the background. That crackling noise, it sounds like something I’ve heard before, but I can’t put my finger on it.’
Sergeant Jones held it to his ear and listened. ‘Yeah, I know what you mean. Almost like a radio in the background. Look, we can break this message down and isolate the background noises . . .’
Matt interrupted. ‘What did you just say?’
‘We can fade out the foreground noises . . .’
‘No, before that. You think it sounds like a radio?’
‘Well, yeah, it sounds like a CB radio – like truckies talking.’
Matt went pale and held out his hand for the phone again.
Anna was looking frightened.
‘Truckies?’ she whispered.
‘You’re right – that’s what it is,’ Matt said, holding the phone to his ear. ‘I’m sure of it. Like the radio in Jimmy’s office and our cabs.’
‘But it couldn’t be Jimmy,’ Anna gasped.
‘Of course it’s not Jimmy, honey, ’ Matt reassured her. ‘How would Alec Harper know Jimmy? All trucking companies have CB radios.’
Detective Gorry looked interested.‘Who’s Jimmy?’ he asked.
‘Jimmy Marshall, my boss. He owns East-West Haulage.’
The detective scribbled a note. ‘Right, and how do you know that the man in conversation here is Alec Harper?’
Matt related how he’d heard Alec Harper’s voice in Maggie’s store.
Gorry nodded. ‘Okay, we’ll check it out. Now are you sure there’s nothing else you can remember that might help us identify your attacker?’
Matt thought for a minute. ‘I’m not sure, but it’s possible Jasper bit him. I can sort of remember this howl of pain, but I’m not sure if it was him or me. Jasper was definitely snarling.’ Matt stopped and shut his eyes, then opened them again suddenly. ‘Sam’s motorbike! Geez, there has to be a link here somehow. It was in the shed. In an underground storage room. Like a cellar.’
‘What?’ Anna looked confused. ‘Matt, are you sure you’re feeling okay? The bike was stolen from Sam’s shed.’
‘I know, I know, but I saw it – at least I think I did. There’s a room under the storage shed. I found a trapdoor leading to it just before I went outside to meet Shane. And there’s something else . . .’ He frowned. ‘Oh yeah. There were green leaves on the ground. Just a few. I wondered if it might have been marijuana.’
‘Marijuana and a stolen motorbike?’ Sergeant Jones asked, clearly perplexed. ‘Is there any chance you could explain this from the beginning?’
A couple of hours later the door opened and a stranger walked into Matt’s room carrying a folder. When Matt looked at him quizzically the man introduced himself as Detective Ringo. ‘I’m with the drug squad,’ he explained. ‘I’d like you to have a look at some of these photos and tell me if you recognise any of the tattoos.’
Matt heaved himself into a sitting position. ‘I’ll give it a go,’ he said. ‘I’m not sure how much I actually remember though.’
‘No worries,’ said Ringo, opening the folder and putting the photos out in front of him. ‘Take your time.’
Matt picked up the photos one by one and looked at them carefully. He discarded the tattoos of naked women, wolves and swords instantly, but kept returning to two, which were symbols.
‘I think it was sort of like these two,’ he said slowly.‘I just remember it all being tangled together. Sort of like a spider’s web, but not one.’
Ringo didn’t respond; he just sat and let Matt think things through.
Finally Matt shook his head.‘I can’t do any better than that, I’m sorry. Those two look about right, but I can’t distinguish between them.’
‘That’s fine, Matt. You’ve given us something to work with so it’s a start.’ He’d begun to gather up the photos when Anna walked in.
‘Oh, hello, Detective. Am I interrupting something?’ she asked.
‘Nah, just looking at some tattoos to see if I recognise any of them. I picked these two.’ Matt held out the photos and Anna took them.
She considered them for a moment. ‘I’ve seen something like this one before,’ she said. ‘Belinda’s got a bracelet like it.’
‘Really?’ Matt frowned and took the photo, studying it closely. ‘But they’re not exactly the same, are they?’
She looked at the symbol again. ‘I don’t think so, but I’ve only seen it once before. They look sort of the same. How bizarre. Why would this bloke have a tatt that’s the same as Belinda’s bracelet?’
Detective Ringo cleared his throat and asked, ‘And Belinda would be . . .?’
‘Oh, she’s Shane’s wife, he drives with me. He’s the one who found me and called the ambulance when I was attacked.’
Something glittered in Ringo’s eyes. ‘So you’re saying that the symbol in this picture is the same as one on Belinda’s bracelet?’
‘Well it’s similar,’ Anna said. ‘It would be a pretty strange coincidence, wouldn’t it?’ She shook her head. ‘It can’t be the same.’
‘Well, leave it with me,’ Ringo said. ‘I agree that it’s pretty unlikely, but I’ll look into it.’
Chapter 46
Matt’s release from hospital was a spec
ial occasion. Anna picked him up in her beat-up old dual cab, with Ella and Jasper along for the ride. This time, the grumpy nurse who had discovered Jasper on Matt’s bed and given Anna a severe dressing down turned a blind eye to the dog, who tried to lick every nurse in sight.
Matt walked slowly down the hall, focusing on making his legs walk as far as the ute.
On the drive home, Matt didn’t take his hands from Anna’s knee.
As they neared Clare, three police cars passed in convoy, heading towards Adelaide. Matt followed their journey in the rear-view mirror.
‘Wonder where they’re going?’ he said.
‘Who knows? But we’re heading home!’ Anna said happily.
When they pulled into their driveway Matt’s parents were waiting, along with Sam and Kate, Maggie and Anna’s two brothers.
Matt opened the door of the ute and climbed out slowly.There was a cheer and Matt raised his fist above his head in victory.‘I’m home!’ he called.
Sam raised his glass. ‘Here’s to Matt,’ he said. ‘And Anna, of course.’
‘To Matt and Anna,’ the crowd around the barbecue chorused.
Matt slipped his arm around Anna’s shoulders and kissed her on the lips. A shout of approval went up from the group and Anna blushed.
As Anna went inside to fetch some more napkins Sam came over and sat next to Matt. ‘How’re you holding up, mate?’ he asked.
‘Really well. Man, it’s great to be home.’ Matt looked up at the clear blue sky and breathed deeply.
‘How’d the interview with the cops go? They quizzed us fairly thoroughly.’
Matt laughed. ‘You should have seen their faces when I started to talk about your motorbike. They must’ve thought the drugs the docs were giving me were affecting my brain! But when I went back and explained everything from the start, including the fertiliser and everything else, the cops got a bit of a picture of what’s been going on. It was a relief to tell someone.’
‘Yeah, I can imagine.’
‘You know what, though, Sam? I’m not worried about it anymore. I know the police are on the case now and I feel confident they’ll find the culprit.’
As if on cue Anna came out of the house, holding the phone in her hand.
‘Matt,’ she called. ‘Matt, it’s Sergeant Jones for you.’
Chapter 47
‘Matt, it’s Sergeant Harry Jones here.’
‘G’day. Anna’s here too. I’ve got you on speaker phone.’
‘Good. Look, I wanted to be the first to tell you that we’ve arrested someone for the theft of your fertiliser and all the other thefts in your area.’
Matt licked his lips, his mouth suddenly dry. ‘Who?’
‘Alec Harper. He’s been charged with stealing, among other offences.’
‘It was him!’ Matt hissed. ‘I thought it must have been. But why? The bloody bastard! He sent me broke and then he bought my farm. My dog.’
Anna had her hand over her mouth, her face ghostly pale.
‘This is going to be all over the papers tomorrow, so let me quickly give you an outline of what’s happened. There’s still an investigation in progress, though, so I can’t tell you everything. Matt, someone came forward and told us that Alec was the one who bashed you and a great deal more information.’
‘Who came forward?’ Matt asked immediately.
‘I’m afraid I can’t reveal that at the moment – but I can tell you Harper was probably concerned not just about you discovering it was him who was stealing everything, but also that you might inadvertently bust open the drug ring run by his daughter.’
‘His daughter?’ gasped Anna. ‘Alec Harper has a daughter? He’s never even had a girlfriend for as long as we’ve known him.’
‘We put it together when you identified the tattoo. That’s how the people in this ring identify each other – they all wear that symbol. If you look closely, you can see the letters MT.’
Anna and Matt stared at each other, then Anna asked,‘Who is the daughter?’
‘Belinda Lyons.’
‘Shane has got one!’Anna said suddenly. ‘He has a chain with that symbol on it – and it’s on their letter box too! I saw it when we went there the night of the wedding!’
‘Letter box?’ Matt asked.
‘Yes, Anna, you’re right,’ Jones said. ‘Shane Lyons was involved too. He was the delivery man for interstate clients while Belinda sold hundreds of kilos through the producers’ markets in Adelaide. She and her friend were growing marijuana in the Adelaide Hills and using her dried herbs stall as a front. We’ve also linked them to Donald Hample, who is also known as Paddy. Anyway, you can sleep soundly – they’re all in custody. And yes all the houses have these symbols to mark where the drop-off points are. The Lyons’ was their letter box.’
‘Shane?’ cried Matt in disbelief. ‘Are you sure? I mean . . . he’s my mate.’
‘I think you’ll find that dealing drugs was how they funded their lifestyle, Matt,’ Jones said sympathetically. ‘But back to the rural crime, I can’t tell you why Harper stole these things – like I said, that’s still under investigation – but it was a separate operation to the drugs.
‘Their drug operation had been under investigation for a long time and that’s why the guy your policeman friend in WA contacted was warned off. The drug squad wanted Paddy Hample more than anyone else, and they didn’t want the investigation of the theft to get in the way.’
Long after they’d rung off, Matt sat staring off into the distance, trying to absorb what the detective had told him.
The party had dispersed quickly when they had heard Matt’s cry of disbelief and seen Anna’s shocked face. Ian and Laura had bundled a crying Ella into the car and taken her with them to give Anna and Matt some space.
As Anna handed Matt a cup of tea, lights swung into their driveway; minute or so later there was a knock at the door.
Anna opened it and Jimmy stood there, looking uncomfortable, twisting a felt hat in his hands.
‘Can I come in?’ he asked.
Anna nodded.
He followed her into the lounge where Matt was and sat down.
‘I need to tell you something,’ Jimmy began haltingly, putting down the hat. He nervously played with the sleeves of his jumper and pushed up the cuffs to mid-arm. ‘I’ve made so many mistakes in my life but Sandy was the biggest. He’s my nephew and I love him dearly, but he has a problem. Jimmy rubbed his nose. ‘I’ll explain from the beginning.
‘His childhood was unhappy. His mother was completely irresponsible; she drank, had man after man through the house and Sandy was exposed to all of this. He looked to me as the one stable person in his life, and for a long time I was. I was there for him as much as I could be. I loved that boy like he was my own.
‘Then I was drafted. Went to Vietnam, twice.’ Jimmy’s voice wobbled but neither Matt nor Anna noticed – they were staring at the tattoo on Jimmy’s arm: MT. Matt’s brain went into overdrive; the marked trailers! Anna shifted closer to Matt.
‘Just before I went the second time, I promised Sandy that when I came back we’d go into business together. I was trying to get him to stay in school.
‘But so many awful things happened in ’Nam – the most terrible of all being the death of Min-Thu, the woman I loved.’ Jimmy’s eyes watered, but he continued on, staring into the fire. He touched his tattoo. ‘When Sandy and I started the business, I designed this logo. I tell everyone it stands for Marshall Transport but really it’s for Min-Thu.’
He sighed. ‘Matt, lad, I’m sorry. This whole thing has been my fault. I kept giving in to Sandy. Didn’t try and get him to stop. You see, I felt I owed him, because when I came back from ’Nam, all cut up over Min-Thu’s death, he was the one I lashed out at. He ran away and I lost him for six years. Six years.
‘It took me almost that long to sort myself out. I was sick – malaria. Plus my leg had been infected where the shrapnel from the blast had got me. And I was an alcoholic to bo
ot.
‘When I finally did pull myself together, I went looking for Sandy and found him on the streets. We did go into business together, and it was fine for a little while.’ Jimmy allowed himself a small smile, obviously thinking of the good times.
‘But one night Sandy disappeared. I knew he was taking money from me, but I couldn’t work out what he was doing with it. So I followed him and watched as he blew nearly two hundred bucks. That was a lot of money back then. Gambling. He was addicted. Then he told me it was my fault he was the way he was. I had let him down.’ Despair filled Jimmy’s face. ‘My fault,’ he whispered. There was a long silence.
Matt and Anna didn’t know what to do, so they sat without moving, poised, ready to run if they needed to.
‘It was my fault and I let him keep telling me that. I just wanted to make everything right again, so when he said he owed money to loan sharks I found something for him to steal; I encouraged it. I’d set it all up and he’d just have to go and take it. Often I found buyers for the goods he’d taken.
‘That way, Sandy could pay off his debts and he’d be okay. Nothing would happen to him. I tried to keep him out of trouble – I bought him a farm, a way to make a good honest living, but he kept going back to gambling. I stood by and watched him crumble and I still couldn’t do anything, so I kept finding ways to get money for him.
‘I tried to get him to make an honest living through farming. I knew a little about it from when I was a kid and thought I could guide him. That wasn’t to be. I could never work out how he kept the farms looking so good when he didn’t have very much money. There were always new things; a silo or a bull that had cost the earth. Even with all the goods he was stealing and I was organising for him to take, the money factor never added up.
‘Then, the last year or so, I couldn’t abide it any longer. Matt, I’d come to know you, I’d seen what our handiwork had done to you, to your family – people that I care about. Then I started to think about the other people we might’ve hurt. I tried to give you hints, lad. The message on your mobile, and it was me who went to the police. I had to make amends somehow.That’s why I kept encouraging you to talk to Anna. I didn’t want your marriage breakup on my conscience as well.’
Purple Roads Page 26
