‘When I found it, I remember thinking how strange it was. I went over to have a look, thinking there should have been eggs, or at least shells, where they’d hit the ground. But there weren’t. And I tell you what else. I never saw those particular eagles again.’ He stopped again, thinking. ‘Yeah, that’s exactly right. I haven’t seen them.’
‘How would you know it was them?’ Dave asked, looking up from his notebook.
‘They had identification tags on their legs,’ Chris explained. ‘We did a count up of birds a few years ago—they’re endangered. You probably know that. Farmers love to kill them because they take lambs.’
Dave nodded. He knew there was always a fight between farmers and rangers when it came to wedge-tails.
‘So, we counted them up to see what type of numbers we had around here. See, now you mention it, I would have just assumed that they’d been shot by farmers, or died, or something. Now you’re throwing a completely different light on this.’ He shook his head.
The sound of running feet and little voices was suddenly heard, and the door was flung open.
‘Dad! Dad!’ Heidi puffed. ‘There’s car tracks up onto Halley’s Bluff. There shouldn’t be, should there? Isn’t that where those Aboriginal carvings were found last year and—’
Chris held up his hand. ‘Hold on, girls, hold on. Settle down. Take it from the top and tell me slowly!’
Heidi and Tilly looked at each other, then Heidi started to talk. ‘You know that emu nest that’s out on the flat, in the bushes, halfway up the hill?’
Chris nodded.
‘We went up to have a look.’
He frowned. ‘I’ve told you not to go up there without someone with you. Old man emus are nasty creatures.’
‘Anyway,’ Heidi continued, ignoring her father’s reprimand, ‘I saw all the grasses squashed down, so I went to look and it’s a track, like a ute track, going through the bush. They shouldn’t be doing that. There isn’t a track there and they could hurt an animal. This is a national park! They’ve got to stay on the tracks. It was the first thing we were taught.’
Dave glanced over at Chris, then looked back at the girls. ‘Could you show me?’ he asked quietly.
Chapter 25
Dave was frustrated. It was times like these that he realised how much he depended on the internet to do his job properly.
Although he was a technophobe, he had come to acknowledge that machines could make his job much easier, so he had undergone the training the police department offered, as well as mastered Siri. This time last year, he hadn’t even known who Siri was. Through the Tardis in his four-wheel drive, he could access information on people and vehicles.
But here he was, out the back of beyond, and there was limited to no internet. Certainly there wasn’t any mobile phone signal.
The investigation of Halley’s Bluff had instantly raised a red flag with him. He wanted forensics out in the field as soon as possible, but it would take them at least three hours to get there.
Sighing, Dave noticed Heidi and Tilly hovering quietly in the background and wondered if he should ask them to leave. But they were staying clear of the scene and they were the ones who had raised the alarm that something was wrong. He would have to talk to them too.
Something else occurred to him, and he looked over to where Chris was on his knees, hands behind his back, peering at the ground. ‘Mate, have you emptied the drop box lately?’ Dave asked. He was referring to the locked honesty box in which visitors to the park had to leave their details and the entry fee.
Chris looked up and nodded. ‘Took everything out yesterday.’
‘Have you still got those records or do you have to send them to head office?’
‘I’ve still got them.’ Chris swished at the flies and looked down again. ‘I can’t believe this.’
Other than crushed grass and wheel tracks, there was little evidence of poaching visible to the naked eye, but Dave’s gut told him otherwise. And it was his gut he listened to the most.
‘Look, I think I’m going to cordon off this area. I really want the blokes in forensics to come and have a look, but I’m not sure they’ll be able to. These smaller jobs are usually left to me. It’s a bugger that the ground is too hard for the wheels to have left an impression on it. Plus, a lot of the driving has been done on the vegetation. But we can see where the vehicle’s been. Any evidence is good evidence at the moment.’
‘You can do that?’ Chris asked. ‘Collect what’s needed?’
Dave glanced over at him. The man looked shaken. He supposed this was only natural, considering the park was under his care.
‘I sure can. I’ve been doing it for twenty-nine years!’ Dave hiked back to the car and got out his camera. Flicking the flap door open, he checked to see that the SD card was in there before walking back up the hill.
Halfway up, he stopped, shut his eyes and listened.
The sun was out today and it warmed his back, even though the breeze was cool. Absent-mindedly, he brushed away the small black flies that bombarded his eyes and nose. Other than their buzz, he could hear birdsong, and the leaves brushing together. Occasionally, he heard a tourist’s voice floating up from the walking track, which was about five hundred metres away, along the edge of the creek, but other than that, the park was serene.
He opened his eyes and looked around carefully, picking out the direction of the camping ground and Chris’s house. He could see the tip of the tall aerial that was bolted to the roof of the homestead, but in between was a deep creek and another line of smaller hills. He was pretty sure that Chris wouldn’t have been able to hear anything and he certainly wouldn’t have been able to see lights, unless he was outside at the right time.
Glancing around, he took in the brightly coloured wild flowers that were dotted in and around the dull green scrubby bushes. Someone would have to have known that the nest was there, or spent a lot of time staking out the area during the day, to get in and out quickly and without anyone noticing them.
‘Cameras,’ Dave muttered. He pulled his notebook out of his top pocket and made a note. Then he scribbled: long-term visitors—average visit time?
He continued back up the hill, thinking hard.
‘Have you got motion cameras rigged up anywhere in the park, Chris?’ Dave asked as he focused the camera on the crushed wild flowers, bush and grass, and started to take photos of the scene.
‘Nah, never had any of that sort of shit around here,’ the ranger answered. He turned to the girls, who were hovering in the background. ‘Listen, you two, how about you shoot back home? I’ll be back there soon. I’ll just finish helping Dave, okay?’
‘But, Dad,’ Heidi began.
‘No,’ Chris answered in a tone Dave had never heard him use before. ‘This is grown-up work. Off you go. I’ll be back soon.’
Complaining, the girls headed back down the hill, their voices floating up as they went.
Dave straightened up and went back to his car to get out some tape. ‘There’s not much more I can do here,’ he said. ‘Let’s tape it off and go and see what names you’ve got in your drop box, and plan from there.’ He fastened the crime-scene tape to a tree and started to walk towards a bush, the tape unrolling as he went.
‘Is there anything else you know about that could be poached easily? More eggs, or chicks, or something?’ Dave finished what he was doing and put the roll back into his ute.
‘I don’t often know where there are any nests or babies, or the like, unless the girls tell me. I’m usually so busy cleaning up after tourists, or policing them, I don’t get around the park as much as you’d think I would.’ He stood with his hands in his pockets, rocking back and forth on his heels.
‘Righto, drop box it is, then.’ Dave took one final look over his shoulder and jumped into his car. Chris followed in his ranger vehicle.
Back at the house, Chris handed over the drop box and Dave started sifting through the pieces of paper.
‘
Can I also have your records of people who’ve stayed or have national parks passes?’ he asked without looking up from the cards spread in front of him.
Chris wordlessly passed over a logbook.
‘What did you find?’
Dave looked up to see Heidi peeking through the door, her eyes wide with curiosity. He smiled at her.
‘It’s not going to be that easy to find out what’s going on here, Heidi,’ he answered. ‘I’m going to have to do a bit of detective work.’
‘Why would someone take eggs and animals?’ she asked. ‘They’d be hard to look after, out of their natural habitat.’
‘People make money from it, by selling the product,’ Dave answered, then, seeing the puzzled look on her face, explained: ‘Okay—say someone has taken these emu eggs. They’re worth a lot of money on the black market. So, they steal the eggs, then sell them on to another person. It’s how some people make their money. It’s wrong, but it happens. Sometimes the animals are sold overseas, sometimes to private collectors. There’s lots of markets for them. Australian wildlife can be prized possessions for overseas collectors. The lizard and bird trades are huge.’
Heidi stood there silently, and Dave could tell she still didn’t understand. Why would you take an animal out of its natural habitat, why would you put it through the stress of travel, why would you risk it dying? Its life was worth so much more here, where the animal or reptile belonged.
Both girls had been raised to love and respect every animal in the park. He looked over at Chris, whose face was glowing red. Maybe it was a good time to leave and let him explain it to the girls, better than he, Dave, could. Anyway, he had a heap of things to get on with. He gathered up all the paperwork and tucked it under his arm.
‘I might head off with these,’ he said. ‘I’m going to go back to the station, and start to do some background checks on the names and regos I’ve got here.’
Chris finally opened his mouth. ‘Am I allowed to let you just take these?’ he asked. ‘Isn’t there a privacy law or something?’
‘It’ll be okay. I’m just going to start the investigation with these and see where it leads. There may not be anything that jumps out at me, but I do want to run these names through the computer. I might hit something, you never know.’
‘Okay. I guess you’ll let me know if you find anything?’
‘Sure will. And you’ll let me know if you see or hear anything?’
‘Shit, yeah.’
Dave nodded. ‘All right, I’ll be in touch. Catch you later.’ He turned to Heidi. ‘Thanks for your help on this, Heidi. Can I come and talk to you about it soon?’
Heidi puffed her chest out. ‘Yes,’ she answered.
‘Great. I’ll be back tomorrow.’
It was a long drive back and Dave was exhausted by the time he drove into the main street and pulled up at the police station. Darkness had fallen and the town was quiet as he arrived. There were lights coming from the houses along the street and, as he got out and stretched his legs, the smell of wood smoke hit him. He breathed it in and raised his face to the stars, glad the air was cold. It would wake him up.
The notes and files under his arm, he unlocked the station door and flicked on the light switch. Sitting at his desk, he held down a button on his iPhone and said, ‘Send text to Kim’ when Siri asked what he wanted.
‘I’m at the station, working,’ he said to the phone and watched as it created his text message for him. ‘Will be home later. Working on a case. Love you.’ The words flashed onto the screen as quickly as he could say them.
Turning to the computer, he switched it on and opened his email account. With two fingers he typed out a request for forensics to head up to the park, thinking it would probably be denied because he had the skills to do it himself. He grabbed a fresh notepad from his drawer and, starting with the top card from the drop box, he typed the name on it into the IMS—instant management system.
No hit, no flags, no nothing. Not even a parking fine.
He nodded. That was what he had expected. It would be a long night, but if there was someone whose name raised a flag, he would find it before he headed back to Blinman.
Chapter 26
‘Okay, it’s only two weeks until the cook-off,’ Reen said to the group gathered around the table in the pub. ‘We’ve got to up the ante here or we’re not going to be organised in time.’
There was a general murmur of agreement, then Mary spoke up.
‘I’ve ordered all the meat, potatoes, carrots, onions and flour from Port Augusta. We’re lucky the grocer offered to donate all the produce again. Do we have an up-to-date number of entries?’
All heads turned to Mark Patterson, who was in charge of the entries. He opened his notebook. ‘Okay—as of yesterday, there were twenty-two. I’m expecting another five or ten, at least.’
Jacob spoke up. ‘I’ve got the firewood organised and will start bringing that in over the next few days. There’s a few other blokes who’ll start to bring in loads too. Has anyone done anything about booking the Portaloos and showers?’
Reen nodded. ‘Yep, I did that a few weeks ago. They’ll be delivered next week.’ She leaned back in her chair. ‘What about the selfie trail, Eliza?’
Eliza looked down at her notes. ‘Well, I’ve got five different sites they have to visit. Two in the national park, one on the way here, then they’ll need to go to the mine and to Forget-me-not Well.’ She took a shaky breath as she remembered her reaction when Jacob had taken her there.
She still didn’t understand why she had felt the way she had. Jacob had been stunned by her response and taken her away as quickly as he could.
To stand where someone had died was a haunting and eerie experience. And knowing that Clara and Richard had been married at the beautiful, isolated spot made it worse. How could happiness be so tangled with sadness?
After being told one of the stories about the well, Eliza had asked Jacob not to tell her any more. The crazy emotions she was experiencing couldn’t be explained, although she wondered if it was all her pent-up feelings about leaving Dominic that were affecting her so much.
When Jacob had driven her home, she’d tried to laugh her reaction off, saying she was just tired, but she was sure Jacob didn’t believe her. How could he? She didn’t believe herself.
Eliza just wished she could understand what the hell was going on with her, especially when, a couple of days later, she had driven herself back there and experienced different emotions. She had felt peaceful and at ease. She’d walked around and soaked in the quiet atmosphere. She had sat on the edge of the well, looking in. She’d begun to wonder if she’d got upset about nothing.
‘Eliza?’
She blinked at the sound of Jacob’s voice and the pressure of his hand on her arm. ‘Sorry,’ she said and looked back down at her notes. ‘I’ve been out to all the spots and taken photos of them, and drawn up the entry form and map, so I think I’m as organised as I can be.’
‘Did we decide on an entry fee?’ Julie asked.
‘Yep, one hundred dollars per car.’
‘And prizes?’ she asked, as she scribbled down notes to be typed up at a later date.
‘A carton of white wine or two cartons of beer, donated by the pub, as first prize,’ Eliza answered, referring back to her notepad. ‘A voucher to tour the mine as second prize, and a meal voucher for Cornish pasties and quangdong pies as third prize.’
‘Right,’ Julie answered. ‘That sounds really good. But we’re going to have to promote this a bit more. It’s something new and different, so let’s plug it as hard as we can. I’ve got an interview with local ABC radio on Wednesday, so I’ll mention it then.’ She paused and turned to Reen. ‘Were you liaising with the newspaper?’
Reen nodded. ‘Yeah, I’ve got that all sorted. Eliza, can I get a copy of the map and entry form, so I can forward them to the journo who’s writing the article and she can put them in the paper?’
‘Sure.’
‘Drinks anyone?’ Jacob asked as he got up from the table. He took a couple of orders, then asked, ‘Eliza?’
‘Just a lemonade, please.’
‘Can I interest you in a wine?’
She shook her head. ‘No, thanks.’
‘Ah! You’re no fun!’ He smiled and went over to the bar.
The door opened and Eliza heard Jacob say: ‘Well, well, well, look at what you see when you don’t have a gun! Dessie, how are you, old mate?’
She looked around and saw a hunched-over man with snowy white hair grinning at Jacob. They shook hands.
‘We’re just talking about a fundraising idea for Frontier Services,’ Jacob said. ‘Come on over—you might have some suggestions.’ He steered Dessie to the table and grabbed him a chair.
Eliza watched as Dessie was greeted with genuine pleasure and affection. She could feel how his presence lifted everyone there. He radiated calmness and gentleness. His grey eyes rested on her, and in them she saw kindness and compassion. Then she saw them briefly widen, before he very quickly slid his gaze over to Mary and back to her.
‘Well now, lass, I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure.’ Dessie held out his hand. ‘I’m Dessie, and who might you be?’
‘I’m Eliza,’ she answered, suddenly feeling shy in the presence of a man who was obviously such a local legend.
‘Eliza, it’s lovely to meet you.’ He turned back to the rest of the table and smiled. ‘So, are you all dreaming up mad things?’ he asked.
Reen laughed. ‘A selfie trail is the new thing at the camp cook-off and all that money is going to you. Along with all the normal things to do with the cook-off.’
‘That sounds very interesting, Reen. And it’s very kind of you all to think of doing something like this.’ He smiled kindly at them.
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