Georgie Harvey and John Franklin Collection

Chapter 26

Franklin mounted his motorbike and rode to the top of Wombat Hill. Throughout the short trip he churned over the morning’s meeting with Cathy Jones. It couldn’t compensate for her r**e, but he vowed to catch the sadist Solomon before the sicko destroyed her self-esteem.

One step at a time.

He sat at a picnic table with notepad ready. How to handle Pastor Danni’s information hadn’t solidified yet. He’d chew that over while he made his first call from the mobile.

The registrar cross-referenced staff on the ward while Renee and Cathy were at Ballarat Base with the original list for Tayla and Lauren’s stay. There were a handful of common names on the nursing team. The three she’d spoken to yesterday, along with four other midwives – one who’d retired at the end of February and another whose round-the-world long service leave jaunt began in March.

That left two nurses with realistic opportunity.

On top of this he had a list of doctors and aides to the maternity ward.

But what was the motive for any of these?

Forget motive for now, begin with the means.

Forget motive for now, begin with the means.So the list grew. Unfortunately, just two were rostered on and the registrar’s talks with them were in fits and starts around a difficult labour and an anxious mother-to-be with Braxton Hicks contractions. Both seemed to be non-starters.

No further enlightened, Franklin feared subsequent inquiries at the hospital would prove equally time consuming and fruitless.

Right, time for the new and improved theory.

Right, time for the new and improved theory.The next number he dialled was a local one: the Blue family from Goo Goo Road. His day of frustrations continued when he reached an answering machine. He left a carefully worded message that requested Earl Blue or his parents return his call.

Franklin toyed with the photo Pastor Danni had given him. An unsmiling pasty-faced youth in a wanker gangster hat, unbuttoned collared shirt over T-shirt. This was not the portrait he’d expected of Solomon.

And Danni had said, ‘He doesn’t fit your profile exactly. He’s much younger than what you’re thinking, only seventeen. But he could be your poison-pen writer.’

Sceptical, Franklin’s eyebrows had risen.

She’d passed the photo and pointed at the kid in the forefront. ‘Earl Blue joined us early last year. He came across as wonderful at first – friendly, helpful, kind, and we actually thought he’d make a great pastor. But after he ingratiated himself into the church and leadership group, he started to flex his muscles just a little too much in the youth group.’

‘How so?’

‘He started spouting some Old Testament scripture. His behaviour became more and more zealous. He told the girls to dress less provocatively – and these girls don’t show a b*a strap or singlet, let alone cleavage. Then he got angry, scary angry, when things didn’t go his way or people disagreed with him. By that stage, we realised he’d come into the church to disrupt and maybe destroy it from within.’

So despite his young age, Earl Blue matched most of Franklin’s profile. But he’d hit another snag; his two red-hot suspects were both AWOL, and he was left in a holding pattern.

Franklin arrived at the station with minutes to spare. He was rostered on two-up with Scott Hart, who agreed to kick off their four-to-midnight stint playing catch-up on their respective portfolios. In addition to general duties and handling files for other branches or the Bacchus Marsh detectives, each officer held an area of responsibility to take the strain off Lunny. Franklin looked after Youth Liaison—which included organising community events like Blue Light discos, camps and outings—and the social club. Harty had the Station Portfolio, which roped in bail reports, station cameras and logs, but because he was young and keen, he often worked on the rosters and cleaned the police vehicles as well. Vehicles suggested a larger fleet than their one permanent four-wheel drive, any loaners they were lucky to have from another station, and a bunch of pushbikes. The joys of a sixteen-hour country station.

VehiclesAs Harty checked the bail records in the watch-house, Franklin called Lauren Morris. He detailed developments with Renee Archer and Cathy Jones, except for Cathy’s s****l assault.

After reciting Solomon’s latest letter, he said, ‘It struck Cathy and me that the letters could be quotes from the Bible.’

‘For sure. Read the newest back slowly. I want to write it down.’

‘For sure. Read the newest back slowly. I want to write it down.’She considered the script and commented, ‘This one’s extreme, isn’t it?’ There was another pause, then she added, ‘It’s even more old-fashioned than ours. Do you think they’re quotes from the Old Testament?’

‘This one’s extreme, isn’t it?’It’s even more old-fashioned than ours. Do you think they’re quotes from the Old Testament?’That tallied with his thoughts. And equally fit both Art Hammer’s impromptu sermon style and Earl Blue, according to Pastor Danni.

‘Why don’t Tayla and I see what we can come up with?’

‘Why don’t Tayla and I see what we can come up with?’Franklin grinned, happy to shift responsibility. His idea of fun wasn’t poring over a Bible. He scrawled notes into the daybook, then noticed the last thing on his to-do list. It made his stomach flip.

‘Hoy, Harty,’ he called down the short corridor.

His buddy appeared in the doorway seconds later. ‘Yo?’

‘Let’s take a ride out to Abergeldie to check on Susan Pentecoste.’

‘Uh-huh. Following up your girlfriend’s report, are we?’

Franklin hurled his Akubra-style police hat.

Harty ducked. ‘That’s a bit disrespectful, isn’t it?’ He retrieved the hat and brushed it off.

‘They’re the stupidest things they’ve brought out,’ Franklin replied as they jostled down the hallway.

‘Just as well they’ve issued us with caps then. Gotta keep grumpy old farts like you happy.’ Harty didn’t have a chance to dodge Franklin’s backhander to the gut.

Lunny entered the station. ‘I could have you on report for that,’ he said with mock severity.

‘Nice get-up, boss.’ Franklin gestured towards Lunny’s navy tracksuit and white runners.

‘Pretend I’m not here,’ was the airy reply. ‘Couple of matters to clear up…’

‘Maeve’s sister isn’t down again, by chance?’ Harty asked.

Lunny’s blush confirmed his least favourite sister-in-law was in residence at the station house next door. Luckily, her visits were as brief as they were frequent.

‘Hmm. Are we still on for fishing tomorrow, John?’

The sarge’s voice held a note of panic. Tempted to stir him by saying he’d swapped his rest day with one of the other blokes, Franklin took pity and nodded.

‘I’m driving,’ he told Harty, snagging the keys from the board.

‘Dam’s full,’ Harty commented as they pulled up the farm’s driveway.

‘It’s strange to have so much rain and see everything green in autumn, isn’t it?’

‘Yeah, but good strange.’

Franklin nodded at the distinction. ‘Easter’s only a couple of weeks away, yes?’

His mate agreed.

‘It’s funny, isn’t it, that we’ve got so used to drought and Easters when the fire season’s still in force that we’ve forgotten other years when it rained all long-weekend and was cold enough to freeze your balls off. It’s still b****y hot now, though.’

Mick and Roger waved as they drove past. The farmers wore sweat-soaked khaki overalls over bare torsos as they strained fencing wire on the top paddock.

The cops slipped through the white picket fence up at the house and sighed. The shade of the cypress windbreak gave welcome relief.

‘These look a bit sick.’ On the verandah, Harty crumbled dry soil from a potted plant between his fingers. He touched a rose leaf, which crackled before falling off. ‘They need a drink.’

‘You’re not wrong,’ Franklin said. It was uncharacteristic of green-thumbed Susan Pentecoste to neglect her plants. Even after Roly’s disappearance, she’d overseen the care of all plants on Abergeldie’s house block, along with the stock and crops, until she recovered enough to personally tend them. He remembered calling here with his former sergeant, Bill Noonan, after Susan’s release from hospital. They’d found her with watering can in hand, fussing over foliage not half as withered as these rose bushes. Surely she’d have arranged for someone to water the plants if she’d planned this holiday? Perhaps she’d left in haste or never expected to stay away so long.

The two men matched strides to the kitchen door and entered, calling, ‘Susan?’

No response.

Harty gestured with a head twitch and Franklin nodded; words were unnecessary. They did a swift inspection.

In the study, Harty said, ‘Who’s been a bit creative here?’

He threw a notepad from the desk to Franklin, who examined the doodles. There were spirals and three-dimensional cubes and grim faces. Among the artwork were random words – several in block letters, others in a thready, rightward-slanted script, but all similar enough to belong to one writer.

‘“Susan? Niece? Roly-Susan link. JACK. Holiday? WHERE?”’ he read aloud. ‘Gotta be the work of that Georgie Harvey bird, don’t you think?’

His partner played devil’s advocate. ‘Not necessarily.’

‘Bit cheeky, walking in and making herself at home.’

‘What? A bit like us, you mean?’

Franklin grimaced. ‘We’re cops on a welfare check, and she’s a civvy who shouldn’t have just waltzed in. Not the same thing.’ He motioned to the pad. ‘I don’t suppose she meant to leave this behind.’

‘She mightn’t have noticed she’d done it. I got into a bad habit at uni and doodle all the time. It’s not until later that I realise what I’ve done.’

‘I wouldn’t know about that.’ Franklin swatted his mate. ‘Some of us are ordinary working-class coppers, not brainy upstarts.’

‘Hardy, ha, ha. Hey, do you reckon that’s weird?’

Harty pointed to the bookcase. Franklin noted the perfect alignment of the books on six of the seven shelves. They were in ascending order according to height, each spine plumb. The bottom shelf held the tallest volumes and replicated the order above until midway along. There, several books collapsed across a gap corresponding to a couple of absent ones.

‘Notice a few big books lying around? Yea high.’ He spread his hands a foot apart.

‘Nothing in here,’ Harty said.

‘Check the bedrooms. I’ll take the other rooms.’

They regrouped minutes later.

‘Anything?’

‘No, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Harvey’s taken something from Susan’s bedside table. There’s not much dust on the surfaces, considering the gravel road and all, but what’s there’s been stirred up.’

‘Harvey’s pissing me off,’ Franklin complained.

‘Hmm. It’s one thing letting yourself in to have a quick look-see, but filching Susan’s gear is pretty rich,’ his friend agreed. Then he added, ‘It’s always possible that Susan took the books with her.’

‘I suppose,’ Franklin conceded. ‘Get Mick and Roger in here for a chat.’

While his partner summoned the farmers, Franklin pulled out his ringing mobile.

‘Constable Franklin?’

‘Constable Franklin?’Senior Constable, but he let it go. A couple more words and he’d identify the caller with her very familiar voice.

Don’t tell me.

Don’t tell me.She said, ‘It’s Christina van Hoeckel here.’

‘It’s Christina van Hoeckel here.’Damn. I was so close.

Damn. I was so close.‘I’m ringing about the, um, incident with my car the other day.’

‘I’m ringing about the, um, incident with my car the other day.’‘Oh?’ Franklin said, intrigued.

‘I want to drop it.’

‘I want to drop it.’He let the silence sit, then asked, ‘Why’s that?’

‘Oh, it’s just kids.’ Her attempt at casual fell short. ‘Their parents will sort them out. No need to get them in trouble with police.’

‘Oh, it’s just kids.’‘Their parents will sort them out. No need to get them in trouble with police.’‘Is that right? Well, it’s gone too far now. Even if you were to withdraw your complaint.’ It hadn’t; he just wanted to gauge her reaction.

‘You can’t do that,’ she shouted. Then added softly, ‘Can you?’

‘You can’t do that,’‘Can you?’‘I’m not sure, Christina. I’ll have to get back to you.’

He called off, chuckling. Let her sweat for a few days, then he’d pop over and see if she was ready to come clean. He intended to find out why she’d lied.

Franklin was still grinning when he greeted Mick and Roger with handshakes and backslaps. Trigger trotted behind them and collapsed with a sigh onto the mat by the stove.

‘We was tellin’ Scott here,’ Roger pointed at Harty, ‘that we had a sheila nosin’ about today. Didn’t we, Mick?’

His son bobbed his head.

‘Get her name, did you, Roger?’ Franklin asked.

‘Georgie somethink.’

‘Harvey?’

‘Yep.’ The older man clicked his fingers. ‘Anyhow, she had a c**k-and-bull story about Mrs P. But we reckon she was really casin’ the joint.’

‘How’s that?’

Mick puffed out his cheeks but let his dad speak.

‘Well, it’s not like Mrs P to go away for more than a couple a days, like. But it’s up to her, isn’t it? Not like she’s had many holid’ys, ’specially since Mr P went.’

‘Susan told you she was going on a holiday?’

Father and son nodded.

‘Where was she going?’

‘Dunno.’

‘Say when she was coming back?’

‘Nup.’

‘You worried about her?’

‘Nup.’

‘This Georgie Harvey – what do you think she was up to?’

‘You know, casin’ the joint. That’s what they call it, isn’t it? Checkin’ it out before they rip the place off.’

Franklin shot a glance at Harty, who raised an eyebrow and gave a slight headshake. He hadn’t mentioned the possible theft.

‘You’d better have a look then and see if anything’s missing. Take your time.’

He rued his words as Mick and Roger took an age to check each room. Their voices became excited in the main bedroom. The officers joined them.

‘Mrs P’s photos are gone.’

Harty took down details and trailed his partner and the farmers into the study.

‘That don’t seem right,’ Mick said to his father. He pointed to the bottom of the bookcase.

Roger knelt, knees groaning. He thrust away Trigger’s snout and pushed up the leaning books. He considered the thickness of the gap; measured it with his thumb and fingers. With a scratch to his chin, he said, ‘There’s somethink missin’. Mrs P has these special books with real nice leather covers. Thick ones they are. That right, Mick?’

‘Um. Ah…’

‘C’mon, stop ditherin’. Think!’

‘Oh, Dad.’

‘By jeez, Mick.’ Roger rose. ‘Her books are missin’. No doubt about it. She always has ’em on the shelf there or on the desk here. Nowhere else. That sheila’s stolen Mrs P’s things, hasn’t she?’

Harty excused himself and left the room.

Franklin held up a hand to diffuse Roger’s anger.

‘Leave it with us, we’ll check it out. What else did you discuss with Georgie Harvey?’

‘Nothin’,’ the father said quickly.

‘Did she give you an idea where she was going after here?’

‘Nope,’ Mick replied.

‘Mate,’ Harty interrupted. ‘We’ve got an urgent job.’

Franklin was poised to jump into the police truck when his mobile rang again. He threw the keys to his partner and answered the call while buckling into the passenger seat.

Lauren Morris sounded excited.

Hart flicked on strobe lights and siren. He negotiated the gravel driveway. Turned onto Grimwells Road and white-knuckled the steering wheel.

Franklin gritted his teeth as the four-wheel drive bumped over corrugations. He listened to Lauren.

‘It depends on which version of the Bible you use. I dug up an old one and found sections in the book of Proverbs that sound a lot like Solomon.

‘It depends on which version of the Bible you use. I dug up an old one and found sections in the book of Proverbs that sound a lot like Solomon.‘Chapter five, verses three to four say: “For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.”

‘Chapter five, verses three to four say: “For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.”‘Don’t you think that’s similar to Solomon saying, “your end will be Bitter”?’

‘Don’t you think that’s similar to Solomon saying, “your end will be Bitter”?’He agreed, and she continued. ‘Verse five says: “Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.”

‘Verse five says: “Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.”‘Remember, Solomon said, “be damned to follow their w***e-mother’s steps down to death” in the latest letter; and “you and your bastard walk the Road of Death” in the one we got? Verse eight –’

‘Remember, Solomon said, “be damned to follow their w***e-mother’s steps down to death” in the latest letter; and “you and your bastard walk the Road of Death” in the one we got? Verse eight –’They hit a pothole. Franklin’s head bumped the side window. He cursed, righted himself and his daybook. ‘Sorry. Go on, Lauren.’

‘Eight says: “Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house.”

‘Eight says: “Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house.”‘Very close to Solomon’s “be tempted not to the door of a stranger, or tempt a stranger to your door.”

‘Very close to Solomon’s “be tempted not to the door of a stranger, or tempt a stranger to your door.”‘Then fifteen is: “Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.”

‘Then fifteen is: “Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.”‘That makes me think of drinking out of a toilet cistern. Yuck. But it’s all sounding a bit familiar, isn’t it?’

‘That makes me think of drinking out of a toilet cistern. Yuck. But it’s all sounding a bit familiar, isn’t it?’‘We’re not far away,’ Hart interjected. Despite the blind corner ahead, they could see a plume of smoke.

‘Sorry, Lauren. We’re on our way to an emergency. Can you give me the rest quickly?’

‘Okay.’ She sped up. ‘Eighteen to twenty: “Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love. And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?”

‘Okay.’‘Eighteen to twenty: “Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love. And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?”‘That ties with “You must lie only with your husband” and the whole stranger reference in Solomon’s letter to Cathy.’

‘That ties with “You must lie only with your husband” and the whole stranger reference in Solomon’s letter to Cathy.’Franklin could hear a distant wail, even above their siren, radio and Hart’s occasional exclamation. An ambulance or fire truck was on its way to the collision too.

Lauren continued, ‘Chapter Six of Proverbs says: “These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him.” One of those being, “To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.”

‘Chapter Six of Proverbs says: “These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him.” One of those being, “To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.”‘Pretty similar to Solomon’s “the LORD hates the ways of evil people”?

‘Pretty similar to Solomon’s “the LORD hates the ways of evil people”?‘Proverbs goes on and on about a******y and p**********n, but I think Solomon’s twisting the words to suit their own agenda and roping in whatever they consider being contrary to a righteous or virtuous woman. I mean, all they’ve got against us is that we’re unmarried mums – except Renee, who is married. I don’t think any of us are cheating on our partners with another guy, married or not. We wouldn’t have the energy, for starters.

‘Proverbs goes on and on about a******y and p**********n, but I think Solomon’s twisting the words to suit their own agenda and roping in whatever they consider being contrary to a righteous or virtuous woman. I mean, all they’ve got against us is that we’re unmarried mums – except Renee, who married. I don’t think any of us are cheating on our partners with another guy, married or not. We wouldn’t have the energy, for starters.‘Anyway, I could find dozens of references in Proverbs alone that have strong links to Solomon’s letters. These are just a few examples. And there’s also a lot of weird capitalisation in the Bible – whole words or the first letter of words that are midsentence and don’t need a capital.’

‘Anyway, I could find dozens of references in Proverbs alone that have strong links to Solomon’s letters. These are just a few examples. And there’s also a lot of weird capitalisation in the Bible – whole words or the first letter of words that are midsentence and don’t need a capital.’‘It all ties together,’ Franklin agreed.

He felt Hart tense.

He did likewise.

They were a few kilometres from the crash scene, but an approaching clearance would give them a glimpse. The person who’d called in the accident had done so anonymously before fleeing, which meant they were ignorant as to the number of casualties and extent of injuries or fatalities. Merely that it was serious and there’s blood everywhere.

there’s blood everywhere‘So, basically Solomon seems to be using an oldish version of the Bible as a source for the letters,’ Lauren said. ‘Or their memory, I guess. Could be a priest, a parishioner or anyone familiar with the Bible, active churchgoer or not. All we know is that they’re religious, fanatical even, and Christian.’ Her excitement diminished. ‘I suppose we haven’t narrowed it down at all.’

‘So, basically Solomon seems to be using an oldish version of the Bible as a source for the letters,’‘Or their memory, I guess. Could be a priest, a parishioner or anyone familiar with the Bible, active churchgoer or not. All we know is that they’re religious, fanatical even, and Christian.’‘I suppose we haven’t narrowed it down at all.’Although her research did only endorse current theories, Franklin reassured her.

Franklin viewed the destruction ahead with clenched guts.

A minivan on its side. Engulfed in flames. It had sparked a grassfire that seared a stripe through the adjacent paddock.

Nearby, a sedan with a piano-accordion front end. It must have flipped, judging by its battered bonnet and roof.

Debris scattered in every direction.

No sign of life.