Liars, page 35
‘I picked this one up from the pile you have on your desk. When I first came to you and said I thought Joe was murdered, you didn’t seem convinced. But after I mentioned the three thousand dollars and my theory that Joe was blackmailing someone, and I said I might go to Homicide, that’s when you got interested. I just wondered if one reason you decided to help me investigate Joe’s death was because it allowed you to keep an eye on how far I was getting in working out who gave Joe that envelope of money?’
Barb left a silence, but Seb wasn’t filling it.
‘Seb? Was Joe blackmailing you? I can’t prove anything. It’s just an envelope. But maybe it’s better to tell me.’
Seb looked down. Was it better to tell her? Who knew? But he was sick of not telling anyone.
‘The night I drove Claire home at 5 a.m. and had the accident. I said I swerved off the road to avoid a truck. There was no truck. I fell asleep. Drove off the road. When I saw she was badly injured, I knew what it meant. I’d get charged with negligent driving causing grievous bodily harm, definitely lose my job, maybe go to jail. So I made up the truck. I’d woken up just as I was going off the edge and hit the brakes, so there were skid marks that could look like me braking to miss another vehicle.’
He looked up and saw not judgement, but compassion.
‘You’ve been carrying all that this whole time,’ she said. ‘As well as all that guilt about Sal’s death. You poor thing.’
He couldn’t speak for a while.
‘How did Joe find out?’ she asked.
‘Soon after he got back, a group of us were at the club. They were asking me about the accident, like I was a hero for saving both our lives. Joe was there. He got me alone afterwards.’
*
‘Sounds terrible, that accident. Truck just swerved at you?’
‘Yep.’
‘Driver must have nodded off, yeah?’ There was an edge in his voice.
‘Must have.’
‘They didn’t catch him?’
‘Nah.’ Seb was starting to feel uneasy.
‘So no one can ask him what happened. Think of the odds. Like, how many cars are on that road that time of night. Fuck-all, right? Yet the one time this guy falls asleep, there’s a car on the other side of the road. And it’s you! That is so unlucky.’
‘Yeah.’
‘Lucky for him but. You slam the horn?’
‘Umm, think so.’
‘Must have. Woke him up. Probably saved his life. Like, he falls asleep, but instead of going off the bank, his life is saved cos you just happen to be there and honk him awake. Amazing he didn’t stop and help you after that.’
‘Guess he was scared of getting in trouble.’
‘If he exists.’ Joe said it matter-of-factly, studying him.
Fear rippled through Seb. ‘What?’
‘I’ve always been able to tell when you’re bullshitting, Seb. I just can. I don’t reckon it was the truck driver who fell asleep, cos there was no truck. I reckon it was you. Been rooting that woman all night and you were tired. You made up the truck to get out of trouble. Tell me I’m wrong.’
Seb was silent.
‘I don’t care. I’d do the same. But I need money. I’ve got an urgent debt to pay. Three grand.’
*
‘Oh dear,’ said Barb. ‘He had different sides, didn’t he? But he couldn’t prove there was no truck.’
‘No, but he hinted he could tell the police that I’d told him the truth while I was drunk. That would have reopened the investigation, which to be honest was pretty piss-weak, cos I’m a cop. If they reopened it, they’d have gone over all the physical evidence, skid marks, etcetera. Maybe they would have found something. I decided the easiest thing was to give him the money.
‘And you’re right, when you came in and started talking about the money you’d found in his room, I didn’t want you to go to Homicide. Didn’t want them poking around. Maybe they’d find out about it, maybe Joe had written something down. So, yep, that was part of why I got involved.’
‘But you also wanted to find the truth.’
‘Yeah. It was both. Thing is, Claire’s memory is starting to come back. I don’t even know if she was awake when we went off the bank. She was asleep beforehand, but she might have woken up. If she remembers what really happened …’ He became aware he was twisting his hands in his lap. ‘She wants to see me, but I’m scared of what she’ll say …’
‘You worry a lot about this, yes?’
He nodded.
‘Maybe you should just tell her the truth. Maybe that’s better than worrying?’
‘Are you serious? I could go to jail.’
‘But the worry. The uncertainty.’
‘If I tell her what happened and she tells the police, I’m out of the force, facing charges and probably going to jail. It’s not just that I crashed. I lied about it. I’ve just got to keep hoping she doesn’t remember.’
‘Is that the right thing to do, though?’
‘Fuck’s sake, Barb, we’re not at ethics club. This is my life.’
Barb smiled sadly. ‘You spent years torturing yourself because the last time you saw Sal you did something you regret and you never had a chance to clear the air. This is similar, isn’t it? Surely you don’t want to be carrying another load of guilt and worry on your back for years.’
He clenched his jaw, stood and spoke tersely. ‘It’s a shit situation. Keeping quiet is the least bad option. Anyway, we’ve done a good job. Mission accomplished. Well done, us. Now it’s over. So, see you around.’
‘I didn’t mean to—’
‘Bye, Barbara.’
He watched her go, and then collapsed into the couch.
CHAPTER 81
EMAIL FROM VIV GRIFFITH TO DEV KERALA, 7 NOVEMBER 2024
Hi Dev,
Thank you for your offer to buy 28 Bayview Avenue. I agree that your offer is above market value, but after careful consideration, have decided to decline for three reasons:
Houses on the water will always be a good investment, and I prefer the income stream that renting it out can provide.
I am concerned about the controversy now surrounding this project, regarding the role that the deputy mayor played, whether the way in which council provisionally approved the project was proper, and the upcoming Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry.
I heard that you had boasted you could ‘get me to agree to anything’ and I wanted to disprove that assertion.
All the best,
Viv
EMAIL FROM DEV KERALA TO VIV GRIFFITH, 7 NOVEMBER 2024
Viv, can we talk about this? I definitely didn’t say that.
Dev
FIVE UNANSWERED CALLS FROM DEV KERALA TO VIV GRIFFITH, 7 NOVEMBER 2024
EMAIL FROM VIV GRIFFITH TO LEANNE HITCHCOCK, 7 NOVEMBER 2024
Hi Leanne,
I have decided not to sell my parents’ house, and will be renting it out. Sue mentioned that you have decided to stay for a while, and I am looking for three tenants. Are you interested? As we have known each other a long time, I can be flexible and try to find a rent that fits your budget.
One caveat, however. If you do want to move in, I would prefer that I was responsible for finding your two additional housemates, not you. Hope that is okay.
Viv
EMAIL FROM LEANNE HITCHCOCK TO VIV GRIFFITH, 7 NOVEMBER 2024
Hi Viv,
Yes! Thanks. That would be great. I’m also looking for a job so if you hear of anything, let me know. Anything that isn’t Mum’s shop!
Leanne
TRANSCRIPT OF CALL BETWEEN CONSTABLE SEB BAXTER AND SENIOR CONSTABLE JOANNA DAWES, POLICE INTERNAL AFFAIRS, 7 NOVEMBER 2024
SEB: Hello?
DAWES: Hi, Sebastian, Joanna Dawes. Just want to update you on the Perkins case.
SEB: Oh, hi. Okay.
DAWES: We’ve found that he has significant money in offshore accounts and there is evidence linking him to Vanessa Pierce, who runs drugs and other illegal stuff. Do we have enough to convict him in court? Maybe, probably, but not sure.
SEB: Did you find out who killed Karen Kemp?
DAWES: Not yet, but we’re working on it. We’ve offered Perkins a deal to roll over and help us get Vanessa and others. Telling us how Karen was killed would be part of that.
SEB: If he takes the deal, will he walk?
DAWES: Fuck, no. He probably ordered Karen’s murder, as well as a hit on you.
SEB: Good.
DAWES: Listen, Seb. You fucked up. When you found that photo on Karen’s phone and sent it to him, that was dumb. If you’d thought it through, you would have realised that either Perkins or Drummond was probably involved.
SEB: I know. It was super dumb.
DAWES: Nearly got you killed. And you played fucking hardball with us, giving us that fifteen-minute deadline. Not cool. Having said that, I get why you did it. On the positive side, Karen Kemp’s death had been closed by Homicide, you didn’t buy it, you pushed and pushed, and because of you we caught a corrupt cop in a position of power, and cleared an innocent man, albeit a dead one, of murdering Kemp. Without you, Perkins could have kept doing that shit for years. You were tenacious and smart. Apart from that one super-dumb thing.
SEB: Thanks.
DAWES: Want to come work for us?
SEB: Sorry?
DAWES: Bad line, is it? You heard.
SEB: Is that like a hypothetical enquiry?
DAWES: It’s a job offer. Here in Sydney.
(LONG SILENCE)
DAWES: You there?
SEB: Yeah, sorry. I … I’m interested for sure, but … there’s something I need to sort out first.
DAWES: Sure. Let me know. Soon, ideally.
EXTRACT FROM CENTRAL COAST CYCLING CLUB NEWSLETTER, 8 NOVEMBER 2024
Watch out, folks, Viv Griffith is back! Just when he thought this year’s comp might be turning into a one-bike race, Sam Delaney has been beaten!!
Forty-three riders tackled the 75-kilometre Tuggerah Lake circuit. After a watchful start and middle, Sam and Viv broke away from the pack with 20 kilometres to go, and with Smiling Sam looking fresher, younger and happier, the smart money was all on him. When Sam broke away from Viv at the 5-kilometre mark, and then with 2 kilometres to go had a 50-metre lead, it looked like game over. But somehow, Viv summoned an incredible burst of energy for a final sprint, reeling Sam in and beating him to the line by a metre. What a finish!
Former (and perhaps future?) club champ Viv put it down to his new diet. ‘It’s all about the fuel you put in your body.’ Then he did something I’ve never seen before. He smiled! Good old clean living! Well done Viv.
TEXT FROM BARB YOUNG TO FORMER DETECTIVE JOHN MAYNE, 8 NOVEMBER 2024
Hi John, an update on our investigation, hopefully before you read it in the news, although with the internet it spreads so fast these days. Case solved. The Blue Mountains Strangler is Gary Turner. Give me a call and I’ll share details
TEXT FROM FORMER DETECTIVE JOHN MAYNE TO BARB YOUNG, 8 NOVEMBER 2024
Thanks for the chat. Fuck me, the psychic handywoman. Congratulations again. I feel like a bit of a dill being outsmarted by someone who fixes windows. Amazing work. Won’t be sleeping much the next few nights, going through everything and trying to work out how I could have got the bastard. Wish you’d been around seven years ago
EMAIL FROM CONSTABLE SEB BAXTER TO DETECTIVE DAN SIMMONDS, 8 NOVEMBER 2024
Hi Dan,
Just updating you on some statistics. When we met that morning at Joe Griffith’s house, you asked me how many murders I’d solved, and I said none. The answer is now five. Still not as many as you, of course, but then again I’ve only been doing it a month. By the way, you said you’d solved twenty-eight, but I guess that should be twenty-seven now, given that you had Joe down as Karen Kemp’s killer and that turned out to be wrong.
All the best,
Seb
CHAPTER 82
Seb sat alone in a windowless white room inside Gosford police station that detectives used to interview suspects. He wasn’t either (yet), but it was the only private place they could find for him to look at Sal’s journal. Police had searched Gary’s house and found it in his spare room at the bottom of a plastic container full of tax documents, removing any doubt that he’d killed her. Seb had asked to see it. He couldn’t take it offsite, so here he was.
EXTRACTS FROM SAL McINDOE’S DIARY
I’ve told Joe and feel relieved. He’s fun to be with, but volatile, and the longer we were together, the more insecure and jealous he got. I feel guilty, but the way he reacted made me sure I’d done the right thing. He was hurt, fair enough, but then he got angry and argumentative and accusatory and even kind of verbally aggressive. No thanks. It’s probably mostly wounded pride. Before too long I hope he sees it’s for the best.
I could tell Seb thought he wasn’t right for me. He was even trying to create tension between me and Joe over a song, telling me Joe didn’t like the chorus. Totally transparent and more sweet than manipulative.
‡
Talked to Seb about the break-up. He doesn’t instantly pass judgement, just listens, nods and says something sensible. A good man.
‡
Gary heard I’d broken up with Joe and called around on the way to a comedy gig to see if I was okay. I told him I was fine, because I am, and that Joe probably needs more support than me. I was tired and wanted to be alone, but it took him a while to get the message.
Gary and I used to be great friends, and he’s good company in a group, but these days, one on one, for some reason it feels awkward, like he’s trying too hard to impress me and be entertaining all the time. Maybe it’s because he’s a comedian now. Anything you say becomes a set-up for a joke.
I can’t help thinking about that night at school when he tried to kiss me. He was really drunk, so maybe it didn’t mean anything, but when we’re in a group sometimes I turn around and catch him looking away, like he’s been staring at me. Or maybe I’m imagining it. I hope I am.
‡
Dev is hassling me to write more songs. Actually, it’s more like harassment! ‘Up-tempo crowd-pleasers with killer hooks.’ Sure, no problem. Want fries with that?
She’s booked us some bigger gigs, even supporting Lite Horse at the Enmore, which is huge. I asked her how she got it, but she just smiled. She’ll go far, that one.
Texted Joe to see if he wanted to write together. I was expecting a yes or no, but instead got eight replies starting with, ‘How dare you ask me after what you did’, through to ‘Can you explain how your feelings changed so quickly’ and ending with a plea to meet and talk, and there’s no point in doing that. So it’s on me.
Just got phone and electricity bills. With the band, uni, Joe, etc. I haven’t been earning as much as I should have. Everything feels like it’s mounting up. The band depend on me, Joe thinks I’ve ruined his life, Dev wants songs. Thank God for Seb. A shoulder I can always lean on.
‡
I’m beginning to feel better. Five months in Leura has helped restore me. Always thought that ‘clean mountain air’ stuff was crap, but maybe not. Add in medication, yoga, walks, a simple life, less stress and, of course, time. I’m doing what that book says and marking each day out of ten. Average two weeks ago was 5.1, this week it’s 6.8. And I’m finally writing in my journal again!
Uni is going much better, I like my job in the café, and have started playing guitar again and have ideas for a couple of songs. Simpler ones than before, that I can play alone. There’s plenty of places up here that have musicians play. I’ll ask around.
Memories of that night still come, but less frequently, and I’m better at dealing with them. I still haven’t told anyone. Don’t know if that’s good or bad, but I don’t want to.
I’m starting to miss aspects of my life in Sydney. I needed to get away from everything, but now … I miss the band, and the people in it (except one). I miss Seb the most. We used to talk every day.
I’d like to reconnect with him and the others, but do I tell them what happened? We were such a tight-knit group, and I don’t want people to pick sides.
‡
Leanne was an unexpected person to see first, given she never liked me much. But she was so persistent, I thought, why not? Plus I feel bad about what happened with Joe and how it affected her.
I was nervous. She was too, but it went quite well. Once I told her I had no interest in Joe she relaxed. She was very hyped up, I think on more than the tea I made her. I made her promise not to tell anyone she had seen me or where I am.
Seb is next. I’m going to text him. That last conversation we had was awkward, but he was just trying to tell me how he felt. I kind of knew. It was just too soon, then that thing happened and I didn’t feel much of anything for a while. I closed down. But now I’m starting to open up again.
‡
That fucking prick. Gary has got a job hosting a TV show. He’s ‘an exciting emerging comedian’. Yeah and a sexual assaulter! His big fucking break. It’s not right. No way. No fucking way. Not after what he did to me.
After it happened, I think I was in shock. I’d known him for years, sat next to him in class and on the bus, walked home with him. I think part of getting depressed was trying to reconcile the person who assaulted me with the person who was my friend.
I even gaslit myself. Had it really happened? Was it some sort of misunderstanding? Had I unintentionally led him on somehow?
Now I know I didn’t do anything wrong.
