Thin Blood (24 page)

A white van
drove past without slowing, followed a few seconds later by a carload of
teenage girls. Jacinta smiled to herself, remembering the days when she too
used to have the stamina to party all night, arriving home as most people were
waking. She was still reminiscing when a vehicle she hadn’t seen coming stopped
behind her. Before she had a chance to look in the rear-view mirror, a police
car pulled in front of her into the Edmonds’ driveway, cutting Brett off from
view.

A car door
slammed behind her, and then another. Daniel’s broad frame loomed in the
side-mirror. From the look on her stepbrother’s face, she knew he was less than
pleased to see her. As uniformed officers piled out of the police car in the
driveway and another parked at the kerb, he marched past without stopping,
rapping the car roof above her head in brief acknowledgement of her presence.
DS Renee White, walking down the footpath on the other side of the car, caught
up with him as he and the other officers converged en masse on the Edmonds’
front door.

Jacinta’s mind
reeled, trying to take in what was happening. Why were the police there? Had
someone called them? As Brett yanked open the passenger-side door, throwing
himself bodily into the car, she realised Craig’s disappearance from the
hospital wouldn’t have gone unnoticed. But why the need for so many officers?

“Thanks a lot,
Jacinta.” Brett sounded out of breath. “At least you could’ve waited until I
was back in the car.”

She shook her
head at him. “I didn’t call them.”

His flushed face
paled. “This is no time for games.”

“I swear I know
nothing about it. Remember, you were the one intent on calling them, not me.”

“Well, what the
fuck are they doing here, then?” Brett’s throat constricted, the last words
coming out in a squeak.

“I don’t know.”
Leaning in closer to him, she dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper.
“Where’s the gun now?”

Brett gulped,
his eyes downcast like an errant schoolboy called to the headmaster’s office.
“I don’t know.”

Her heart
skipped a beat. “Say that again,” she said, hoping she had misheard but knowing
she hadn’t.

“The gun’s gone.
It’s not where I left it.”

“Could it have
become dislodged and fallen to the bottom?”

“What do you
think I was doing when the boys in blue rocked up?”

Tapping her
forehead with her steepled fingers, she tried to think. If the gun wasn’t
there, it meant only one thing: Narelle had been right; someone had been
staking out the house. But who? With no evidence to back her belief, Narelle
had Grace, as Kirsty’s rejected lover, squarely in the frame for her murder,
convincing herself that Grace had broken into her home to search for the
revolver. But how long had Craig been outside the house before making his
presence known? After all, the gun belonged to him.

“God, Brett,
this changes everything. We have no choice now but to tell the police.”

He gave her a
sheepish look. “We would’ve had to sooner or later, anyway.”

“Later would
have been preferable,” she murmured, more to herself than to Brett. All she
could think about was Narelle, and to what extent she could protect her from
the inevitable fallout of a police investigation. If it helped bring a killer
to justice, clearing Narelle’s name in the process, it had to be worth the
stress and aggravation.

Brett cut
through her thoughts. “Something’s happening,” he said, nodding at the house.

The front door
had opened. Escorted by two male, uniformed police officers, Craig Edmonds
emerged and made his way across to the police car parked in the driveway. No
longer half-naked, he wore a loose-fitting, blue and white striped shirt over
his jeans, the cuffs rolled back. A pair of tan leather open sandals shod his
feet.

Up until that
moment, he had been submissive, putting up no resistance as the officers guided
him along the footpath. But as soon as he caught sight of Jacinta and Brett,
all that changed. His eyes narrowed, his face becoming pinched as, struggling
to escape his captors’ hold, he hurled abuse in their direction. Placing a hand
on the top of his head, the two officers manhandled him into the backseat,
closing the door with a resounding thud.

Jacinta
shivered, her arms wrapping tightly around herself. She found it hard to
understand what Narelle saw in Craig. There had to be a side to the hostile,
hot-tempered man Jacinta hadn’t yet seen.

After the police
car backed out and drove away, presumedly returning their backseat passenger to
the hospital, Jacinta opened her car door and got out. Expecting to see the
front door open at any moment, she took a couple of calming breaths, mentally
preparing herself to face Daniel before realising that meant Narelle would be
left on her own.

Brett had opened
his car door, remaining seated with one foot in the car and the other on the
kerb. She walked around the front of the car to his side and stood facing him.
“Narelle’s going to need someone with her. Can you talk to Daniel while I look
after her?”

Brett cringed,
his face blanching.

“Okay, I’ll talk
to Daniel while you take care of Narelle, then,” she said, knowing that for
Brett, a distressed, hormonal woman would be too much to contemplate.

He sighed, his
shoulders sagging. “What exactly should I tell him?”

“Just tell him
what’s happened. Blame me. I’m in that much trouble now, it doesn’t matter.
What is important is that the gun is found before anyone gets hurt, or worse.”

His face
brightened a little. “Amen,” he replied, the tone of his voice adding:
And
about bloody time, too
.

Neither spoke as
they returned to watching the Edmonds’ front door, waiting for Daniel and his
team to leave the house.

After what felt
like hours but was undoubtedly only minutes, Brett voiced her own thoughts. “I
wonder what the hold-up is?”

Daniel appeared
just as Jacinta was asking Brett to pass over her mobile phone. “Okay, guys,
this had better be good,” he said, striding toward them.

“Excuse me?”
replied Jacinta, her hackles rising. “We have every right to be here. Narelle
called us.”

“And why did she
call you?” asked Daniel, closing the gap between them.

“What would you
do if you were a pregnant woman all on your own in a large house and you heard
noises in your backyard? More to the point, what are your lot still doing here?
We saw them take Craig away.”

“Not that it’s
really any of your business, but we’re executing a search warrant.” He turned
to walk away. “Now please excuse me, I have work to do.”

Struck dumb, she
opened and closed her mouth, willing the words forth. “Wait!” she called,
running after him. His step faltered, but he didn’t turn around. “Please,
Daniel!”

“Jacinta, I
don’t have time for this now,” he said, as she drew level with him.

“Just tell me
what you’re looking for and I’ll stay out of your way.”

He groaned,
stopped and turned to face her. “If it means you’ll leave me to get on with my
job, I’ll tell you. You’ll find out sooner or later, anyway.” Gesturing for her
to follow, he headed toward the garage, away from the house. Brett cut across
the lawn, joining them at the corner of the garage near the wheelie bins.

“We received an
anonymous tip-off about firearms on the property. We don’t know how genuine it
is, but until we can prove otherwise, we have to treat it seriously.”

“Was it a man or
a woman?”

Daniel shook his
head. “We don’t know. The voice was computer-generated.” He squinted first at
Jacinta and then at Brett, his head leaning slightly to one side. “You two
wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

Hooking his
thumbs in his jean pockets, Brett studied his feet, leaving it up to Jacinta to
answer.

“Well,” she
stammered, “we don’t know anything about any anonymous phone call, but…” She
hesitated, fumbling for the right words. “But there is a gun. It was on the
table when we arrived.” She wasn’t about to add she had known of its possible
existence the day before.

Daniel closed
his eyes, pressing his lips together in a thin line. “And where is this gun
now?” he asked, opening his eyes and fixing Jacinta with a steely glare.

“I’ll… um… let
Brett answer that,” she said, taking half a step back.

Somehow Brett
found his voice. He rushed his words, as if trying to offload his burden as
quickly as possible. Starting from when he had been woken in the early hours by
the phone ringing, he told Daniel everything that had happened that morning.
When he reached the bit about Narelle accidentally discharging the loaded gun
at the ceiling, Daniel cocked an eyebrow but stayed silent, allowing Brett to
continue uninterrupted. The corner of Daniel’s mouth lifted in amusement at
Brett’s account of the frightening appearance of a half-naked wild man at the
window. Brett’s speech became faster, his words running together as they raced
for the finishing line.

He stopped, took
a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “But I don’t understand who could have taken
it. I was sure no one saw me.”

“So, thanks to
your efforts, we have a firearm – possibly a murder weapon – out there
somewhere,” Daniel waved his hand through the air, “in God knows whose hands.
If you had come to me in the first place, we could’ve avoided all this.”

“It’s not
Brett’s fault,” Jacinta said. “He thought he was doing the right thing. If you
have to blame someone, blame me for getting involved in the first place. We
were just trying to help a friend. We had no way of knowing what would happen.”

Daniel tugged at
his shirt collar with his index finger, scratching his neck. “Haven’t we had this
conversation before? Jacinta, it’s not about blame. It’s not even a matter of
interfering in a police investigation, which is bad enough. Don’t you
understand what’s at stake? You could’ve been killed today. Dead’s dead,
accident or not.” He paused. “Not only that, you’ve put others at risk.”

Although his
tone hadn’t been chastising, nor had he raised his voice, she felt the full
force of his words. She accepted the rebuke, knowing it was justified. However,
it was his underlying deep concern that really affected her. Her stepbrother
cared whether she lived or died, and that meant a lot to her.

Making no
promises she couldn’t guarantee she could keep, but reminding him he had
actually asked her at one stage to act as Narelle’s confidante, she apologised.
Daniel brushed it aside, more intent on finding out how much more she and Brett
knew.

“I want you both
to think carefully. Is there anyone you know of, or who you may have heard
mentioned, who would know the Edmondses possessed a gun? The person who called
it in knew about it long before you removed it from the house.”

Folding his
arms, Brett shook his head. “The first I knew about it was when I saw it on the
table.”

As Daniel went
to say something, Brett talked over the top of him. “Maybe Narelle made the
call herself.”

“Don’t be
ridiculous. Why would she dob herself in?” Jacinta asked.

“Not herself,
her husband. What better way to get rid of the gun without Craig realising his
own wife had been responsible. Think about it, Jacinta. She makes an anonymous
call to the police; she then phones you knowing you won’t hesitate to come.
When we arrive, the gun is in plain view on the table. She doesn’t make any
attempt to conceal it. She wanted the gun to be seen.”

“But why would
she do that?” Jacinta couldn’t believe Narelle could be that scheming.

“Because, after
all these years, she’s suddenly having doubts about her husband’s innocence,”
Daniel said under his breath. “She wanted to find out one way or the other if
the gun had been used as a murder weapon.”

“You’re both
wrong.” Even as she said the words, she couldn’t help but wonder if there was
any element of truth in what they were suggesting. How well did she know
Narelle? Regardless, the idea their friendship could have been nothing more
than some elaborate ruse didn’t sit well with her.
I’m a much better judge
of character than that
, she thought. “What about Grace Kevron? She’s had it
in for Narelle and Craig ever since Kirsty disappeared.”

“Sorry to
disappoint you, but Grace has a rock-solid alibi for this morning. Although not
for the time of the phone call.”

“What do you
mean? Where is she?”

“I’m not going
to go into the ins and outs of it, but suffice to say, she couldn’t be in two
places at one time.”

Daniel refused
to be drawn any further on the subject, leaving Jacinta to speculate on how he
could be so confident of Grace’s whereabouts. If the police were involved, she
had to have either committed a crime or been the victim of a crime. But then
again, police also attended vehicle accidents. Perhaps Grace had been injured
and been rushed to hospital.

“You have Grace
under surveillance.” It was a statement, not a question. Jacinta didn’t know
why she hadn’t thought of it sooner.

Daniel shook his
head. “What’s with all the surveillance theories? You thought we were watching
Narelle Edmonds, too. We’re not a police state. Even if we wanted to, we just
don’t have the resources to monitor—” He stopped talking as something behind
Jacinta distracted his attention.

Turning, she saw
DS Renee White heading their way, the top edges of a couple of plastic bags
gripped in her latex-gloved hands. Daniel immediately broke away, intercepting
his sergeant before she reached the driveway. Scurrying after him, Jacinta
managed to catch a quick glimpse of what appeared to be a photograph in one of
the bags, before Daniel whipped both bags out of sight.

“Jacinta, this
really doesn’t concern you,” he said, holding the bags behind his back. “Go
home.”