Vanished by James Delargy (free novel 24 TXT) 📕

the plan he was sure of. Keeping his voice controlled and confident, he said, ‘Back here, two days. Eleven a.m.’

‘Not here,’ said Nikos. ‘Somewhere quieter.’

Lorcan shook his head. He wasn’t going to agree to that.

87

Emmaline

Once the vehicle and bodies had been recovered, Emmaline scrambled back to the top of the gorge. The police tape remained, as did a gaggle of reporters. Oily was speaking to them, offering his assistance but giving them little. A crashed vehicle. Two occupants. Unknown identity. Too early to say if they were linked to the murder of Lorcan Maguire or just a tragic accident.

She rounded up her local team: Rispoli, Barker and Anand.

‘Any chance of witnesses to the crash?’

‘Out here, unlikely,’ said Barker.

‘Nearest dwelling?’

Anand checked his tablet. ‘Ulysses Hitchens. About six clicks that way,’ he said, pointing further up the gorge.

‘Let’s go ask.’

On the way, Anand informed her and Rispoli – Barker had remained behind to help Oily finish up – that Ulysses was a little crazy.

‘Says who?’

‘Everyone. He has been for a while. He used to be a professor but his brain curdled in the heat.’

‘A professor of what?’

‘Astronomy. That’s all he does now. Checks the sky for supernovas.’

‘And that’s a job?’

‘He’s retired,’ said Anand. ‘And be wary of his UFOs.’

‘His what?’

‘Ulysses’s Fucking Observations. The lights in the sky he’s always ringing in to the station about.’

‘Recent lights?’

‘Nope. For years.’

Ulysses Hitchens’s place was essentially a massive glass conservatory with a simple wooden shack bolted on the front. The place was a shambles but the view, out over the gorge, was magnificent.

Ulysses answered the door in a shirt and shorts. He was around seventy years old and sported a magnificent white beard and hair that made him look like some biblical version of God in casual attire. On holiday perhaps.

‘Yesss?’ he asked, drawing the word out.

‘I’m Detective Taylor from the Major Crime Squad, and these are Constables Rispoli and Anand from Leonora.’

Ulysses glanced at her and then the others. ‘I believe I have talked to the constables before.’

Emmaline nodded. ‘We’ve found a crashed vehicle about six kilometres back along the gorge. We’re trying to pinpoint a date for the incident. Do you recall anything suspicious in the area in the past few weeks?’

‘What kind of suspicious?’

‘Movement. New people. Old people. Noises…’

‘A fire,’ added Rispoli. ‘You might have been able to see it from your conservatory.’

‘If I’m in the conservatory I’m looking up, not around, young man. I don’t have time to look around.’

‘This would have been a sizeable blaze,’ said Emmaline. ‘You might have seen the glow.’

‘We get a lot of brush fires around here, miss. Unless the radio tells me to get the hell out, I ignore it,’ he said, with a flourish of his hands.

‘So you haven’t seen or heard anything recently?’

‘Oh, I didn’t say that,’ said Ulysses. ‘I’ve seen lights.’

In the background Anand coughed. The UFOs he had warned about.

‘Where?’ asked Emmaline, treading carefully.

‘Around the Keenan Run. One of the old tracks on my land.’

‘What night was this?’

‘It went on for a few nights, not just one. Days too. I could hear the engines. Trying to steal fence posts or cables, I guess. Copper in them, you see. I tried to get to them to warn them off but I can’t move too good these days. Takes an age to get in and out of my car.’

‘Where is this run?’ interrupted Emmaline.

Ulysses pointed out towards where the ute was found. ‘The night lights came from over there. The engines came from there,’ he said, pointing the opposite direction.

‘Are you sure?’

‘My sight and hearing are all I have left, miss. I trust them implicitly.’

‘Thank you. If we have anything further…’ She paused. ‘You don’t happen to own a quad bike do you by any chance?’ she asked, thinking of the one with slashed tyres in Kallayee.

Ulysses shook his head. ‘No, I don’t. Though I probably should. I might be able to catch the copper-stealing bastards then.’

88

Mike Andrews

Mike was upset. He wanted to give Lorcan Maguire a piece of his mind too. And a smack in the face. But Ian had outwitted them.

‘You have me here as the face of this operation. So let me do my job.’

Mike felt his chest tighten. He had no counterpunch. His own words used against him.

‘What are we meant to do then?’ asked Stevie. ‘The crusher’s broken. I guess we could break some rock manually…’

Mike met Stevie with a scowl. He didn’t want to be down the tunnel splitting rock all day.

‘Clean the equipment then,’ said Ian.

‘You can piss off,’ said Mike.

Ian glared at him. ‘I don’t care what you do. But you’re staying out of this,’ he said, striding out of the house.

LORCAN

Lorcan was still distracted by his earlier meeting with Nikos. With the promise of a showdown in two days. The money in exchange for the information. A tempting offer.

‘Lorcan?’

Also too distracted to spot Ian before he peered through the window.

Lorcan rolled off the lounger and made for the back of the house, hauling Dylan with him. He listened as Naiyana met Ian at the front door.

‘I just want to talk,’ said Ian. He didn’t sound angry, though his tone carried a hint of frustration that Lorcan was wary of. Grabbing the rifle from the eaves and holding it helped. He was glad of its unwavering support.

‘Okay, let’s talk,’ he heard his wife say, sticking up for her family.

‘Just you,’ said Ian. ‘You seem to be the only one with sense out of the two of you.’

Lorcan wanted to defend himself against this slight, but couldn’t muster the words or actions.

‘And not here,’ said Ian. ‘Somewhere quiet.’

‘What do you mean, quiet?’ asked Naiyana.

‘There will be things said about your husband – and my team – that your child doesn’t want to hear,’ said Ian. ‘Best this is done in private.’

There was a palling silence. Lorcan wasn’t keen on this, his wife going off with some stranger. But better her than me, he reasoned.

‘Lorcan?’ said Naiyana.

He stayed silent