Challis - 05 - Blood Moon by Garry Disher Page A

not true.

    * * * *

    14

    Challis
got in the drinks and then Ellen told them the story of Zara Selkirk and the
chaplain of Landseer.

    Punishment? said Pam Murphy.

    Yes.

    Challis set down his glass. The
stepsister told you this?

    Yes.

    But you havent confirmed it with
this Zara kid yet.

    Hal, Ellen said, she wasnt home.

    They were in the little side bar of
a pub called the Two Bays, down from the yacht club and next to a maritime
museum that consisted of a couple of anchors and a fishing net. The Two Bays
was the main watering hole of the Waterloo police because it was favoured by
yachting types and not the kinds of men, women and adolescents theyd arrested
over the yearswhich didnt mean that the yachting types were not criminals,
just that they were less likely to have a criminal record and break a beer
bottle or billiard cue over the head of a police officer whod wandered in for
a quiet drink.

    Challis was drinking Cascade lager,
Ellen gin-and-tonic, Murph lemon squash. Hed stop at one drink. The others
would, too. Theyd all had experience of long drinking sessions when they were
young, in which everyone was expected to buy a round of drinks and the fallout might
be a breath test or an accident on the way home and the loss of a career. Or
the breakdown of a marriage. Or poor job performance and a spreading waistline.
Challis thought back to an early posting, a rural station where he was a
sergeant and had lost his wifes regard to one of his colleagues. Theyd all
been heavy drinkers. It got incestuous. Eventually his wife and the colleague
had lured him to a lonely back road to kill him. Hed been an impediment to
their love or their lust and it was as if killing him was their only solution.
If it hadnt been a drinking culture, would they have taken more civilised
measures? The pair of them had been jailed. The guy was still behind bars.
Challiss wife had taken her own life there.

    He shook off the memory and said, too
sharply, When will you question her?

    A flicker of emotion in Ellens
face. Tomorrow, she said, after a pause.

    Oh, hell, thought Challis. Sorry,
he said, drawing his palms down his cheeks. I had McQuarrie and Hindmarsh
on my back this afternoon.

    Hindmarsh? asked Ellen, appalled.

    Sooner you than me, boss, Murphy
said.

    Ellen gazed at him sympathetically.
Behind her a large tinted window looked on to a little inlet and wharf where
the fishing boats tied up. She said, Did you tell him about the e-mail and the
blog?

    You betcha.

    Did it shut him up?

    Yep.

    Pam Murphy was following the
conversation with bewilderment. Challis showed her the printouts, watched her
read them. Could be motive lurking here, boss.

    Dont I know it. But lets go back
to the Landseer connection first. Ells, could you go through it again?

    Ellen took a deep breath. A Year 11
kid called Zara Selkirk was Lachlan Roes only appointment yesterday. When I
learned that she wasnt at school today I went around to her house. Her
stepsister, Chelsea, answered the door. She was alone: father in London on
business, Zara and stepmother in town. Ellen paused and looked at her
colleagues with a bright, empty grin. Apparently Chelsea is often alone. Were
talking about serious wealth and non-serious parenting here.

    Challis nodded. In his twenty years
of police work hed seen that the very wealthy were just as likely to overlook
their kids as the very poor. At least the poor had reasons. Hed noticed
something arid in the neglectful rich, even as they believed they had a
creative side because they attended opera openings, a spiritual side because
they were fond of their children, and an emotional side because they were
always infuriated by someone or something. Youll need to confirm that Zara
and her mother were up in the city last night.

    Ellen looked at him levelly and
said, Of course.

    Challis winced again. Go on.

    Its a long shot, but they might
have wanted harm to come to the chaplain. Apparently Zara and two of her
friends developed