Challis - 05 - Blood Moon by Garry Disher Page B

a hatred for the school librarian, Merle Richardson, and
thought theyd try a little cyber bullying. They set up a fake Facebook site
for Mrs Richardson in which she outlines her sexual fantasies and supplies a
phone number and e-mail address. The poor woman had a breakdown.

    The kids were found out? Pam
asked.

    Ellen nodded. But not reported to
police. They werent even expelled or suspended.

    Challis wasnt surprised. The school
wouldnt have wanted the publicityand nor would the victimand although cyber
bullying was rife in schools and other institutions, the regulations and legal
actions and penalties lagged far behind.

    Apparently young Zara is pretty
bright, Ellen continued, and did a couple of Year 12 exams this year. When it
seemed that the school might take action against her, the mother charged
down to the school and threatened to sue if Zaras exam performance suffered.

    And they backed down, Pam said.

    In a heartbeat. To hell with the
reputation and mental and physical health of a member of staffa wealthy parent
always comes first. Bastards.

    They all felt the disgust, but
Challis had to move on. How does the chaplain fit into all this?

    It was decided that Zara would
apologise to Mrs Richardson and hed be the mediator.

    All three were present?

    Ellen shook her head. Mrs
Richardson took legal advice and didnt attend.

    Good for her, Challis said. He
paused. But that raises the question: did she harm Roe? I cant see any
of these people having a strong enough motive.

    True, Ellen said, draining her
gin-and-tonic. The headmaster would make a better target.

    Challis nodded. See if hell talk
to you. Murph, your turn.

    Nothing to report, boss. Ive been
showing Roes photo to the schoolies, but no one recognises him. Ill keep
doing it tonight. Then she gazed at Challis and said pointedly, Has Scobie
come up with anything?

    Challis gave her a wry look. She was
wondering why Sutton wasnt at the briefing. Ive taken him off the case.

    He outlined his reasons, backed up
by the printouts of the e-mail and Dirk Roes blog, which lay on the table
between them.

    Lets see, said Ellen.

    She pored over the material. He
liked the way her brow knotted when she concentrated, liked the shapeliness of
her hands. His gaze swung to Pam Murphys hands: stubbier, more squared off. He
said, I questioned Dirk at the hospital this afternoon. He said hed removed
the blog from the Web.

    Ellen shook her head wearily. What
is it about blogs? Why do people do it?

    Pam said, You old timers, you dont
understand.

    I understand they add to the
meanness in the world, Ellen said. They give inadequate people like Dirk Roe
a chance to indulge their worst and weakest instincts. A thought pops into
their heads and they think its valid simply because they had it. Furthermore,
blogs are free and dont require face-to-face contact with a fellow human
being.

    Finding Pam staring at her, head on
one side, Ellen went on hotly, If you knew what those Landseer girls did to
that poor woman...

    Pam nodded. Fair enough, Sarge.

    Ellen cocked her head at Challis. Could
Dirk have hurt his brother?

    Not directly. His alibi checks out.

    Paid someone to do it?

    Anythings possible, Challis said.

    He told them about his afternoon,
digging into the backgrounds of Lachlan and Dirk Roe. Raised in a
fundamentalist church, a strict upbringing, spare the rod and spoil the child,
plenty of guilt and repression, a familiar story.

    Maybe, said Ellen, but how did
this one play out in particular?

    Challis told them about a
conversation hed had with an aunt. She was a member of the same church,
married to the younger brother of Lachlan and Dirks father. After shed had a
couple of kids she started to question thingsand was kicked out. They wont
even let her see her kids. He held up his hands as if to forestall objections.
True, she has an axe to grind, but one of the things that bothered her was the
behaviour of Lachlan and Dirk, especially when they played with her