St Kilda Blues (Charlie Berlin #3)(14)

‘And when you say we took them into town you mean ... ?’

‘Myself and Oscar, Mr Scheiner’s driver. We took them in the Cadillac.’

‘Is Oscar here this morning?’

Vera shook her head. ‘I’m afraid he’s at the doctors, with chest pains. It’s the stress. Oscar’s taking it – this situation, I mean – very personally. He’s been with Mr Scheiner since before Gudrun was born.’

Berlin made a mental note to interview the driver to see if his version of events jibed with Vera’s. ‘So how does this usually work, taking the girls into town to the dances? Was it the same place every time?’

‘The very first weekend was a place in South Yarra; I think it was called Opus. The next time it was a discotheque called Bertie’s, in the city on Spring street.’

Berlin had heard Sarah mentioning those names. ‘And on Saturday night, Vera?’

‘It was the Buddha’s Belly in Little La Trobe Street. Rosemary suggested it. She said it was where it was all happening.’ She paused. ‘Stupid little .. .’

She left the statement unfinished. Berlin guessed the missing word was probably bitch.

‘Did you usually go inside with them, into the dances I mean?’ Vera smiled a sad smile. ‘You don’t know much about teenage girls, do you, Mr Berlin?’

He thought of young Sarah so far, far away. ‘Probably not.’

‘We park outside on the street and wait in the car, myself and Oscar. I have my knitting and Oscar listens to the greyhound racing. He has an earpiece for his transistor radio, which is very considerate of him.’

Did Oscar bet on the dogs? Berlin wondered. And if he did, did he owe anyone money, more money than he might be able to easily repay?

‘On the first two Saturday nights, at Opus and Bertie’s, they came out right on 10:30, just as they were supposed to. Gudrun has a lovely marcasite wristwatch that keeps excellent time; Oscar and I bought it for her twelfth birthday.’

‘That was nice of you ... and Oscar.’ Roberts made the comment from across the room. Berlin noted the pause in the middle but didn’t look away from Vera’s face.

‘And last Saturday night, at this Buddha’s Belly place, Vera? Tell me what happened.’

Vera took a deep breath before she spoke. ‘They were late. It was around 10:45 or 10:50 and Oscar was about to go in but then Rosemary came out, all by herself. She was looking up and down the laneway -looking for Gudrun, as it turned out.’

Berlin waited.

‘She said she and Gudrun had become separated somehow after they went in and now she couldn’t find her anywhere.’

‘Did Rosemary say how they got separated?’

There was a pause before Vera answered. Berlin had the rhythm of her voice now and was listening for those pauses, pauses where she tried to work out how to best phrase a response.

‘She said the dance floor was very crowded and it must have happened there.’

Vera had her knees pressed together and her feet together on the floor. Her hands were on her knees, fingers tightly intertwined. Berlin could see white on the knuckles of her clenched hands.

‘But you don’t think that was what happened, do you?’

‘Well, the place was very crowded, that part was true, Mr Berlin. Oscar and I searched as best we could, but it was very smoky in there, and dark, and they had those flashing lights, which can be very disorienting. We checked everywhere, including the toilets, and it was very hard to ask people questions, because of the noise of the band, you understand. ’

‘You don’t think Rosemary was telling the truth about how they got separated, do you? It’s important we know everything.’

Vera was looking off into the distance, eyes unfocused. Her mouth was a tight line across her face, her cheeks sucked in so the cheekbones stood out. Berlin waited.

‘Her lipstick was smeared.’

‘Rosemary’s?’

Vera nodded.

Berlin could see muscles working in the woman’s forearms. She was still clenching her interlocked fingers. It was something a person did out of anger. ‘So you think maybe Rosemary was busy pashing on in a dark corner with some good-looking Romeo and Gudrun was left wandering around on her own?’

‘You might be able to get Rosemary to tell you that, to persuade her to tell you that.’

Vera was trying to suppress the anger in her voice but there was too much of it. Berlin was already planning to interview Rosemary and it looked like Vera was ready to volunteer to beat the truth out of the girl.

‘There isn’t any chance Gudrun may have left the dance without you seeing her, is there? Perhaps she came out the front way and you missed her?’

‘I really don’t think that’s possible, Mr Berlin. It’s a rather narrow street and we would have seen her for sure.’

‘Unless you were distracted, of course.’ Both Berlin and Vera looked up at Bob Roberts.

‘Distracted by what, Mr Roberts?’ Vera’s voice was cold. ‘By my knitting? What do you mean exactly?’

‘Distracted by Oscar maybe? I’m just asking. It was a cold night, maybe you two were trying to keep warm.’

‘We had a thermos of coffee and the Cadillac has a very efficient heater. Besides, Oscar isn’t exactly my type.’