St Kilda Blues (Charlie Berlin #3)(50)
‘No I didn’t, Maud. Now, that last Saturday night, can you tell me what happened right up till the time she left? Just tell me everything, even if it doesn’t seem important; every little thing can help.’
‘All right. Saturday nights we turn the lights out at nine.’
‘Nine?’
‘Friday night is nine too but all the others it’s eight o’clock on the dot, because of school. I had my shower first and then Sally and then Melinda. I always try to be quick because there isn’t a lot of hot water. If you go last you can freeze sometimes.’
‘That’s nice of you, thinking about the others.’
‘We got into bed and Sally went to sleep straight away. She always does. She snores too. Then Melinda had her shower and afterwards she put on a bit of a show because she was planning to meet her boyfriend at nine-thirty.’
Berlin waited for a moment before he asked the question. ‘She put on a show?’
Maud’s arm came out from under the quilt and she pointed across the room. Her arm was bare. ‘Over there, by the window. Should I show you?’
‘Okay, if you don’t mind.’
The girl threw the quilt back and stepped out of bed. She was naked. Berlin saw pale, almost translucent skin, thin calves, long legs, wisps of pubic hair, pinkish nipples on just-budding breasts. As she padded past him to the window he looked at her feet and had the odd thought that she would grow into them, like a German shepherd puppy.
There was a hairbrush on the windowsill. She picked it up and began to brush her hair. Berlin remembered from the crime scene photographs that Melinda had hair almost down to her waist and full breasts. As she brushed, Maud swayed a little and moved her arms slowly, as if lost in a trance. Berlin’s eye caught the movement of her left hand beginning to move slowly downward over her round, little girl’s belly.
‘You should get back into bed now, Maud, you know, before you catch a cold.’
He stared out the window. Behind him he heard her soft footsteps on the boards and then the creak of the bed. The bungalow was on a slight rise and above the tree line he could just make out the city sky-line. On a clear night it would be a glow in the distance. And below that glow the darkness of the scrubby bushland and whatever or whoever it was hiding, whoever the show was for.
He turned back from the window. The girl was staring at him from the bed with the quilt back up under her chin. She had the same sad eyes as her mother and as her sister in the school photo in Bob Roberts’ folder. He went to speak but Maud anticipated the question and shook her head.
‘It’s okay, Mr Berlin, really. He only likes to watch.’
TWENTY-ONE
It didn’t take Berlin long to find what he was looking for. The pathway curved out in a wide arc from the back door of the Marquet house. Crushed flat by regular use it wove its way between the trees, ending in a small covered clearing that faced up towards the windows of the old schoolhouse. The bark of a tall gum had been worn away at shoulder height by someone leaning against the tree.
Fallen branches and leaf litter covered the ground in front of the tree, and interspersed amongst the crisp, dried leaves and splintered shards of bark were dozens of cigarette butts. Something else had been spattered over the ground cover amongst the butts and branches and dried leaves. Berlin chose not to think about what it might be.
There was a slight look of relief on Bob Roberts’ face when Berlin came back into the kitchen. ‘Get what you needed, Charlie?’
‘More than we needed Bob, but we’ll talk about it back in the car.’
Something in his tone told Roberts not to ask any more questions. Berlin glanced towards the sewing machine and bolts of doth in the living room.
‘Singer make a good machine, don’t they? My wife used to do a lot of sewing, Mrs Marquet, but not so much now. She made all the curtains for the house when we first moved in.’ He walked into the living room and picked up a bolt of flower-patterned fabric. ‘This is nice, colourful, very cheery. I reckon this would make a nice set of curtains for your girls in that sleep-out.’ He smiled. ‘I can’t see it taking you much more than a day to run some Up.’
The woman glanced at her husband and then down at the floor.
‘I think some nice curtains might brighten up the room out there, help them get over things. Give them a bit of privacy too. Young girls, young women, they need that.’
She glanced at her husband again. ‘I suppose I could do that.’
Berlin smiled a cheery smile. ‘That’s the spirit, you might be able to get Maud to give you a hand. We’ll be going now and I’m sorry we had to disturb you, especially after everything you’ve been through. Thanks for the tea and scones.’ He looked back towards Clive Marquet who was still sitting at the kitchen table. ‘I might just have a quick word with your husband on our way out.’
Berlin walked across the living room to the front door of the house and opened it. He glanced at Clive Marquet and tilted his head, indicating his presence was required outside.
Roberts waited in the car while Berlin walked slowly across the front of the house and then down the side. Clive Marquet followed at a distance. Berlin stopped at the back of the building, waiting for him to catch up before he spoke.
‘You know, you’re pretty cut-off way out here in the bush Mr Marquet. If it was me, I’d be worried about my family. You seem like a bit of a handy bloke, I can’t see it being too much trouble for you to fit some good locks to those doors of yours. I’m a bit partial to locks on bathroom doors too. Like I said, I’ve got a teenage daughter and girls that age do seem to like a bit of privacy.’