Exiles (Aaron Falk #3)(65)

Falk and Eva followed him through the crowds along a short loop of track, past more rows of stalls. A painted sign saying RIDES directed people deeper into the festival grounds, and below it, another marked EXIT pointed the other way.

Falk glanced to the right and caught a glimpse of the Penvale Vineyard stand. Shane was there, he could see, the man’s height putting him half a head above the crowd. He was with a casual worker Falk didn’t recognize, and they looked to be doing a brisk trade. A stack of Kim’s flyers was in a prominent position on the table, and as Falk watched, a woman took a flyer, glanced over it, then went to put it back. Shane motioned for her to keep it, but she smiled and shook her head, reaching instead for a bottle of red and turning it over to read the price. They disappeared from sight as the crowd shifted around them and Falk walked on.

It only took a minute to reach the large west exit, quiet at that time of day, and they again tucked into a spot just off the path. Falk had been through the exit several times now, but tried to look at it again with fresh eyes. While the entrance had been closely controlled, the west exit was wide open. No turnstiles here, simply a tall wooden archway over the broad track, leading out to a sea of cars glinting in the morning sun.

“They’ve got to make it easy for large numbers to get out quickly if needed. Same reason they’ve got the east exit at the back, for overflow.” Raco nodded toward a security guard sitting on a stool at the side. “There are two guards in the evenings, same as last year. Alert the cops to any obvious drunk drivers, anyone who’s overdone it and looks like they might cause trouble on the way home.”

Falk glanced upward. There had been one CCTV camera on the exit last year, he knew, but he could see at least two more now.

“Kim didn’t come out this way,” Raco said. “That’s a one hundred percent guarantee.”

“You watched the footage?” Falk asked.

“Yep. Six hours’ worth.”

“The recording was complete? No edits?”

Raco shook his head. “Time-stamped. All looks right. It’s legit.”

Falk frowned. “And no sign of her at all?”

“None. I mean, there’s a bit to get through and there are a lot of people, but the footage is clear. Good quality. If you take your time, you can see the faces. Dwyer’s watched it, too, obviously. Charlie as well. And Zara. A few times, I think. If Kim had come this way, one of us would have spotted her.”

“Okay,” Falk said. “So she didn’t come out this way.”

“No,” said Raco. “Unless you’re seeing something I’m not.” He looked down at Eva, who was busy gathering long stalks of grass into a makeshift bouquet. “Or you, mate.”

Eva just smiled benignly, but Falk shook his head. He stepped up to the exit and ran a hand over the chain-link fence bordering it.

“Can we follow this the whole way around?”

Raco nodded. “We can try.”

It wasn’t easy, though, Falk realized quickly. The fence ran close to the back of the stalls, which were in turn packed deliberately close to discourage casual visitors from wandering behind and messing with supplies or the electrical wires that snaked across the ground.

They picked their way along in single file, Eva between them, Falk stopping every now and again to examine the mechanism joining the fence links. The boundary may have only been temporary, but it was sturdy, slotting together smoothly. As they made their way through, stallholders popping back to grab fresh stock or snatch a breath of air threw them curious looks.

Eventually, they emerged from the back of the tents and Falk felt the relief of stepping out into the open again. He blinked, the sudden daylight harsh after the shade from the canopies. Up ahead, he could see the east exit, the rope slung across it as always. The first-aid stand nearby was currently staffed by a woman in a wide-brimmed hat.

Falk looked back up along the fence they’d just followed. At two meters, it was reasonably high all the way around.

“I guess theoretically it’s possible Kim felt up to scaling a fence six weeks after giving birth.” Raco read his thoughts. “But I know Rita couldn’t have.”

“No, I think you’re right,” Falk said. “Not even the physical factor, but with all those stallholders coming and going. They’d have noticed her doing something like that. Plus some of them must have known her.”

Raco nodded. “It’s exactly the same down the other side.” He squinted, pointing a finger to where the fence picked up again on the other side of the exit and continued around the grounds.

“Maybe there was a gap?” Falk said. “She could have slipped through?”

Raco shook his head. “I checked.”

“Last year?” Falk was surprised.

“Yeah, walked the whole route the next day. Like we did just then.”

“I don’t remember that.”

“You were at the station giving your statement,” Raco said. “I probably didn’t mention it because, I dunno, it seemed a bit paranoid. Especially because there was nothing to see. The fence was complete, same as now.”

“Right.” Falk’s eyes ran along the boundary, settling inevitably on the only gap. The first-aid volunteer near the east exit had her head buried in a novel.

“Joel’s a good kid,” Raco said. “Serious, conscientious, for sure. But he is still a kid.”