The Survivors(61)

Kieran stared. ‘Sorry, does what exactly?’

‘This.’ Ash pointed at the backpack. ‘Chucks a bag of rocks in – yeah, I know mate, it’s insane –’ He grinned despite himself at Kieran’s expression. ‘Sorry, no, it’s not funny at all. And I shouldn’t say insane, that’s not fair.’ Ash’s smile faded. ‘I didn’t know Trish had started again, though. Liv hasn’t said anything, so maybe she doesn’t know either.’

‘What is it she’s doing, though?’

Ash took a long pull on his beer and swallowed. ‘It’s something to do with Gabby’s backpack, and where it was found after she went missing. The bag washing ashore three days later, right by the place Gabby was last seen?’ Ash shrugged. ‘Trish has got it into her head that there’s no way it could have happened like that.’

‘But it did,’ Kieran said. ‘That’s where it was found.’

‘Yeah, Trish reckons it was dumped.’

There was a long silence.

‘She thinks Gabby’s bag was dumped?’

‘Yep,’ Ash said. ‘Deliberately. I guess so it would be found in the water and the search called off, whatever. I don’t know.’

‘Are you kidding?’

‘No.’

Kieran looked down the dark beach. He could no longer make out the spot where he had watched Trish Birch. The same spot where Gabby had last been seen by Brian twelve years earlier, and where her purple-striped backpack full of library books had been found sandy and sea-drenched on the shore, after three days of searching. Kieran turned back to Ash.

‘Dumped by who?’

‘Who knows?’ Ash shrugged. ‘That’d be the big question, I guess.’

‘Has Trish talked to Renn about it?’

‘Yeah, she has. I mean, I only know all this through Liv. But it started a while ago, around the ten-year anniversary mark –’ Kieran remembered Olivia mentioning the anniversary in the cemetery. What had she said? Mum found it hard. Clearly.

‘– and I guess Trish felt Renn wasn’t taking her seriously enough,’ Ash was saying. ‘So she started testing it out. Throwing backpacks in, seeing what happened to them.’

‘And what did happen?’

Ash shrugged. ‘I think most disappeared without a trace, so God knows how many she chucked in. But one was pulled up in a fishing net, and then another got caught around Mike Tate’s boat propeller. Did a fair bit of damage, so Trish had to come clean. Renn managed to smooth things over, kind of made it go away –’

‘That wouldn’t have been too easy. Expensive mistake to fix.’

‘Yeah, well, you know –’ Ash drained his bottle and shrugged. ‘Renn’s always had a bit of a thing for Liv. Or maybe he felt guilty for not listening to Trish in the first place, who knows? Anyway –’ Ash reached for another beer. ‘Whatever. He made Trish promise not to do it anymore, but that was around the time she got a bit heavy-handed with the old sleeping pills, so that’s when Liv moved back to keep an eye on her.’

Kieran looked at the backpack. ‘Do you think Trish has secretly been doing this the whole time, or just started again?’

‘Hard to say.’ Ash shook his head. ‘Best guess would be she’s started again. This whole thing with Bronte has sent everyone a bit crazy. Have you seen that online forum? It’s going nuts.’

‘EBOCH? Yeah.’

Kieran had ventured back into the pixelated world of the Evelyn Bay Online Community Hub that afternoon to find things were getting heated. The dam had broken and Liam’s name was being bandied about freely now. Division lines were emerging between those who wanted this whole mess resolved so they could feel comfortable forgetting to lock their doors once more, and those who couldn’t believe the cops were wasting their time looking at a local. Bronte herself, Kieran noticed, was barely mentioned at all.

He turned back to Ash. ‘I can see what happened to Bronte would feel pretty bloody close to home for Trish. But what’s she hoping for with this backpack thing? That she’ll throw enough of these in to be able to prove some point about Gabby?’

‘I have no idea. I suppose so.’

‘How many have washed up in that spot?’

‘To be fair, not many, as far as I know.’ Ash kicked the bag with his toe. ‘But we’re not exactly talking hard scientific conditions, are we?’ He sighed. ‘Liv won’t be pleased. She was saying before all this that she thought Trish might be turning a corner. Think she was hoping she might be able to head back to Melbourne.’

‘Would you go with her?’

‘Think I’d be invited?’ Ash’s tone was light, but Kieran could detect the hint of a genuine question in there.

‘I dunno, mate,’ he said, honestly.

Ash didn’t reply straight away. ‘Liv’s a bit pissed off I wasn’t around earlier, when you guys were at her place with Renn. She says she’s fine but that thing about Bronte’s camera has left her shaken up.’

‘Yeah, that was weird. Makes you wonder what’s on it.’

‘Or who, eh?’ Ash rubbed his eyes. He sounded tired. ‘I would’ve been there with Liv if I could, but I had clients. I couldn’t just drop them, they’ve got three rental places. I’ll need the business over winter.’