The Things You Didn't See(38)
‘I think Mum was shot because of the farm. If she actually signed a contract, it would give any number of people a reason to be angry with her.’
‘So we’re looking for something official relating to her decision?’ Holly clarified, suddenly uneasy. They shouldn’t be doing this, it should be the police, yet she knew she couldn’t stop now. ‘Something her assailant too may have been seeking?’
Holly peered at one of the papers and saw it was a bank statement. A cursory glance showed long lines of numbers in the debits column, and very few in the credits. The Hawkes were in serious debt. She recalled Janet saying The farm’s not exactly a gold mine.
It looked as if all official correspondence was addressed to Maya. One letter had a familiar banner across the top, Hands Off Our Countryside! It was signed by Philip Godwin and its tone was both angry and demanding:
If our farmland is sold to the Port, they’ll rip the heart from our community. 3,200 lorries EVERY DAY and 600 cars EVERY DAY. Local schoolchildren will be in GREAT DANGER from the INCREASED TRAFFIC and the value of local homes will plummet!
Holly noticed that Cassandra had hardly moved. She was still gazing up at the publicity photo of Daniel. Directly behind her was the open gun cupboard. Empty, of course; the police had seized all the weapons, the spaces like empty sockets of missing teeth.
‘Cass, where was the rifle kept?’
Cass turned, and pointed immediately to the thin central space. ‘This is the home of the Anschütz.’
‘It seems very long,’ Holly said, standing. Her senses pricked so she knew something was coming, a taste or a smell, but not what.
Cass trailed her hand, with its broken fingernails, along the groove. ‘The rifle is always stored with its silencer attached.’ Holly’s nose filled, as if with the scorched scent from the gun. She felt renewed energy, as if a hand were at her back, pushing her. ‘Find me something as long as it would have been.’
Wide-eyed, Cass did as she was told, leaving the room. Alone, Holly closed her eyes, let her senses tingle alive. Tell me something useful, she begged. When Cass returned, she was carrying a length of bamboo cane, the type used for supporting plants.
‘It’s only an estimate, but I’d say this is about the length.’
Holly took it. ‘And your mum is how tall?’
‘She’s very petite, just five foot.’
Three inches shorter than Holly, yet as she held the cane away from her, imagining it was a gun and she was trying to point it at her head, she found she physically couldn’t. Her arms simply didn’t have the reach, the gun would have been too long.
She breathed in sharply, feeling the synapses in her brain make connections as though piecing together a jigsaw.
‘Maya didn’t try and kill herself, Cass. I don’t think it’s even possible.’
18
Cassandra
The relief is immense. I hug her, so grateful that not only does she believe me, she’s found something to prove it.
‘How did you even think of that?’ I ask, staring at the cane.
‘I sometimes intuit things. It’s hard to explain.’ She rubs her head with her fingers. ‘I have a bit of a headache now. Could I get some water?’
‘Oh, of course. Come on.’
Holly takes a seat, and places her arms on the kitchen table, resting her head there. She gives a light groan.
‘Are you okay?’
‘I’m just feeling a bit . . .’ She looks up, and right then I see a child. Like when Victoria’s ill, I just want to take care of her. ‘Overwhelmed. Your mum, it’s like she’s here.’
Spiritualism, I understand that. Daniel talks about karma and I know the world is a mysterious place.
‘Can you think of anything else?’ I say, tentative because Holly looks so ill. But she thought of something I’d never have considered, and Janet’s cakes . . . I realise what a gift it is, her coming back into my life like this.
‘When I was in the study, I could feel your mum’s pain, Cass. How serious was her cancer when Daniel cured her?’
‘Bad enough that the hospital wanted to operate, but Mum . . . Well, she’s vain. And losing her breast was something she wouldn’t agree to. She tried lots of things, so many strange therapies, but it was Daniel who saved her. She went into remission, she kept her breast and became his cause célèbre, the star of his radio show.’
Holly lifts her head, but only slightly. Her cheeks have lost their colour.
‘Mum survived cancer, against the odds, only to get shot in her own home. What are the chances of that?’
‘I’m so sorry, Cass.’ I can tell she means it. I trust her, feel I can say what I’ve been thinking, though only to her.
‘Holly, I think it was Ash who shot Mum. We know his fingerprints were found on the rifle . . .’
‘But the police let him go. Surely they wouldn’t do that if they had any suspicions.’ Holly rubs her temples, making circular motions. I push the glass of water closer to her and she sips it. ‘And your dad seems very close to him.’
‘Dad thinks the sun shines out of him. He’s thinking of him more than he is of me right now, that’s for sure.’
‘Why do you say that?’
I don’t want to talk about this. ‘Besides, Ash isn’t close to Mum. Neither is Janet, for that matter.’