Scorpio's Lot (16 page)

Now alone, I decided to run a
check by B8. All’s well on the western front, I thought. I turned the corner
and nearly bumped into Ruth Evans and Marge Samson leaving Emily’s social
gathering.

‘Ah, I see afternoon tea with
Emily has finished. Did you enjoy yourselves today, ladies?’

‘To be perfectly honest, Tom, I
did not,’ Ruth said. ‘Certainly your wife is always the perfect hostess, but I
don’t think very much of the company she keeps. Those women were calling me
names and telling me I’m overreacting to this murder investigation.’

‘One must be careful these days,’
I answered diplomatically, hoping to cut her short.

I noticed Kurt Muller heading my
way. I don’t deserve this, I thought. Bloody hell, which was the lesser of two
evils - Ruth’s whining voice or Kurt’s foul tongue? I had to make a decision
and quickly. Unfortunately, by the time Ruth allowed my exit Kurt had already
arrived.

‘Have the cops solved the murder
yet so things can return to normal?’ asked Kurt forcefully.

‘I said exactly the same thing to
the ladies this afternoon, Mr Muller,’ declared Ruth, nodding in agreement.

‘I didn’t ask you!’ said Kurt to
Ruth.

‘Why is everybody so rude to me
today?’ Ruth said. ‘Come on, Marge, we’ll head back to the van.’

‘That woman is forever prying
into other people’s business,’ said Kurt after the two had departed.

‘That was a bit uncalled for,’ I
said. ‘Ruth was only agreeing with your comment. To answer your question, I don’t
believe there’s been much progress. The
Pedley Advertiser
is claiming
the case is drug related, so we’ll just have to wait and see what unfolds.’

‘Tom, I need to borrow some of
your tools today if that’s all right. I’m doing a minor alteration inside the
van and I need a hammer, fretsaw and about four G-clamps.’

‘Sure, follow me and I’ll get
them for you now.’

Kurt continued with his
complaining. ‘Anyway, as far as this murder business is concerned, I hope they
find the bloody culprit soon because I’ve had a gutful of the cops sniffing
around. They give me the shits with all their questions and suspicions.’

Forever the grumbling bum, I
thought, as we made our way to collect the tools. Perhaps one day Kurt might
get out of bed on the right side and actually be pleasant to people. I gave him
the tools and he continued on his way.

~ * ~

m,
it’s almost nine o’clock. Time to move Helen and Brigit to C7.’

‘Okay. I suggest you take a tool
or something just in case someone’s watching.’

‘Good thinking. If I’m caught
unawares it’ll at least give the impression there’s purpose to all of this,’ I
said, grabbing a bucket. ‘Which reminds me, I mentioned to Ruth Evans we have a
problem with rats when she overheard a noise coming from B8. It was a close
call but she seemed to take the bait.’

With the office now locked I made
my way via the rear laundry door. The night was dark and there appeared to be
no sign of anyone in the immediate vicinity. Emily kept watch from the laundry
exit as I searched amongst my ring of endless keys for the right one. I looked
back at her and she signaled the all clear. I opened the annex sliding door.

‘It’s only me, Tom,’ I whispered,
entering the dark room and placing the bucket on a nearby ledge.

‘Thank God. You gave us a fright,’
muttered a reply from within.

‘You two okay?’

‘Sort of,’ Helen replied. ‘It’s
been a long day with nothing to do.’

‘Tonight I’m moving you to C7 as
a precaution. I know there’s a risk, but we must move quickly. Emily’s keeping
watch in case someone’s lurking around. Unfortunately our resident busybody,
Ruth Evans, heard a noise coming from your van today so all the more reason to
do the switch. I’ve got to the stage where I’m not sure who to trust anymore.
Bring with you only what’s necessary.’

Having locked the door behind us
and with clearance from Emily, we began our trek to C7. I had purposely chosen
this site because rows B and C were coupled back to back on the one block. As a
result there was no need to expose ourselves by crossing unnecessary roads,
providing we kept close to the row of vans.

So far, so good. Only four vans
to pass now before we reached our destination. Suddenly I heard the noise from
an approaching car. With no time to hesitate I signaled to both women to crawl
under a nearby van. I squeezed in beside them, wondering whether it was a
resident simply looking for their site or someone with sinister intent. We lay
chest-up in our dark protective surroundings, totally invisible. Our refuge was
cold and damp but we were adequately concealed from passersby. The sound of
slow-turning wheels on the gravel road drew nearer.

The car came to a halt directly
in front of the van we lay under. Following an uncomfortable silence the car
doors opened and out stepped two people who stood motionless for what seemed
eternity. The driver remained in the car. In the silence I could envisage the
communication above being carried out by sign language. Finally and without
warning the two men parted and went their separate ways. One set of legs
proceeded towards block sites D and E, with the other walking directly toward
the van we lay beneath. The latter stopped as if to listen for any immediate
sound and then threw a cigarette to the ground, which landed under the cuff of
my trousers. Would the dampness of the ground extinguish it or was there
sufficient heat to make the material smoulder? I daren’t move for fear of
making a sound; my leg was only a short distance from the edge of the van.

The lone figure lit a further
cigarette and continued to stand in the one spot only a body’s length away.
Then the unavoidable happened. A faint smell began spreading its stench beneath
the van, but I hoped that as long as the fumes were confined below the van we
would not be discovered.

I could feel the women’s mounting
tension. The three of us lay motionless while the odor became more intense and
I wondered how much longer we could remain undetected. This was certainly no
time for sneezes or coughs. With the flick of a second butt to the ground, the
stranger started walking toward B8, the van we had just come from.

Following the night stalker’s
departure, I immediately reached for my trouser leg to suppress the fumes. I
applied a thick coat of damp soil to the cuff, being careful not to make any
noise, given there was still a third person waiting in the nearby car.

Now loitering in the vicinity of
B8, the stranger observed for a while and then inspected the site at some
length. Then he examined the neighbouring B6. The stranger now turned and
headed toward the lights of C3, residence of Ruth Evans and possibly the
visiting Marge Samson. He stood beside Ruth’s van for some time, perhaps trying
to identify a voice, for if the two women were inside it set the scene for a
potential case of mistaken identity. Whatever the attraction, the man seemed
intrigued by the behaviour within.

He returned to his accomplice,
who was now waiting for him beside the car. The legs of the two men had now
come back into view and I could hear a distant discussion, but it was
impossible to make any sense of it. They were too far away. Both men then
entered the car, which was gone in a matter of seconds.

We waited for around two minutes
and then, confident that no unidentified person had remained behind, we crawled
out from under the van and continued toward C7. Brigit stood on a twig and
snapped it in half, sending Helen into immediate fright. Everyone was nervous
and the stillness of the night emphasised the unexpected sound. I quickly
unlocked the door. Once we were inside I drew the curtains behind us, then
whispered some instructions.

‘That was a close call,’ I said, ‘so
just remember the following important rules. No showers or anything else that
might attract noise and above all, definitely no lights.’

‘Tom, I’ve decided to return home
tomorrow morning because I can’t continue this way much longer,’ said Helen.

‘Okay, but its too risky for
Brigit to go with you at the moment.’

‘That I agree with.’

‘I can’t take much more of this
either,’ said Brigit.

‘I’ll drop you off home in the
morning, Helen. Brigit and I will pay Forbes a visit. Then we’ll see what can
be done about a more secure arrangement.’

‘Good, that’s settled,’ said
Helen. ‘I’ll catch up with Forbes in the afternoon. No doubt that imbecile will
want a word or two with me as well.’

‘Let’s call it a night because we’re
all in need of some sleep. I’ll see you both early tomorrow morning and
remember, you have my mobile number if you need me.’

Concerned that Emily had been
left alone, I immediately returned to inform her of tonight’s ordeal. Over a
late night cup of tea she listened intently.

‘Brave girl, is young Brigit.
Sharing this experience with Helen should strengthen the bond between these
two, don’t you think?’ I said.

‘Probably, and I can’t help but
agree with Helen’s earlier comment that the time has come to let the police
know what’s going on.’

‘We’ve just discussed that and I’ll
be seeing Forbes tomorrow. I’ll be requesting that full protection be provided.’

‘Good. I’m glad to hear you’ve
finally come to your senses, Tom.’

~ * ~

Later
that same night a car drove slowly through the entrance gates of the caravan
park. At two-thirty in the morning the night was extremely cold and a thick
blanket of fog had engulfed all before it. The headlights were useless in the
pea soup. Slowly crunching away on the gravel surface, the car finally came to
a stop on the road that separated blocks C and D. Two men emerged, walked
across to B8 and off-loaded their gear onto the verandah adjacent to the site
entrance.

A tool similar to that of a small
crowbar appeared from a bag and was wedged against the door lock. With a quick
jerk of the device the lock was instantly broken and the door slid quietly open
on its runner. The two figures cautiously entered the annex and surveyed the
area. Satisfied the women were not in the room, they climbed the two steps into
the van. Again not a soul stirred. In their attempt to find Brigit, they opened
every conceivable door and checked every nook and cranny within the van. Their
source had been adamant the women were here but the search was in vain.
Incensed that the well-planned assault had failed, they let fly in a display of
bitter rage.

Unbeknown to the remainder of the
park’s residents, their sinister work was unfinished. They had failed in their
attempt to locate Brigit and Helen, but there was someone else in the park they
were determined to find. The previous day, on her way to Marge Sampson’s house,
Ruth Evans had unknowingly witnessed Bradbury and Sol in the presence of their
regional head discussing syndicate matters. An order from the highest authority
had been to ‘eliminate’ so there would be nothing linking the drug lord with
either the Broadbent manager or the dealer.