‘That doesn’t make you see things that aren’t there, Con,’ said Gabriella.
‘Dorrie said that a tall, thin, bearded bushman took her from her backyard,’ said Eliza. ‘He took her up the mountain and down into a cave. She said she saw Rose Cahil there, still alive. She said Rose was missing fingers and toes. She said the man, the Hungry Man, had eaten them. Then Dorrie escaped when he was sleeping and found her way back.’
‘Again, I’m sorry, but Down’s syndrome doesn’t lend itself to daring escapes from deranged serial killers,’ said Con.
‘But you’re not the only one who thinks that way,’ said Gabriella. ‘Maybe he was complacent around her, maybe he didn’t tie her up.’
‘Dorrie was never taken seriously, she was an inconvenience,’ said Eliza. ‘The police had their man – Ted Barclay – but he was in custody at the time Dorrie Dossett was taken. They weren’t happy about it, but Ted was granted bail after that, and you know what happened then.
‘A lot of people disregarded Dorrie’s testimony. Ted was the groundsman at the school and there were rumours that she knew him, that they were friends and she made up a story to protect him.’
Footsteps came down the hall and then a shirtless Tom North appeared, hesitating at the sight of Con and Gabriella. ‘Ah,’ said Tom. ‘Sorry.’ He spun on his heel and headed back up the corridor.
‘No, please,’ said Con, rising. ‘We need to chat with you, too.’
Tom hesitated, then returned. Con and Gabriella had spoken to him briefly in the car park by the trail, together with Jack Michaels, but he looked different now in just track pants. His jaw looked too big for his face – ‘Juice Jaw’, they called it. When he’d turned, Con had seen the acne on his back. Tom North was definitely on steroids. He filed that away in his mind.
‘Not sure what else I can tell you,’ said Tom.
‘I have some new questions. Take a seat,’ said Con. ‘Tell me about the girls – let’s start with Jasmine Murphy.’
‘She’s a good egg,’ said Tom. He sat down at the kitchen counter. ‘I only had her for PE. She’d get in and have a go. Little thing, had a bit of a reputation for being a bad girl. The guys just flocked to her. I’m not sure how she did it.’
Eliza nodded. ‘Her and Georgia weren’t as stunning as the twins, but they still drew the boys. They were more down to earth. Or maybe less . . . untouchable.’
‘So did Jasmine have a boyfriend?’ said Con, looking between the two of them.
Tom spoke first. ‘She told all the boys at school that she did, but she wouldn’t say who it was,’ he said. ‘It drove them wild. I’m telling you, if you think girls are gossips, just come along to the locker room before footy training.’ He chuckled. ‘Or not. It gets pretty dirty sometimes. Jasmine has this temper – the boys go wild for it. Like her dad, in that way.’
‘You know Jordan Murphy?’
‘Sure,’ said Tom. Monica appeared and pushed a shirt into Tom’s hands, which he hastily pulled on, prompting a quiet sigh of disappointment from Gabriella. ‘We were in the same year, growing up here. We didn’t mix in the same circles, though, if you know what I mean.’
‘Let’s pretend that I don’t,’ said Con, with a smile.
‘Ah. Well. Murphy . . . he didn’t show up at school much. And when he did, he spent half the day smoking by the basketball courts and the other half in the principal’s office. His dad was our dealer. Best bush bud around. Then he dropped out and followed in Daddy’s footsteps . . .’
Eliza hit him on the side.
‘What?’ said Tom. ‘As if they don’t already know.’ He leaned towards Con. ‘He’s the one you should be interrogating.’
‘Didn’t realise this was an interrogation,’ said Con.
‘Just having a joke, mate,’ said Tom.
‘Tell us about Cierra Mason,’ said Gabriella.
Monica had lingered in the kitchen, washing dishes, and at this question Con heard her pause, just for a second.
‘I don’t have too much to do with her,’ said Tom. ‘Whenever she shows up to PE, she doesn’t do much. I called home about it a few times but nothing ever happened: you’d think the sun shone out of those two girls’ backsides, the way their parents talk about them.’ He shrugged. ‘Eliza would know more.’
‘Cierra isn’t much into Literacy or History or Indigenous Studies or . . . anything, really,’ said Eliza, a small catch in her voice, a half-glance in Tom’s direction. ‘To be honest, she’s a pain in the classroom: whenever she finally opens up her books, which usually takes half the lesson, she just complains it’s too hard. You have to be helping her one-on-one all the time. Polar opposite of her sister.’
‘Was Cierra seeing anyone?’ said Gabriella.
‘Oh yeah. She had someone on the go all the time,’ interjected Tom. ‘Tyler Cabot? Or is it Jye Calloway now?’ Tom stood up, long legs unfolding. ‘I better dry some of these dishes for Monica. I’m afraid I don’t know much more about the other two girls, either.’
‘Stick around, mate, I’m not finished yet,’ said Con. ‘Up in the mountains, when you first realised the girls and Eliza were missing, did you see anything unusual?’
‘Nothing at all, mate. Same as I told you yesterday. Those storm clouds came in a lot quicker than we expected, but you get that in the Tiers – sometimes we’ll get thunder on a calm blue day. You just can’t pick it.’
‘What can you tell us about Madison?’ said Gabriella. ‘What we’re picking up is she’s a bit of a local celebrity . . . was she a bully as well?’
Both Tom and Eliza nodded.
‘Who were her main victims? We should talk to them,’ said Gabriella.
‘Good luck,’ said Eliza. ‘The last person to come forward was Yani Hugh, the pastor’s daughter. As much as we tried to protect her, the backlash she received outside of school was pretty bad.’
‘Like what?’ said Gabriella.
‘Online harassment from a bunch of strangers,’ said Eliza. ‘All of whom just happened to be followers of Madison’s accounts. But since it wasn’t Madison herself, there was nothing we could do.’
‘Yani had come to us saying Madison was collecting nude photos of girls at school,’ said Tom. ‘But after the online abuse, Yani took all that back. She claimed she’d made it up, that it was a lie.’
‘Except it may well be true.’ Eliza sighed heavily. ‘After she came forward, a picture of Yani was circulated online . . . thankfully everything but her face was blurred, but it was clearly a warning.’
‘Madison sounds like a sociopath,’ said Gabriella frankly. ‘She was collecting nudes?’
Con’s phone buzzed. The commander was calling. ‘Excuse me a moment . . .’ He walked into the hallway, the phone to his ear.
‘Cornelius,’ came the cool, refined voice of Commander Agatha Normandy.
‘Hello, commander. Everything all good?’
‘I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I miscalculated.’ Con closed his eyes: he knew what was coming. ‘There would have been questions if I didn’t assign this case to you, given your expertise. But all the same, there are some who doubt you’re up to it, if you’ve recovered from the Sydney case. I thought this was just a case of some girls lost in the bush. I thought it’d help you get some runs on the board . . . Forgive an old woman her mistakes . . .’