The Cabin by the Sea: The Audrey Murders - Book Two Page 6

  She wondered what was in his car he didn’t want the police to find. She hoped it was a gun. A gun would certainly come in handy. Audrey thought she heard a noise coming from the top paddock. She walked over towards the sound and shone her torch. She thought she saw a movement in the forest and stood still and waited. Nothing. It must have been her imagination. She returned to the cottage and kept the lights low while she waited and watched.

  Gavin left the cabin and headed towards his car and returned a moment later carrying a bag. Immediately he was back in the car and she waited for what seemed an eternity. He must be getting rid of any evidence, she thought. Her suspicions were correct. She could see the inside light in the car and it was obvious he was wiping the whole interior. She knew it made no difference if he wiped all evidence of the girl. She had the best evidence tucked away safely in the cottage.

  Soon the cops would be back and would have a warrant to search not only the car - but also the whole property. She had been through that before and knew they would have dogs that could find the girl in no time. She must work quickly and now she knew exactly what she must do.

  C H A P T E R 3 1

  Gavin was in fast mode. First he had to get rid of any evidence that might be in his car. Then he must move the girl to a safer place - off the property - but how? That was the question. He had no drivable vehicle. There was always Audrey’s Rav4 but he knew she would suspect him wanting to borrow it this late at night. He would have to go too far to steal a car and the cops could be watching the area. After cleaning the car and wiping every trace of the girl away, he returned to the cabin to develop a plan of attack.

  Pacing up and down he realized he was screwed. He opened the bag and took out his 22- rifle. He loaded it and placed it on the bed beside him. He still had the handcuffs and duct tape he was planning of disposing with the girl. Now it was too late. She was about twenty meters from the front gate down a steep bank and hidden by dense bush. It would only take a police dog minutes to find her. He had not even covered her knowing he was going to put her in his car and take her to the place he had found only this morning. That seemed liked days ago. He looked at the time. It was just after midnight. He only had about seven hours until daylight. He put his head in his hands and felt despair like never before. Then he saw her. Standing at the glass door staring straight at him.

  Her first words when he opened the door were “You have no choice. We must move the body. The roads are not safe. I have a better plan. Hurry, we don’t have much time.”

  “Why? Why would you want to help me?” He was stunned. How did she know?

  “Never mind that,” she said. “Follow me.”

  She went to the small shed attached to the cottage and opened the old wooden doors and pulled out a red dolly.

  “Go get the girl and put her in my car and drive her back here” she said handing him a large clear plastic bag. “Make sure she is completely encased in the bag before you put her in the back of my car and put her backpack is in the bag with her. We don’t want any DNA getting into my car or on our clothes. Hurry. The keys are in the car.”

  Gavin was still trying to make sense of the situation. He followed her instructions without question. He retrieved the handcuffs and tape, leaving the gun in the cabin. As he reached the gate at the far end of the drive he was careful to check if anyone was lurking about.

  It was quiet. He climbed down into the bank to retrieve the girl and the backpack. The road was silent. He put them both into the plastic bag along with the handcuffs and tape and tied the end with a piece of string he had found in the car. With difficulty he climbed up the slippery bank, opened the back door of the Rav4 and lifted the body inside. When he returned to the parking area he saw Audrey standing there with the dolly and a couple of pairs of headlights.

  “Put her on the dolly” she said “and we will take her down pinecone track to the front beach. I have a tinny boat there and we can take her out into the bay and dump her.”

  It wasn’t easy on the slippery track. Recent rain had made the path treacherous and the girl kept falling off the dolly. It was easier to lay the dolly almost flat and push it downhill over tree roots and rugged terrain. It took a good five minutes to reach the bottom of the ridge and then there were hundred steps down to the beach. They took the girl off the dolly, tied a long rope to the bag and lowered her over the cliff onto the rocky beach below.

  Audrey kept her little tin boat tied to a huge pohutukawa tree. She untied the boat and grabbed the oars. They put the body bag into the boat and pushed the tin boat over the stony beach into the waves. Audrey’s beach could not be seen from the Hihi township. They thought the bay might be under surveillance so they headed away from Hihi beach and out into the open sea. Karikari peninsula, directly across the bay provided relative shelter and the waves, although choppy were manageable. Gavin did the rowing while Audrey undid the rope from the plastic body bag. Together they released the contents from the bag and watched as the girl slipped into the cold swell of the Pacific Ocean.

  They rowed back in silence. The noise of the waves and the wind prevented them from having any audible conversation. The deed was done. The girl would not be found.

  Gavin helped Audrey secure the boat on the beach and together the made their way back up the muddy steps to the top of the ridge. Gavin dragged the dolly back up to the shed where they washed it clean. Audrey put it neatly back in its place behind the weedwacker and garden tools.

  “Are you going to explain why you are helping me?” asked Gavin.

  “I knew it was you,” she said. “I followed you and saw you move the girl.”

  “Was it you who called the police” he asked

  “Hell no!” she said with surprise. “Why would I do that? I don’t want any trouble here. Do you have anything else that needs to be disposed of before the police arrive with their warrant?”

  Gavin thought about the loaded gun still in the cabin. He wondered if he should tell her about it. “I have a rifle,” he confessed.

  “Has it been fired?” she asked. “Did you use it on the girl? Is it registered to you?”

  “No it hasn’t been fired. I didn’t kill the girl with it and, yes, it is registered in my name”.

  “Then best to leave it in the cabin. You can always say that was the reason you didn’t want them to search your car. You thought it might create a problem. Anything else?” She asked. “Have you cleaned away all traces of the girl in the cabin?”

  “Yes” he replied suddenly feeling completely exhausted.

  “Good. Then lets get some sleep. We can talk in the morning.” Audrey turned and walked towards the cottage.

  Gavin returned to the cabin and closed the door.

  He pulled the curtains, removed his jacket and boots, unloaded the gun and placed the gun and the bullets into the tin box and locked it away in the dresser. The police would find it tomorrow. It can do him no harm. He fell on the bed and still fully clothed, fell asleep.

  C H A P T E R 3 2

  Audrey looked at the bedside clock as she got into bed. It was two thirty leaving only a few hours before the police would arrive with their search warrant. She knew she wanted no trouble with the police. The well-publicized murders only a year ago in her hometown of Kaeo would only stir up questions. Body parts had been found on her property there. They had found the culprit and he was now locked away in the local jail. But, coincidences, when it comes to murder, are red flags to the police. She presumed the local police would be working with the Kaitaia police and the Kaeo police would not be involved.

  Best to remove her self from the scene. She would leave early in the morning for Kaitaia. Do some shopping at the Warehouse. Maybe stop by the demolition yard and see if they have anything she can use for her continual renovations. She leaned over and set the alarm for seven am.

  Car tires on the gravel driveway awaked her. “Damn” she said. “They are earlier than I would have thought.” She leaped out of bed and put the missing
girl’s panties, still wrapped in the paper towel, at the bottom of her underwear drawer just incase they had a warrant to search her cottage too.

  She presumed Gavin would also be asleep as she heard them knocking at his door. There were cars everywhere and dogs. There was no doubt they suspected Gavin of the girl’s disappearance. She only hoped they had eliminated any evidence, leaving them with nothing but their injured pride to take back to the station.

  She couldn’t leave anyway. The cars had blocked her in. Gavin’s car was still in the turn around area with flat tires. She realized her fingerprints were on the broken glass and decided to remove the pieces. After all they were a hazard to any car.

  She quickly dressed, grabbed a bucket and headed off across the lawn to the driveway.

  “Morning” a police officer said. “I am Detective Burt. Sorry to disturb you but we have a warrant to search the cabin, the Toyota and the premises.

  “What for?” she asked.

  “We believe your tenant, Mr. Jenkins may be a person of interest in the disappearance of the Cunningham girl,” he said. Do you have time to answer some questions?

  “Yes, of course” she responded with a friendly smile. She knew picking up the broken glass would be too suspicious now and invited the policeman into the cottage.

  “Would you like a cup of tea?” she asked.

  “That would be nice,” he said taking off his hat and placing it on the table.

  Audrey put on the jug and invited him to sit at the table.

  “Nice property you have here” he said. “How long have you lived here?”

  “Oh I have been fixing it up for the past six months or so but just moved in a few days ago” she replied

  “When did Mr. Jenkins move into the cabin?” he asked.

  “Actually about the same time as I moved in” she responded. “Nice man, very quite and polite. Said he came here for the fishing. We have a great fishing spot here off table rock”.

  Audrey stood to make the tea and plated some chocolate biscuits. As she returned to the table she asked, “Why do you suspect Gavin? I can’t imagine he would be involved in anyway. He has hardly left the cabin since he arrived.”

  “His car was seen close to where the girl went missing,” he said. And he wouldn’t let us search his car last night which naturally lays suspicion on him.”

  “He seems like a private person,” she said. “Maybe he just doesn’t like people touching his things”.

  “How well do you know Mr. Jenkins?” he asked

  “Oh, I don’t know him. He applied to the ad I put on ‘Trade Me. He is on a six month’s lease” she replied.

  The policeman finished his tea and stood up to leave. “Better get back to it” he said. “Thanks for the tea.”

  “Glad to help” said Audrey. “Let me know if there is anything else you need.

  C H A P T E R 3 3

  Constable Bromley was prepared for a dawn raid. It was six forty-five when they arrived at Audrey’s property. The full team was there, forensics, detectives and police dogs. Bromley had a gut feeling Jenkins was involved. All he had to do was find some evidence that tied him to the missing girl.

  One team started on the Toyota, another team on the cabin and a third team with the dogs started searching the fourteen- acre bush property. It was a big job. By noon they had found nothing.

  Fingerprints had been taken from the car and the cabin and it would take time to run them through the system. They took Jenkins fingerprints for reference. The dogs had made a couple of stops in the bush but no sign of the girl or her belongings could be found. By two in the afternoon the teams packed up and left the property empty handed. Bromley was frustrated.

  A couple of things played on his mind. Why was Jenkins car in the middle of the driveway with two punctured tires? Why had Jenkins refused the let them search the car the night before?

  They had found a 22. calibre rifle. He kept it in a locked large tin box. Upon request Jenkins had opened the box and the police checked the weapon. It had not been fired recently and Jenkins had paperwork showing it was fully licensed.

  Detective Burt had questioned Audrey in the cottage. “Nice lady” he said. “She doesn’t think Jenkins would be involved in the disappearance of the girl. Said he just likes to go fishing and keep to himself. Looks as though we are wrong about the guy. He never left the property last night we had it watched from the time we left last night to the time we arrived this morning. His car has a couple of flats anyway.”

  “We need to find her boyfriend,” said Constable Bromley. “I think that girl Staci knows more about this than she has told us. I am going to track that girl down and bring her into the station.”

  Detective Burt had formed his own opinion about Jenkins. He seemed like a quiet mannered man who valued his privacy. A murderer or rapist didn’t seem to fit his profile. Burt thought Bromley was on the wrong track.

  “Yes. I agree. Let’s check out the Staci girl. There is more to this than meets the eye. I will run a background check on the girl. See if I come up with anything.”

  When they arrived back at the station they were inundated with messages from the public who had information about the car, the tall lean man and the girl herself. It was going to be long day sifting through all the information and determining if any of it had any relevance to the case.

  C H A P T E R 3 4

  Staci was feeling particularly nervous this morning. She had seen the news last night and again this morning and knew the cops were still searching for Suzy. If they didn’t find her soon she was in deep shit. She was responsible for Suzy and Lucy working the streets that night. They had tracked the text message to her and they would want to talk to her again. She had been taking a cut from Suzy’s jobs and it had been working out great. She wasn’t pleased when Suzy said Lucy wanted to work that night also. Now Lucy was a threat. If she talked she would be back in court again. She already had a record on file with the police of prostituting young girls under the legal age. This time it would mean a jail sentence.

  Her cell phone rang and, as expected, it was Constable Bromley. She cursed that she hadn’t thrown away the phone but this was the number she generated work from and she needed the work.

  “Staci” she answered.

  “Constable Bromley here. We need you to come to the Mangonui Police Station. We have a few questions. When can you make it in?”

  “I am in Whangarei,” replied Staci. “It will take me a couple of hours to get there. Can’t you ask me the questions over the phone?”

  “When are you returning home?’ he asked

  “I am home. I have moved to Whangarei. Been here since yesterday”.

  “Any reason you have moved?” Bromley asked

  “Just needed a change,” said Staci

  “I will arrange to have you picked up. What is your address?”

  Staci told him her address and agreed to be ready at eight a.m. for the trip to Mangonui.

  “Shit! Bloody shit!” swore Staci. Where the hell is Suzy? Why hasn’t she called me? She decided to call Suzy’s home number and talk to her parent to enquire if they have heard anything and to say she was worried.

  Suzy’s father answered the phone. Staci had met him at the summer camp but doubted if he remembered. She guessed the police had already told them she had dropped off Suzy at the Taipa Shops. She asked if they had heard from Suzy yet. He sounded so distraught.

  “No, we have not heard from her and have no idea where she is” he said. “Why did you leave her alone in the dark at the deserted shopping center?” he accused Staci.

  “I am so sorry. She said she had arranged to meet someone there and they were driving her home” she said apologetically. “I thought she had told you.” She paused. “Have you spoken to her friend, Lucy?” asked Staci.

  Suzy’s father said, “Lucy doesn’t know where she is either. After all her father is heading the case. If she knew anything she would have told him.”

  “Her
father?” asked Staci

  “Constable Bromley. Lucy’s father” Mark Cunningham said.

  “Oh. Of course” said Staci in complete shock. I am so sorry Mr. Cunningham. I must go. Bye”

  Staci sat down at her computer and did a search on Constable Bromley. Sure enough he was the guy in charge of the case. The case of the missing girl from Mangonui was all over the web. There was a photo of the policeman and his family at a local charity event. She recognized Lucy immediately.

  Now she was in double deep shit. Lucy was sure to talk before long. She wasn’t looking forward to her visit to the police station tomorrow. Should she just come clean? It was going to get out anyway soon. At least they might find Suzy or the john who picked her up for a full night of teenage sex. What would Constable Bromley think when he found out his daughter was doing tricks too. The media would go crazy.

  C H A P T E R 3 5

  Gavin couldn’t believe his luck. Saved by the buxom blonde landlady. Who would have thought? He made his way over to the cottage to thank her. Why she would help him he had no idea. There was definitely more to Audrey than meets the eye. He found her resting on a lounge chair on the front lawn overlooking the ocean. The storm had vanished leaving blue skies, puffy white clouds and sparking turquoise water creating a view of sheer wonder. As he approached her he noticed a bottle of Lindauer Brut Cuvee and two glasses sitting on the side table.

  “What’s the occasion?” he asked cheekily.

  “Please join me” she replied grinning from ear to ear. “It is time to celebrate”

  “Cheers” Gavin toasted as they clicked glasses and watched a fishing boat chugging out to sea.

  There was no need for words. They sat in silence both deep in thought as they allowed the champagne to lift their senses and wipe away the memory of the previous night.