Claire McNab: Quokka Question

"I had to drag it out of him, but yes."

"Hell's bells," I said, "you've got to aim high in life, you know, Fran. Fortunately, Quip let me down gently, pointing out this was way too high. He's a bonzer bloke."

Fran turned the ignition, and her behemoth roared to life. "Quip's all mine," she yelled above the noise. "Don't you ever forget it."

My smile faded as I ambled across the courtyard to the front door. In a few minutes I'd face Ariana, and I wasn't sure how I'd cope. She'd be chilly toward me; that was certain. I'd forced her to tell me something so deeply personal that each word must have hurt. Then I berated myself. What right did I have to whinge? Ariana was the one with tragedy in her life, not me. Perhaps she feared there'd be pity in my eyes. I was sure she would hate that as much as I would.

I opened the front door with unaccustomed reluctance, not knowing how I should behave when I went to Ariana's office. Perhaps I should wait until Pen arrived for the meeting. It would be much easier with someone else there, and we could all concentrate on the case.

Melodie, in place at the reception desk, leaped up when she saw me. Rushing over, she exclaimed, "Kylie, you'll never guess what's happened!" She looked around with elaborate care. "It's confidential. Are we alone?"

"Unless someone's crouched behind your desk, I reckon we are."

"Fran must never know," she whispered.

"Better not to tell me then. Fran's the sort who could get blood out of a stone, so extracting a secret from this little Aussie would be child's play for her."

Clearly disappointed, Melodie said, "But it's about LUL?

"OK, then, I'm all ears. Fran's already got the main part, so she won't care about anything else."

"But that's it!" said Melodie, flashing wide green eyes at me. "She only thinks she's got the main part."

"How come?"

"Quip's real psychic, the same as me." Melodie looked mysterious. "I can't reveal the details, but like, Quip's had a vision from a crossover."

"A pedestrian walkway?"

Melodie frowned at my less-than-serious attitude. "Very funny, Kylie. A crossover is someone who's crossed over."

"Seems logical."

"Have you got it yet?" She was growing impatient. "Dead and gone. Speaking from the other side."

"I reckon I've got it. Pushing up daisies. Kicked the bucket. Carked it. Done a perish."

Melodie sighed. "Sometimes you're just so hard to get through to, Kylie."

"Sorry. Must come from being an Aussie."

"That must be it," she agreed. "Anyhow, as I was saying, Quip had this mystic moment, when he realized the major, pivotal character in LUL is Ethel/Ethelbert-the one who expresses the essence of the deep universal themes that permeate the play."

"Fair dinkum?"

"Of course it's true," she snapped. "Why would I be telling you otherwise?"

"So who'll be playing Ethel/Ethelbert? Ashlee, maybe?" "Ashlee? No way." Melodie tapped herself on the chest. "Me." "Blimey, I can see why you don't want Fran to know. She's convinced she's snaffled the main part."

Melodie treated me to a view of her perfect dental equipment.

"Good, isn't it?" she said.

I chickened out and went to my own office. I told myself it was to check my e-mail, but I knew it was to avoid seeing Ariana by myself. E-mail checked and still no message back from Diana Niptucker, I was steeling myself to face Ariana when I heard the booming voice of Pen Braithwaite echoing down the hall. Saved by the bell.

I met her outside Ariana's black, brass-studded door. Impulsively, I gave Pen a hug, standing on tiptoes to achieve it. "Pen, how are you?"

"Coping, Kylie, coping." She seemed to have regained some of her former vitality, but her face was pale and her expression drawn. "I'll feel better when the bastard who killed Oscar is behind bars. I'm hoping you're making progress."

"Working at it. Do you know a Diana Niptucker? There was a something about her in Oscar's envelope."

"Di? I've known her for years. Small, dumpy woman, with a mind sharp as a razor. Oscar admired her iconoclastic take on things." Pen added approvingly, "She stirs up controversy wherever she goes. The Aussie megafauna mafia hate Di with a passion."

"I've e-mailed her, but she hasn't got back to me."

"Out in the field, probably. Di gets obsessed, and doesn't bother much with eating, sleeping, and the like. She spends most of her life scrabbling round in rocks looking for fossils." Pen snorted with a shadow of her usual flamboyance. "Nitpicking stuff. I'd never do it. Give me warm bodies and hot sex any day."

Lonnie, folder under one arm, had appeared while she was speaking. "My philosophy exactly," he said with lascivious grin, "warm bodies and hot sex." His smile faded as he looked up into Pen's face. Giving her hand an awkward pat, he mumbled, "Sorry. Things are tough, I know."

She nodded mutely. Lonnie shuffled his feet. To break the uncomfortable silence, I said, "You're joining our meeting, Lonnie?"

"Yeah, I've got a few things to report on Pen's stalker."

We crowded into Ariana's office. I was careful not to meet Ariana's eyes, having the conviction if she looked into mine, she'd see the utter misery there.

Once we were all settled-Ariana behind her desk, Pen and I seated on the other side, Lonnie perched on the edge of his chair between us- Ariana gave a summary of the police investigation so far.

"I talked to Ted Lark this afternoon. As we were LAPD colleagues in the past, he was willing to discuss the case with me."

Pen didn't seem impressed. "Detective Lark and his offsider have interviewed me twice. Don't have a lot of time for Lark. Right away, I made it plain who was responsible for Oscar's murder, but he wouldn't even admit it was a homicide. I set him straight on the plagiarism, I pointed out how much Jack Yarrow had to lose. I practically did his bloody job for him, but all your precious detective friend would say was that he was investigating every aspect of the case."

"That's all he can say at this point," said Ariana mildly.

"And I asked Lark a heap of questions," said Pen in a tone of extreme exasperation, "but did he answer them? No! He wouldn't even give me the time of Oscar's death."

"It was between seven and ten on Saturday night," said Ariana. "A canvass of staff and students hasn't turned up anyone who saw Oscar near the building at or near that time frame, and there were no witnesses to the fall."

"On Saturday evening, that part of the campus is like a graveyard," said Pen. She grimaced, realizing what she'd said.

"It's preliminary only," said Ariana, "but the coroner's office confirms Oscar died of blunt-force trauma, sustained when he hit the ground. There was evidence, however, of a blow to the back of his skull that probably occurred just a few minutes before death."

"So he could've been unconscious when he fell?" Pen looked almost relieved. "I've been visualizing what must have gone through Oscar's mind in those last seconds. It's a slight comfort to think he didn't know he was about to die."

Ariana continued, reviewing the crime scene investigation, saying there'd been nothing of note on the roof of the building, nor in the area where Oscar's body had landed. As for Oscar himself, there was no evidence he'd defended himself against an attacker. Nor were their any unusual fibers or other materials on his clothes or body.

"The perfect crime," said Pen bitterly.

"That's unlikely," said Ariana. "If it were perfect, there'd be no questions asked at all. As it is, Erin Fogarty raises quite a few."

I spoke for the first time since entering the room. "I spent a lot of time with Erin today, and I've got some new information."

"Can I get my stalker stuff done first?" said Lonnie. "I've got to get back to set up a surveillance for Bob."