Claire McNab: Quokka Question

He flipped open the folder he'd been holding. "It's all here, but I can give it to you in a couple of sentences."

"Since the call to my show on Saturday, I've haven't had a thing from the guy," said Pen.

"If he goes to ground, that'll make him close to impossible to find," said Lonnie. "What we've got now is zero, since Pen destroyed his written notes, and he hasn't been obliging enough to turn up on the surveillance camera I set up at the apartment. I sent Harriet to quiz any florists Pen recalled, but no one had any reason to remember who arranged for the flowers to be delivered, and cash transactions leave no paper trail."

"What about the calls to my program?" said Pen. "Aren't there voiceprints, or something like that?" She glared at Ariana, as though it were Ariana's fault. "Blasted Lark wasn't the slightest interested in my stalker. I even gave him Wally Easton's name. Lark said he'd investigate, but I doubt he'll bother. He told me it didn't appear to him to have anything to do with Oscar's death."

"I've listened to the calls," said Lonnie. "Voiceprints would probably implicate Easton, if it's his voice, but what does it prove? Only that he made unpleasant telephone calls to you, and your program provokes that type of response from some people. He never mentions your brother. There's no evidence to link him to any crime."

As Pen subsided, muttering something about police corruption, Lonnie got up. He patted Pen's shoulder, muttered, "See you later," and left the room.

After the door had closed behind him, Ariana said firmly, "There's no corruption, Pen. I've known Ted Lark for years. He's a thorough, reliable investigator. I would trust him to follow the evidence wherever it leads him. But that's the point. Is there evidence pointing to a suspect? All the suspicion in the world means nothing without hard facts."

"What about Erin Fogarty?" Pen demanded. "Isn't there evidence to implicate her in luring Oscar to his death?"

"Her cell phone certainly was used to send the text message to Oscar's phone, setting up the rendezvous at the building site."

"Yarrow told her to do it," snarled Pen. "The bastard. Once it was set up, Yarrow kept the appointment with Oscar-and murdered him."

"When Erin Fogarty was interviewed," said Ariana, "she repeated everything she'd already told Kylie. She laid all the blame on Georgia Tapp, and defended Jack Yarrow, saying she was sure he knew nothing about the scheme. Erin became hysterical when Lark confronted her with the text message sent from her cell phone to Oscar's. She swore the only thing she did was to tell Oscar on Friday afternoon to watch out for a message she'd send about meeting him the next day. That's all. According to Erin, it must have been Georgia Tapp who messaged Oscar."

Her skepticism obvious, Pen said, "So how does Erin account for her phone being used to send it?"

"She maintains Georgia Tapp must have borrowed her phone without telling her. She says she couldn't find her cell on Friday, and thought she'd mislaid it somewhere, but then discovered the phone sitting on her desk in the biology department when she came in Monday morning."

"And Lark believes this preposterous story?"

"He's reserving judgment. Not surprisingly, when Georgia Tapp was interviewed, she announced the phone story was a total fantasy, the product of a sick mind, as was the whole fanciful account of how Erin had been co-opted to set Oscar up."

"And Yarrow? He's the milk-white innocent too?" Pen said.

Ariana's smile was sardonic. "Yarrow says he knows nothing about the whole sorry affair, but he's shocked that Erin should accuse his assistant, Georgia, who's taken a motherly interest in the young woman's welfare. Yarrow also volunteered how in recent weeks he's become extremely concerned about Erin's mental stability. He'd mentioned to his wife how Erin had formed an unhealthy attachment to him, even persuading herself that there was a sexual relationship between them. This, Yarrow assured Ted Lark, did not exist, but was entirely a product of a deranged mind."

I said, "I think that at every opportunity Yarrow is planting the idea that Erin is unbalanced so that when she apparently kills herself, no one will be all that surprised."

"So Erin Fogarty's the sacrificial lamb?" said Ariana.

"I reckon so." I recounted this morning's conversation with Jack Yarrow and Winona, and how Wally Easton had silently observed.

Pen was thoughtful. "Oscar was always on about Jack Yarrow, but I believe the really poisonous one is Winona Worsack. One look at her career and you'll realize she's a ruthless, cold bitch. Nothing and no one gets in her way. She'd definitely take any threat to Yarrow's academic standing as a personal affront."

"The Lady Macbeth type?" I said.

"Exactly."

"Erin thinks Yarrow's wife hates her because Yarrow and Erin are in love," I said.

This got a contemptuous snort from Pen. "Everyone in the faculty-knows Yarrow goes through female graduates like a hot knife through butter. Erin Fogarty's just another besotted idiot. Winona wouldn't bother hating her."

"She's been very useful to the Yarrows," I said. "I encouraged Erin to tell me every little detail, starting from when she was out in the field studying quokkas with Oscar in Western Australia. She not only stole every copy of Oscar's research notes for Yarrow, before she left for the States, she destroyed the hard drive on Oscar's computer so there was no electronic version either."

Pen looked morose. "Oscar wouldn't hear anything against Erin Fogarty. He continued to have feelings for her, even though she betrayed him in the worst possible way."

"She did it for love," I said. "Jack Yarrow actually flew to Australia and met up with her in person. He persuaded Erin that Oscar was the one who had stolen his research."

"She's a credulous fool."

I had to agree with Pen. "She didn't even question the extra incentive Georgia Tapp gave her to use on Oscar if he balked at the idea of a secret meeting."

"Which was?" said Ariana.

"Erin was to say she'd overheard something about Dr. Penny and a stalker and that she thought she could find out more before tomorrow night. From what she says, Oscar would have met her anyway, but that was the final clincher."

"Jesus!" said Pen, dabbing at her eyes, "That was what Oscar meant when he told me he had a lead on my stalker. And I laughed at him…"

To switch to another subject before she broke down, I said, "My theory is that the meeting between Erin and Oscar on Friday in the parking structure was deliberately set up at that location so there was an excellent chance she'd be seen with him."

It worked: rage flooded Pen's face. "Jack Yarrow believes he's thought of everything, that it's working out just the way he planned." She leaned over, seized my shoulder and actually shook me. "Kylie, the ball's in your court. Bring the bastard down!"

After I'd seen Pen off, I came back inside full of purpose. I'd go to Ariana and say something about last night. I wasn't sure what it would be, but I'd play it by ear and hope for the best.

I had a moment's amusement at these two cliches, beloved by my mum, but then I squared my shoulders and walked quickly to Ariana's door before I could change my mind.

She opened it as I put my hand on the latch. "Kylie, I was just coming to see you."

"Your office or mine?"

She smiled faintly. "Yours, I think."

We walked in silence down the hall. Once there, I didn't take shelter behind my desk, but sat down opposite her at the low coffee table.

"Ariana, about last night-"

"I shouldn't have been so hard on you, Kylie, at the end."

She was calm and contained as always, but the stress showed in her voice. I gazed at her face, her dear face, and said, "Please forgive me, Ariana. It was I who was hard on you. You knew I'd never give up until you told me."