Arthur Upfield - The bushman who came back

“I did.”

“All of them?”

They could see that Meena was wriggling her toes in her red shoes, although to them her feet were not visible. She giggled, and the small white teeth momentarily pressed down on the lower lip. In that moment she was remarkably attractive. She said:

“I didn’t make Mr Wootton’s trousers, or Ole Fren Yorky’s. The ones I made, Linda didn’t like because she couldn’t take ’emoff. So Mrs Bell made new ones that Linda could take off and put on.”

“And what happened to the trousers you made?” asked Bony.

“I don’t know what Linda did with them.”

“Who stuffed the dolls’ bodies?”

“Mrs Bell tried hard.” Again Meena giggled-a delightful sound. “I did first. Then Linda tried. Then Mrs Bell had a go. Arnold did it in the end with sawdust in the carpenter’s shop.”

“And Charlie carved the heads, painted them, and put the hair and whiskers on the men?”

Meena’s eyes rested steadily on Bony, who could then see the grey flecks in the dark irises. She nodded, and Bony buttered a piece of toast.

“Did he carve them when supposed to be working for Mr Wootton?”

“No. No time for anything when station work going on. He did them any old time.”

“How much was he paid for them?”

This question brought a change of expression. Indignation gleamed in the dark eyes, shadowed the voice.

“Nothing at all. Charlie work for nothing… for Meena.”

“Did them for nothing!” echoed Bony, and now the honey skin darkened, and once again came the joyous giggle.

“Well, I paid Charlie,” she said. “I give him one kiss for Mr Wootton, one for Mrs Bell, and one for Ole Fren Yorky. Not till he done them and give them to Linda.”

“Oh! And how many kisses did you pay for Meena?”

“Why you want to know? But I’ll tell. I’m not scared. I let him kiss me twice for Meena, ’coshe worked double as hard on her.”

“When are you going to marry that feller?” asked Wootton and Bony was surprised by the firmness in his voice.

“I belong to old Canute,” replied Meena, swift rebellion in her eyes and voice.

“Rubbish! Young woman like you unclaimed because of that stupid old custom.”

It was a pity that Wootton said that, because it banished the girl’s natural frankness, and reverted her to the normal evasiveness of the aborigines, whose greatest weapon, as with all, is laughter. To further questions, Meena answered with giggles which were not the genuine reflection of her mood, and presently Wootton dismissed her.

“Can’t make her out,” he complained to Bony. “Good looking wench like that. Any white man could have done worse than marry her. I’d marry her myself if I’d half the chance.”

“You are not married?”

“Was. Been a widower for fourteen years. Joking, of course. Those Indian Summers I read about once don’t work out. Besides…”

“Go on,” urged Bony, laughing. “An Indian Summer could be an improvement on Hoary Winter.”

“Not for me. I know what the heat’s like. I lived in hell for twenty-two years. I know all about temperatures. Well, I’d better go along and give the men their orders. I’ll tell Bill to wait about for you.”

Wootton left by one of the two pairs offrench windows, and Bony dallied on at table, sipping coffee and smoking.

He wasn’t happy about Wootton. He was an odd man out in this setting of Lake Eyre. He was like a newly cut diamond in an old-fashioned gold ring, and what was that saying about new wine in old bottles… exploding? Five years he had been in this country, and he wasn’t assimilated by it as fully as some immigrants in much less time. It could be a streak of pomposity. He would dig into the background.

There was the question of Mrs Bell’s body. Rising, he crossed to the chair under the wall telephone and called for Constable Pierce.

“You, Inspector!” Pierce said from Loaders Springs. “Yes, sir, what can I do? Run out there to report?”

“Perhaps. I have the copies of your reports and the statements, and I am edging myself into the picture. I am speaking softly in order not to be overheard. You hear me all right?”

“Quite clear, sir.”

“You have still in your possession the plaster casts you took of Yorky’s tracks?”

“Yes, a copy. The originals, and the bullet from the body, I sent down to Adelaide.”

“When first you saw the body it was in the woman’s room?”

“Yes, on the bed.”

“Did you touch the body? Then or subsequently?”

“No. Dr Crouch was with me.”

“Could you fetch Dr Crouch to your phone?”

“Expect so. Shall I send for him?”

“Yes, do. I’ll hold the line. See that I’m not cut off.”

Bony was waiting when Meena came in with her clearing tray, and Bony waved her out. He left the instrument for the few seconds necessary to cross to the door and close it, and smiled at the picture of Meena’s face. He hadn’t long to wait before a deep voice spoke.

“Dr Crouch speaking, Inspector.”

“Ah! Good morning, doctor! I won’t keep you long. Recall to mind, please, what happened on your arrival here. You found the body of Mrs Bell in her room. Who was with you?”

“Pierce and Wootton.”

“Finding the woman obviously dead, you turned the body over to examine the wound, I presume. Who was then with you in the room?”

“I told Pierce the woman was dead. Wootton looked ill. I asked Pierce to take Wootton away. He did so. No one was with me when I examined the body. You make me curious.”

“I’ll satisfy your curiosity one day, doctor. Meanwhile, be patient with me. You found the body lying on its back under a sheet?”

“Yes.”

“How did you leave the body at the termination of the examination? I mean position.”

“On its back… under the sheet as I found it.”

“Later that day it was removed to your station wagon. Who conveyed the body to the car?”

“I don’t know, Inspector. I gave orders for it to be transferred from the house to the car.”

“Tell me this. To examine the bullet wound in the woman’s back you had to cut away the clothing?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me just what you did do.”

A little impatiently, Crouch described how he had with scissors cut the white linen blouse from the back of the neck to the band of the skirt. The wound was such that it wasn’t necessary at that time to examine the body further for secondary wounds, as the wound between the shoulders was obviously fatal. And Dr Crouch was now even more curious. Suavely, Bony asked him to stand by to permit Pierce access to the telephone. To Pierce he said:

“When you first saw the body, Wootton was with you. What exactly did you do? Don’t tell me what the doctor did. I know.”

“Well, I entered the room, having been informed by Bray that Mrs Bell’s body was there. The doctor was with me, and so was Mr Wootton. I turned down the sheet to establish the fact that the body was actually there on the bed. Mr Wootton gave a sort of moan, and Dr Crouch told me to take him out. Which I did.”

“The body was lying… in what position?”

“On its back, Inspector.”

“No other person entered the room while the doctor was there?”

“No; Wootton sat on a chair in the hall, and I was with him.”

“Now we come to the removal of the body to the doctor’s car. Who supervised that task?”

“I did. I had Arnold Bray and Eric Maundy with me.”

“What did you do?”

“Well the body was under the sheet again,” Pierce said with slight stoicism. “I tucked the top sheet about the body, and turned up the edges of the under sheet about the body, and the men carried it out.”

“No one of you three men saw the body?”