Arthur Upfield - The Bone is Pointed

This letter containing a hint at blackmail Bony placed in an envelope in his pocket-book with those five envelopes marked “Exhibits” from one to five. The men had finished lunch and were smoking, the girl was talking animatedly with them as she smoked a cigarette. Bony rose, saying to them all:

“I am going to ask Mr Lacy to fly to Karwir for my things, as Superintendent Browne wishes me to return with him and Captain Loveacre. While Mr Lacy is away, I should like to talk privately with you, Miss Lacy, and you, Mr Gordon. Please convey my thanks to Mr Lacy senior, and say that I am writing to him to express my gratitude for his kindness to me.”

“Righto! I’ll get going now. I’ll come back on the truck. We’ll want more netting out here and more men,” said Young Lacy cheerfully.

“We’ll go along and see him off,” suggested Bony.

Loveacre and Browne remained in camp. After Young Lacy’s machine disappeared over the scrub, they watched the girl, Gordon and Bony, walking towards the shade cast by a robust leopardwood-tree. Bony walked in the centre, each hand holding an arm.

“Looks like he’s taking ’emfor a little walk,” remarked the Superintendent.

“May be hanging on to them for support,” Blake said. “He’s worse than he looks. You can have no idea what he’s gone through.”

“He looks terrible to me,” asserted Captain Loveacre, “this boning must be a pretty dreadful business. What’s he doing now? Making a fire over there. Hang it, isn’t it hot enough without a fire?”

A spiral of smoke rose from the group of three. They could observe Bony inviting the girl and Gordon to be seated.

“I’d like to know what he’s up to,” growled Browne. “I feel that it was too easy persuading him to give up this case. You know anything about it, Sergeant?”

Despite the fact that the question was officially put, Sergeant Blake brazenly lied:

“Nothing, sir.”

Captain Loveacre rose to his feet, saying:

“Well, I’m going across to the fence. There’s much more of interest over there.”

Superintendent Browne frowned at the three seated about the little fire, then he grunted and followed the others to the netted barrier.

Hool-’Em-Upand Sool-’Em-Up stood regarding the retreating broad back, then they slowly walked along the depression’s bank to the party of three and went to ground close behind Bony.

Bony is Sentimental

LIKE Captain Loveacre, neither Diana nor John Gordon could understand why Bony made his little fire when a breath of cool wind would have been a relief. Dusty and begrimed, the man appeared in striking contrast to the girl who was wearing superbly fitting riding kit and knew how to sit gracefully on the ground. Bony was sitting on his heels making a number of cigarettes, and only now did his companions clearly see the physical effects of the pointed bone. His face was almost fleshless. His eyes were sunken and lit with blue gleams. Neither Gordon nor Diana Lacy had spoken a word since Bony had brought them from the lunch camp, and now they waited for him to speak with such anxiety that the extraordinary scene at the fence angle was forgotten.

“You two need not fear me,” he told them almost pleadingly. “No one fears me except evil-doers. Had you known me in the beginning as well as I hope you will know me after I leave Karwir, you would have been spared a load of worry and I a dreadful experience. Now listen to my story, and do not interrupt, for we haven’t much time.

“On the eighteenth of April of this year, John Gordon and Jimmy Partner left Meena homestead to work in the Meena East Paddock and Jeffery Anderson left the Karwir homestead to ride the fences of Green Swamp Paddock. It began to rain about two o’clock, and at this hour the three men were able confidently to predict a heavy fall. They also knew-a fact known possibly only to a fourth man, Young Lacy-that John Gordon and Diana Lacy were in love and met secretly at points on the boundary fence. Two matters, therefore, they were all agreed upon: the love affair and the prospect of an excellent fall of rain.

“When it began to rain Anderson decided to he need not visit Green Swamp itself. He continued riding the paddock’s fences. Gordon decided that, because the Channels become sheep traps in wet weather, he and Jimmy Partner would ride the southern boundary of the Meena East Paddock and muster northward any mobs of sheep they found.

“They came upon a mob of sheep and Jimmy Partner was asked to drove them well away from the danger zone while John Gordon rode on looking for others. Thus it was that he and Anderson met on either side of the boundary fence. It was raining steadily and the sky promised a continuance of the rain.

“We know that Anderson wanted to marry Miss Lacy and that he regarded John Gordon as his successful rival. We may also assume that he disliked Gordon for another reason, namely Gordon’s indignation and actions following the atrocious treatment of Inky Boy and a lubra.

“Well, there he was this wet afternoon miles from the homestead and without protection from the rain. His mood was evil before he saw John Gordon riding towards him on the far side of the fence. The man’s record proves the ugliness of his temper when aroused. His anger, already sharpened by the rain, was whipped to fury by the sight of his rival.

“It is likely that at once he began to insult Gordon. Probably he threatened to reveal the secret love affair to Old Lacy. More probable still, in order to taunt Gordon into furious action, he referred insultingly to Miss Lacy. My reading of Gordon’s character leads me to think that he would not quietly ride on, that he would resent insults to himself and violently protest against insults to his sweetheart. Angry words were flung to and fro across the netted barrier.

“Early this day, Anderson had what is termed ‘taken the sting’ out of The Black Emperor, and no doubt his subsequent riding had further subdued that great horse. He dismounted and secured the end of the reins to a fence post. The use of the neck-rope for this purpose seemed to his angry mind an unnecessary delay. Over the fence he vaulted, and John Gordon also dismounted from his horse.

“We know that Anderson was a big, strong man, much heavier and stronger than his rival. He smashed Gordon, knocking him partially unconscious, and then, before Gordon could recover, Anderson decided to treat him as he had treated Inky Boy. With the horse’s neck-rope he secured Gordon to the tree by passing the rope round the trunk and the victim’s neck, and knotting the rope in such a position that Gordon could not release himself.

“Without doubt, Gordon recovered his senses to find himself at the mercy of a raging sadist who delighted in outlining the programme before executing it. Gordon realized that once his knees relaxed in a struggle to escape the whip the rope around his throat would take the weight of his body and suffocate him.

“From what I have learned of Anderson, it is probable that he gave his victim an exhibition of his dexterity with a stock-whip, and at about this time Jimmy Partner rode back to assist in the muster of further sheep. Anderson, governed by sadistic rage, did not see Jimmy Partner dismount from his horse some distance away, and approach as an aboriginal does when stalking a kangaroo. Every time Anderson turned his way, Jimmy Partner froze into immobility and the unwary man received the impression that the blackfellow was a fence post or a shortened tree trunk.

“Now Anderson came to stand at the exact distance from his victim at which he could use the whip effectively. When he made a trial cast with the whip, the cracker made with green cable silk smacked against the trunk above Gordon’s head. Gordon jerked his head back in an effort to avoid the whip lash, and his head came in violent contact with the trunk, the rough bark of which retained at least one hair from his head.