Peter Corris - The Coast Road

‘That’s cool, because I’m sitting here with your girl Dr Elizabeth Farmer and she’s not looking too happy. I’d say we have to talk, wouldn’t you?’

I never was much of a poker player and the women could see that something had gone wrong. My knuckles

whitened as I gripped the phone. ‘Say what you have to say.’ Wendy grinned. ‘It’s Larry, isn’t it?’ ‘Shut up!’ ‘Hey,’ Buckingham said. ‘I can hear Wendy. Tell her

everything’s going to be all right.’ ‘Larry!’ Wendy Jones yelled. ‘Sounds like you got a control problem there, Hardy.

Everything’s under control here at the doc’s place. I just

have to ask the doc a few questions. I’ll get back to you.’ ‘Wait.’ He hung up. Wendy was jigging in her chair. ‘He’s too

smart for you, dickhead. Get these fuckin’ things off me.’ ‘What is it, Hardy?’ Matilda said quietly. ‘He’s got Elizabeth. How I don’t know, but it gives him

the upper hand.’ ‘You bet it does,’ Wendy said. ‘He’s not the gentlest guy

with women. I oughta know. You better do as he says.’ ‘He hasn’t said anything yet.’ Matilda came close to biting her manicured nails. ‘You’d better let us both go. I’ll have to put distance between me

and him, and you should go and help Elizabeth.’

‘Fuck her and you too,’ Wendy said.

I said nothing, thinking hard to no purpose. The phone rang again.

‘Yes?’

‘Cliff, Cliff can you come, please?’

‘Elizabeth. Has he hurt you?’

‘No, I’ve hurt him. Tania came waltzing in and distracted him. I hit him with a five iron. He’s unconscious. He had a gun. I was so frightened.’

I could feel the smile spreading across my face. ‘How badly is he hurt?’

‘Tania says he’s concussed. She’s done first aid. What should we do? I think there’s a man outside. Tania says she saw someone.’

‘Lock the doors and call the police and an ambulance. I’ll be there before them and I’ll help you handle it. It’ll be all right.’

‘Hurry.’

‘I will.’ I hung up. Wendy wasn’t looking so chipper now. ‘Sorry, ladies, the tables have turned again. Elizabeth clobbered him with a golf club and he’s out cold. The cops are on their way.’

Matilda recovered first. ‘What now, Hardy?’

‘You both stay here. The deal’s still on.’ I rang Hank’s mobile and told him he was needed. He buzzed and I let him in. Hank stands at about 190 centimetres and is wide. He filled the doorway.

‘I want you to entertain these ladies while I’m away. Could be a while.’

‘Lucky I brought my mouth harp,’ Hank said.

I went down the stairs and out at a dead run. Elizabeth’s house was only minutes away by car and I pulled up outside to see a guy standing uncertainly by the gate. I hopped out and let him see the.38 in my hand.

‘Your boss’s inside with his head stove in. The cops are on their way. Do you want to stick around and talk to them or would you rather piss off?’

He looked at me, then at the gun, walked to a white Merc standing nearby and drove off without a word. I went through the gate and knocked on the door.

‘Elizabeth, it’s Hardy.’

The door opened slowly and Tania beckoned me in. We went down the passage to the sitting room. One wall was blood spattered. A big, dark-haired man was lying face up on the floor. The light-coloured rug was stained around his head. He wore a suit and tie and the tie had been loosened at his fat neck. Larry Buckingham had put on a lot of weight since his playing days. His eyes were closed but his chest was moving.

Elizabeth Farmer sat in a chair beside him, her hands still gripping the club. The adrenalin that had energised her when she made the phone call had gone. Her normally high, healthy colour had drained away leaving her sheet white. She looked worse than Buckingham. A pistol lay on the floor, half under a chair.

‘You called the police and the ambulance?’

Tania nodded. ‘Elizabeth, Cliff’s here. It’s all right.’

Elizabeth stared at me sightlessly. ‘I’m a teacher,’ she said slowly. ‘A scholar. I hate violence. I don’t hit people.’

‘This man played a part in the death of your father,’ I said. ‘I wouldn’t blame you if you hit him again.’

She shuddered. ‘This is awful. Awful.’

‘It’d be a lot worse if you hadn’t hit him. Tania, can you get her some brandy or something? And something for me as well.’

Tania stepped around Buckingham and bent down to kiss Elizabeth’s cheek. ‘You were wonderful, darling. I’m proud of you.’

Before the troops arrived, I phoned Farrow in Wollongong

and began to tell him what had happened. He cut me off.

‘You’ve got him?’

‘He’s lying here with a very sore head. Just beginning to come around.’

‘Hang on to him. Barton’s been talking. Larry Buckingham’s in big trouble.’

‘The uniforms’ll be here soon,’ I said. ‘Dr Farmer and I’ll have some explaining to do.’

‘Call me the minute they arrive and let me talk to the senior guy. I’ll set him straight. What happened?’

I gave Farrow a quick summary and he was still on the line when the police and the ambulance arrived. The cops took a look at the scene and knew they needed help. I handed the mobile to the one who looked least shocked.

‘I’ve got Inspector Farrow from Wollongong CID on the line. He wants to talk to you.’

The cop looked relieved. He took the phone, identified himself and listened. He said yes several times and looked at Buckingham and the paramedics.

‘He seems to be okay, sir. Yes, the woman’s distressed but unharmed. There’s a pistol on the floor. No, we won’t. Yes, sir, he’ll go to hospital under guard.’

He handed back the phone and wiped sweat from his face with the back of his hand. Inner-city cops see all kinds of things but this must have been unusual-an up-market terrace, a villain on the floor, blood and a gun, two women clinging to each other and a battered male with a.38 stuck in his belt and a tumbler of brandy in his hand.

‘Shit,’ he said. ‘What a mess.’

‘Constable,’ I said. ‘It looks just fine to me.’

Elizabeth and Tania were close together on the arm of a chair, both with brandy in glasses, as the paramedics worked on Buckingham. They examined the wound on his head, stabilised his neck in a brace and got ready to slide him onto a stretcher.

‘How is he?’ I said.

One of them looked up. ‘Severely concussed; no fracture. Needs stitches. Pretty tough bloke. Think I recognise him-Larry Buckingham, played for the Tigers.’

‘In the good old days,’ I said. ‘Hello, his eyes are open. Better strap him down.’

They eased the stretcher under Buckingham and ran heavy straps over and under. Locked them. Buckingham stared up at me, trying to focus.

‘G’day, Larry,’ I said. ‘Didn’t quite work out your way.’

His pale lips moved but I couldn’t catch what he said. I stared down at him-a hundred plus kilos of fat and muscle and money devoted to creating havoc in the world. Reduced to this. I thought of the lives he’d cost and the ones he’d damaged and I was almost sorry that Elizabeth Farmer hadn’t hit him harder and somewhere fatal.

‘I’m told you like your women young, Larry,’ I said. ‘Pity you came up against a real one.’

Detectives from Newtown arrived and it took another couple of calls to Farrow to sort things out with them. Eventually Buckingham was carted off and the cops departed. I was left alone with the two women and the depleted brandy bottle. Elizabeth was coming out of her mildly shocked state but looked ready to keel over pretty soon. Clear-headed Tania wanted to know everything down to the last detail.