Challis - 03 - Snapshot Read Online Free PDF Page B

sneaked in one evening a year
earlier and shot her dead while she worked. Challis had arrested the man but
that had been the start of a shift in him, a loss of faith. His visits to the
hangar had tailed off; meanwhile hed recently received an invoice to renew his
lease of the hangar space. Deciding that this was a good time to cut his losses
and sell the Dragon, hed fired off an e-mail to a Californian collector whod
expressed interest in buying it at the air show last March.

    He reached Waterloos little
hospital and parked beside a line of golden cypresses. The interior colours
were pastelly pinks and greys, the air scented with lemon, the rooms and
corridors flooded with natural light. Even so it was a cheerless place.

    Mrs Humphreys? the receptionist
said. Shes being operated on this morning. No visitors until much later
today.

    Challis returned to his car and
called Ellen Destry. It was her morning off, but he needed officers to work the
Bayside Counselling angle as soon as possible.

    * * * *

    5

    Detective
Sergeant Ellen Destry had begun her half-day off with a walk on Penzance Beach
with Pam Murphy, a senior constable who lived nearby and was also based at
Waterloo. The fog had been dense and clammy around them, the foghorns distant
and muffled as Pam had told Ellen about a local conservation group called the
Bushrats that shed recently joined. We spend one Sunday morning a month
clearing cape weed and pittosporum from roadsides and nature reserves, she
said. Its fun, educational, the Shire helps out with tools and sprays, theres
even a newsletter. And we finish with a slap-up lunch.

    Sounds good, said Ellen neutrally.

    On the surface, there were more
differences than similarities between the two women. Where Ellen was forty,
married and content to limit her exercise to a daily walk, Pam was twelve years
younger, single and outdoorsy, an athlete. But Pam was tired of wearing a
uniform and working as a patrol cop. She had shown investigative skills and
initiative on a couple of important cases, so Ellen had taken the younger woman
under her wing with a view to grooming her for plainclothes work. They were not
exactly friendsthe differences got in the waybut enjoyed walking and talking
together when their schedules allowed it.

    The next working bees in four weeks
time, Pam said. Were clearing pittosporum in the north-west corner of Myers
Reserve, if youd like to come.

    Not my cup of tea, Ellen said. Sorry.

    She was not as bad as Hal Challis,
whod once advised her, Never join anything, but couldnt comprehend people
like Scobie Sutton and his wife, who joined everything from the school council
to the pool of Meals on Wheels volunteers, or Pam, who belonged to four
sporting clubs and was involving herself in the community. If pressed to join a
club, Ellen would have said she was too busy, but in truth shed never been
asked and it had never occurred to her to join anything. As for the community,
she kept it at a healthy remove.

    They walked on, Ellen changing the
subject. Hows your new job?

    Pam shook her head ruefully. Its a
bullshit gig, Sarge.

    It was an initiative of Senior
Sergeant Kellock, and involved the Road Traffic Authority, Victoria Police and
a few businesses with vague automotive connections. Pam and her partner were to
tool around in a dinky little sports car for several weeks, rewarding courteous
drivers with showbags that contained goods worth $150: a Melways street
directory, a book of touring maps covering the entire continent, a BP fuel
voucher, five McDonalds coupons, a free wheel balance and alignment from
Tyrepower, and a bumper sticker that read Drive Safely and Live.

    Tell yourself its character
building.

    Yeah, right, said Pam.

    At the end of their walk, Ellen
said, Coffee?

    Pam looked briefly stricken, then
rallied. No thanks, Sarge, she said gracefully. Stuff to do before my shift
starts, you know.

    Ellen nodded, thinking: She doesnt
want to encounter Alan. Ellens husband liked to