The Devil's Garden Read Online Free PDF Page B

her first flat and driving her first car. She loves her car, with its natty sunroof.
    Jane calls in to see her parents, Trevor and Jenny, every night after work. On the weekends her beloved West Coast Eagles play football; she barracks so hard her head often hits the overhead light. Generous spirited, she empathises with Sarah Spiers's disappearance, fretting about the young woman who simply vanished into the night. She worries so much for the girl who never came home that she pays her girlfriends' taxi fares instead of allowing them to risk getting into a car with a stranger. Jenny and Trevor also warn Jane to take care. They talk at length about Sarah Spiers, how they are grateful it is not their daughters who are missing. How shocking it must be for Sarah's family to endure this pain.
    In between boyfriends, Jane rings her brother, Adam, on 9 June 1996 to ask if he would accompany her to the movies. They are extremely close; Jane lived with Adam and his wife for a short time after first leaving home, before she moved into her first flat. But Adam can't make it. It is a refusal that sets in place the first chain of events that will lead Jane – buoyant, fun-loving with a cheeky approach to life – to Claremont and for which Adam will never forgive himself. From this time on, he will live in the netherland of 'if only'. 'If only I had gone with her ...If only I had said yes.' He is constantly reassured it is not his fault, but guilt plagues him.
    Jane phones another friend, who is also too busy to go to the movies. However, she hears that some girlfriends are heading into the Continental Hotel for a few drinks. The Conti: its architecturally designed bar shaped like an unburnt match, the decadent décor evocative of the Garden of Eden. It sits opposite the post office and across from the railway line; Club Bayview is nearby. The places to go in Claremont. The young people know the rules, plastered on the Bayview's front door. 'A neighbourhood cocktail bar for those who look over 25. If you're turned away, please do not be offended but rather fade away quietly only to return another night, dressed to kill and looking very, very mature.' Jane changes her mind about the movies. It's Saturday night after all. She'll head out to party instead.
    Trevor picks her up from her flat and drops her at the Shenton Hotel for a drink with her mother before she heads into Claremont by taxi with her friends. She is in high spirits, looking forward to a night out. Trevor is proud of his daughter. Since she has moved out of home, he has got to know her again as a young woman, as opposed to his baby. 'See you tomorrow for lunch,' she says, as she gives him an airy kiss goodbye.
    She doesn't turn up. Jenny is worried sick; it is so unlike Jane not to let them know she can't make it. She calls Jane's flat and when it rings out, she and Trevor take the spare key Jane has given them and go over. Her bed has not been slept in.
    Jenny traces patterns on the table with her fingers as she discusses her daughter. There is a feeling in the room, like sombre background music, a feeling that pervades all. As though Jane's spirit hovers over us as we talk, gently whispering to us. There is an acute sense of something missing in this neat, suburban home; a void that no other person can fill. Jenny gives up the pretence at calm, covers her eyes with her hands. 'Sorry,' she stumbles. 'Sorry. I didn't mean to break down.' She inhales a shaky breath. 'We knew Sarah Spiers was missing and that she had last been seen in Claremont. I had a feeling of dread that something was wrong.' By 9 pm, they report Jane as a missing person. Basic details: age, description, clothes she was wearing. Jenny, sighing and restless through-out the long night, calls Jane's employer at the child care centre as soon as it opens to see if she has turned up. They draw another blank.
    By morning, harried police are on their doorstep, trudging through the gate and walking up the few steps,