The missing, p.11
The Missing, page 11
‘Again, according to Bree, they both had intentions to leave Kal, but she insists that Max wouldn’t have run away without telling her. Bree is living with a woman named Leah Ford while her parents are in jail for drug offences.’ Angie referred back to her notes. ‘Leah Ford is her aunt. Any questions so far?’
Adam, who had sat back down, put up his hand again. ‘Leah Ford? Is she an approved foster carer through the system?’
‘I don’t have that information. Why?’
‘That name came up recently in an investigation around drugs.’
Angie raised her eyebrows. ‘Bree mentioned she got the LSD from her aunt. Stole it, she said.’
‘My point is that I’m surprised she’s fostering, especially if it’s through Department of Communities. Could it be private?’
‘I guess, but right now, that’s not really of concern. Tonight, we need to talk to the rest of the kids who were at the party. Nina is handing around that list of names. You’ll see the name Henry Field. I’m sure you all remember the recent assault on the high school teacher. Henry – or Tango, as he’d rather be known – was charged, but the judge threw it out of court. Henry is also Bree’s boyfriend. Max’s parents feel as if he’s been spending a bit too much time with Bree recently, so I wonder how Henry is feeling. It’d be worth questioning him about that.’
‘Socials?’ Tim asked.
‘Max hasn’t been on them since early Saturday night. No Find My Phone app or anything like that. I’ve been through Bree’s phone – with her permission – and printed off photos from the party and anything that could be related. Of course, I have no idea if she’s deleted any messages, so it would be prudent to get a warrant for her phone and have a look back through. Can I leave that with you, Ava?’ Angie ran her hands through her amber hair and rubbed her scalp, trying to get rid of the fogginess that was covering her mind. ‘Um, this might be a dumb question, but as I’m still new to Kalgoorlie, you’ll have to bear with me. Is there a map of old and abandoned mine shafts?’
‘Too many and no one could possibly know where they all are,’ Tim said, shaking his head. ‘There’re new ones being discovered every day. Just need a bush to grow over an old entry and no one would know it was there.’
Angie nodded. She thought this might have been the case. ‘Okay, worth a try. Um, have I forgotten anything, or has anyone got anything to add?’
‘What about the parents?’ Tim asked.
‘Yeah.’ Angie paused. ‘There’s something off there. The father, Noah, seems indifferent to Max’s disappearance. Maybe he thinks he’ll turn up later. But he’s also just damn angry. Seems like he’s used to getting his own way and he lied about who requested the help of the police. First he said he suggested that Julia – the mother – call us, which she did, then he said it was all Julia’s idea. And the mother? Well, she alternates between being quite distressed and calm.’
‘Got to look close to home,’ Tim said.
‘Yeah, and I still don’t have a firm alibi for either of them for Saturday night. Julia says she was at home alone, and Noah’s whereabouts haven’t been confirmed yet. He said he was at the office. So, when you’re watching CCTV, keep an eye out for these two number plates’ – Angie tapped the board where she’d written the registrations – ‘and get uniforms over to the office to see if there’s anything they can confirm for us. Let’s see if anyone on their street has security-camera footage, so we can determine if either of them left the house at odd times or had visitors. Any more questions?’
Everyone was bent over the sheets that had been passed out, and her question wasn’t answered.
‘No? Okay, Adam, you and Nina go and question the kids who were there that night. And don’t forget that footage from those road cams. I’ll go back to the Galbraiths’ and update them – Tim, can you come with me? – and we’ll have another look through Max’s room. Oh, and Ava, I want you looking at the CCTV from around town, and can you also get a warrant for these phone numbers so we can look at and listen to their messages?’ She handed over the list she’d been keeping in her pocket. ‘They’re for the mother, father and Max. Let’s make sure there’s been no contact we haven’t been told about.’
‘Easy,’ Ava said, taking the piece of paper.
The door into the Incident Room opened and a constable stuck her head in. ‘Angie? Some lady called Lily Carter is on the line and PolAir is on line two.’
‘Can you tell Lily I’m busy and I’ll call her later. If PolAir can wait one moment, I’ll be right with them.’ Angie started to walk to her desk. ‘Anything else?’
‘I’m going to need an absent note for my wife,’ Tim joked. But he wasn’t really joking. Angie knew she would be upset.
Angie gave him a wink and picked up the phone as the rest of the room gathered their notes and began to move out.
‘Angie Sullivan,’ she said.
‘It’s Chris Quinn, PolAir,’ a man on the other end said. ‘We’re on the ground in Kalgoorlie, waiting for instructions.’
‘Great. It’s a first-light search starting tomorrow. What time can you be in the air?’
‘First-light departure would make it six thirty.’
‘Okay. Can you be at the station for a briefing at six thirty am? I realise that will be slightly later than first light, but I think it’s important you have all the information before you go up. That’ll give you enough time for checks and flight plans to be up by seven thirty or eightish?’
‘Depends on how long your briefing goes for, but should be fine.’
‘Got your accommodation sorted?’
‘Yeah, we’re good.’
‘Excellent. Rest up. See you in the morning.’
Angie sat at her desk quietly, thinking back over what she knew, which wasn’t very much. Her phone vibrated. Panic shot through her stomach as she remembered her own personal nightmare. Bloody Will. And Claire.
And the baby.
Cautiously she withdrew the phone and looked at the screen.
Hi Angie, this is Lily Carter. Could you come into the station for an interview about National Missing Persons Week, tomorrow morning at 9am?
She thought for a moment before replying: Can I get back to you on that? I’m under the pump at the moment. Later in the day would be better.
Lily immediately replied: I can make it 10am.
Angie rolled her eyes. Pushy. I can try. I’ll let you know if I can’t be there.
The answer was the thumbs up.
Dropping her head to the desk, Angie rested with her eyes closed for a couple of seconds then got up. No weakness. One foot in front of the other, as her dad would say.
‘Yeah, you know what it’s like,’ she heard Tim’s voice say from the hallway. ‘I’m so sorry, sweetie.’
After snatching up her car keys, she opened the door and headed for the exit.
Tim gave her a wan smile when he saw her, his phone still glued to his ear, jacket slung over his shoulder. ‘I really am sorry, hon,’ he said. ‘See you later tonight. Yeah, you too.’ He took the phone away from his ear and shoved it in his pocket. ‘More coffee?’
‘No thanks. But wait a sec.’ Angie turned and ran back to the Incident Room to grab her jumper, then followed him to the car.
‘Did you know that Noah and Julia Galbraith are pretty well known in Kal?’ Tim asked her as they settled in their seats. ‘He owns a business called Goldmach that services all the mine equipment. Supposedly they’ve got a shitload of money. Massive tight-arse, though. Any chance this could be a kidnap extortion?’
Angie looked over at him as she clicked in her seatbelt. ‘No ransom note – not that I’ve heard about. And what would be the reason?’
Tim shrugged. ‘A grudge? Revenge? A business deal gone bad? Maybe just to make a quick buck. In my experience, Noah Galbraith is either liked or not. There doesn’t seem to be anywhere in between. A few of the guys I play darts with work for him and say he’s a good bloke, but there are others who think he’s a shark and dodgy as hell. Taking backhanders and the like.’
‘Interesting.’
‘My kids go to the same high school as Max,’ Tim continued. ‘Julia is the head of the P&C there. She’s one of these women for whom everything in her life is just perfect, you know the ones I mean. Instagram-able lives, I call them. Everything is perfect on the surface, but there’s always whispers that things aren’t as they seem.’
‘Yeah, my thoughts exactly. When everything looks so perfect, it rarely is. When I got to their house I wondered, What secrets are these walls keeping? And your comments on Noah are interesting. I found him quite aggressive when I first got there, but as I started asking questions, I wondered whether it was fear or something else.’ Angie pulled out her notebook as Tim drove and jotted down what he had told her. ‘What type of whispers have you heard?’
‘Nothing I can confirm, but I’m told he gets a bit vocal with his employees. Sometimes even a bit pushy. If that’s the case it’s fair to assume it happens inside the home too. Where there’s smoke there’s fire.’
‘Well, hopefully we’ll find Max and we won’t need to dig any further.’
‘Do you want me to organise a search warrant for their house?’
‘We’ll need one, but I’d rather try and get them to let us look through it of their own free will. I’m certainly not convinced they aren’t involved, but as yet there’s absolutely no proof. Anyway, yeah, get the ball rolling.’
‘So often it’s those closest . . .’
‘That’s true,’ Angie answered. ‘Here’s the house.’
Tim pulled in next to the kerb. Further down the street, Angie saw a patrol car pull into a driveway and two officers get out. They were about to start interviewing the neighbours.
The outside porch light was on and the curtains open in the Galbraith house. As she walked down the path, Angie could see Julia sitting on the couch by herself.
She knocked on the door and they waited. ‘Tidy,’ Tim observed.
‘Like I said, perfect outside,’ Angie replied, as the front door opened. ‘Hello, Julia.’ Angie introduced Tim and asked: ‘Can we come in?’
‘Have you got any news?’ Julia was gripping the door tightly. ‘Oh, hello, Tim. I didn’t realise you would . . .’ Her voice trailed off and she looked anywhere but at Tim.
‘Sorry to see you under these circumstances, Julia,’ Tim said. ‘We do have some things to talk to you about. Could we come in?’
‘And we’d like to have another look through Max’s room,’ Angie said.
‘But you’ve already looked.’ Julia sounded surprised.
‘Let’s go inside and we’ll explain everything,’ Angie said kindly. From the expression on her face, Julia knew exactly why Max’s bedroom would be helpful to them. But letting them in there would make this nightmare real.
Angie knew the way this kind of moment was depicted in TV shows. The detectives always searched the missing or dead kid’s room. Grim faced, they tried to not upset the parents by obviously looking through the wardrobe and drawers, and invariably they found a clue that would lead to solving the crime or finding the missing teenager.
Angie and Tim followed Julia into the lounge. ‘Is Noah here?’ Angie asked.
‘No.’ Julia’s tone was clipped. ‘Please, sit down.’
‘Would you like us to call him and ask him to come home while we talk through the things we know?’ Tim asked.
Julia shook her head. ‘Leave him be. It’s easier that way.’
Angie stopped herself raising her eyebrows, just in time. ‘Do you know where he is?’
Pursing her lips, Julia seemed to wrestle with her conscience, then finally shook her head. ‘Supposedly at the office.’
‘Gosh, he’s working late,’ Angie said. And while his only son is missing?
‘He’s doing that a lot lately.’
No loyalty from Julia, Angie wrote in her notebook and then made another comment to remind herself to send a patrol vehicle to Noah’s office.
‘Okay, so, Mrs Galbraith, we do have some information that might be unexpected for you. What we’ve discovered is that Max was at a party on Saturday night.’
Julia shook her head. ‘He’s not allowed to go to parties. He was only supposed to be with friends at their house.’
‘There are photos to back up that information. The party was held at the two-up ring. What we can’t establish is whether he was with the group when they left to walk back into town.’
‘The two-up ring?’ Julia shook her head. ‘No, that can’t be right. How would he have got out there?’
‘It sounds like the group drove.’
Julia clasped her hands together and looked down. ‘I never thought my boy would go against our rules, but he’s been so different lately.’
‘Different how?’
‘Distant. Angry. A lot like his father, really.’
‘That sounds like normal teenager behaviour to me,’ Tim said.
‘Yes, well. That’s true,’ Julia conceded.
‘Mrs Galbraith, we also know that Max sold some gold bars to a local buyer. He said that an uncle had given them to him and Bree for their birthdays. Could this be correct?’
‘What? No! Max doesn’t have an uncle. I can’t be sure if Bree does, but why would they share them with each other? No, that’s . . . I don’t know where he would have got them from. We don’t have any in the house and we aren’t casual prospectors like some people in this town.’
‘Okay, well, we’ll look into that a little more. If it’s okay we need to have a look around,’ Tim told her. ‘Especially in Max’s bedroom.’
Julia looked uncomfortable. ‘Do you have to? He’s not here so—’
‘We like to understand the hows and whys,’ Tim told her.
‘Well, I suppose you can look around if you really have to,’ Julia said. ‘But what are you actually doing to find him? He’s not here, so I don’t understand why looking around here is going to help.’
‘We’ve asked the DFES to establish a search-and-rescue team,’ Angie explained. ‘They’re out at the two-up ring looking for Max in the surrounding areas right now. Would you like to go out there?’
‘But what if Max comes back? I can’t leave!’
‘That’s fine,’ Tim told her soothingly. ‘Staying right here at home is a good idea in case Max does find his way back. Would you like someone with you? We can organise for a liaison officer to be here.’
Julia got up and went to stand at the window. ‘No. I don’t need anyone. Thank you for the offer.’ Her voice was stony.
Angie glanced at Tim. His gaze was sweeping the room, taking in the photos, the whiteness, the purity. Looking for anything that didn’t fit.
‘Mrs Galbraith, could we have another look in Max’s room?’ Angie asked.
‘You know where it is.’
Angie nodded and indicated for Tim to follow. Julia trailed behind them.
Switching on the lights, Angie glanced around. Nothing seemed to have changed since that morning.
Tim was inside now, opening the dressing table drawer and flicking through what was inside.
‘He’s very private,’ Julia said.
‘Most teenagers are,’ he replied. ‘Do you have a good relationship with your son?’
‘I guess it’s been a little strained over the last few months, but, as you said, that seems to be normal. All the hormones and so on, but before that, I did.’ Julia smiled. ‘He’s very thoughtful towards me. Always remembers my birthday and Mother’s Day. Brings me bunches of flowers every so often.’
‘He sounds lovely,’ Angie said as she walked over to the wardrobe and opened the door. She looked back at Julia, who was still speaking.
‘Never caused us a jot of trouble. This is . . .’
‘Out of character? Yes, your husband mentioned that. Mrs Galbraith—’
‘Please. Mrs Galbraith was my mother-in-law. Thank god she’s dead. Sorry if that sounds harsh.’ Julia tried to smile.
Angie gave a small nod. ‘They can be difficult, mothers-in-law. Back to what I was saying. We have evidence that suggests Max was intending to leave town. Other than his packed bag, of course. Did you know of his plans?’
‘That’s not right. He was only in Year Eleven. He’s sixteen, remember? He can’t leave until he’s finished school and then he was going to uni to study accounting. Max was going to work in the family business. Noah always said he needed an accountant he could trust, and Max was it. He’s very good with figures. He wasn’t going to leave Kalgoorlie! Or us.’ Her voice rose in panic. ‘He wouldn’t.’
Angie reached over and touched her arm. ‘Please, Mrs . . . Julia, I’m trying to work out where Max is, and if there was a reason he wanted to leave, so please forgive me if my questions sound unkind. This is all part of what we have to do. And I really want to find him, so I hope you’ll answer them for me.’
Julia fidgeted. ‘I didn’t know he was planning to leave.’
‘Thank you. I understand this is incredibly difficult for you.’
Angie heard Julia’s intake of breath as she steadied herself for another round of questions.
‘Do you think Max was happy?’
‘Of course. We have a very happy home here. Noah, Max and . . .’ Her voice wobbled. ‘Me.’
‘If there’s anything you want to tell me, Julia, I’m here to listen. There’s absolutely no judgment; all I want to do is help. If there was something happening in the home . . .’
Julia shook her head. ‘We have a good life here. There’s all the usual pressures that owning your own business brings, which sometimes cause a bit of friction, but mostly everything is fine.’
Angie stayed silent, while Tim continued to quietly look through the room. Julia held herself upright and seemed to be trying to look as if she were telling the truth.
‘Max spent a lot of time in here,’ she continued. ‘He enjoyed gaming and saved hard to buy all of this equipment. I’m not sure what everything is called. Xbox, I think that’s one of them.’ She waved her hand towards the setup on Max’s desk.
‘Did he ever talk about meeting people online?’
‘No. I knew he was playing against someone or thing, but I was never sure if they were real or not.’
