‘Since time began, lad, but more so over the past month, I’d say.’
‘Going back to the body and time of death: you don’t remember seeing or hearing anyone nearby in the last week then? No tyre tracks, anything out of place?’ Dave wanted to know.
‘Nope. The last midnight visitors I heard were about two weeks ago. There was an engine noise—just a steady engine noise as if it were on the road—but it was chugging like it was going slowly. The next day I came across tyre tracks and footprints about four or five miles from here. Didn’t see any lights. And Chief had a few woofs but didn’t get too upset, so they couldn’t have come within his protective range. Then there was last night, but that was Chief getting upset—I didn’t see or hear anything.’
‘Did you recognise the tyre tracks you saw a couple of weeks ago?’ Dave asked. ‘Could have they been from a vehicle you know?’
‘Nah. Just normal four-wheel drive tracks. Could have been anyone.’
‘Are there any mines around where you found the prints and tracks?’
‘Nope, there’s not. I followed them until they left my place and onto another mining lease—one of the big company ones. They didn’t go near any of my shafts. They were just working the surface.’
‘What about gold, had you found any pieces where the tracks were? Had you told someone you’d found something?’
‘Young man, the first rule you learn about gold is you never tell anyone when you’ve found some and never where you found it. If you do there’ll be twenty other blokes in the same spot by morning, or some bugger’ll do you over searching for what you’ve already found.’
‘That’s a no then.’ Dave gave a grin.
‘That’s a no,’ Tim answered without smiling back.
‘There been any other reports from other leaseholders, Killjoy or China? They had the same types of visitors?’ Spencer asked.
‘Haven’t seen either of them in a couple of months.’
‘Due for a catch-up?’
‘Next Saturday.’
Spencer gave a laugh. ‘Well, look out Barrabine. You’ll all be painting the town red, I got no doubt.’
Tim gave a gentle smile. ‘I think we’re past all that, don’t you? A few quiet beers off the wood and a feed is more our style. And I reckon we’ll be at Oakamanda. Not as far to go.’
‘Don’t kid yourself. I know you fellas know how to have a good time.’ Spencer looked down at his notebook. ‘I need you to think back and see if you can come up with exact days when you heard the vehicle.’
‘Which time?’
‘The last one, two weeks ago, would be helpful. Sounds like that’s the closest we have.’
‘Cor, that’s asking a bit.’ He rubbed his hand across his face again. ‘All the days run together out here, you know that.’
‘Just try.’
‘What’s today? Wednesday?’
Dave and Spencer nodded together.
‘Right, so yesterday I went to the western side, and the day before over to Mari’s Find.’ He continued to talk to himself and tick days off on his fingers, until he said, ‘Right-oh, best I can do is I reckon it was Friday night, so twelve days ago.’
‘Full moon?’
‘Do you want me bowel movements too?’
Dave let out a chuckle and Spencer snorted. ‘Just your weather report.’
‘Reckon it was. Moon’s only about half now. You should have been able to work that out yourself.’
‘I want to know what you remember.’
‘That’s about it, really. It was hot. Maybe twenty-five and I was sleeping outside on the camp bed. Been doing that a bit lately.’
‘Last night, you didn’t hear any engines, just Chief barking?’
‘That’s right. And he doesn’t bark at wildlife.’
Spencer nodded his understanding. ‘You haven’t upset anyone you know of? Someone who might have come looking for you?’
‘Not that I know of, but I’d be the last one to find out. If someone wanted to have a go at me, I’m sure they wouldn’t let me know about it first.’
‘But you’d know if you’d had words or a disagreement with someone,’ Dave said.
Tim sat back in his chair, quiet. His fingers were steepled as he tapped them against his lips, thinking. ‘I can’t think of anyone and I know no one has upset me.’
‘No one who thinks you stole gold from them, that type of thing?’ Dave pushed.
Tim leaned forward and looked Dave in the eye. ‘I don’t steal gold,’ he said.
Spencer snapped his notebook shut. ‘That’s it for the time being,’ he said. ‘I’ll leave a message for you at the pub if I need you again, all right?’
‘No problems. I won’t be going anywhere.’
Dave and Spencer shook hands with the old man and climbed into their four-wheel drive.
‘You know Tim Tucker pretty well?’ Dave asked as they set off, although it was more a statement than a question.
‘Met him the second day I was here, so six years ago last month.’
‘Good bloke?’
‘One of life’s gentlemen,’ Spencer answered as he flicked on the left-hand blinker and turned down a disused road. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever heard him swear, and he’s one of the most honest miners out here. You know how I know that?’
Dave glanced over at him. ‘How?’
‘He doesn’t get frightened when the gold squad turns up. Some of the fellas will start shaking and working out a lie before I even turn off the car. Tim, he’s different. Ask him a question, he’ll tell you the truthful answer. I’ve never caught him in a lie and he even gives me a bit of inside info when I need it. There is absolutely nothing crook about Tim Tucker.’
‘You don’t think we need to keep him in mind if it turns out to be a murder? You know as well as I do that the murderer is usually the last person who has been seen with the victim.’
‘Yeah, yeah, and of course we’ve got to have an open mind, but we don’t know who the body is yet.’ He shrugged. ‘Too many questions for the autopsy to answer before
