“That is my name at the bottom, sir. He swore it in front of me.”
“And what difference is that supposed to make?”
“Well, I can vouch for its veracity.”
“Aye, but not its contents. Whatever he told you, whatever you think you know, or he knows, is hearsay, irrelevant, inadmissible,as you are well aware.”
Henry floundered hopelessly. He went to retake his seat, then straightened with the sudden prick of an idea. “Sir, if I may—ReverendBean told me that he once visited with you personally. That in the aftermath of these events he came to Bewley and attemptedto tell you what he had seen. Now, he might have been in shock at the time, and perhaps less coherent than in his writtenrecord—”
“Or drunk!” someone yelled, to laughter.
“—but insofar as the contents tally with what he told you face-to-face, surely his evidence can still stand. He is simply now trying to formalize what he first reported to this court all those years ago.”
MacIntyre frowned heavily. “What meeting are you referring to?”
“He came here, sir. December of 1885, around the turn of the year.”
“I’m afraid I don’t recall, Mr. Wells.”
“Sir, I can assure you—”
MacIntyre raised a hand. “Because, of course, if he had reported something as heinous back then, it would have behooved meto investigate, to have kept records, to have liaised with the parties involved. Which I did not. There are no records ofany such meeting, because no meeting ever took place. I fear the reverend is proving himself most unreliable without evenbeing here.”
“And what about this time around?” Henry asked him.
“Excuse me?”
“Has this second report been taken more seriously, I wonder. Have you investigated, spoken with witnesses, visited the crater,dug in the dust for the bodies? There is plenty of other evidence available, Magistrate MacIntyre—this case does not standor fall on Reverend Bean alone.”
MacIntyre glared at him over his spectacles. His lips were puckered, his breathing rushed, his face the color of beets. “Nowyou listen to me, young man,” he said, pointing. “You are here as a courtesy, but one that I will not hesitate to revoke.You speak to me like that again—you dare to question my integrity in my own fucking courtroom—and I will lock you up for contemptand throw away the damn key. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Then sit your fat arse down and keep your mouth shut.”
To jeers from the gallery, Henry did as he was told. He’d never heard language like it in a courtroom, at least not from thejudge. Already he could feel the hearing slipping away and there seemed no obvious way to get it back.
“All right,” MacIntyre said, taking a deep breath, lifting his eyes to the room, “unless anyone else fancies a stint in my cells, we’ll proceed in whatever manner I see fit. As I have said, we are here for one reason only, which is to find out for certain what went on at the McBride place and then afterward with the Kurrong, and since there are only two men in this courtroom who can tell us about it firsthand, we might as well start with them. Chief Inspector Noone—if you would be so kind as to take the witness stand.”
A hush fell over the crowd. Noone uncrossed his legs and rose to his feet and strode smoothly to the wooden witness box. Theclerk brought the Bible and held it and Noone placed his hand on top, a flicker of a smirk as he gave his solemn oath. Hehitched his trousers and sat down on the chair and the clerk returned to his desk.
“Chief Inspector,” MacIntyre began, “may I first thank you most sincerely for your time. It is an arduous journey out fromBrisbane and I’m sure you’re a very busy man, but on behalf of this court and the district, we are grateful.”
“You are welcome, of course. A terrible business, but I understand the need. We must do what we can to put the matter to bedand allow those affected, indeed the entire community, to move on. Such concerns are far more important than one’s own personalconvenience. I only wish everyone felt the same.”
Noone arched an eyebrow playfully in the direction of Henry Wells. The gallery caught it, and sniggered.
“Quite,” MacIntyre said, suppressing a smile. “Now, I have here your original police report from the time, which I have readagain. I believe you have also had the opportunity to refresh your mind as to its contents, have you not?”
“I have.”
“And are those events still familiar to you? Do you remember them well?”
“Sir, I will carry the memory of the McBride killings with me to the grave.”
Katherine felt Billy jolt beside her, a sudden and violent twitch. He looked ill. Veins stood at his temples, sweat glistened his brow. She reached for his hand and he gave it, slowly unclenching his fist. He blinked and turned toward her, a pleading in his eyes, and she realized he wasn’t angry but absolutely terrified.
“In that case, Chief Inspector, could I ask you to recount, in your own words, as best as you can, what you recall from thattime, beginning perhaps with what you witnessed when you first arrived at the McBride murder scene.”
Noone coughed and readied himself. Dead silence in the room. “It was a couple of days afterward that I got to the house. AsI recall, we were up near Jericho at the time, meaning the bodies had already been buried before I arrived. John Sullivangave use of his men. However, the scene was still sufficiently intact to discern what had occurred: there were bloodstainson the porch and in the two bedrooms, and footprints leading out into the bush.”
Billy first onto the verandah, down to his knees beside Father, sitting propped between the bench and the door. Three holes in him. Blood all over the boards. Billy’s hand touches it, sticky and warm, and when he prods Father’s shoulder the head
