She came down the staircase slowly.
Very slowly.
Two kids scrambled up from a rocking chair near the fire. Matt turned the chair so it was facing the room, not the fireplace. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, the woman wheezed heavily and then continued her progress across the living room like an old pope arriving at an inquisition.
Matt helped the woman into the rocking chair and when he sat down again, the dog hid under his legs.
A noise like a broken lawn-mower engine escaped from the woman’s mouth, and a child brought her a glass of a clear liquid that she knocked back with satisfaction.
This, evidently, was Ma.
“They’re the Americans?” Ma said in a rattle that seemed to come from the wrong side of the grave.
“Yeah. Americans,” Matt said.
“I’ve known a few Yanks. Terry said they were all right in Vietnam. Ones I met were OK. What does he do for a living?” Ma asked.
“He’s a doctor. Dr. Thomas Baxter. He looks after people’s knees. He’s got ID. It checks out,” Matt said.
“How much money in the wallet?”
“Four hundred bucks.”
“And how much did you scumbags get already?” Ma said.
“Nine hundred,” Matt replied sheepishly.
“That’s not much. Not much for a life. What does she do?”
“Massage therapist, she says,” Jacko said.
“Jesus. One step up from whore,” Ma said. “When does Danny get back?”
“Not until after six, maybe seven,” Matt said.
“Who else did you bastards let onto my island today?” Ma said, scowling at Ivan.
“It wasn’t my fault, Ma. Jacko and Matt—” Ivan protested.
“Enough! I’m surprised at you, Matthew,” Ma said, shaking her head.
“I’m sorry, Ma.”
“You let another vehicle on, didn’t you?” Ma said.
“Yes, Ma, couple of Krauts,” Ivan said.
“And where are they now?”
“Probably waiting at the ferry,” Ivan said.
“Well, somebody bloody find them and bring them here!” Ma growled.
Jacko nodded at a kid, who ran outside.
“Look, I’m very sorry about this,” Tom said. “She came right out of nowhere. I honked the horn and the woman didn’t hear me—”
“She’s deaf!” one of the children said.
“Deaf?” Tom said.
“Yeah, Ellen was deaf,” Ma said.
“I couldn’t help it. I went straight into the back of her. It all happened so fast. I mean, obviously we will cooperate fully with the authorities.”
“What will you do, Dr. Baxter?” Jacko asked, sneering through Tom’s title.
“It’s, um, Tom. Um, look, I’ll admit full responsibility. And—and I’m sure my insurance company will pay out accordingly,” Tom said.
“Insurance companies don’t always pay out, do they?” Ma said.
“They will. I’m admitting fault.”
“Where are you going to do this admitting of fault?” Ma asked.
“Here, and of course back in Melbourne. I’ll make sure I cooperate fully with the police investigation and even postpone our flight back if necessary.”
“Nah,” Ma said. “No Melbourne. No flight back.”
Murmurs in the room and then silence again.
The melancholy ticking clock. The fire crackling. Mosquitoes buzzing. Dog whining. At the back of the room, Heather saw the man who had sold them the sausage sizzles. When the Dutch couple were rounded up, everyone who knew about them coming over here would be in this house under Ma’s control.
“You tried to hide the body. You did a hit-and-run. That’s a crime. That’s a crime on Dutch Island and in Victoria and in America,” Ma said.
“That, um, that was my fault. Tom had hit his head. That was my idea,” Heather said. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I was scared. I wanted us to get over to the mainland first before we called the police.”
“Scared. Aye,” Ma said. “We don’t want anyone to be scared, do we?” Ma shook her head and closed her eye. She seemed to be thinking things over. A log in the fire cracked and split.
“Look, uh, maybe Ivan and me should get the ferry over to Stamford Bridge and call the coppers, let them handle it—what do you think, Ma?” Matt asked.
Heather looked at him and mouthed, Thank you.
Ivan and Jacko shook their heads.
“Too much history with Vic police. You know what’ll happen,” Jacko muttered. “One of us will get bloody blamed for it and for other shit, making our own grog or something, and this bastard will get off scot-bloody-free.”