I am?’
Compared to what? I thought. The feeling in my belly lingered.
‘I’m going to be two minutes,’ he said. ‘No leaning on the horn. No getting out of the car. Just stay quiet. Do you think you can do that?’
I nodded.
‘I know where you live. Did I forget to mention that, Tully?’
Then he left the car.
I watched him walk away. I didn’t try to leave or shout at the woman who had pulled up in the car next to me. She was busy getting her kid out of the car seat. The kid was wearing a cute T-shirt that read ‘My First Christmas’.
And that crack about knowing where I lived. Maybe it was a lie. But maybe ... the thistles were back prickling my insides. It wasn’t that I was really scared of him. But the thought that he knew about me—knew things that most other people didn’t—made me feel a little sick.
I wondered how I got to be outside the Deer Park chemist on Christmas Eve in a car with a might-as-well-be stranger.
I don’t think Griffin meant any of it to happen.
19
Fitzroy Police Station: 25 December, 2.49a.m.
‘Okay, wait.’ Officer Fraser scratched his head and looked down at his notes. ‘Tully, are you suggesting that you were in no danger at this point of the abduction? That you were never in danger?’
‘Yes,’ said Tully.
‘So why did you let Griffin take you?’
Tully snorted. ‘I didn’t know at the start.’
‘Yet you say you knew this boy—’
‘I said I knew of him. I’d seen him around. We weren’t friends or anything.’
‘So tell me when you decided that you were no longer in danger.’
Tully sighed loudly and sat back in her seat looking up at the ceiling.
‘Look, it’s really easy,’ said Tully. ‘This is how I see it. Griffin went to Loserville Chemist to fill a script. Then Ms Helene had to be her normal super-bitch self and it was Christmas Eve. Christmas is a time when strange things happen. Mean people can get meaner. Sad people sadder. People get jumpy this time of year.’
‘What about the knife?’ Constable Tognetti interrupted.
‘I didn’t say he had a knife. I said it could have been a knife. Or it could have been his cold fingers. Everything happened so quickly.’
‘Ms Bukor stated that a knife was involved,’ said Constable Tognetti.
‘There’s a reliable witness for you. Did you give her a drug test before asking her questions—?’
‘Shut up, Tully,’ Aunt Laney hissed.
‘Look, Griffin’s not a bad person. I’m good at picking people’s characters.’ Tully glanced at her aunt. ‘I mean, his car was clean and he was a really polite driver. Which says something, don’t you think? I think things got out of his control, that’s all. I think he just panicked.’
‘Yet he threatened you before he left you alone in the car to get his script filled at the chemist in Deer Park.’
‘That did scare me. At first.’ Tully nodded. ‘But then I thought about that and I think he was just scared. He couldn’t let me leave because he wasn’t sure what I would do. Or what he should do.’
Officer Fraser leaned forward. ‘So Griffin made a mistake in the Smith Street chemist by grabbing you. But why didn’t he let you out down the block?
Tully chewed on her nails.
‘Why didn’t he—’ repeated Officer Fraser.
‘I don’t think he planned it—to go so far. It’s just that, once you’re set on a path, it’s really hard to jump over to another one. Or even to come back up the path and say, sorry this doesn’t take me where I need to go.’
‘So he’s just a poor misunderstood kid?’
‘No. Yes. I dunno.’
‘And the money?’
‘What money?’
‘Did he have a bag when you left the scene?’
‘I don’t remember a bag. Unless it was in the boot. But I don’t remember him going to the boot.’
‘So you don’t believe he took any money or drugs from the Smith Street chemist?’
‘No. I mean, if he’d busted out with drugs he wouldn’t need to go the chemist and get his script filled in Deer
Compared to what? I thought. The feeling in my belly lingered.
‘I’m going to be two minutes,’ he said. ‘No leaning on the horn. No getting out of the car. Just stay quiet. Do you think you can do that?’
I nodded.
‘I know where you live. Did I forget to mention that, Tully?’
Then he left the car.
I watched him walk away. I didn’t try to leave or shout at the woman who had pulled up in the car next to me. She was busy getting her kid out of the car seat. The kid was wearing a cute T-shirt that read ‘My First Christmas’.
And that crack about knowing where I lived. Maybe it was a lie. But maybe ... the thistles were back prickling my insides. It wasn’t that I was really scared of him. But the thought that he knew about me—knew things that most other people didn’t—made me feel a little sick.
I wondered how I got to be outside the Deer Park chemist on Christmas Eve in a car with a might-as-well-be stranger.
I don’t think Griffin meant any of it to happen.
19
Fitzroy Police Station: 25 December, 2.49a.m.
‘Okay, wait.’ Officer Fraser scratched his head and looked down at his notes. ‘Tully, are you suggesting that you were in no danger at this point of the abduction? That you were never in danger?’
‘Yes,’ said Tully.
‘So why did you let Griffin take you?’
Tully snorted. ‘I didn’t know at the start.’
‘Yet you say you knew this boy—’
‘I said I knew of him. I’d seen him around. We weren’t friends or anything.’
‘So tell me when you decided that you were no longer in danger.’
Tully sighed loudly and sat back in her seat looking up at the ceiling.
‘Look, it’s really easy,’ said Tully. ‘This is how I see it. Griffin went to Loserville Chemist to fill a script. Then Ms Helene had to be her normal super-bitch self and it was Christmas Eve. Christmas is a time when strange things happen. Mean people can get meaner. Sad people sadder. People get jumpy this time of year.’
‘What about the knife?’ Constable Tognetti interrupted.
‘I didn’t say he had a knife. I said it could have been a knife. Or it could have been his cold fingers. Everything happened so quickly.’
‘Ms Bukor stated that a knife was involved,’ said Constable Tognetti.
‘There’s a reliable witness for you. Did you give her a drug test before asking her questions—?’
‘Shut up, Tully,’ Aunt Laney hissed.
‘Look, Griffin’s not a bad person. I’m good at picking people’s characters.’ Tully glanced at her aunt. ‘I mean, his car was clean and he was a really polite driver. Which says something, don’t you think? I think things got out of his control, that’s all. I think he just panicked.’
‘Yet he threatened you before he left you alone in the car to get his script filled at the chemist in Deer Park.’
‘That did scare me. At first.’ Tully nodded. ‘But then I thought about that and I think he was just scared. He couldn’t let me leave because he wasn’t sure what I would do. Or what he should do.’
Officer Fraser leaned forward. ‘So Griffin made a mistake in the Smith Street chemist by grabbing you. But why didn’t he let you out down the block?
Tully chewed on her nails.
‘Why didn’t he—’ repeated Officer Fraser.
‘I don’t think he planned it—to go so far. It’s just that, once you’re set on a path, it’s really hard to jump over to another one. Or even to come back up the path and say, sorry this doesn’t take me where I need to go.’
‘So he’s just a poor misunderstood kid?’
‘No. Yes. I dunno.’
‘And the money?’
‘What money?’
‘Did he have a bag when you left the scene?’
‘I don’t remember a bag. Unless it was in the boot. But I don’t remember him going to the boot.’
‘So you don’t believe he took any money or drugs from the Smith Street chemist?’
‘No. I mean, if he’d busted out with drugs he wouldn’t need to go the chemist and get his script filled in Deer
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