CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE.

The gravel crunched under the tyres of the police car as it drew up Sam's driveway with Eric exhausted and very solemn in the back seat beside Detective Simpson. This time they were accompanied by Senior Detectives Riley and Moore.

Sam and Des heard the car arrive and went out to meet it.

As Eric stepped from the car, Sam went to him.

'Eric, are you alright mate? They've kept you all b.l.o.o.d.y night...'

'Don't I know. They grilled me all blasted night, too. They really believe I'm the firebug!' Eric's voice rose then cracked as he swallowed back tears.

'Don't let them see you upset, mate.' Sam placed a comforting hand on Eric's shoulder. 'Anyway, what evidence have they got?' he asked.

'Those blasted coils in my cupboard! They've been there for I dunno how b.l.o.o.d.y long. Anyway, I'm not the only bloke in the valley to use the b.l.o.o.d.y things, and, wait for this one, that f.u.c.kin' Gelding b.i.t.c.h seriously reckons it was me who set fire to her haystack! I wish I hadn't tried to help the stupid old cow!'

Detective Bennett approached them. 'Come on, son. We have a search to conduct.' He took Eric by the arm and steered him toward the back of Sam's house. The two city detectives strode off in front of them.

'Dad, this isn't b.l.o.o.d.y right. We have to do somethin',' Des scowled.

'Don't worry, son. I've got Buckley comin' in an hour. He'll sort it out. He's the best solicitor in town,' Sam said rea.s.suringly.

'Bennett, Simmo, you keep our pal here company while Detective Riley and I search the tank shed,' Detective Moore instructed.

'He won't be going anywhere,' Simpson replied.

'What're you looking for in there?' Eric asked, bewildered.

'We'll tell you when we find it,' Simpson answered curtly.

It wasn't long before Detective Riley shouted 'Bingo!' He came out through the old wooden door of the tank shed and indicated for the other detectives to look inside.

'Look here!' he smirked.

Eric moved forward, craning his neck to see what they had found. On the floor under an old rickety shelf was a box marked Mosquito Coils!

'Did you know these were here?' Bennett asked, looking directly at Eric.

'No, I did not, and I don't believe they were in there until today!' Eric snapped at him in complete surprise.

'You watch what you say, Mason. Come on, bring those Simmo. Bennett, take our mate here back to the car.' Detective Riley barked his orders.

'You blokes are wrong! I've never lit any fires and I'll prove it,' Eric protested, jerking his arm from Bennett's grasp. The detective immediately grabbed his arm again and twisted it up behind his back.

'Don't cause me any trouble, son,' he said quietly in Eric's ear.

As he was hauled back to the car, Eric thought about the coils. The box looked new, not at all as though it had been there for any length of time. There wasn't any dust on it at all. The old shed was filthy. The box of coils the cops say they 'found' was definitely new!

'It had to be a plant!'

Sam and Des were waiting at the back steps of the house.

'What've you got there?' Sam enquired.

The detectives told them of their find.

'What's that got to do with Eric?' Des asked.

'We have an eye witness who says he saw Eric enter the shed on Christmas Eve, not long before the hills went up.' Detective Moore eyed Eric as he spoke.

'Bulls.h.i.t! I never went near that shed. I haven't been in it for ages!' Eric shouted in indignation at the false accusation.

'That's enough. You'll get your say in court,' Bennett said as he hustled Eric to the car.

'Don't worry, Eric.' Sam followed and touched him rea.s.suringly on the shoulder. 'Mr Buckley will be in to see you very soon.'

The car drove off, leaving a very worried and bewildered Sam and Des in its dust.

'What are you telling me, Sam?' Dawn was wringing her hands in agitation.

Sam was desperately sorry to have to bring her the bad news.

'I'm sorry, Dawn, but it looks as though they're goin' to charge Eric!'

He also told her what Ivy Gelding said to the cops.

'Sam, that Gelding woman's a liar! She was d.a.m.n lucky he was there to help. My G.o.d, what an ungrateful b.i.t.c.h she is!' Dawn paced back and forth in her kitchen.

'What'll happen now?' Eileen asked angrily. She was trembling and very scared for her brother. She was furious at Ivy Gelding for accusing him after he so desperately tried to save her property.

'There'll be a brief hearin'. I'd say Buckley will try and make it for later on today. He'll try ta get him bailed as soon as possible. The first thing is to get Eric outta there.' Sam's voice was tense with worry.

'I'd like to choke that b.l.o.o.d.y lyin' old b.i.t.c.h! I've a good mind to go an' tell her just what I think of her!' Eileen said furiously, dabbing at her tears.

'That wouldn't be a wise thing ta do; it'd only cause more trouble,' Jeff told her. 'Does the rest of the family know about this?' he asked Sam.

'Not yet. We'll head down shortly an' tell 'em. Eileen, Jeff's right, stay away from Ivy Gelding,' Sam replied wearily.

Dawn spoke huskily as tears streamed down her face. 'I'm going to change then I want you to take me straight to the police station, Jeff.'

'I'm coming too!' Eileen said.

'Look, the best thing you can do for now is wait until we hear from Buckley. If you go stormin' into the station, it could do more harm than good,' Sam told her.

'I wanna do more than storm the friggin' station. I'd like ta get me hands on those city mongrels. They're the ones who caused all this!' Jeff leant on his hands and stared out the kitchen window.

'I reckon ya right, mate. Those coils weren't in that shed. We've never had coils in there, ever. They were planted there,' Sam said, coming to stand beside him. 'Were gonna have a battle on our hands now. Eric's gonna have to be strong til this's all over. We all have to be.'

'Well, I'm not standin' here doin' nothin'.' Jeff spun around and stormed out. 'I'm goin' to that cop station an' tell 'em just what I think!'

'Well, I'm coming with you,' Dawn called after him.

'No, you stay with Eileen,' Sam told her. 'I'll go with Jeff,' he said, having a change of heart. 'There's a few things I wanna say to 'em as well!'

Emmie was heartbroken. She thought of her dear Dave. This would have upset him dreadfully. In a way, she was pleased her husband didn't have to go through the worry. The old man had idolized young Eric and this would have broken his heart.

'We have to pray that the truth comes out and soon,' she whispered.

'How can people honestly think its Eric?' Kathy asked, bewildered.

'Well, Kath, they're desperate to have someone to blame. It's all been goin' on for so d.a.m.n long people are sick and tired of livin' in fear. The cops haven't been able to catch him, we haven't got anywhere with our stakeouts, so all it takes is for one nasty person to make an accusation and the rest is history!' Karl was buckling his belt as he spoke. 'This evidence the cops say they found in the tank shed is false! That was planted! Eric's innocent and now we have to prove it!'

'Where're you off to?' Digger asked.

'I'm going up to Dawn's to see if there's anythin' I can do. She wouldn't be copin' with this at all.'

'I'll come with you.' Dig grabbed his keys, kissed Win and they took off.

'Poor Eric. There's not a more honest person.' Win stood, arms folded across her chest, looking out the window in the direction of Dawn's.

'He'll be alright. He'll get through this. We'll all be with him every step of the way. Then we will deal with all the ones who have pointed their grimy fingers at him!' Ellie answered her.

Sam and Jeff marched straight up to the desk sergeant and demanded to speak with detective Bennett. The sergeant looked at them over the top of his gla.s.ses and decided he had better get the two blokes into an office immediately.

He showed them into the office and told them to wait quietly while he went to inform detective Bennett.

Both Sam and Jeff were in no mood to mess around. They had discussed everything on the drive to the police station and the discovery of those mosquito coils in the tank shed stank of a setup.

'Gentlemen, you asked to see me?' Bennett came in and shut the door.

'Too d.a.m.n right we did,' stated Jeff. 'What the f.u.c.kin' h.e.l.l ya think ya's doin', draggin' Eric in here like this?!'

Bennett stood, blinking rapidly as Sam continued the tirade.

'You'se blokes are off ya flamin' rockers if ya's think he's the friggin' firebug!' Sam thumped his fist on the desk beside him.

Bennett sat down at the desk and observed the two aggressive men.

Sam kept on. 'I'm in an' outta that f.u.c.kin' shed all tha time. Don't ya think I'd know if there was flamin' coils kept in there?' he shouted.

'Calm down... calm down, Mason.' Bennett hoisted his leg up on the corner of the desk. 'Mosquito coils were found in Eric's cupboard and now Dectives Riley and Moore have also discovered them in that shed. Also, there is more compelling evidence that they are questioning him about as we speak.'

'What f.u.c.kin' evidence?' Jeff fronted him, his face red with fury. 'What f.u.c.kin' evidence could ya's possibly have? He's a b.l.o.o.d.y innocent man. Ya can't have any unless ya's made it up! I want ta speak ta those Sydney a.r.s.eholes. Where are they?' He stormed across the room and reefed the door open. A policeman stood blocking his way.

'Get outta me way!'

Detective Bennet called him back. 'That wouldn't be advisable, Jeff. Come back in here and we'll talk calmly.' Jeff spun around furiously as the door clicked shut behind him.

'The city detectives specialize in these cases and they will conduct a thorough enquiry. Eric has come to their attention and now there are some questions he has to answer,' Bennett told the two irate men. He could understand how they were feeling. He didn't blame them either, but the city blokes were in charge of this investigation and he had to abide by their way of handling it. Besides, there were witnesses, but he was not going to divulge this to Sam and Jeff, not in the mood they were in.

'Thorough investigation me a.r.s.e!' Sam bellowed. 'This's all a waste of time. Ya's should be out there combin' the friggin' valley, search every f.u.c.kin' house until ya's get the right f.u.c.kin' b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Get it through those thick skulls' that you'se 'ave gone an' hauled an innocent man in here! Those stinkin' flamin' city b.a.s.t.a.r.ds haven't got a b.l.o.o.d.y clue, they just wanna make 'emselves look good!' He spun on his heel and made for the door. 'C'mon, Jeff, we're wastin' our time here!'

Jeff stood directly in front of Bennett, his face up close. 'Well you'se blokes won't do ya job right, so we'll do it for ya's!' He stabbed his finger into Bennett's chest. 'We'll catch the firebug, the real b.l.o.o.d.y firebug! We'll bring him to ya's after we've finished with him! Now write that in ya little notepad!'

'I'd strongly advise you all to calm down,' Bennett told Sam who stood with his hand on the door k.n.o.b. 'Let us do our job. You blokes go doing anything and it could compromise our investigation.'

Sam stood for a second, then shrugged at him and walked out, leaving the door swinging wide open.

'I'm going to conduct a further interview with you now in relation to a fire at approximately 11.45pm in the hills behind Mrs Jeff Hickson's property on December 24th, 1964. Do you understand that?' Detective Bennett was questioning Eric as they sat in the interrogation room at Albury Police Station.

'Yes,' answered Eric.

'The method I propose to use in this interview is for me to ask you a number of questions which will be recorded here, on the typewriter, by Detective Simpson, together with any replies that you may care to make. At the conclusion of the interview, I will hand you the original paper of questions and answers, which you may read over. If they are correct and to your satisfaction, you can sign them if you wish. Do you understand that?' Bennett asked.

'Yes.' Eric wished they'd get it over with. He was feeling emotionally drained.

'Of course, it is my duty to inform you that you do not have to answer any questions at all unless you wish. Whatever you do say will be recorded here on the typewriter and may later be used as evidence in a court of law. Do you understand that?'

'Yes.'

'Are you prepared to answer questions?'

'Yes.'

As the detectives posed the questions, Mr Buckley sat towards the back of the office, listening, very pleased with Eric's cooperation.

'The fire that we are speaking about destroyed approximately fifteen to twenty acres of natural gra.s.sland and fencing. Do you understand that?'

'Yes.'

'Do you remember that particular night?'

'Yes, of course, it was Christmas Eve.'

'Persons who attended this fire formed the opinion that it had commenced quite close to the boundary between the hills and your mother, Mrs Jeff Hickson's property. Do you know the boundary I refer to?'

'Yes.'

'I have told you that the fire commenced at about 11.45pm on Christmas Eve. Do you remember where you were at that time?'