Blood Moon by Garry Disher

Author:Garry Disher [Disher, Garry]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Soho Crime
Published: 2019-07-05T16:00:00+00:00

28

‘That’s awful!’ Athol Groot, head of planning for the shire, put a plump hand over his chest and slumped into his chair. ‘I mean, I saw her yesterday morning, staff meeting, and she seemed fine.’

Challis didn’t state the obvious, that of course Ludmilla Wishart had been fine back then. The guy was shocked, that’s all, trying to assimilate the information. ‘What time was the meeting?’

‘Ten o’clock.’

‘She was here all morning?’

‘Yes. I think she went to lunch with a friend and had various outside appointments after that.’

Groot’s office continued the theme of the foyer: grey tufted carpeting, frosted glass, gleaming pale wood that might have been supplied by Ikea, and fluorescent lighting at saturation point. Everything was new and probably intended to be cheerful and comfortable but it irked Challis.

‘What can you tell me about her job?’

Groot was about fifty, jowly and in poor shape, with sparse hair, an unhealthy flush and too many kilos straining the fabric of his trousers, shirt and jacket. He had tried to compensate with a youthful tie and narrow black-rimmed spectacles, but only succeeded in conveying incongruity, not youthfulness. He looked desolately at the floor and murmured, ‘She was our infringements person.’

Challis nodded encouragingly.

Groot looked up, mustering himself. ‘Here in Planning East we process applications, give advice and feedback about what can and cannot be allowed, and examine projects on completion—anything from that backyard granny flat you build for your elderly mother to a huge new shopping centre. We’re bound by federal, state and local regulations, and they change over time and from district to district.’ He paused, said challengingly, ‘Where do you live?’

Challis told him.

‘Zoned rural,’ Groot said, nodding wisely. He counted on his fingers: ‘No further subdivision permitted. If you erect a new house you’ll need permission to go higher than eight metres. The roof must be a muted colour, nothing glary. You’re not allowed to cut down any of the notable trees. I could go on.’

Please don’t, Challis thought. ‘And Mrs Wishart’s job?’

‘Naturally there are individuals who ignore the regulations.’

‘Mrs Wishart investigated these instances?’

‘Yes. I did too, when she was overloaded.’

‘We’ll need access to her files, diary and computers.’

‘Some of the information contained therein is confidential.’

Challis hoped he’d never have to read any of the man’s reports. Besides, he was pretty sure that planning applications were on the public record, so that objections could be lodged. He said nothing but presented Groot with a warrant. Groot read it, his hands trembling a little. ‘This seems to be in order.’

‘Let’s get started. Then we can be out of your hair.’

They stepped into the foyer, where the two Mornington detectives on loan to Challis were waiting. Their names were Schlunke and Johns, but everyone on the Peninsula knew them as Smith and Jones. Challis nodded, and all four men continued along a corridor to an office opposite a photocopying room, where a young woman was standing numbly, watching sheets of paper spill into the collating trays of one of the machines. Her eyes and nose were raw from weeping.

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