Furey's War by T.W. Lawless

Author:T.W. Lawless [Bell, TW Lawless;Kay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical fiction
ISBN: 9780645099188
Publisher: Campanile Publishing
Published: 2021-02-12T05:15:26+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

So the long night ends, without any of us getting another wink of sleep. Kate Pilcher arrives at the station for her statement in the early morning, saying that she couldn’t sleep and gleaming like a polished penny. I guess everyone reacts to grief differently. It couldn’t have been easy to watch a loved one die like that.

I call Mahoney into the room, so he can learn how these things run. He’s writing everything down too, and we’ll compare notes later.

She coaxes the wrinkles out of her stockings and sits with her legs crossed. She seems careful, distant, frowning as she answers every question.

She begins, ‘When Maurie first went out to see what was going on, he found the Abo going through the pantry. He’d got in through the window; he must have been looking for food. Or grog, maybe. Maurie had a carton of beer in the pantry.

‘Well, anyway, Maurie closed the window and he locked the door, you know, to keep him in. Maurie was yelling: he was really angry. He said, it wasn’t on, having blackfellas breaking into his house to steal stuff. I remember him telling the bloke he was going to give him the hiding of his life. He said then he’d get some mates to burn their camp down. Maurie hates…I mean hated… blacks. He always told this story that his grandfather was murdered by one in the old days.’

‘Did the intruder say anything?’

‘I dunno. He tried to get out, but then Maurie started beating him. He fought back. He looked like he could box. I’ve seen the boxers at the show; he was as good as any of them. Maurie could fight too, but this bloke started getting on top of him. Then Maurie got the butcher’s knife out of the drawer and said he was going to kill the bloke. The Abo looked scared and he tried to get out through the door, but he couldn’t open it. Maurie went for him with the knife but he missed. Then he grabbed it off Maurie and stabbed him in the chest. I tried to fight the Abo off but he just threw me to the floor. I really thought I’d be next, but he just looked at me and ran for the door.’

‘How did the intruder get out of the house if Maurie had locked the door?’ I asked.

‘I don’t know. He was able to grab the key off Maurie, I suppose, and then he made a run for it. I wasn’t going to stop him. I was trying to stop Maurie from bleeding to death,’ she replied.

‘Where did the intruder leave the key? Did he drop it or keep it?’

‘How the heck would I know? I wasn’t exactly watching what he was doing. After that, I ran straight over to the neighbour to call for help. We don’t have a telephone, see.’

‘Did you know Maurie was coming home on leave?’ I ask.

‘No…I suppose he wanted to surprise me.’ She dabs her eyes.

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