To the Sea Read online

  ‘I’m sorry, Sadie,’ said John, looking at his eldest daughter.

  Sadie nodded and tried to smile. Tony ploughed on. ‘What time did you finish dinner?’

  ‘About seven-thirty, I’d say,’ said Carl. The others nodded in agreement. ‘A few of us continued sitting there having more champagne for another hour or so. But Zoe wasn’t with us.’

  ‘Does anyone remember seeing Zoe leave the table?’

  No one could remember. Tony was finding it harder and harder to get a fix on Zoe. She was a shadow that people thought was there but no one ever saw in solid form.

  ‘I didn’t see Zoe at all, I’m afraid,’ said Cecile. She was pale and sounded like her tears were barely being held in check. ‘I took the girls for a bike ride straight after dinner. We rode to the shop.’

  ‘Girls?’ asked Tony.

  ‘Yes, my daughter and niece.’

  ‘So, you were riding along the road all the way to the shop and back? How long did that take?’

  ‘I guess we were gone about an hour and a half. It’s about a six k ride. We didn’t see Zoe, if that’s what you’re wondering.’

  Tony had been wondering.

  ‘How was Zoe at dinner?’

  Everyone looked at each other with bewildered looks.

  ‘Was she her usual self? Was she chatty? Did she drink any alcohol?’

  ‘She had a champagne,’ said Carl. ‘I poured it for her. I don’t remember her having any more. Certainly not from me.’

  ‘I’d be surprised if she had any more. Frankly, I’m surprised she had any. She rarely drank,’ said John. Everyone heard the past tense and the silence in the room thickened. The loudest sound was the sea. The predicted southerly was blowing in. Tony thought that a father’s knowledge of his seventeen-year-old daughter’s drinking habits was unreliable at best. He made a mental note to ask Jess or Matt later what they knew about Zoe and alcohol.

  ‘Was she her usual self?’ repeated Tony.

  They were all looking at each other and at their feet but no one said anything.

  ‘Was there any argument or discord of any sort at dinner?’

  ‘Not at all,’ said John. He didn’t sound indignant, as Tony had expected. ‘It may seem odd to you in your line of work but we are a happy family, by and large.’

  ‘So, seventeen members of a family all in the same house for two weeks over Christmas and there is no tension, no disagreements? Nothing?’

  More head shaking. Tony changed tack.

  ‘Who sat next to Zoe at dinner?’

  ‘I did,’ said Jess.

  ‘So how was she, Jess?’ asked Tony gently. ‘Did she say anything that you thought was odd or was she different in any way?’

  ‘No, not really. She was pretty quiet, but Zoe’s quiet a lot. I was mostly talking to Josh who was sitting on my other side. He got a new phone for Christmas and we were going through his music. Zoe had her headphones on, I remember, when we were eating dessert.’

  ‘Did Zoe eat dessert?’

  ‘I don’t remember. I remember I was eating and I turned to tell Zoe something but she had her headphones on and she was just looking out across the water. I didn’t like to interrupt her.’

  ‘I don’t suppose you could hear what she was listening to?’ asked Tony hopefully.

  ‘No, but it was music. She was moving her head slowly to the music, you know.’

  ‘I’m surprised Zoe had headphones on at the table,’ said John. ‘She knows her mother doesn’t like it.’

  ‘Does anyone else remember anything at all about Zoe at dinner?’

  ‘I presume we don’t remember anything in particular, Detective, because she was her normal self,’ said John. ‘Nothing stands out.’

  Except that she was drinking champagne before she went snorkelling and she was wearing her headphones at the table which apparently she didn’t usually do.

  ‘What was Zoe wearing?’

  Again, people were looking at each other. There were a few shrugs and wrinkled foreheads as they tried to remember Zoe at the table.

  ‘Jess?’ he prompted.

  ‘Sorry, I can’t remember.’

  ‘Who was sitting opposite Zoe? Sometimes that person has a clearer memory of the visuals.’

  ‘I was sitting opposite her,’ said Matt, ‘but I really can’t remember what she was wearing.’ He put his head in his hands and everyone looked at him, waiting for him to speak. He looked up after a few moments and realised everyone was waiting on him. ‘Sorry, I just can’t visualise her at all.’

  ‘And I was sitting next to Matt,’ said Edie, ‘but I can’t remember Zoe at the table.’

  Tony caught Paul’s eye. He could tell what he was thinking. ‘OK. Let’s go further back,’ said Tony. ‘You told my detectives that Zoe went swimming in the afternoon with some of you. Is that correct?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Matt. ‘Zoe, Jess, Josh and me. We went swimming before dinner.’

  ‘Tell me about it and anything you can remember about Zoe.’

  ‘We all went down together. We had a tennis ball and we played brandings, girls versus guys. Josh and Jess got out after a while and Zoe and I swam out to Table Rock. We sat out there for about half an hour in the sun talking and then Carl called us in for dinner. We dived off the rocks together and raced back to the jetty. Then we got our stuff and came up to the house. I went to my room for some dry shorts and I didn’t see where Zoe went.’

  ‘Did Zoe talk about anything in particular?’

  ‘Nah, mostly me talking about what I’m doing at uni and my ex-girlfriend. I’ve just broken up with her. Zoe didn’t say much. She’s in a big regatta in the new year and we talked a bit about some new sails she’s getting made. That’s about it.’

  ‘You raced back to the jetty. Who won?’ asked Tony with a smile.

  ‘Zoe,’ laughed Matt. ‘She’s an awesome swimmer.’

  They were back in the present tense and the mood was lightening.

  Tony looked at Matt. Big guy. Nineteen and fit. Surfed big waves all around the south coast according to his and other interviews. Jack knew the surf down this way and he had confirmed that he knew Matt Armitage by sight and by reputation. He’d surfed Shippy’s when it was pumping more than once. And Zoe could beat him in a swimming race over two hundred metres.

  ‘Did she say that she was going sailing?’ asked Tony, trying a different angle.

  ‘No. I saw her and Max get the Laser out early yesterday morning but she didn’t mention sailing to me. I thought she must have gone out earlier in the day. Didn’t she?’ Matt looked at his mother and then at his grandfather.

  ‘No, I don’t think so,’ said John. ‘She didn’t tell me she was going out so I doubt she did. I’m sure we would have noticed her boat out there if she had.’

  ‘I really don’t know,’ said Sadie. ‘I was reading on the side verandah most of the afternoon and couldn’t see around the point.’

  ‘Edie and I were in the kitchen cooking most of the afternoon, Detective,’ said Cecile, ‘but I’m sure we would have noticed her boat if she’d gone out.’

  With the expansive water views this house offered from every room, Tony didn’t doubt it.

  ‘And she would have told us,’ said John.

  ‘Sorry, Detective,’ said Max. ‘Con, Carl and I were playing tennis all afternoon. I helped Zoe get her boat out early but that’s all I can tell you.’ Con and Carl nodded in agreement.

  ‘Where were you playing?’ asked Tony. ‘Did you go into Sorell or are there courts in Garnet Point?’

  ‘We have our own tennis court here, Detective,’ said John. ‘It’s just out the back down a short pathway. You can’t see it from the house.’

  ‘How much land do you have here, Mr Kennett?’

  ‘It’s 156 acres. Essentially Rosetta sits on land which starts at the fence along the road and runs all the way along the peninsula. This whole stretch of coast including three bays and all the surrounding bushland.’

&nbs
p; ‘Are there any other areas like the tennis court that we should know about?’

  ‘There are a couple of sheds, not counting the boatsheds,’ replied John. ‘There is an old smokehouse we don’t use much anymore and a change room next to the tennis court. There’s also a small building right on the end of the peninsula which looks along the coast in every direction. It’s just a little building, “a folly” my wife’s grandfather used to call it, to sit in and enjoy the view. But we looked there and in all the likely places Zoe might conceivably have gone. She’s not at Rosetta anywhere, I’m confident of that.’

  ‘We did a really thorough search of the property,’ said Carl.

  ‘So you did consider the possibility that Zoe might be somewhere other than the water when you called the police?’

  ‘Not really,’ said Sadie. ‘We all believed that Zoe had gone snorkelling last night. But we looked everywhere and called out for her and satisfied ourselves that she wasn’t here.’ She was choking back her tears and her voice was barely audible.

  ‘If Zoe had gone off somewhere for a walk,’ said John, looking directly at Tony, ‘anywhere at Rosetta or even along the road or coast, Ben would have gone with her.’ He reached down to the old red setter at his feet and stroked his head. ‘Ben has been Zoe’s dog since she was six years old and he has always accompanied her.’ Other members of the family murmured their agreement. ‘Ben was here all day, Detective. He was down on the jetty most of the time and I also saw him sitting on the dunes at different times. Waiting for her to come out of the water. I have been watching Ben do this for many years when Zoe was out sailing or swimming. If Zoe was somewhere at Rosetta, Ben would be with her.’

  Tony nodded thoughtfully, then turned back to Matt. ‘Matt, you said that when you and Zoe came in after your swim, you reached the jetty, got your stuff and then came up to dinner. What “stuff” did you have?’

  ‘Oh, you know,’ said Matt. ‘Thongs, clothes, towels.’

  ‘So, did any of you see Zoe’s stuff on the jetty after you realised she was missing?’ asked Tony, looking around the room.

  ‘No,’ said Sadie. ‘I didn’t.’

  ‘Me neither,’ said Carl, ‘and I was probably the first person down there this morning.’

  ‘So, that’s odd, isn’t it? That Zoe’s stuff was not on the jetty if she had gone snorkelling from there?’

  Some of the people in the room looked rattled. Cecile leaned her head against her husband and John Kennett lowered his head into his hands. He had his eyes closed. Jess moved closer to him and hugged his legs.

  ‘Yeah. It’s odd,’ said Matt.

  Edie stood up and started clearing away cups. ‘I’m making more coffee,’ she said. ‘If anyone wants tea, speak up now.’

  ‘Make a pot of each thank you, Edie dear,’ said John, his head still lowered. She disappeared up the stairs into the dining room with the kitchen somewhere beyond. Tony saw that she was crying.

  He waited.

  ‘So what does this mean?’ Cecile asked. ‘Are you suggesting that Zoe didn’t go snorkelling? That she hasn’t drowned?’ Her voice had a crackling hysteria to it.

  ‘I am not suggesting anything, I’m afraid,’ said Tony. ‘I’m simply trying to find Zoe.’

  He looked over to Paul who raised his eyebrows and gave Tony the faintest of nods.

  ‘What was Zoe wearing when you were swimming, Matt?’ asked Tony.

  ‘Wearing? Bathers. A bikini, I guess.’

  ‘What colour was the bikini?’

  ‘Pink and green. It’s the one Aunty Cecile brought back from Fiji for her for Christmas. It’s her favourite,’ said Jess.

  ‘Is that what Zoe was wearing at the dinner table?’

  ‘No,’ said John. ‘Zoe would not be at the table in a bikini. Even the boys have to put a shirt on at the table.’

  Same rule at my mum’s table, thought Tony.

  ‘So, Zoe got changed when she came up for dinner. Did anyone see her get changed? Did she go to her room to change?’

  Silence. The family looked lost in their own thoughts.

  ‘Is the bikini she was wearing yesterday still here somewhere?’ he asked.

  ‘Her bathers are out on the line with her towel. Mine are out there too,’ said Jess.

  ‘Is that odd? Would she not put her bathers back on to go snorkelling?’

  ‘Zoe had a lot of bathers here, Detective. She wouldn’t have to wear the same pair,’ said John.

  Yes, thought Tony, but it’s hot and they would be dry after dinner so why would she go up to her room for a new pair when she had her new favourite pair right here on the line and there are two bathrooms downstairs to change in?

  ‘And wouldn’t she take her towel down to the jetty with her?’

  Matt and Jess both nodded slowly.

  ‘If Zoe was going snorkelling, presumably she would be in the water for some time. Wouldn’t she wear a wetsuit?’ asked Tony.

  ‘Not in this weather, Detective,’ said John. ‘Zoe has swum in these waters all her life. She wore a wetsuit in winter when she was snorkelling or doing a long-distance swim but most of the year, she just wore her bathers.’

  Her sisters were nodding in agreement.

  ‘Zoe is part fish,’ said Sadie, trying to smile but failing. ‘She’s just like Mum. Completely at home in the sea.’ She looked at her sisters. It was almost as if she was seeking permission from them, but didn’t get it. It was over in a second but Tony had learned to trust his instincts.

  ‘I’ve seen her get out of the water with her skin blue from the cold but she always claimed to not feel it. I even took her pulse and blood pressure once after she’d been for a long swim and they were both only mildly elevated but steady. Quite remarkable really.’ This was Max, the Sydney specialist.

  ‘Jess, can you please show DS Clarke the bikini Zoe wore swimming yesterday?’

  Jess got up and Narelle followed her out onto the dark verandah.

  ‘I think Zoe had something blue on at dinner,’ said Cecile. ‘I can’t think what exactly but I seem to remember her in blue.’

  Tony let Cecile’s words linger, hoping they might trigger a memory with one of the others.

  Narelle returned with the bikini and a red towel in an evidence bag. She was also holding something red in another evidence bag. Through the silver and orange fluoro stripes on the bag Tony could clearly make out a red snorkel, face mask and flippers. He gave Narelle a single nod.

  ‘Does anyone else remember Zoe in blue?’ he prompted.

  Again, more shakes of heads and looking out the doors. Maybe they expected Zoe to come walking back in from the verandah.

  Tony could see Zoe at the dinner table in a blue T-shirt, her hair loose and still slightly damp from her swim. She was sitting in the bright sunshine at the end of the long table away from the noise of her family. No one talked to her. No one saw her. She put her headphones on and completed her isolation. He could hear her humming while she sipped her champagne. Quiet, beautiful Zoe who no one saw. They felt her absence more than her presence.

  ‘Maybe she had her school bathers on,’ said Jess who had come back inside with Narelle. ‘They’re blue. And maybe her blue sarong.’

  ‘Are her school bathers blue speedos?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Jess, ‘with the school crest here.’ She pointed to her left upper chest.

  ‘Has anyone seen those speedos today? Or does Zoe have a blue dress or blue shirt that any of you remember her in?’ asked Tony.

  The head-shaking and mumbling continued.

  ‘Well, perhaps Jess is right and Zoe put her dry blue bathers on with a blue sarong because she knew she was going snorkelling after dinner. That would make sense.’ Sadie’s voice was hopeful.

  ‘Yes, I think she was in blue, now that you say it,’ said Edie, who had returned with a fresh pot of coffee. Some of the others nodded. Yes, she was in blue. They were now all agreed on blue.

  ‘Why does Zoe have school bathers?’ asked Tony.
‘Is she in the swimming team?’

  He looked at John for confirmation but he looked confused and embarrassed by the question. John looked to Sadie, perhaps hoping she had the answer, but her face was blank.

  Finally John said, ‘I don’t think Zoe would be in the swimming team. She knows her mother wouldn’t like it.’

  ‘She’s in the water polo team, Grandpa. She’s the captain,’ said Jess, looking at her grandfather.

  John Kennett seemed genuinely surprised by this information. They all did.

  The three detectives walked back to their cars. The marines had left one boat anchored in Driving Sound and gone back to Hobart in the second boat when darkness put an end to diving.

  ‘Well, boss?’ said Paul.

  The predicted southerly was picking up and the wind was rushing through the pine trees overhead. Beyond the shallow bays, waves were building out in the channel and breaking loudly on the little beach in front of the house.

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Tony. ‘I’m not convinced she’s drowned. But where does that leave us? Abduction? Runaway? Accident and lying injured somewhere? Foul play by a family member? I can’t get a sense of the girl at all.’

  ‘I’d go with runaway before abduction,’ said Narelle. ‘Even with this family, it would be just about impossible to abduct a teenage girl from here in broad daylight with so many people around. She could be in the bush or in another bay injured, but that seems unlikely, given what the father said about Zoe’s dog.’

  ‘We don’t know she disappeared in broad daylight,’ said Tony. ‘We don’t know if what the father said about the dog is true. We don’t know anything.’

  ‘Well, we know she wasn’t snorkelling,’ said Narelle still holding the evidence bag.

  ‘So,’ said Tony. ‘Do we think a family member here could’ve killed Zoe?’ No one answered. This option would take the case to a place none of them wanted to go. Despite the public’s love of TV cop shows and detective novels, real police didn’t like murder cases. They brought out the worst in everybody.

  ‘We’re going to have to include that option in our investigation,’ continued Tony. ‘We’ll do fingerprints, DNA and full forensics tomorrow.’