Free Flashpoint by Felicity Young Page A

the kitchen and the Kookaburra stove in the corner. Though not to his taste, he liked the generic familiarity of this home; at least there were no surprises here.
    Bell started at the sound of a car door slamming and voices coming closer. He sprang to his feet. ‘Quick, quick, you have to hide. You can’t be seen here. You’ll put them off.’
    â€˜But I still need to ask you some questions,’ Cam said. He’d expected the man to at least cancel the Home Open.
    â€˜Oh, Jesus, they’re coming in.’ Bell’s eyes darted around the room. ‘OK then. You just stand behind the door here.’ He tried to manhandle Cam behind the open door of the lounge room, and said in an urgent whisper, ‘I’ll leave off showing them this room till last. When you hear us coming back into the passageway, you slip into the bedroom opposite, got me?’
    Clearly a master of avoidance: court officials, ex-wives, debt collectors, police. Cam knew the type. He removed Bell’s hands from his shoulders. ‘That won’t be necessary, sir.’
    â€˜Knock knock, anyone home?’ said a woman in a singsong lilt.
    Bell turned to Cam in a panic.
    Cam said, ‘Just let them in. I’ll slip out by the back lane and return when they’re gone. I’ll start bringing the signs in. It’s not a good idea to continue with this Home Open thing. You might find you have a delayed reaction to the shock.’
    Bell opened his mouth in protest but closed it when he caught the look on Cam’s face. He shrugged his shoulders. ‘Whatever.’ He shot the cuffs of his black silk shirt, pasted the smile back on his face and moved towards the front door.
    ***
    Toby Bell took another slug from his hip flask then offered it to Cam, who shook his head.
    â€˜Of course, my brother had a drinking problemyou know,’ Bell said.
    Cam wished he hadn’t chosen to sit next to him on the three-seater. He shifted closer to its overstuffed arm. ‘When did you last see your brother?’ he asked.
    Bell stuck his feet out in front of him and leaned back. ‘Mum’s funeral.’
    â€˜And when was that?’
    â€˜Oh, five years ago at least. We had a bit of a falling out. I was Mum’s favourite, you see. What little she had, she left it all to me.’
    It was hard to imagine this man being anyone’s favourite. Cam wrote himself a note to ask the Toorrup money guys to check into Bell’s financial affairs.
    â€˜To be honest, Sergeant …’
    Cam straightened in his seat. That phrase always activated his radar.
    â€˜He was a black sheep, an embarrassment. I didn’t even know he was in the state. Thought he would have gone to Queensland by now,’ Bell said.
    â€˜He was living in Glenroyd. He had a part-time job at the school there.’
    â€˜Well, good for him,’ said Bell.
    â€˜We are regarding his death as suspicious.’
    â€˜You think someone might have knocked him off, then?’ Bell took another slug from the hip flask. ‘That doesn’t surprise me,’ he said. ‘It was probably that old bitch he lived with, unless he did her in first, which wouldn’t have surprised me either. They were about as bad as each other.’
    â€˜Do you know the name of this woman?’ Cam asked.
    Bell looked to the ceiling and tapped on the flask with his manicured fingernails. ‘Um, it was a while ago. Began with G.’ He sounded the letter like a kindergarten teacher. His eyes rolled around the room for amoment then he snapped his fingers. ‘Gay, that’s it. I remember thinking how inappropriate it was. Unless it was the other kind of gay. Now that I could imagine.’
    â€˜Surname?’
    â€˜No idea.’ He made a humming noise and touched his hair. His fingers bounced off his head as if the tight curls were springs. ‘Unless they married – but probably not. He was a professional social