Free The Murder Suite: Book One - The Audrey Murders by Leonie Mateer Page B

not a good idea.  She would have to come up with a new plan next time.
     
     
    C H A P T E R   3 2
     
    Constable Driver’s phone never stopped ringing.  If it wasn’t the accident: it was the weather.  Kaeo, was built on a flood plain. The Prime Minister had even suggested moving the whole town to higher ground.  Of course that didn’t happen and the local residents rallied around during heavy rain to lift groceries off bottom shelves in the local grocery store and pile sandbags at the doors of the two petrol stations.
    Now Kaeo was about to go under water again.  His house was also in the flood area and it couldn’t have come at a worse time.  He was lucky the truck had not left yet. He hired the truck driver and his mate to reload all the furniture back into the truck along with all the cardboard boxes of household stuff.  This way they would be out of the floodwaters.  He then arranged to have the family stay in Kerikeri at a nice motel.   They would need to leave immediately before the floodwaters prevented traffic from getting out of town.   The water was already beginning to rise.  The problem was the Kaeo river.  It was already beginning to spill over the riverbanks and onto the road.  Soon it would be high tide and the water would have nowhere to go.   What a mess.  As soon as the family left for higher ground, Constable Driver got into his 4wheel drive and headed in the opposite direction towards the Kaeo River and Whangaroa.
    The fire truck was making its way through the flooded streets.  Driver decided to take a right onto the loop road.  The road ran along the river flats and up and over Radar Point to Matairi Bay and back onto the 10 past the Kaeo Township.  It was a tourist route and had only recently been tar sealed all the way.  As he headed down Wainui Road he noticed that the creeks were washing the water across the road. He drove past the Chalets perched high on the hill. Water was streaming down the driveway adding to the floodwaters below.  It was going to be a problem but there was nothing he could do.  The residents would just have to wait it out.   Large pieces of tree debris were beginning to be washed down the road with the excess water.  The biggest problem was mud slips washing over the road and blocking any access.  This road was known to have numerous slips and Driver guessed the road was going to be blocked at any time.  He turned around and headed down to Whangaroa harbor.  Mud slips were already falling down the cliffs but the road was still open.  Locals were out clearing away storm debris from the road and torrential rain was continuing to fall out of the sky at a frightening pace.  
    Driver decided he had better get back to town where he could work on the radio with the emergency crews who were already being called out to assist with stranded vehicles and blocked side roads.
     
    C H A P T E R   3 3
     
    Smithy couldn’t find Bruiser anywhere.  Damn dog.  He grabbed his rain gear from the peg by the door and pulled on his gumboots.  The water was already rising in his back yard.   He decided to search by foot. No use taking the car it would just get stuck in the muddy driveway.  He cursed himself for not adding more gravel to the drive now it was just a muddy soup.   “Bruiser, Bruiser, he called over the sound of the torrential rain. “Where are you boy?”  By the time he had got to main road he could see the water from across the street was pouring down the driveway and out onto the road causing major flooding.  The creeks could not carry all the water and they were overflowing causing the water to flow over the road and down the soaked paddocks on his side of the road.  It was going to get worse before it got better he noted.  He started walking down the hill calling out to his best mate “Bruiser, Bruiser”.  
    The local fire truck was coming up the street towards him.   Smithy was well known in the area.  He waved at his