She switched off the ignition and watched the house for a while. The wind blew even harder than it had this morning. She reached for the package she’d picked up from the Puggo last night. As she got out of her vehicle, she saw a shadow move across a lighted window next door. A curtain twitched. Someone was watching.
In her uniform she walked up to the front door of the Cresswell-Smith home. The door was made of thick wood and carved with an aboriginal-looking design. A thick pane of glass ran down the side. A motion-sensor light flared on as Lozza reached for the doorbell.
The bell echoed inside. No one came. The place felt empty. She rang the bell again. It ding-donged inside. No answer. She tried once more. Nothing. The upstairs light must have been left on accidentally when the couple went out.
But as Lozza turned to leave, in her peripheral vision, she caught a fast movement inside the house. Her pulse quickened. She cupped her hand against the glass pane and peered in. Dark. She couldn’t see. She considered using the flashlight on her duty belt but refrained. This wasn’t a crime scene. Apart from her gut instincts, she’d been given no reason to intrude. Yet she felt a whispering sense of unease as she peered into the shadows inside. She was certain she’d seen something move.
She waited a few moments, rang the bell again. No answer.
There was nothing more she could do here. She’d return with the package tomorrow because she really wanted to see what was inside now. She planned on hanging around and watching while Ellie opened it.
Lozza had started back up the driveway when the silhouette of a woman appeared in the lighted window next door again. Lozza stopped and looked up. Wind gusted and dry gum leaves crackled over the paving. An owl hooted softly. The curtain was pulled back and the window opened. A woman leaned out.
“You looking for the Cresswell-Smiths?” she called out to Lozza. She sounded old, but Lozza couldn’t make out her features. Must be a new tenant in that house, she thought. As far as she knew, the property was used by the owners only during the height of the summer holidays.
“Do you know where they are?” she called up to the woman.
“They went fishing with the boat early this morning. The wife came back on her own. Came up the shortcut path from the river. She’s in there—inside the house. The wife.”
Lozza glanced back at the house and frowned. She studied the lone lighted window upstairs in the Cresswell-Smith home.
“Are you sure?”
“Saw her arriving home just after it got dark—about half an hour ago. She looked strange.”
“What do you mean?”
“She was stumbling about near her studio and knocked over the rubbish bin. The metal lid clattered, which is what made me look out the window—thought it might be that possum back. I saw her. In her ball cap and jacket. She startled when I put the lights on and ducked around the side of the studio. I switched off my light to watch from the darkness because I thought it was odd. She went up the garden and into the house via the sliding glass door. It’s still open. You can see from my other window.”
Nosy woman.
“So she’s alone in there?”
“Far as I know. Never saw the husband come back. The truck and boat, neither.”
Lozza stood there, her gut firing signals to her brain. She’d need to cover her ass if she went onto their property uninvited.
“Are you worried she might actually be in some kind of trouble?” she called up to the neighbor. If the woman claimed fear for Ellie’s well-being, it would give Lozza more reason to enter the property through that open garage door and go around the back.
“Her husband hits her.”
Lozza’s pulse spiked. “What?”
“I’ve seen it. Through the bottom window between their kitchen and living room. I saw him strike her and try to strangle her once. And last night I heard screaming.”
“Last night? What time?”
“About seven, I think.”
After they’d returned from the beach. I should have done something—but what?
“You didn’t call triple zero—report it?”
“Not my business. Each to his own, I say.”
Lozza swore to herself. “So you think she’s in there and in danger right now?”
“Maybe. Something is definitely weird.”
“Thank you.” Lozza entered the garage and came out the side door onto a lawn in darkness. The glass sliding door of the house was indeed