‘Go on about the bullets.’
‘I went into the Post Office for some change to make a phone call. I’d only been up to Mount Victoria once or twice, and not for at least five or six years, but the woman in there recognised me and gave me the package. As you see, it’s addressed to my husband.’
A label on the package read: Lamberte c/- PO Mt Vic 2765.
‘Not exactly,’ I said.
She shrugged. Well, I was never there, for God’s sake. It had to be for him. I think that’s why she gave it to me-to be malicious. They must know what Patrick does up there.’
“What would that be, do you think?’
‘He’s a very attractive man physically. He knows it and uses it.’
I was beginning to get a picture of the Lambertes’ marriage. The woman was telling her story well with a certain amount of conviction, but, as with war, truth is the first victim of marital conflict. I had to feel for explanations other than the one Mrs Lamberte had jumped to. ‘Perhaps your husband has taken up target shooting?’
She looked at me pityingly. ‘Mr Hardy, he’s threatened my life on more than one occasion.’
‘In front of witnesses?’
‘Yes.’
Why don’t you go to the police?’
‘For the same reason I didn’t break into his bloody love nest. Patrick’s the professional. He can afford to hire the high-power legal help. I’m working on a shoestring, relatively speaking. If I… overstep my rights, invade his property, level false charges, Patrick will try to show that I’m unstable, an unfit mother. I can’t take that risk. The only chance I have to get custody and a fair division of the properly is to play strictly by the rules. But I’m afraid.’
I studied her closely. Every hair remained in place but there was an intensity and force in her voice that might have been her way of showing fear. It’s one of the tricky aspects of the job-something I didn’t tell the students about-judging whether a person you’ve met for the very first time is telling you the truth. ‘People say things they don’t mean,’ I said. ‘I do, you do, everyone does. What makes you think your husband means what he’s said?’