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There were still loose ends to be tidied up. Where had the Pindone come from? And what about the Valium?
The Valium was discovered to be an old prescription for equine toothache, a common complaint for horses. Years ago approved managers of studs and stables were permitted to administer medications to animals that were suffering pain. Thomas Hoar had held such a permit. It was time to visit Mr and Mrs Hoar.
Bernard found them alive and well, and still living on the farm. They were not ancient and decrepit as Bernard had feared. Instead he faced two tall and very fit horse people in their fifties or early sixties. Both were dressed to ride.
“Hello, I am PC Bernard Smith, from Wahanui,” he said by way of introduction.
“I'm Tom. This is Alice,” said Tom Hoar.
“I was involved in the investigation into Charlotte’s tragic death. You must have been devastated.”
Husband and wife looked at each other to decide who would respond. It was Alice Hoar who took the initiative.
“We were gutted, Detective. And drugs! We could not believe it,” said Alice Hoar.
“The Coroner’s Report decided on a balance of probability that her death was murder by a person unknown, probably David Bannister,” said Bernard.
“That bastard,” said Tom Hoar, without looking at his wife to see who should respond. “I knew him first in Jaycees and then in Rotary. I always thought he was genuine until I saw the television programme.”
He pronounced the word as the American ‘jen you wine’, not as the British ‘jen you win’. Bernard picked up on the pent up anger in Tom Hoar’s response but left following up for a short time. The outburst gave Hoar motivation to murder. If Hoar had seen Louise’s expose and then realised that instead of Mrs X as a teen it was his daughter Charlotte then Bernard could see Tom Hoar doing exactly what Louise had done: sought revenge for the monstrous offence against Charlotte when she was a vulnerable teen.
Bernard held back. He needed a direct link with Bannister or the scene of the murder.
He said, “I am tracking down everybody who bought Valium for equine toothache.”
“Wow,” said Mrs Hoar. “That's going back a long time!”
“We had them when we ran the stud,” said Tom Hoar. “Now we just have a stables, looking after other people's horses and teaching kids to ride. Nowadays, we use NSAIDS, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like phenylbutazone and Banamine. It must be twenty years since we used diazepam.”
“We have an equine dentist in the district now, been here about seven or eight years, and we leave everything to her,” said Alice Hoar.
“May I see your drug cabinet, please?” asked Bernard. Tom Hoar took him to an office attached to the boxes where the horses were kept. A young man and a young woman were working with the horses. As far as Bernard could see there were about a dozen animals to be cared for.
Tom Hoar opened the full length cupboard with a key he took from a rack on the wall. Inside the locked cabinet was a large locked strongbox on a shelf. On top of the box was a book, probably a register of drug use. Tom opened the strongbox. Inside were some shelves and on the shelves were bottles, jars and phials. He looked hard at the labels before picking up a particular bottle.
“Here you are,” he said, holding the bottle in his hand.
“May I take them please?” asked Bernard, putting on gloves and then searching for an evidence bag.
“Keep them. We'll never use them again,” smiled Tom.
Bernard now knew that both the Pindone and the Valium had come from the Hoars. He knew that Tom Hoar was angry with Bannister. He also had Tom Hoar’s handprint on the glass bottle of pills.
Back in Wahanui, the bottle, which still contained some tablets, was sent for analysis and comparison with the tablets from beside Louise's bedside cabinet. They matched. Finger prints were lifted and compared with the print left on the bed head. Tom’s left hand matched the print found on the bedhead where Bannister had been murdered.
Forensics descended on the farm as soon as Tom Hoar was arrested for the murder of David Bannister. They found a pack of scalpels one of which could have been used on Bannister.
Tom Hoar readily confessed. During the Deluge, Alice and Tom had ridden their horses around flooded areas and across parks and reserves, joined farmers trying to rescue stock, and checked on friends and their daughter Charlotte.
It was while checking whether Charlotte was visiting her friend Louise that Tom came across Bannister and Charlotte in Louise’s bed. He did not recognise Charlotte who had a flannel covering her eyes. The woman in the bed had black hair, while Charlotte’s hair was blonde.
Ashamed at first of his embarrassing discovery of Louise having sex, Tom retreated to the passageway. He recognised Bannister. He thought that Bannister was taking revenge on Louise for her television programme. But she had not moved, even when the torch flicked over her. Suddenly Tom was alarmed. Shielding his flashlight he, went back into the room.
Bannister’s head was between the woman’s thighs. He raised his head, looked at Tom then said, “Tom, come to see Charlotte getting it?”
Tom knew immediately that his worst fears were realised. The programme on television had been about Charlotte, even though no names had been given. This monster had abused Charlotte while she was still at school, and now he was doing the same to Louise for exposing him.
Tom’s sheath knife was on his belt, the knife he always carried on the farm and had with him while involved in search and rescue work. He drew his knife and lunged across the bed. Before Bannister could move, Tom leaned over him and twisted Bannister’s head so his throat was exposed. Just as he would if Bannister had been a sheep he sliced with the knife and cut the carotid artery on the left and then on the right, making an incision below the carotid sinus as he had done so many times before with animals so death was quick. Bannister died without moving. Tom held Bannister’s head, pressing it down slightly to stop any jet of blood spraying the walls, until he knew Bannister was dead beyond recovery. Apart from the blood on the bed and over Louise there was little to show except two small cuts on the neck.
Tom let go of Bannister’s head. Only then did he see that the wig had been disturbed by his rushing at Bannister, and only as he lifted the flannel from her face did he see that it was Charlotte and not Louise who lay soaked in blood. When Tom checked to see if Charlotte was all right, he found to his horror that his daughter was dead.
He left the house and recovered his horse and went to find Alice. She would know what to do.
“You have to believe me when I say I didn’t know it was Charlotte he was raping,” said Tom. “I thought the bastard was getting back at Louise for her television programme. Had I known it was Charlotte, I would have done the same but I would have slit his throat from ear to ear.”
He still has nightmares as he recalls Bannister’s words to him, which he had not understood at the time. He has no remorse about killing Bannister. Alice is his strong supporter and visits him in the psychological unit each week. He has been a model patient and will soon be released back to his home.