New Zealand Herald:
SMALLTOWN COPS CATCH COOK’S HAND THIEF
The severed and preserved hand belonging to Captain Cook has been returned intact to Te Papa after it was discovered hidden in a plumbing van being repaired in Bode, just outside of Balclutha.
The van had gained some notoriety after students started a social media page related to it.
Senior Sergeant Kurt Baker and Senior Constable Wayne Harris also managed to apprehend the thief, who will appear in the Wellington High Court for arraignment later this week.
Gary Harwick (27) was a janitor at the museum and faces charges of theft, wilful damage and assault.
The next day was rather surreal. Several reporters arrived in town looking for interviews and comments, and what felt like every Bode resident had turned up at the bakery needing a coffee, pie or doughnut but were really just angling for gossip. Kurt had been busy most of the day with paperwork and processing Gary to be sent back to Wellington with a guard. The van had been photographed and fingerprinted and so had Anna, along with having to give a lengthy statement.
By the time she got back to Kurt’s late that afternoon she’d just wanted to crash. Kurt got home late and she’d already made and eaten a quick chicken lasagne that he heated up and scoffed, standing up at the kitchen bench while she showered.
They fell into his bed, almost too tired to speak. Kurt reached out and pulled her close to him, firm arms around her back and his face buried against her neck, and inhaled deeply.
“Anna Sinclair, you’ve certainly brought excitement to Bode,” he said, kissing her collarbone.
Anna grinned, flipping them over until she was straddling him. “You ain’t seen nothing yet,” she told him, kissing a trail down his stomach.
They woke up late and to the sound of Cliff coming into the house, talking loudly. Anna sat up in the bed and nudged Kurt, who groaned and turned over.
“Kurt, your dad’s home,” she hissed.
Out in the lounge she heard a woman’s voice and then noise from the kitchen as they opened cupboards and ran the tap.
“Hey, Dad,” Kurt called out, and Anna only just managed to scoot back under the duvet before Cliff bowled in, stopping short when he saw Kurt wasn’t alone. He composed himself quickly as Kurt raised his head and gave him a nod.
“Morning,” Cliff said, stepping back and pulling the door closed again. “Jug’s on when you’re ready.”
Anna gave Kurt a slap on his shoulder and he grunted again. “You idiot,” she said. “Now I have to do the walk of shame out there.”
It was worse than she thought though. When she emerged in Kurt’s fluffy purple dressing gown, Cliff was sitting at the dining table with Faith and a young girl who looked like she’d just stepped out of Little House on the Prairie.
King came barrelling over to greet her, so she focused on giving him lots of love for a few minutes. He turned to putty in her hands, rolling onto his back and whining sadly every time she stopped rubbing. Kurt gave an exaggerated sigh and muttered under his breath about ruining all their hard work. She grinned at him and he winked.
Faith jumped up to give her a hug. “Anna, this is my niece Magdalene,” she said.
“Just Magda I think,” the girl said quietly.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I’m hoping she can squeeze in with us on the way home. In the van,” Faith said.
“Oh man, I have so much to tell you,” Anna said with a laugh. “Let me make coffee first.”
She and Kurt gave them a rundown on what had happened, with Faith going ‘Good grief’ every few minutes and Cliff going ‘Bloody Nora’ almost as often. Magda looked shell-shocked.
Kurt went off to shower since he needed to check back in at the station. Mary had decided to close up shop since she had a physio appointment in Balclutha and things had been a bit mad yesterday, declaring they needed a ‘mental health’ day.
“Kurt tells me you’ve been looking after the garden,” Cliff said.
“Well, maybe more like raiding it,” Anna said sheepishly.
“Actually, I was planning to drop some herbs off to Mary for her pizza bread later today,” she added, watching closely for Cliff’s response. He cleared his throat.
“Oh, well, I could probably drop them to her shortly when I head down to the garage,” he said.
“Perfect,” Anna said. “She said she’d be home after one.”
“Righto. I might just check the bees then.” He disappeared out into the garden.
Kurt came out dressed in his uniform and gave Anna a kiss on her head.
“See you later?”
She nodded and he grabbed his keys before heading towards the door. Anna looked up to find Faith gaping at her.
“What is going on there then?”
Anna blushed and looked at Magda. “Tell you later,” she said, getting up to have a shower.
Kurt opened the front door and gave a start. “Hey, can I help you?”
“Yeah, you can help me, you can help me by telling me where the hell my wife is,” a voice demanded. Greg, Anna realised with a start.
“Well, I’m not sure she wants to see you …” Kurt was saying as Anna arrived at the door, pulling closed the dressing gown and tightening its belt nervously.
“Well, I don’t think that’s any of your bloody business,” Greg said, puffing up like a gorilla in a bespoke suit. He was red in the face and his shirt was badly creased, his hair sticking up at the front where he’d run his hands through it. He did that when he was nervous, Anna thought as she took him in, feeling strangely calm suddenly.
“Well, I’m making it my business,” Kurt was saying, “and as this is my house, and you’re here uninvited, I have every right to ask you to leave.”
Anna put her hand on his arm and he turned to look at her warily.
“It’s okay, really. You go, I’m okay. I think Greg and I need to talk.” He didn’t look convinced. “Really, go.”
He left, somewhat reluctantly, glancing back at her a couple of times as he walked down the path. She watched as Kurt got into his car, Greg’s presumably hired BMW parked next to it, looking wildly out of place. She waved awkwardly before inviting Greg in.
She gestured to the dining table where Greg lowered himself into a chair, looking a little confused as he took in his surroundings. Faith and Magda had disappeared into Kurt’s old room, she assumed.
“You have to come back,” Greg started. “I need you to,” and Anna felt a surge of sympathy for him. He seemed a little lost. A boat without its rudder.
“I’m not, though, Greg. Not back to us,” she told him gently.
“But I’ve come all this way to get you,” he said. “The awards dinner is next week, and we always go to that together. What will people think if you’re not there?”
He’d made no mention of love, Anna realised. No mention of their marriage, of trying to make it work. It was all for appearances.
“I guess they assume correctly that we’re no longer together,” she said, trying not to get angry.
“But what about me?” he asked. “What will I do on my own?”
He’d never been alone, Anna realised with a start. He’d lived at home, flatted with mates, lived with a previous girlfriend and then with her.
“Maybe this will be a good thing for both of us,” she said gently. “A chance to figure out who we are, what we want.”
He looked a little dubious, but he nodded.
“You’re really not coming back?” he said quietly. “We’re done?”
She nodded. He sighed. “What will we tell the kids?” he said sadly.
“I think they’ve guessed,” she told him, not wanting to tell him that they had realised before he had. “And they’ll be okay. Especially if we can try to be civil. Keep things friendly. I’d like to think we could do that after so long together?”
He gave her a sad nod. “Are you really sure?” he asked again. Then he paused, looked around. “Whose house is this anyway? And who was that guy who answered the door?”
Anna decided now was not the time to tell him she was in love with another man.
“He’s a friend who’s helped me out when I was in need. You cut me off financially, Greg,” she added. “That was a really shitty thing to do.”
He looked sheepish. “I know. I’m sorry. I’ll go in and sort things. I was just mad, and I thought if you had no money you’d ring and say you’d come back.”
“I’m sorry too,” Anna told him. She didn’t specify why, but she was thinking of Kurt, how she would have to tell Greg the truth about her feelings for him eventually.
There was an awkward silence.
“Well, I suppose I’d better go,” he said eventually. They stood and Anna wondered if she should hug him or shake his hand. It was like a formal business meeting to end an alliance.
“Drive carefully,” she told him.
“Do you think I could ask that sales girl Donna to go with me? To the awards?” he asked as he reached the door. Anna gritted her teeth and tried not to roll her eyes. He was still the same old Greg.
“I think you should do what you think is right,” she told him. Her tone was cold. She hoped he caught her disapproval, but suspected he would be making a phone call before he got to the main road. She arranged to get in touch about moving out of the house and they said a stilted goodbye. As she watched him get into the car and pull out, she couldn’t help feeling a little glad he’d showed up and that that part was now over. It hadn’t been as awful as she’d expected and dreaded, and she felt relieved.
She got dressed in her activewear, planning to go for a walk later and look at possible places to rent. Faith came out and gave her a questioning look.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, good, I think actually.”
Magda was still in Kurt’s old bedroom so she made a quick quiche while she and Faith talked about their plans.
“Magdalene is eighteen, and it was totally her decision to leave the community, but I feel a bit like I’ve kidnapped her,” Faith whispered. “I sort of want to get going and get her home where I feel like she’ll be safe. And I think maybe she feels the same.”
“I know it might sound a bit crazy, but I’m going to stay,” Anna told her. She gave her a rundown on her long-term plan to buy out Mary, and how she felt like Bode could be home.
“And this thing with Kurt?”
“Well, it’s early days, but, God, I don’t know, it feels like … something? Like the real deal, I guess. I really, really like him. Love him, I think.”
“Oh, Anna, that’s amazing,” Faith said, “I hope it all works out.”
“Thanks, you too. Will things be okay with you having her?” Anna said, indicating the closed door.
“Yeah, we’ll be fine. I’ve been where she is now. So she’ll have me and Daniel, who was there when I went through it, and I know Becky will be cool with it. Plus, I have heaps of connections through work to get her counselling and financial support and all those things. We’ll be great.”
“And, you saw your dad?”
“I did. It went about as well as you can imagine, but I think I got what I was looking for. Closure. I’ve said my goodbyes, and I never did that before. I know now, for sure, that I made the right decision.” She grinned at Anna. “And picked the right husband.” Anna laughed.
“Well, I’m glad it worked out for you, and I just want to say I’m so glad I met you, got drunk and bought a van with you.”
They both laughed.
“And we’ll stay in touch, right?”
“Of course. Absolutely no doubt.” They stood and hugged for a long time. “I promised Isaac when I left that I’d be back anyway.”
“Right, well, I’ll walk you down to the garage,” Anna said.
“Thanks. I have to say I’m not looking forward to Magda’s face when she sees the van though.”
Anna laughed. “Oh, my God, I forgot to tell you about Mike and the loo. You’ll be thrilled. And I want to hear about the party too.”
Cliff came in from the garden and ended up giving them a lift down to the garage before he took off, herbs in hand, to see Mary. He’d put on cologne, Anna noted, and she laughed to herself. Gina would love that titbit.
Faith had insisted on paying the repair bill for the van, claiming she would get it back when she sold it once she got home. Magda looked less nervous and more excited at the adventure coming as she took in the beds in the back.
“Maybe I’ll let you have a drive,” Faith said to her, and Anna laughed at the look on Magda’s face.
“Daniel is going to crack up when we arrive home in this,” Faith said. “He’ll probably want to have a night in it too.”
“Well, no getting handsy in the back,” Anna said, making Faith snort.
“You’re having that bed,” she told Magda, pointing at Anna’s one. “No wonder you kept complaining about it being uncomfortable.”
Anna shuddered. “I know, I don’t even want to think about that now we know why.”
“How did you even find it in the end?”
“I think I must have dislodged it when … never mind, I’m sure Magda will find it way more comfortable than I did.”
They took off down the road, Anna waving furiously. Eventually, when they had driven out of sight, she took out her list of properties for rent and started walking, wiping her eyes.