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It had taken time to take the ATV to the cabbage tree grove, then to drive Greg's pick-up truck to the house but now Zinsli had the three Wests in the back of it. Sally was tied up and lying in the refrigerated truck at Greg Somerville's place. He would take her to his own house and kill her later. She had to die after Greg so that Zinsli could inherit. While he disposed of the Wests, Sally could be left tied up in the refrigerated truck because from inside the van she could see nothing. Zinsli still had to find the boy but he felt that Lance would find him when he got hungry enough.
Carrying the Wests one by one to the pick-up was hard work., harder than if they had been unconscious. Zinsli's previous work in mental hospitals had taught him how to manage patients like the Wests. With a mixture of chatter, a pleasant voice and some physical manipulation, Zinsli get the three Wests on to the tray of the pick-up truck.
Zinsli bound the three passengers to stop them from falling over the sides of the pick-up truck. Greg had chains for the dogs fastened to the rear of the cab, just as his own pick-up did. He chained the Wests to the bar at the back of the cab and set off.
The airflow helped the Wests. With Jo, Zinsli had under-estimated the amount of ketamine to inject. She was the first to come out of the dream world she had been in. She pushed her father, who stirred. Richard was a big man, solid and muscular, where Zinsli was taller and slimmer. Zinsli as the taller man made the mistake of thinking Richard was smaller and had dosed him accordingly. Richard began to stir.
"Dad, wake up," said Jo in her father's ear. Then she used the phrase that father's cannot resist. "Dad, I need help."
"What is it, love?" asked Richard, Jo's plea stirring the adrenalin flow in his body.
"Dad, we've been drugged. He's going to kill us."
"Kill us? Drugs?" Richard's mind cleared. He was silent for a moment.
"Can you wake your mother?" he whispered.
"She's stirring but still singing to herself," replied Jo.
Richard noted their surroundings, the flax bushes and the soft swampy mud under the pick-up . "Jo, Zinsli is probably going to drown us in the swamp. Pretend to be zonked. Play possum. If you get the chance, move into deeper water. It will slow him down."
Zinsli drove the pick-up along the edge of the swamp, along the sloping ground that was quite firm. The pick-up truck swayed and tilted making the ride uncomfortable for Richard and Jo. Alex began to slide over the edge of the flat tray. Richard was bound hand and foot. Alex was about to slide off the flat deck on to the track, to be pulled along by the chain the tied her to the rail on the back of the cab. If Richard called out he would give the game away. Their only hope was to pretend to be under the influence of the drug.
To stop Alex falling, he moved his legs on top of her legs and then rolled his body on to hers. The chain bit into his wrists but Alex was now safe from falling.
The pick-up began to slow as Zinsli approached the mouth of the pipe. He swung the pick-up around in a circle, then reversed it until the tray was close to the edge of the swamp and the mouth of the pipe. He would have to drag or carry each body a few metres but he could not get any closer without leaving tyre tracks in the soft mud closer to the swamp.
Zinsli got out of the pick-up and looked at his load. Three bodies lay on the deck. The motion of the pick-up had rolled West's body on to his wife's. She was singing to herself. He was in a deep sleep. Zinsli slapped Richard's face. There was no reaction other than to curl his knees up.
"Good," thought Zinsli. "Feeling but no conscious movement."
He decided to shift the girl first. He untied her bonds, then to save time, he untied the woman then the man. He left the parent's on the tray of the pick-up while he carried Jo to the pipe. The swamp was still overflowing, the pipe doing the job it had been designed to do. Over a foot of muddy water and ooze was flowing into the pipe, the dirty ooze slowly flowing away.
Zinsli thought carefully about the scene he wanted to create. If he put the girl in the pipe feet first, face down, then pushed her further into the pipe, Zinsli could do the same with the woman and finally the guy. They were not in a condition where they could rescue themselves; they probably would be unaware of any danger. They would drown quite quickly, like a drunk falling into a ditch full of water.
The girl felt soft and pliable, and very vulnerable in his arms. Zinsli placed her feet in the mouth of the pipe, lowered her body until her face was under water, then pushed her. Jo moved slowly with the current until her feet dropped and she stuck.
"No matter," thought Zinsli. "The next one will push her along."
He went back for Alex, who was still singing some kind of Maori song. She was too heavy for Zinsli's arms so he put Alex over one shoulder where she sang happily into his ear. She felt very feminine, soft and smooth and scented. Zinsli popped Alex into the mouth of the pipe. Jo had disappeared.
"She'll probably float to the end of the pipe. The cops will find her eventually, drowned trying to climb up the pipe," thought Zinsli, with a sense of satisfaction. He had listened to the radio. He knew that the old Minister of Police was bringing a helicopter to search for his missing family.
"Well, you'll find her all right," thought Zinsli, "and there will be connection at all with yours truly."
He lowered Alex into the mouth of the pipe. Her legs were rigid and would not bend. He put her in the pipe face down and head first. It would look as if she had turned around in order to help her drowning daughter, and then drowned herself.
In the pip, Jo saw the shadows made by Zinsli as he put Alex in the pipe. To Jo's surprise, Alex was head first. As the shadows disappeared, Jo reached forward and pulled her mother to her. She rolled her over, surprised that her mother was so light. She remembered ABC from her first aid classes. "What the hell was A?" she thought. "Airways."
Jo opened her mother's mouth and checked Alex's tongue was not interfering with her air channels. Then she established whether Alex was breathing. As Alex's chest was not moving and no air was coming out of the mouth, Jo took a deep breath and placed her mouth over her mother's, closing the nostrils with her finger and thumb. It took only a few seconds before Alex shuddered and began to take deep breaths.
"Shh," said Jo,"Mum, shut up. Don't make so much bloody noise."
Alex was about to protest. She did not know where she was, only that Jo was helping her. Alex's mind was still muddled but she did as Jo said.
The light in the tunnel darkened. Zinsli found that where he had been able to bend Jo's body, with the adults it was easier to pace them on their backs, feet first, then roll them over so they were face down.
"Good Queen," said "Richard. "Give me a cuddle. Where are the dogs? There have to be dogs. Bring in the dogs ... "
Zinsli turned Richard over so that he was face down. He watched the end of the song bubble to the surface. There was a weak struggle, then nothing. Zinsli pushed Richard into the pipe and watched him disappear out of sight as the weak current carried him away.
Zinsli turned and checked his surroundings. He was pleased. The mud he had churned up was dispersing. The marks the pick-up had left were hard to see. They could have been there for weeks rather than minutes. Satisfied, he turned to his next task, getting rid of Sally.