“Useless Maori cop!”
CHAPTER 31
“That padre is as cunning as a cartload of monkeys!”
At 21:00 hours a very pale, wet, frightened young man had been brought into the station. Matthew had just interviewed this man, the one who had been kidnapped by the group in football jerseys outside St. Peter’s Church.
He was not Tane Ngata, but Harry Mountjoy’s head server, Tane Peters.
The interview with the server had been interesting but inconclusive. The time with the kidnappers had been the horror story of his life. They had physically threatened him and blindfolded him, but when they discovered his identity, they had thrown him into a drain off Wairau Road behind Milford. He was fully convinced that if he had been the other Tane, he would have been the victim of something very much worse. In fact, he overheard them talking about other episodes of violence in which they had been involved.
“Maybe it was just to frighten me, but it sounded terrible.”
“Were they acting on their own?” asked Matthew.
“I don’t think so because they kept using a car phone, and talking to someone else.”
“Was tonight your regular serving night?”
“No, the vicar asked me specially.”
“And did you think that was unusual?”
“Oh no, I like serving, and Father Mountjoy is really neat.”
Before the interview with the server Matthew had been to Glenfern Hospital. He had been shown the room, and was able to take photos of the overturned chairs and tables which gave evidence of a struggle as the patient was apparently dragged out through the window to the waiting car. He also saw the skid marks on the grass where the car had been driven off at speed.
Dr Randall Richardson, the psychiatrist for the patient and the owner of the hospital, was able to tell him about the nature of the patient’s illness.
“Can he be violent?”
“I cannot guarantee his behaviour if he doesn’t take his drugs.”
“Were you aware of the possibility of the abduction?”
“Absolutely no idea. I trusted Archdeacon Mountjoy; I’d worked with him for twenty years as parishioner and churchwarden.”
“Your patient was a geologist. The abductor, I understand, was a colleague?”
“And a close friend who was aware of his previous research.”
“There is a suggestion that the abductor was interested in exploiting this research.”
“The financial aspect is the most likely explanation. I find it very sad, especially when I recall that at the time of outset of his illness Corbishley showed no interest in helping his friend.”
Warped academic, thought Matthew. The worst because they were the most cunning. But he was thoughtful. “Then why has the vicar got involved?”
“I should have suspected something when last Wednesday he obtained access to my hospital without permission. It was then that he managed to discover my patient. He deliberately concealed this discovery from me, and all the time was apparently working with Corbishley to abduct him.”
“I still don’t understand your vicar’s motivation.”
“He’s extremely naïve. The moment he feels sorry for anyone, he wants to help them. People in this parish take advantage of him all the time. I’m sure an unscrupulous person like Corbishley would have no problem in manipulating him by making him feel sorry for Tane.”
Matthew was still puzzled. “Dr Richardson, you don’t need to answer this, but surely this sympathy would not lead a person to be an accomplice to an abduction?”
“I was not going to mention it, particularly as I am his churchwarden. Confidentially, Sergeant, as a psychiatrist I have been concerned about his recent mental state, especially about his belief that he has only to touch people and they are healed.”
“Would you say this was a kind of religious mania?”
“It’s a not uncommon but rarely acknowledged psychiatric condition of clergy whose career has not otherwise been crowned with success.”
Matthew nodded. It was all beginning to fit in.
On the same visit Matthew had also interviewed Nurse Patel who corroborated the psychiatrist’s account.
“Dr Richardson is such a gentleman. And he takes a personal interest in his patients, especially the one who was kidnapped. I only wish I hadn’t called him when Room 2 was having a fit, and it would never have happened. I keep thinking it’s my fault.”
“Where were you when the patient was abducted?”
“I must have been back at the office.”
“Did you hear the sound of a scuffle?”
“I didn’t hear anything, but even if I had I wouldn’t have been able to help. Dr Richardson had the key.”
“Does he lock all the patients’ rooms?”
“Oh no. But he did with that patient because he thought he was likely to steal drugs from the office. He even locked himself inside Tane’s room that night when he was treating him.”
“You mean before you called him?”
“When I knocked on the door to tell him about No 2, he had to unlock the door.”
“Has Ngata ever stolen drugs?”
“I don’t know. I only started last week.”
Archdeacon Mountjoy expressed surprise at the events after the service.
“Poor Tane! I hope the experience won’t put him off serving.”
“I believe you asked him to serve tonight. Did you choose him because his name was Tane and he looked like Tane Ngata?”
“As head server I can always rely on him to fill unexpected vacancies.”
“Did you expect him to be kidnapped?”
“Why would anyone want to kidnap my server?”
“Were you expecting the kidnappers to break into your church?
“Dr Corbishley invited his former colleague to attend our evening service. Dr Ngata, I believe, left Glenfern Hospital willingly. They did not need to break into the church. Our doors are open to everyone.”
“Did you have any conversation with the patient during the service?”
“During the service he came up for healing and before the service he wanted to make his confession to me as a priest.”
“What did he say?”
“What penitents tell me in their confession is entirely confidential.”
“Were the alleged kidnappers known to you beforehand?”
“I have been counselling one of them.”
“I presume this was Dr Corbishley. He had been acting strangely previous to this, hadn’t he?”
“Those who seek counselling from me do so in strict confidence.”
“Including kidnappers and those who break and enter?”
“I do not ask if they have police records.”
“May I search the church and vicarage? It’s possible they may have hidden somewhere.”
“By all means, Sergeant.”
The interview was infuriating. The man was just mouthing words to deceive him. The body language gave him away every time. He fidgeted, he looked up to the ceiling or sideways when answering a question, he smiled in a sickly way after every lie. He had known before he searched that it was going to be a waste of time. The man was as guilty as hell.
The trouble was he didn’t have enough evidence. Moreover, he could not afford to lose any more credibility by arresting a padre.
The man of God was going to have to live with his own conscience.
It was the first time Matthew had had a problem with vigilantes. The group at the church were all Pakeha, well-organised, clever, strong and prepared to use violence. He had a suspicion that they had incited the crowd against him. After the McAndrew assault, the commissioner had told the police to expect trouble, as vigilante groups were being formed every day in the main centres and country towns. These groups were said to be encouraging Pakeha motorists to carry arms, ostensibly for self-protection. It was likely that the vigilantes themselves had arms, and possibly were selling arms illicitly. Under-staffed as the police were, it was impossible to go round checking the licences.