They looked at each other, the same incredible thought dawning in each.
Johnny made a decision. He couldn’t face Katarina or Tom’s wife and family again unless he did it. “Dick,” he said, “It doesn’t look too good for my man with all that carry-on. If you don’t have any success with your boss, I’ve got another ’copter I can fly in, and I can muster some hunters who’d like to get Tom out. Just give us the word, and we’re right with you. And I meant to tell you the second message last night was that they’ll be flying from the Raukawa into the Waitoa after dark tonight. You and I are the only ones who know.”
“The Waitoa – my huia!” Dick’s eyes lit up as he held out his hand. “Put it there, Johnny! Do you think I’m even going to ask High and Mighty Holcroft about going in there? The only trip he’d give me would be one to the mental hospital.”
“OK. Don’t say a thing to him. And don’t tell that police inspector either. But make sure you tell your wife this time! To anyone who asks we’ll be going on a search in the Urewera. There’s been some rustling up the Whakatane, and we’ll need rifles. You’ll be coming with us because you know the country. We’ll leave at dawn tomorrow.”
Dick grinned. “What a shame! I’ll miss my interview at the ruddy clinic.”
It was amazing the people Johnny knew. Dick suspected that they were often Mob members or ex-Mob. It was all word of mouth from one house to another. The fact that Tom was in trouble was enough.
“Tom got us out of the Waioeka when the river came up”, “Tom flew in through that storm when Jack broke his leg in the Mangatutara…”, “Tom got us into those shitty gullies at the top of the Raukokore…”
The hunters were already getting their 303s out of the cupboards and checking their ammunition.
“Don’t forget, fullas, we’re after rustlers and we’re going up the Whakatane.”
When they returned around Ohinemutu, the sun was setting behind Mt. Ngongotaha and a cool breeze was blowing in over the lake. The power was evidently still off because some of the people were cooking in hangi in their gardens.
Then they saw the cars. Loaded with camping gear on roofs and in trailers, they were beginning to form a continuous line moving out of the city.
“It’s a funny time of day to be leaving,” said Johnny. “And it’s pretty strange they’re all setting out at the same time.”
They were passing the tourist wharf. The Arawa Republic people were still there, sitting under their flag with blankets, sleeping bags and guitars.
One of the cars went past. The Pakeha male driver leaned out of the window, his face screwed up with anger.
“Do some bloody work!” he shouted.
Dick was watching the occupants of the cars as they went past. “Hold it, Johnny, a moment.” He got out and flagged down another of the cars. The burly Pakeha driver stopped a little reluctantly.
“Where are you heading, Peter?” he asked.
“Rotoiti for a few days,” the other answered.
“Half of Rotorua must be going on holiday,” said Dick. “What’s the attraction?”
“If we can’t use our houses, we might as well go camping.”
“So you’re expecting the power cut to go on for some time?”
The burly man glanced at Johnny Matiu, then back at Dick. He looked as if he were about to say something, but his wife called out anxiously: “Why are we stopping here?” He suddenly took his foot off the brake and drove off.
Johnny was looking thoughtful. “I didn’t believe Katarina when she said some Pakeha women were stocking up on canned food. I wonder if they know something.”
Dick stood watching as the car disappeared down Fenton Street heading for the Whakatane turnoff. Peter McNair was a solicitor who had an office in the same building as the Forestry Service. He didn’t think Peter had been interested in camping before. And he had noticed the new Browning rifle in the back seat. He didn’t think Peter had done any shooting either.
He heard a window breaking, and the sound of youths yelling. The looting had begun.
CHAPTER 41
By 15:00 hours on Tuesday 25th January the Rotorua Police Station was in pandemonium. Frenzied home and business owners were thronging the public counters as burglars and looters roamed the streets openly exploiting the breakdown in security systems.
The burglars and looters benefited both from the non-functioning of electronic doors and alarms and the fact that the police force itself was being depleted. Several policemen in Rotorua had decided to take a few days of their annual leave and were leaving town with their families heading for the Rotorua Lakes, Taupo and the Bay of Plenty beaches.
Fortunately, the police system had its own generator.
Matthew Piriaka had asked for a room to himself, where he was studying the report on the Mamaku Hill incident which had occurred at 01:00 hours on Monday 24th January. The involvement of vigilantes puzzled him. He already knew that the leader of the vigilante group at the Te Kuiti marae after the Maniapoto hold-up was also the leader of the group which had kidnapped the alleged Dr Tane Ngata after the service at St Peter’s Church. Now in the Mamaku incident Dick Burton looking at the police photos had recognised the same person as Dr Richardson’s orderly, who was introduced as Donald Borrow. Now he had checked the police file and found an incident three years before involving a teenager named Donald Borrow. His career at a prestigious private school in Auckland had been marked by his athletic and sporting success and he had been captain of the First Fifteen. However, he had been identified as the ringleader of a group of sixth form boys engaged in the bullying of third formers. Some of these incidents had shown such a sadistic tendency that the police had been notified. However, no action had been taken because of undertakings given by the Headmaster, the coach of the First Fifteen and his father, who was a well-known Auckland stockbroker.
A spoilt boy with a tendency to violence.
It fitted in with his own idea of the background of some vigilantes. From his observation at St Peter’s Church it was also apparent that the group had racist tendencies.
There was strong evidence that the doctor had used vigilantes both at St Peter’s and on the Mamaku Hill to recapture his patient. There was also evidence that vigilantes had been involved in the abortive attempt to capture Ngata and the kidnappers in the Kaniwhaniwha. Why was the doctor using vigilantes at all? What reason did he have for bypassing the police? The police could have erected a roadblock on the Mamakus and captured the kidnappers without any problem. All the doctor had to do was to pass on to them what he must have found out himself about the getaway car and its movements.
Was the doctor trying too hard to recapture his patient? After all, what was so special about this patient? In spite of media reports which appeared to have come from the doctor, police files showed no evidence of criminal activity or possible danger to the public. Was the interest by his doctor and the vigilantes more likely to do with his former career? The kidnappers had told Dick Burton that Ngata, formerly a brilliant geologist, had discovered uranium in the Waitoa, the same valley which was now the huia sanctuary.
Unfortunately, he could not confirm that a discovery had been made as no one had access to Ngata’s research. The Geology Department had stated that staff research was the property of the individual staff member and they kept no record of it without permission of the staff member. A search of his flat revealed that it had been ransacked and his files had been removed.
He and Ian Molloy had heard the story which came from the kidnappers to Johnny Matiu through his helicopter pilot about a base in the huia sanctuary and an electricity strike. Ian hadn’t taken the story seriously because he said it came from people who were either criminal or mentally ill or both.