I walked back to Steve and Dylan. They’d unloaded the Mygale off the trailer. Besides the Hansens, we had the paddock to ourselves, which was perfect for what we needed to do.
The three of us eyed the murder weapons — two cap head bolts and nuts. They were there in plain sight, but perfectly camouflaged. As murder weapons went, they weren’t as threatening as a knife or a gun, but they were no less lethal. The fatal blow wouldn’t be immediate. The improperly installed bolts were more along the lines of a time bomb. No one could say when they would go off, only that they would and when they did, it was over for me.
Dylan dropped to one knee, spat out sunflower shells and tried the nuts. ‘Aidy, they’re loose already. You want me to tighten them?’
‘No.’
‘You can’t go on the track with them like that. Even the trip down here has almost shaken them loose.’
‘I want to see if our killer has an attack of conscience.’
‘You really think that’s going to happen?’
I didn’t, but I wanted to give the person the opportunity to do the right thing. ‘If we switch out the bolts and don’t say anything, the killer will know we’re on to them and it will force them to do something else. We know about this situation and can control it.’
‘This is crazy. Tell him, Steve.’
‘It’s Aidy’s decision. He knows what he’s doing.’
‘Let’s get me ready to go out there.’
I suited up in the van’s cab. As I was putting my boots on, Alison and her dad drew up next to the van with the Fannings in the back.
I said hellos, shook hands and received hugs knowing full well that one of these people had killed Alex and booby-trapped my car.
Steve corralled his team and put them to work. Together, they fuelled the car, topped off the coolant system, checked tyre pressures and taped down the bodywork.
Despite there being a killer in our midst, we had a nice little vibe going. We were working well as a team. I took the time to examine these people. I tried to visualize one of them as a killer and I just couldn’t make the image come alive. I wanted to be wrong, but knew I wasn’t.
When the car was ready to go, Steve fired up the engine. Everybody stood around the car which had become a symbol of triumph over tragedy for all but one of us.
‘This reminds me of Alex’s last race,’ Mr Fanning said. Instead of sadness on his face, there was a smile. ‘We were working like this then. I didn’t think we could be this happy again. This is a sad, but special moment for me. I just want to say thanks to everyone for being here.’
Mrs Fanning came over, slipped an arm around her husband’s waist and kissed him.
‘Let’s hope Aidy can put up some fast times today to celebrate,’ Steve said.
‘Let’s hope so.’
Alison hugged her dad and he winced from her embrace.
I checked my watch. It was two minutes to nine.
‘OK, I’ve got just forty-five minutes of track time before the students hit the track, so I need everyone to get to their places.’
I climbed into the car and Dylan made the pretence of taping over the latches on one of the radiator pods in order to lean in close.
‘The nuts are still loose,’ he whispered. ‘You’ll be lucky to make it around the first bend.’
‘Put some silicon over the end of the bolts.’
‘That’s a temporary fix. I can’t say how long that’ll hold everything in place.’
‘Just do it, please.’
In the confusion of everyone gathering up tools and timing gear, Dylan surreptitiously squeezed silicon bath sealant onto his fingers and daubed it over the end of the bolts.
For the sake of appearances, I broke my ritual and didn’t do a final spanner check before getting into the car. Not wanting to break my superstition entirely, I kissed my mum’s St Christopher.
‘Be careful, mate,’ he whispered after he was done.
I wanted to say I would, but my mouth had gone dry and the words wouldn’t come. Instead, I nodded and pulled on my helmet.
Steve and Dylan belted me in, cinching me tight into the car. It couldn’t escape me and I couldn’t escape it. If we were going down, we were going down together.
Steve gave me the thumbs-up to make sure I was good to go. As soon as I mimicked his gesture, he and Dylan climbed into the van.
‘Where are you two going?’ Mr Fanning asked.
‘We’re going to take corner times,’ Steve said. ‘Alison knows how to record lap times.’
Alison hung the stopwatch around her neck and handed her father the pit board and lap chart. She waved at me, then led her dad and the Fannings to the pit lane.
Suddenly, the weight of what I was doing hit me. I was going to catch myself a killer. I took a breath to calm myself. I couldn’t catch anyone if I slammed the car into a wall. If I wanted to catch Alex’s killer, I just had to drive.
I put the car in gear and trundled over to the assembly area where the race school cars were parked. The pit gate was already open for me and I joined the circuit.
I had the track to myself and I experienced a minor bout of agoraphobia. It felt vast without anyone else out there to race against, but I didn’t knock it. If either of the bolts fell out, I didn’t want to take anyone else with me.
I accelerated hard up through the gears. The car responded well. It was all holding together, for now. I tried not to think about the nuts vibrating and trying to shake the silicon off. I held my breath going into the first bend and emerged from the corner still in one piece.
The car completed the first lap fine. Every one of my senses was amped up for the slightest flicker that would tell me that one or both of the bolts had let go.
I completed a second lap. Mr Baker held out the lap board with my first time on it. It wasn’t bad considering the circumstances.
I piled on the laps, steadily eating away at my times. I was giving it ten tenths, but those bolts were at the back of my mind. I didn’t know if it was real or imagined, but I’d swear I felt a looseness from the rear of the car going as I powered through the bends. Either way, I clung to the hope that the silicon was holding fast.
On the last of my twenty laps, Steve and Dylan waved me down the back straight. I stopped the car and they came running onto the track.
‘Jesus, Aidy, did you have to push it so hard?’ Dylan moaned.
‘I’m here to test the car.’
‘And catch a killer. Get your priorities straight.’
‘Hey, cut the arguing,’ Steve said. ‘We don’t have long.’
Steve and Dylan peeled the silicon off the bolts. This piece of subterfuge went unseen by anyone in the pit lane since the circuit’s topography restricted a clear view of the track.
‘You’re good to go,’ Steve said.
‘Where’s Brennan?’
‘He and the cavalry are waiting in the wings,’ Dylan said. ‘We just have to call him when we have something.’
‘OK. Follow me back. I’m going to need you two to back me up.’
I selected first gear and accelerated away. I imagined panic would be building in the pit lane. The stopwatch in Alison’s hand would tell the story. I was lapping the circuit in approximately sixty-five seconds. Around the sixty second mark, I should have reappeared in their sights. For every second I didn’t reappear, potential calamities presented themselves — a mechanical failure, a spin, or the worst outcome, a crash. I wanted to screw with everyone’s emotions. Three of these people would be scared, but for one person, my potential no-show would be a source of excitement. When I pulled into the pit lane, I expected to see disappointment on someone’s face instead of relief.