Crucifixion Creek (14 page)

Meanwhile, not far away, the only person who is pleased by the evening's events is
sitting in her living room finishing a bottle of wine. Having snapped a few pictures
of the Mortimer Street raid with the paper's telephoto lens camera, Kelly dashed
to the office and finished her new article inspired by Harry's revelations in time
to meet the deadline set by Bernie Westergard for the next day's edition. Bernie
was waiting in his office with a sour expression on his face when she rushed in and
slapped the piece down in front of him. He frowned and shook his head at the title,
‘Bikie gang link to CBD murders', but read on, ominously silent as he turned the
pages and examined the pictures.

Finally he said, ‘You've shown this to the lawyers?'

‘All but the bit about the police raid. I was the only reporter there, Bernie. That's
a scoop. It all is.'

‘Are you going to tell me your source?'

‘No. I can't. That was a strict condition of them speaking to me.'

‘But they would be in a position to know all this stuff about Lavulo and the Kristich
files?'

‘Oh yes.'

‘So, a member of the police.' He looked at her, considering. ‘They'll go for you,
Kelly, you and the paper. There'll be pressure. You ready for that?'

‘Absolutely.'

‘Hm. Of course, they may be pleased to have it out in the open. But they'll still
go for us.'

And that's when Kelly knew he was going to print it.

So now she sits alone in her living room savouring the moment, trying to be temperate
in her enjoyment of a feeling she hasn't had for a very long time. She aims for a
campaign that will build momentum, sweeping her irresistibly upward. First she must
establish her credibility. Tomorrow is only the beginning.

18

They are quiet the next morning, filing into the office, yawning from the adrenaline
hangover. On the way in Harry buys a copy of the
Bankstown Chronicle
. Kelly's story
is the lead on page one, complete with a dramatic picture of the TOU forcing their
way into the Crow compound. The article reveals the name of the second dead man in
the Gipps Tower and his association with the Crows, and links this to the police
raid and to other disturbances in the Creek. It doesn't mention the suppression of
Kristich's files. Harry wonders why not. He dumps the paper before he reaches work.

Mid-morning Deb emerges from Superintendent Marshall's office and says, ‘Something's
up. The boss got called upstairs suddenly.'

Marshall returns half an hour later, clutching a newspaper that Harry recognises.
His face is set in a puzzled scowl. He calls Deb and Harry in to his office.

‘Seen this?' He hands them the paper.

Deb says, ‘Kelly Pool…Isn't that the reporter that spoke to you, Harry?'

‘At the Stefan Ganis siege, sir. That's her beat. She recognised me, wanted to ask
questions. Persistent too. She's tried to contact me a couple of times since, here
and at home. What's she got?'

Marshall frowns at him before replying. ‘She knows that the other victim with Kristich
was a Crow. Knows his name. How?'

‘Security at the Gipps Tower identified Lavulo,' Deb says. ‘Could be them.'

Marshall thinks about that. He obviously likes the idea. ‘All right. Let's just make
sure no one in this building is leaking. The lawyers think we'll get a ruling on
the Kristich material today. They're hopeful. How about the Crow records?'

‘Coming through bit by bit. So far the most interesting thing is copies of old invoices
for dietary health supplements. A Chinese company based in Vanuatu, suspected in
the past of selling pseudoephedrine and benzyl chloride.'

‘Which powerfully suggests a Crow meth kitchen somewhere,' Marshall nods. ‘Good.
But unless we can prove that anyone apart from Lavulo was involved we may have trouble
making a case. So, Harry, how well did you know O'Brian?'

‘Pretty well. Six months together in Kandahar province in 2002. He was a very good
soldier.'

‘Will he talk to you?'

‘He might, but I don't think he'll sell out his mates.'

‘Okay, but you could suggest that information about what Lavulo was doing in Kristich's
office might take some of the heat off him and his mates. Anything else he can tell
you about what the Crows are up to could be helpful.' He taps the newspaper. ‘It
says here they've been evicting people from houses in the area. What's that about?
And what was the connection with the Ganis siege down the road from their clubhouse?'

Harry nods. ‘Right.'

‘The guys are monitoring all their phones. They'll give you his number.'

When Harry gets back to his desk he gets O'Brian's number and makes the call. He
hardly recognises the voice that answers, distant, suspicious of the unknown caller
ID. ‘Rowdy, hello. This is Harry Belltree.'

‘Oh yeah?' He doesn't sound surprised.

‘Can you talk?'

‘What about?'

‘I'd like to meet you.'

‘Not a good idea.'

‘See the
Bankstown Chronicle
this morning? I might be able to help take the heat
off you blokes.'

‘Why would you do that?'

‘Just a chat, Rowdy. No pressure.'

There is a long pause. ‘Where?'

‘Wherever you feel comfortable. Your choice of place and time.'

‘I'll get back to you.'

The line goes dead.

‘Any luck?' Deb has been listening.

‘I don't know. He said he'll get back to me.'

She nods. ‘That Kelly Pool, bit bloody cheeky phoning you at home, Harry.'

‘I thought so.'

‘What'd she want from you?'

‘I don't know, I cut her off. Maybe she was looking for someone to confirm the Lavulo
tip.'

‘Hm.'

‘That business about a Chinese company in Vanuatu. Kristich spent time in Vanuatu
when he left Queensland. Maybe we should find out who his contacts were over there.'

‘Yeah, good idea. Why don't you do that?'

Ten minutes later Harry's phone rings. O'Brian will meet him in an hour in the first-floor
café of David Jones at Elizabeth Street in the city.

‘Funny choice,' Deb says.

‘Probably the last place his bikie friends would go.'

And it is certainly that, the café full of lady shoppers from the suburbs laden with
DJ department store bags. Rowdy is already there, glowering, at a table in the far
corner. As Harry shakes hands and sits down, a waiter appears and reels off a list
of the special teas. They order black coffee.

‘My boss reckoned you chose this place because none of your mates would come here.'

‘So they put you up to this did they?' He studies Harry's face, as if trying to restore
some lost memory.

‘Yeah.'

Rowdy nods and Harry says,

‘Anyway, good to see you again. How have you been?'

‘Not bad. You?'

Harry shrugs. ‘Bit of a hard time adjusting when I got back. Settled down eventually.'

Rowdy nods. ‘So you joined the big blue gang and I joined the Crows. Comrades in
arms, Harry, just like the army. Hard and loyal. So don't expect me to dob them in.'

‘That's what I told my boss.'

‘What does he want you to do?'

Rowdy has changed. There is a flat tone in his voice, like that of a man grimly determined
not to show that he doesn't much care anymore.

‘He wants to know what Lavulo was doing in Kristich's office the night they killed
each other.'

‘Is that what happened?'

‘Forensics says there's no other explanation.'

‘So what's your theory?'

‘Kristich had a stash of crystal meth in his office safe. They'll try to match it
to the stuff they found in yours. Is that right? Was
Lavulo supplying Kristich? Did
they fall out over a sale?'

O'Brian's face hardens. ‘I don't know anything about meth.'

‘Yeah, I didn't think it was your scene.' He shrugs. ‘People change.'

‘Not me, not about that.'

This hints at a point of friction within the gang, and if Rowdy were a suspect in
the interview room Harry would press harder. He decides to let it go for now.

The waiter arrives with their coffees. ‘Sure I can't tempt you boys to one of our
special cakes?'

Rowdy says, ‘Fuck off.' He glowers at Harry. ‘Anything else your boss wants to know?'

‘What's all this in the paper about you guys kicking old ladies out of their homes?'

‘That's crap. She was moving. They were doing her a favour, helping her load her
stuff into the removals van.'

‘Okay.'

‘Anything else?'

‘That's about it.' Harry sips at the coffee. ‘There is something I'd like to ask,
not for my boss. For me.'

‘What's that?'

‘A while ago, my mum and dad were killed in a car smash, and my wife was blinded.'

‘Oh.' O'Brian frowns. ‘That's bad.'

‘Yeah. It's become a bit of an obsession with me. An unhealthy obsession, according
to the people I work for. The thing is, the coroner recorded an open verdict—the
skid marks were unusual and the investigators couldn't tell if it was an accident
or if the car was deliberately run off the road. They were in a silver BMW, but there
were traces of white paint on one wing. And a patrol car reported seeing a white
tow truck further down the highway at around the time it happened, but it's never
been traced.'

Harry pulls out a copy of the photo of the tow truck he found
in the siege house.
He shows it to O'Brian. ‘Like I said, I've got a bit obsessive, especially about
tow trucks. I found this picture on the wall of the house where that siege was a
few weeks back, near your clubhouse. I assume it belonged to Stefan Ganis, the guy
who died there. He was ex-Crow. Can you tell me anything about this? This is personal,
Rowdy. I won't pass it on if you don't want me to.'

O'Brian fingers the picture, silent. Finally he says, ‘When I first joined we had
a different president, guy called Tony Gemmell. He was the one who led the breakaway
from our old club and set the Crows up in the Creek. Great character, ex-army, Vietnam.
Great guy. But he was getting on. He'd taken a battering over the years and his hips
and knees were playing up. Got so he couldn't really handle the bike—fell over a
couple of times, looked bad. We were getting new recruits, guys who hadn't been with
us when the Crows were founded. One of them was Roman Bebchuk. He thought Tony was
a joke, and persuaded a circle of guys around him that we needed a new president.
Things got a bit heated, and in the end Tony decided to quit. When he left, Bebchuk
was elected president and his blokes took over. Including Stefan Ganis. He was always
a bit of a problem—erratic, a bit crazy. Eventually, about a year ago, he stepped
badly out of line and Bebchuk was forced to kick him out. He hung around the fringes
of the club for a while causing trouble, until eventually, I don't know what happened,
he got into that blue with his woman and got himself killed.'

All this comes out in a rapid low monotone. After his previous terseness Harry wonders
if it contains something Rowdy particularly wants him to understand.

‘And yes, he had a tow truck. That one. I recognise the logo,
13 Auto Smash
. He was
in business with his cousin, but they closed the yard years ago. I don't know what
happened to the truck.'

‘What happened to the cousin?'

Rowdy shakes his head. ‘No idea.'

‘Know his name?'

Another shake.

‘Well, when was it they closed the yard?'

Rowdy thinks, stroking his beard. ‘Around the time there was the bust-up with Tony
Gemmell. That was three years ago, winter, like now. That's all I can tell you.'
He checks his watch. ‘Meter.'

Harry nods. ‘Thanks, Rowdy.' He waves for the bill and the waiter approaches cautiously.
Harry pays and they rise to leave.

At the door O'Brian turns to him and says, ‘Watch out for Bebchuk, mate. Hard is
one thing, but Bebchuk is mean.'

They make their way down to the ground floor and walk through the cosmetics counters
towards the street doors. A woman's voice calls out, ‘Rowdy? Is that you? What ya
doin here?' Rowdy mutters a curse and Harry walks quickly away.

On his way back he detours through Mascot. Among the light industrial sheds and warehouses
and car hire depots near the airport he finds the smash repair place on the business
card. It appears deserted, an empty concrete yard protected by a chain link fence,
and a shed that looks unoccupied. He gets out to take a closer look and a large Alsatian
lopes out from behind the shed and snarls at him. He continues to his office and
reports to Deb on his meeting with O'Brian.

‘It was pretty much what I expected; he wouldn't say anything against his mates and
claimed he knew nothing about drugs and had no idea what Lavulo was doing in Kristich's
office. The only thing I picked up was a hint that there are divisions within the
Crows, between Bebchuk's inner circle and the rest like O'Brian.'

‘Your mate's trying to distance himself in case we find out more about the drugs,'
Deb says.

He leaves work early and heads home feeling dispirited.

Jenny is at her computer surrounded by papers scattered all over the desk and the
floor around her. ‘I've got in a tangle,' she says, flustered. ‘It's all so complicated
and I've messed up the hard copies
I was making for you. I've no idea where they
all are now.' As she gets up she scuffs them with her feet, sending them fluttering.