Crucifixion Creek (15 page)

‘It doesn't matter. We can sort it out later.' He reaches for her and draws her close.
‘I was thinking, why don't we just sell up and get out of Sydney.'

‘What? Are you joking? Where would we go?'

‘I don't know—Switzerland maybe. That place we read about with the eye clinic. Somewhere
with clean mountain air and real winters, with snow crunching under our feet.'

She laughs. ‘What brought this on?'

He tells her about his meeting with Rowdy O'Brian. ‘I think he's burnt out. Am I
like that?'

‘No.' She strokes his arm. ‘Anyway, we can't go anywhere until we've sorted all this
out. Nicole needs us.'

‘I know.'

‘She's not doing well. She's had a row with Mum. Well, you know what Mum can be like.'

He does. She's getting more impatient as she grows older.

‘Nicole's coming round with the girls in twenty minutes. I'm sorry. I had to ask
her over. She needs to talk.'

‘Sure. I'll get changed.'

By the time he's ready they're here. He listens to them through the bedroom door,
the girls' happy cries dying away as Nicole starts to rant. She stops abruptly, forcing
a smile as he emerges. He says hello, hugging them in turn, then says, ‘Hey girls,
we need stuff from Thomas Dux. Want to give me a hand?'

‘Yes!'

Jenny whispers her thanks. She gives them a list of the groceries they need, and
they collect bags and take off down the lane and up to Crown Street. The girls love
exploring this area, the glimpses into cafés, bars, odd interiors. They are stopped
by an old man whose eyes light up at the sight of the two girls. He wants them to
try something that he holds out in a grubby paper bag. They move on
and come to the
grocer. Both girls grab baskets and run down the aisles, soaking up the smells, grabbing
bread, bunches of vegetables, fruit. They fill up the bags and return to the street,
paying a visit to a butcher. Harry buys wine and, laden, they turn back for home.
On the way they come to a small playground, deserted. The girls drop their bags and
run for the swings.

He watches them, egging each other on to reach higher. They're too old for this,
he thinks. It's like they need to go back to a less complicated time for a little
while. When they reach home they grow silent again, hearing their mother through
the closed kitchen door, raging, weeping.

Harry searches for something loud and distracting and shoves an old DVD into the
player. It is a Disney animation, a favourite of theirs four or five years ago. Harry
watches with them, stabbed by the thought that the last time they played this Jenny
saw it too.

After a while the kitchen door opens and Jenny calls to him softly. He gets up and
joins them, closing the door. Nicole has been weeping, her eyes red, and she is gulping
a large glass of wine. Jenny sounds hesitant as she begins.

‘Nicole has been talking about their finances, darling. There seems—'

Nicole cuts in, her voice angry. ‘Sam Peck is bloody useless, Harry. He doesn't give
me any idea what's going on. All he says is not to spend any money! That's ridiculous.
When I told him I had to pay the girls' school fees he said I shouldn't.' She glares.
‘Their fucking school fees, Harry! Of course I've got to pay.'

‘It's not Sam's fault,' Harry says gently. ‘The fire destroyed most of Greg's records
and he's got a terrible job trying to work things out.'

‘But the bank will still have their records, won't they? They can still tell us how
things stand, surely? Sam's so bloody secretive. I wonder if he's trying to rob me.'

‘No, no. I've been keeping in close touch with him.'

‘He asked me if I had any money of my own that I could use, but I have almost nothing.
The electricity bill just came in and the rates and he tells me I can't write any
cheques or use the credit card. Then he suggested I sell some jewellery for God's
sake—my jewellery!'

‘Look, we can help out until things get cleared up.'

‘I don't want money from you!'

‘Just a temporary loan. How much are the school fees?'

She tells him and he wonders if he misheard. He had no idea they would be so much.
He sees the surprise on Jenny's face, then she recovers. ‘We can cover that, can't
we Harry?'

‘Yes, sure.' He has to think about it. ‘Tomorrow lunchtime, we'll set up a new account
for you with our bank, Nicole, and I'll transfer some funds to see you through this
sticky patch.'

‘Oh…' Nicole sags and the tears begin to flow again. ‘Thank you,' she sobs. ‘I just
didn't know what to do. I'm lost without him.'

‘Now come on,' Jenny urges her. ‘Help me make dinner for us all. What did you get,
Harry?'

Later he takes them home and when he returns Jenny is sitting at her computer. He
feels a strange pang of jealousy, watches her intimacy with the machine, then she
turns towards him and removes her headset and smiles, and he just feels tired.

‘Are they all right?'

‘I guess so. I didn't have the heart to tell her the house will have to go.'

‘What about that account I found? I think she's entitled to it.'

‘I don't know, Jenny. We don't know who the money belongs to, do we?'

‘Bells. The name came up again in the files I managed to get into today, and other
names, all nicknames—Rooster, Crystal, Pol, Chippy. Could be anybody. I think they
must all be crooks. Don't you? Why else disguise their real names?'

He is silent for a while, then says, ‘I've been thinking about that name, Bells.
Suppose it stands for Belltree?'

‘What? How could it be?'

‘My dad. Could it be him?'

Her mouth drops open. ‘But…why would your father have an account with Kristich?'

‘Perhaps he was bent too. How can I tell?'

‘Oh, Harry.' She goes to him. ‘How can you think that?'

‘How well did I know him, really?'

She shakes her head. ‘I think your work is getting to you.'

‘Yeah, well, we thought Greg was straight, didn't we?'

‘He was just desperate. Come on, let's go to bed, you're exhausted.'

‘We should sort through your printouts.'

‘They'll keep.'

That night he dreams he is trapped in a room with a cast of strange characters—Rooster,
Crystal, Pol, Chippy. He has a gun, and they are waiting for Bells to join them.
His arrival is imminent, almost palpable, and Harry protests, ‘Why do I have to do
it?'

19

The next morning Harry picks up the papers at Central Station before catching the
train out to Parramatta. Another Kelly Pool scoop fills the front page of the
Bankstown
Chronicle
, ATTEMPT TO SUPPRESS KRISTICH FILES. Harry smiles to himself, she's spinning
it out. The story continues on pages two and three, with pictures of Kristich at
social functions alongside celebrities and politicians. On page four there is an
account of the recent crime scenes in and around Crucifixion Creek, with a map and
more photographs. Finally, the paper's editorial follows up, raising questions about
Kristich's activities and his connections with the Crows. It's almost as if the
Chronicle
has decided to become a single-issue paper. The other dailies have followed in its
wake, printing versions of Kelly's revelations of yesterday.

When he gets to the eighth floor he finds everyone reading the
Chronicle
. There are
muttered expletives, ‘How the hell did they know that?' Deb is on the phone. She
gets to her feet and calls him over. ‘Your girlfriend's hit the jackpot today, Harry.
The boss wants to see us.'

Marshall is sitting at his desk, wearing his uniform and an angry frown. He takes
one of his antacid pills before he speaks.

‘I'm going to Jack D'Arcy's funeral in an hour. The commissioner will be there,
and she'll be wanting answers. Where did this come from? Not from the coroner's office,
not from the ambos. This time there's no fucking doubt, is there? It's come from
here, from Strike Force Gemini, from us!' His fist comes down on the copy of the
Bankstown Chronicle
lying on his desk. ‘So who's the ratbag pig's arse leak?'

Deb takes a deep breath. The whole floor must have heard his roar through the thin
partitions. ‘I've no idea, sir.'

‘Well, you'd better find out, inspector! It's your bloody strike force.'

‘Could it have come from the legal office, sir?'

Marshall growls, baring his teeth. ‘Find out. I don't want vague speculation, I want
answers.'

‘I suppose,' Deb says cautiously, ‘it could work in our favour, if it puts pressure
on them to release Kristich's computer. That's what we really need for a breakthrough.'

‘Are you telling me,
inspector
, that your bloody team deliberately leaked this information
to the press in order to cruel the lawyers?'

‘No, sir, of course not.'

‘Well…' Marshall's mood seems to take an abrupt swing. ‘In your shoes I might have
done it, years ago. But these days it's not on, Deb. It's just not on. The bloody
lawyers have got us all by the throat. They'll crucify whoever did this, if they
catch them. And the commissioner's a careful woman.'

‘Well, we'll do our best.'

‘Yes, yes.' He says it without much conviction. ‘Course you will.'

When they get outside Harry remarks that she handled it well.

She stops, pulling him aside out of sight of the others. ‘Are you the ratbag pig's
arse, Harry? Are you Kelly Pool's little helper?'

‘Don't you trust me?'

‘I don't know, Harry. She seemed very friendly.'

‘Tap her phone, then. Bug her home, her office.'

Deb stares at him for a moment, then says, ‘It's already done,' and marches away.

At lunchtime Harry takes a car into the city and meets Nicole to take her to the
bank where she opens a new account, into which he transfers an initial deposit.

When they get back to the car he says, ‘That'll tide you over for now. I'll make
arrangements to transfer more shortly. You should talk to the school. I'm sure they'll
help you work something out. They won't want people saying they acted harshly.'

‘Yes, I'll do that. The trouble is, with all this in the papers now about the bikies
and the Creek, I'm afraid people will think Greg was mixed up with them somehow,
what with the fire and everything. I still don't understand what he was doing out
there in the middle of the night.'

‘He was just working late at the depot. It was the end of the tax year and his books
were in a mess.'

‘I suppose so.'

‘Have you thought about going back to work, Nicole? Get out of the house, meet new
people, start a new life?'

‘Oh…I don't know. It feels too soon.'

‘Yeah, sure. Sorry.'

‘Don't be.' She puts a hand on his arm. ‘I do appreciate all you're doing for me,
Harry. Jenny's very lucky. You're a good man. I've always known that. And I know
how difficult the last few years have been for you. It must be so hard, living with
someone and unable to see things together, or share a meaningful look.'

It's an awkward moment. He starts the car and drives her home, then returns to headquarters.
On the way he switches on the news. The New South Wales opposition has attacked the
state attorney-general and the police minister over their handling of the Kristich
affair, alleging a cover-up. When he gets back to the office he finds people tidying
their desks and putting on their ties. Strike Force Gemini is to be visited by some
important people.

It's four in the afternoon before the team is assembled in the briefing room and
Detective Superintendent Marshall escorts the visitors in. He introduces the commissioner
and the police minister, Derryn Oldfield. The minister steps forward. The audience
sits stony-faced, bracing for a politician's platitudes and waffle, but when he begins
to speak Harry senses a shift of mood. Oldfield is direct, without any of the bluster
of parliament.

‘If you were listening to the radio earlier today you'll know that the attorney-general
and I have come under attack over the Kristich murder enquiry, and I wanted to come
here today to say that you have my complete support. I understand that you are working
to resolve a difficult case under trying conditions of press speculation and legal
obstruction, but I have confidence that you will not be deflected from your duty
to bring all the facts out into the light of public scrutiny, no matter how embarrassing
they may be for some people. And to that end, I am very happy to inform you that
we have just received word that the Supreme Court has now cleared your access to
all of the material seized under authorised warrants, including Alexander Kristich's
computer.'

There is a stir of interest, then someone begins clapping and others join in. Oldfield
continues, about the importance his government attaches to the war on organised
crime, outlaw motorcycle gangs and public corruption.

As he speaks, Harry watches him closely, troubled by some memory. He has seen his
face many times before on TV and in the press, but he tries to recall a more recent
sighting, and then it comes to him, the image of Sandi Krstić in Vanuatu with the
Australian high commissioner. Could that have been Derryn Oldfield, now a member
of the New South Wales upper house and minister of police? Harry joins in the applause
as Oldfield finishes his speech
and the commissioner steps forward with a brief,
brisk demand for progress.

The meeting breaks up, but before the VIPs leave Marshall brings Oldfield over to
meet Deb as head of Strike Force Gemini. When they've exchanged a few words he also
introduces Harry, standing next to her.