Have dinner with me in Glebe. Indian, Lebanese, Spanish, French, Italian, you name it.
Why not? she said. Indian sounds good. Dyou think I should wear a sari?
You could, I said. You could.
9
I was as excited as a kid. Amazing how quickly and thoroughly that feeling of attraction to a new person of the opposite sex, when its possibly reciprocated, can change your perspective and priorities. Claudia Vardon would be back at my house at 7 p.m. and Id be ready. Barry White, Peggy Hawkins and the others in the cast of characters associated with the Beckett case all took two places to the rear. I was about to launch into a house-tidying, a bed- changing and buying some supplies when I remembered the appointment at Redfern station. The last thing I needed was a copper arriving on the doorstep that evening to conduct me to the lockup. I carefully hung the suit on a hanger, smoothed out the tie, checked that I had a clean shirt and socks and went off to Redfern in my more usual uniform of drill trousers, open-neck shirt and battered linen jacket.
Detective Sergeant Jack Fowler had evidently done a bit of checking up on me and was puzzled by the results. I was a long-term PEA and a mate of a well-placed senior cop and yet had recently served a prison sentence and been de-licensed for a period. Will the real Cliff Hardy please stand up? He conducted me to a room which wasnt as rough as the ones where they put the frighteners on the junkies nor as pleasant as where they interview child-molesting clergymen.
Wed like to know more about your association with White, he said.
Sorry. Professional matter. Confidential.
You cant run that line.
Im doing it. Look, all I can say is that the matter relates to events a good many years ago. Before you left school, Detective Sergeant. I have no reason to think Whites death is connected to what we were discussing.
Discussing?
Thats as far as it got.
You say youd arranged to meet him at the house.
Thats right.
Some of the blokes there say you seemed agitated.
I knew that was a lie. The men who saw me arrive didnt register anything. Im a busy man.
There was hardly a scrap of paper in the joint. No wallet, no TAB tickets, fuck-all
I shrugged. Your blokes patted me down. I didnt take a thing. Id say that points to Barrys past history catching up with him. Someone cleaned up everything. What kind of gun was used?
He looked at me, trying to gauge my honesty, sincerity, duplicity, but Id been at this game longer than him and he gave it up. He took five sheets of printout from a folder and pushed them across the table. Sign it and you can go. You dont seem too cut up about losing your client.
I hadnt brought a pen. I borrowed his blue ballpoint with a chewed end, read through the statement and signed at the foot of each page near the crosses. In the private sector, you learn to live with these disappointments. I hope you find out who did it. Any leads?
He took back the sheets. Piss off, he said.
Back home the red light on the answering machine was blinking reproachfully. I ignored it and set about putting the house in better order. I ran the gutless vacuum cleaner over the carpets, cleaned the bathroom and toilet and put out some fresh towels. I changed the sheets on the bed and three of the four pillow slips. I emptied the waste-paper baskets and the kitchen tidy and sprayed air freshener around where the air didnt smell fresh.
I wiped down the sink and bench tops, thought about pinching some flowers from other peoples front gardens and decided against it. I ran a squeegee over the kitchen lino and took a few swipes at the coffee pot with steel wool. Id bought wine and Scotch, biscuits and cheese, coffee and milk on the way home. Also mineral water, soap and shampoo and a packet of Trojan lubricated condoms. Be prepared.
I showered, shampooed and shaved as closely as my old electric Philishave would let me. I looked at myself in the mirrorthe lines around the eyes are there for all time and getting deeper; the cheeks have long, parallel grooves in them where the dimples used to be. The only thing you could call an improvement is in the teeth which have brightened up since I stopped smoking and look better since I had the old decayed fillings replaced by ceramic stuff. Expensive but necessary. You fool, I thought. Shell probably make a rock-bottom offer on the house and head for home when you turn it down.
At seven-fifteen Claudia Vardon, wearing a blue silk dress and a white jacket, arrived at my door. An hour later the jacket was on the back of a chair at the Flavour of India restaurant in Glebe Point Road and we were looking at the menu and drinking Wolf Blass chablis. Two hours after that she took off the blue dress and her black underwear and lay down on my bed. Half an hour after that, give or take a few minutes, we were lying under the covers with sweat drying on us and our bodies still locked together and our hands still wandering.
Jesus, she said. I can still feel you in there.
I pressed close to her and felt her muscles grip and hold me. Im staying, too.
Can you come again?
I think so.
Go on, then, Cliff. Please go on. Its lovely.
We did it again, less athletically but with more skill. I came in a long, almost painful shudder and didnt mind a bit when her fingernails sank into my shoulders.
You didnt, I said when Id recovered.
No. Catch you next time. Lovely, though. Lovely.
I eased myself out of her and she put her hand down as I did, controlling the withdrawal. Easy, boy, she said. Dont want any leaking. Let me do it.
She rolled the condom off, reached for a couple of tissues, wrapped it up and dropped it on the floor. She brushed her hands together.
Thats it for those little Cliffords. Are there any little Cliffords or Cliffordettes by the way?
No, I said. What about you?
Uh uh, left it till late in the piece and then I met Mr Wrong.
What would you like to drink?
She moved away and slid out of the bed. A big glass of mineral water would be good, with lots of ice and just a little bit of wine. After I have a piss.
I watched her as she headed for the bathroom. In the half-light her body looked dark and strong. Her waist was a bit thicker and her buttocks and hips fuller than current fashion dictated, but that meant nothing to me. I remembered the weight of her full breasts in my hand and the slight swell of her belly and felt myself getting hard again. I jumped up, wrapped a length of trade cloth brought back from New Guinea many years ago around me and went down to get the drinks. Her recipe sounded pretty good to me and I filled two schooners, but I had a decent swig of the wine as well, just for luck.
Dyou like being a private detective? she said when I got back into bed.
I drank deeply. Her hand moved under the covers on to my thigh. Instantly, I forgot what shed said a mere second ago. What?
She laughed and took her hand away. Cant talk and get erect at the same time.
Try it again. Her hand returned and stroked up towards my groin. Mostly I like it, I said. Not as much as that, though.
Concentrate. Compartmentalise. Do you make a lot of money?
Thats easy. In a word, no.
Thats smart. Keep your responses short and youll do fine.
I could turn the tables.
Why dont you?
Things went on from there very pleasurably. We drank our mineral water and eventually fell asleep. Normally, I sleep deeply for the first few hours, then I get restless and often wake up and read for a while, fending off worries
