I was feeling a bit weary and hoped the long black I had would revive me. Why dyou say that?
Your face muscles are tired. Youre not moving your mouth as much as usual when you talk. Makes it harder to read you.
Sorry, I said, grimacing. That better?
Dont get shirty. Do you want to talk about this first, or about Barry White?
It suddenly occurred to me that Id lied comprehensively to one police officer and now was on the point of telling the truth to a man who was something like a cop himself. Max saw my hesitation and pointed his stirrer at me like a pistol.
Let me guess, you didnt tell all to the Redfern Ds. And youre wondering where my priorities lie.
I drank half of the very hot coffee in a gulp, hoping that it would give me a hit. Right.
Its an open case on my books. Thats all I care about. Any perjury or misrepresentation by you doesnt interest me. How else could you operate? Its understood.
Unbidden, an image of Claudia Vardon came into my head. She was getting back into bed after going to the toilet. Her whole body was silver-coloured in the dim light, like her hair. Id forgotten that Id seen this and I smiled. I felt better, despite a scalded tongue. Sorry, Max. Im stumbling around a bit this morning. Right. I lied to Fowler. I said it was a prearranged meeting with Barry. It wasnt. He rang me in a panic. He needed help. No details. I was about half an hour too late. The other thing is, someone had been through his stuff before me and taken everything personal.
Max nodded and finished his coffee. Ringing you suggests it was all to do with the Beckett case, but not necessarily.
The Beckett case could all be bullshit. Grogans a drunk. He could be making it up. Maybe Barry was just looking to hire some protection and it didnt quite work out.
Finish your coffee. Its doing you good. Nice try at devils advocate, Cliff, but it wont wash. Theres stuff in Hawkins notebooks and the other reports on the file that back up what Grogan says.
Like?
Max had changed his suit, shirt, tie and shoes from what hed been wearing the day before. Only the briefcase was the same, and the keenness. How many police notebooks and internal memos have you seen?
I grinned. I can think of a few Id like to have seen, but I havent actually seen any. None.
Ive seen bloody thousands, a lot of em mine. I can read between the lines. Hawkins interviewed everybodythe father, the stepmother, the half-sister, the half-brother, the servants. He talked to everyone who sighted her in the last couple of days. But he didnt push anything. You can tell from the notes. He went through the motions, quite skillfully really, but its there to see if you can read it. He was playing a dead bat.
I thought about this. You said everybody what about friends?
Ah, youve put your finger on something there. Not a single friend or acquaintance was talked to. Hawkins says that she didnt have any. That seems to me unlikely. He could be covering something up here.
It sounded possible. Everyone has friends, dont they? Then an image of Ramona Beckett came to me: she was reaching out to tap ash off her cigarette. Her dress stretched tight over her hard, small breasts and the look on her face was predatory. Her style was to use people rather than befriend them. It was sad, but I could believe that she had no friends. What about a doctor?
Max put the top back on his coffee cup and balanced the stirrer on top of it. Hawkins talked to the family GP. He hadnt seen her for years. Same with the dentist. As far as anyone knew she was in terrific health.
Yeah, thats right. Are you sure Hawkins didnt just get discouraged by running into all these negatives?
Im sure.
Well, the next question is, on the basis of his investigation such as it was, can you make a guess at who might have nobbled Johnno?
No. Not really. He goes easy on them all. Youd expect that hed be careful about that, wouldnt you?
This is not very helpful, Max.
Oh, Ive been giving you the bad news. Get out your notebook. Ive got a couple of names.
I did as he said and stagily poised a pen over the page. Shoot!
Max looked at me strangely. Theres something different about you today. Are you given to big mood swings, hmm?
Its the thought that youre about to steer me towards that reward.
All right. Keep bullshitting. Now, you remember I was to look for anyone who might have been in it with Hawkins? Well, theres two candidates. Colin Sligo and
Sligo! Shit, I remember him. He was a hard bastard. What happened to him?
He was a super at the time were interested in. Hes a deputy commissioner of police in Queensland these days. Due for retirement any day.
I wrote the name down. Thats interesting. And tricky.
All of that. The other starter is one Andrea Neville.
I wrote this in block capitals as well and looked at the words. Doesnt ring a bell
She was the policewoman who went with Hawkins on his first visit to the Beckett house in Wollstonecraft. It isnt clear from Hawkins notes who they saw first, but if it was the person with an interest in suppressing the ransom note, they were in the box seat to help out.
Come on, Max. Thats stretching it.
Im reliably informed that Neville was Hawkins girlfriend. About six months after the Beckett case went quiet she resigned from the force. Ive asked around about herthe word at the time was that shed inherited a lot of money.
I see. Where is she now?
Max shrugged. Im working on it. Ex-coppers can be tricky to find.
Right. Sorry for the scepticism, Max. This is solid stuff. You must have been a hell of a good detective.
Max tapped his nose. I had a sort of an instinct. I could smell things almost. Lucky that, because its still there and its helped me to cope with the hearing loss. Like, for instance, this new manner of yours
I laughed. OK, OK, youre right. Ive met a woman and Im keen on her, very keen. Im hoping that something comes of it.
Max smiled. Do you know, Id have guessed it was something of the sort. Good luck to you. Now, about this matter on hand. Id say your priority is locating Nevillethats worth a day or two. Failing that, or maybe leading on from that, we should talk to Peggy Hawkins a.s.a.p… Whats wrong?
I shook my head. Im used to working on my own. Im not used to having a schedule laid out for me by someone else. Back off a bit, Max.
He bit his lip and stared out of the window. He was a proud and stubborn man, struggling to overcome a disability, and backing down wouldnt be easy for him. But I meant what I said. My methods might be rough, even chaotic, but theyve worked for me and I wasnt going to throw them overboard to suit Max Savage. Eventually he turned his head to look at me. Sorry. Still behaving like the boss. Consider me backed off. How dyou see things?
Supposing Barry Whites death is connected to the Beckett case, Im asking how do the lines of connection run?
I was doing one of my diagrams as I spoke, writing names, circling and putting blocks around them and drawing arrows and dotted lines. Max half-rose from his chair to look at what I was doing. I see. Well, theres a few possibilities. Leo Grogan for one, though not very likely.
Ive got him at the end of a broken line. I agree.
A leak at my end. Through Frank Parker or someone twigging to what I was doing with the files.
I hadnt even entered Franks name. Forget Frank. What about the other?
Max shook his head. Not likely, but possible. The other connection is Barry Whites backer. Lets say White reported back to him and the backer decided hed roped you in and that was all he needed. That made White expendable. Against that, how would the backer get in for his cut without White?
Deal directly with me?
Hed have to convince you he hadnt offed Barry, wouldnt he? Mind you, that sort of money is pretty convincing.
I looked at Max and he looked at me. Ive had enough trouble lately without becoming an accessory to
