She gathered up her handbag and briefcase, and left for work.
At just after seven p.m. Jill left the departmental car undercover in a parking station on George Street and walked down to Chinatown. She pulled a ruffled black cardigan over her white shirt as she walked. The evenings were still a little cool, especially in the city. She waited at the lights on Hay Street while other pedestrians walked straight in front of cars, ignoring the horns and expletives of motorists still trying to get home. She shook her head as two giggling girls, both on mobiles, caused a dark Mercedes to slam on the brakes. She hated driving through this intersection.
As she climbed the stairs to the restaurant, the noise from the street gave way to Japanese harp music. She spotted her family sitting at a circular table near the window overlooking the streetlights below. Spicy scents followed her as she walked past a trickling fountain and candlelit tables to reach them.
'Hi everyone,' she said, smiling.
Jill's mum rose to give her a hug and four-year-old Lily leapt from her seat before her mum, Robyn, could stop her.
'You're sitting here, Aunty Jill! Mum, you said she would sit here.'
'Yes, Lily, it's okay, settle down now.'
Jill made her way around the table; her sister, Cassie, stood when she reached her.
'Hey, big sis,' she said, kissing Jill on both cheeks. Cassie's lips were berry-red with wine, her cheeks flushed.
'Hey, Cass,' Jill replied, wishing she'd had time to change out of her work clothes. Cassie wore black, a sheath of slinky fabric falling to the floor, leaving her arms and shoulders bare. A heavy silver band circled her throat. She looked beautiful, but very thin.
'Jill, this is Aidan,' said Cassie, and the man next to her stood and offered his hand. He wore a casually crumpled suit, his shirt open at the throat. He brushed a long dark fringe from his eyes and smiled at her.
'Pop ordered lobster,' called Avery, her nephew, from across the table, waving a menu. Avery sat next to her father, who was wearing his good suit. 'It says on here 'market prices', but the waiter told us they're a hundred bucks each and Pop ordered two!'
Jill's father told Avery to keep his voice down, but everyone smiled.
A waiter came past with wine, water and juice for the table and asked Jill whether she'd like to order a drink.
'I'll be fine with what's here for the moment, thanks,' she told him, watching Cassie helping herself to the wine before the waiter could pour it for her.
The plates seemed to multiply on the table, bowl after bowl of sticky, steaming food. Jill tried dishes she'd never tasted before – abalone, sea-urchin roe – and others, some of which she wasn't certain she wanted to know the main ingredients.
'Dad, what's got into you?' laughed Jill, selecting a piece of marinated tofu with her chopsticks. 'You've never ordered like this before.'
'No. Aidan helped with the ordering tonight,' her father stated, staring dubiously at a jellied dish in front of him. Aidan and Cassie laughed loudly together, the area around Cassie's plate clear of the mess that surrounded everyone else's. The waiter arrived with another bottle of wine and took it straight to their side of the table. Jill's mother caught her eye.
'How was it out there today, darling?' Frances asked.
'Not bad. Pretty good, actually. Liverpool's kind of growing on me.'
'Maybe that's because the case is nearly over,' her mum said. 'Does it still look as though it'll be wrapped up soon?'
'Yeah, it looks that way,' said Jill.
Her mother smiled. 'Do you think they'll send you back to Maroubra?'
'I doubt it,' Jill answered. 'But they could send me anywhere.' Her mobile was ringing. Jill reached for her handbag. 'Sorry, ma, just hang on a second.'
'Jackson,' she said into the phone.
It was Gabriel.
'Sorry to interrupt your evening, Jill,' he said. 'I just got off the phone with Last. The coroner's got a report on the bodies. He wants us to go over to Glebe and get a wrap-up.'
'Tonight?' Jill sighed, looking around the table at her family. Her mother watched her.
'Yep. The pressure's on to let the public know that Nguyen's dead. They want it released to the media before the morning.'
'Okay. I'm out to dinner with my family. I'll be over there in half an hour.'
'Don't hurry too much, Jill. The coroner's still tying everything up. Forensics are faxing over some findings to add to his report.'
'I'll see you when I get there, then.'
She hung up.
Frances Jackson was already standing. Jill didn't think it would be long before this party broke up altogether anyway. Her father had been frowning for the past fifteen minutes. Cassie and Aidan's conversation was garnering them stares and raised eyebrows from nearby tables; they laughed and argued, oblivious.
She made her apologies and left the restaurant.
Jill made it to Glebe in fifteen minutes, parking out the front of the building on Parramatta Road. She reattached her gunbelt and showed her badge to gain entry to the Coroner's Court. At the office of the state coroner, David Mobbs, she gave her name, asking the PA if he was available. There was no sign yet of Gabriel.
'I'm sorry, Sergeant Jackson. He's not ready for you yet,' the woman said from behind a glass partition. Her face was haggard, her hair a mess. Jill guessed they would've been working around the clock since the bodies came in early on Tuesday morning. 'If you just hang on a moment, I'll try to get some idea of the wait.'
The woman made a brief phone call and turned back towards Jill.
'Going to be up to an hour, I'm afraid,' she said.
Jill thanked her and made her way back to the front of the building. A departmental vehicle pulled in behind hers, and she walked out to meet Gabriel.
'Maybe another hour,' she said to him by way of greeting. 'Want to go get a coffee? It stinks in there.'
They walked around the corner and into a side street with a brightly lit cafe. They were the sole customers, and the pimply waiter alternated between watching them and the plasma screen behind the counter showing a Bollywood movie. After ordering, Jill moved to a Formica table at the back of the room, and they took a seat under glaring fluorescent lights. The coffee was barely passable.
'So, do you still reckon Joss will be charged?' said Jill.
'Probably,' said Gabriel. 'But the charges will likely be dropped before it gets to court.'
'That's what I think,' said Jill. 'When all the evidence comes through linking the men in the house to the home invasion gang, it'll be ruled self-defence, and he'll get off.' She sipped the coffee slowly; it may as well have been warm water. She grimaced. 'I don't think anything will come of the incident with the death of his childhood friend, either, do you?'
'Nah,' said Gabriel. 'Too long ago, extenuating circumstances – the kid killed was involved in the robbery of his father's shop.'
'Joss has been worried about that for a long time.'
'Mmm. I've actually been wondering whether this boy Fuzzy – Carl Waterman – was Cutter's first kill.'
'I know. The thought's crossed my mind as well. I guess we'll never know now.' She pushed the cup away from her and leaned back in the uncomfortable seat. 'Bizarre, the way Joss's life caught up with him, isn't it?' she said. 'It's like you try to push away parts of yourself that you don't want to know anymore, but they always come back to be dealt with.'
'There's one part of his childhood that won't be coming back for more.'
'Cutter,' she said.
'Uh huh.'
She was quiet for a moment, and then found herself saying, 'Gabriel, I really appreciated you opening up the
