'The idea is to kill two birds with one stone, isn't it?' 'Right.'
'The only other bit I got was a funny thing he said. He referred to his little helper. How about you?'
'Nothing. A bit of hesitation when I asked him why he was doing it. He called me Mr Clean.'
Frank went back to his chair and drained his paper cup. All of a sudden he looked old and strained again, the way he had when this whole thing started. He pushed the cup towards me. 'Any more of that rotgut on hand?'
I poured him another slug and some for myself. It wasn't the answer to the fix we were in, but sometimes when you run out of ideas it seems like the only thing to do. It didn't look good for William and I thought about that as I sipped the drink. I hadn't liked him and could spare him, but then, I didn't like his mother either. Shouldn't matter, she was my client-or was she still? Very different for Frank-an old lover and a new son. No wonder he was feeling the strain.
I was about to say something just to break the silence when the desk phone rang.
'Cliff,' Hank Bachelor said. 'I got him. Would you believe he's driving that Commodore clunker?'
I mouthed Hank's name to Frank. 'That was careless.'
'Yeah. You'll never guess where he's gone.'
'Hank, Sawtell's given us three hours. No time for guessing games. Tell us.'
'Didn't you say Mrs Heysen lived in Earlwood? That's where we are. Big place near the river. Got a for sale sign out.'
I relayed this to Frank.
'That's crazy,' Frank said.
'What do you want me to do, Cliff?' Hank said.
'Has he gone into the house?'
'No, he's sitting in the car outside. Using his cell phone a bit.'
'Stay there. I'll get back to you. Did you see the driver?'
'Yeah, he stopped for smokes. Little guy.'
I hung up. 'Hank says he was small.'
'The little helper. This is weird. I can't imagine what he's playing at. It's crazy.'
'You said that already. Did he sound… unhinged to you?'
'No, but like I told you, he wouldn't, no matter what was going through his head.'
'One thing's clear-he's obsessed with the Heysens. Is there any way he'd know where Catherine is? Did her people live in Lane Cove back when Sawtell knew her?'
'No, Rockdale.'
'They stepped up. Let's assume he doesn't know where she is and can't check that she's not going anywhere. He only referred to one helper this time.'
'Well, he killed the other one.'
'Right. So he's at Earlwood with William and with one person in support. We outnumber them.'
'You're saying we go over there and do a Clint Eastwood?'
'It's a corner block. Easy access. Bachelor's got a stun gun and capsicum spray.'
Frank shook his head. 'I don't know.'
The only other option's to call in the police. My guess is Sawtell'd leave nobody standing. I think he is crazy, Frank. Mightn't show it, but what all this adds up to is last stand stuff.'
'You said… wrote, that he wanted a way out.'
'He's smart enough to fake that, isn't he?'
'Yes. Okay, we'll play it your way, but if it gets too sticky we go official. Where's your spare pistol?'
On the way I phoned Hank and told him to secure the man outside and call me back when he had. He did that within ten minutes.
'Name's Cassidy,' Hank said. 'Not much fight in him. I don't reckon his heart was in the job.'
I told this to Frank who was checking the. 45 automatic I keep as backup. 'Cassidy had a son. Looks as if Sawtell had some leverage there.'
'Taking him out doesn't help us that much,' I said. 'We still have to get the jump on Sawtell. We need to talk to him. Tell him he's not going to see Catherine. Talk him out of harming William.'
'Tall order.'
'Are you willing to let him go?'
Frank said, 'I'm not sure. Let's see how it shapes up. Got any ideas about getting close?'
'One.'
I turned into the street and saw Hank's 4WD parked on the other side of the road and a little back from the red Commodore. I pulled in even further back and waved to Hank to join us. He trotted up looking pleased with himself.
'Where's Cassidy?' I said.
'He's in the trunk of his car. Says he has to check in with the guy in the house every forty-five minutes.' Hank looked at his watch. 'You've got about thirty.'
'What about weapons?'
'He didn't have anything. Guy in the house has a sawed-off and a handgun.'
'Okay,' I said. 'I've met the man in the house two up from the Heysen house. If he's there I think he'll let us go through his place. Then we can go over the fences and get in at the side. It's a corner block, as you see. I'm betting that if Sawtell's watching anywhere it'll be the other side and the back.'
Frank was wearing a suit. He stripped off the jacket and rolled up his sleeves. He put the. 45 I'd given him in his pocket. Hank and I were in jeans, boots and T-shirts. I had a leather jacket and Hank a down-padded vest. He had his tazer on his belt and the capsicum spray in an inside pocket of the vest.
We went through the gate and up to the front of Professor Lowenstein's house. I hesitated for a second. He was an old man. How would he feel about this invasion? There was no time to spare. I rang the bell.
He came to the door and recognised me. 'Mr Hardy.'
I explained why we were there and he said he'd noticed some activity at the Heysen house but assumed it was to do with the impending sale.
'We want to go through your back yard and the next one and see if we can resolve this with the element of surprise on our side.'
'Shouldn't the police-?'
'There isn't time, Professor,' I said.
Lowenstein wasn't a man to dither but he had his scruples. 'If it's a matter of time I'll allow you to do what you want but I'll call the police now. They'll take a while to get here. That's the best I can do.'
'Fair enough. What about your neighbour?'
'You're in luck there. An elderly couple, staying with their children for a time.'
We trooped through the house out to the back yard, which was showing signs of some neglect-overgrown flowerbeds and weeds breaking through the gravel paths. The fence to the next house was in poor repair and Hank had no trouble pulling a couple of palings free. We went through the yard and I didn't register a thing about it because I was concentrating on the next fence and what I could see of the Heysen house. It was a Colorbond job, newish and high. The shrubs in the Heysen property grew close to the fence along its length.
We moved up to the building line and Hank boosted first me and then Frank over the fence. Years younger than us, bigger and fitter, Hank easily hauled himself over it. We were crouched in a cluster of shrubs, three metres from the building line, ten from the door to the sunroom at the back. I gestured to Hank to move up beside the house. There were windows to the rooms along that side; the ground sloped but he was tall enough to be able to look in.
He came back crouching, and whispered, 'Kid's in the kitchen. Tied to a chair. Gagged with tape. No sign of the guy.'
A lot of our thirty minutes had elapsed. Sawtell would be expecting a call from his helper soon.
'Wish I had a flak jacket,' Hank said.
Frank said, 'Shut up!' He took the. 45 from his pocket and dashed to the back door. He jerked at it, couldn't get it open, and kicked it three times so that the glass shattered. He reached in and released the lock.
'Sawtell!' Frank almost screamed.
I was close behind, swearing, sweating, and trying to get a good grip on my. 38. I could hear Hank close
