‘I can help you find out. Now, don’t be mercenary about this. We’re in the same boat.’
‘How’s that?’
He finished his drink and licked froth from his lips. He belched deeply. ‘Honour demands that you complete the job and commonsense demands that you be paid for it. I need the money too, and by Christ my honour’s at stake.’
He poured another schooner full and I let him top up my middy. It had been a long time since I’d drunk stout and I wasn’t sure I still liked it. I thought I could probably acquire the taste again. O’Fear sipped at the froth and grinned at me. ‘It’s grand for the pain.’
‘I’m curious about your honour.’
All the lilt and blarney were suddenly gone from his voice. ‘No one puts a knife in Kevin O’Fearna and walks around to boast about it. Have we got a deal?’
I thought about it while another mouthful of stout went down. O’Fear was no one’s idea of a perfect partner. He was reckless; he had a bad temper and he got too drunk too often. On the other hand, if it came to a fight there was no one better to have on your side. And a feeling was growing inside me that this was getting bigger than a one-man job. I had the beginnings of some plans-trap setting and such-all of which would require manpower.
‘I don’t know whether to be flattered by your enthusiasm or overwhelmed by your generosity,’ O’Fear said.
‘I’m being realistic,’ I lied. ‘Maybe you don’t know anything at all.’
‘I know something. But I don’t know enough to make sense of it.’
‘What about your own case? Could this be related in any way?’
He hesitated, but only for a split second. ‘I think not. It’s my opinion that little matter’ll take care of itself.’
I told him about the searches of Todd’s houses and Warren Bradley’s suspicions regarding the way Todd’s car had left the road. He nodded and touched his side tenderly. ‘Like I said, something serious.’
The drink had relaxed me; I was musing now. I allowed myself a thought I wouldn’t have entertained before my conversation with Piers Lang: Maybe Todd was blackmailing somebody. But I said, ‘Somebody’s looking for something Todd had. What would it be? Evidence of some kind. If Todd had evidence, why didn’t he do something with it?’
‘You know the answer to that.’
My mood was almost philosophical now. ‘Yeah. He couldn’t trust the cops.’
‘Or didn’t know which ones to trust. He might have made enquiries though. And where one person can enquire, another can enquire too.’
‘You should have been a lawyer, O’Fear. A judge. Instead of a dumb mick brick-shifter.’
‘I’ve met a few judges. I can’t say that I liked them much.’
‘You’d better tell me what you know. And for five thousand dollars, it better be good.’
He grabbed my hand and pumped it, which hurt me and must have hurt him too. We were a couple of minor casualties. ‘We’ll make a great team, Cliff. But can I tell you something?’
‘What?’
‘You could do with a shave.’
15
I thought the first problem would be to get him out of the pub. I didn’t want to start off with a boozy ramble about this and that, in which the connections were apparent only to minds leached by alcohol. I was wrong. He came willingly, without even finishing his third schooner and leaving a good bit in the bottle. We drove to Maroubra, my old stamping ground, where the memories are fading as the landscape changes; most of the shops where we bought the sweets that ruined our teeth are gone, and parts of the beachfront have had more facelifts than Liz Taylor. But the sand and water do not change and we sat in the car and looked down at the pool and up and out into infinity.
‘A fine place,’ O’Fear said.
‘Where I grew up.’ I pointed to a kid on a surfboard, bobbing out beyond the breakers.
‘That’s me, thirty years ago, when I wasn’t delivering papers or cutting the grass or sneaking a smoke behind the dunny.’
‘I knew Barnes Todd longer than that,’ O’Fear said. ‘You knew we met in Korea?’
I nodded.
‘We stayed in touch, more or less. Two wild men, you know what I mean? Well, we’d have a few jars and a natter. Barnes got me out of several little bits of trouble from time to time, and I’d return the favour.’
‘How?’
‘There’s a deal of sabotage in truckin’. I cracked a few skulls when it got tried on.’
‘Did Barnes do any sabotaging of his own?’
‘By way of reprisal, yes.’
‘Shit.’ I watched the surfer get up gracefully as the wave took him. He powered along with it, sweeping across its face and turning sharply to get the force behind him for the run to the beach. ‘He could’ve had a hundred enemies.’
‘He could. But there was one in particular.’
I swivelled in my seat and looked at O’Fear. It was warm in the car and sweat was trickling from his hairline towards his eyebrows. Suddenly he was nervous. I looked around us; no other cars parked nearby and a clear view in all directions. ‘There’s no one around,’ I said. ‘You can talk.’
‘I was remembering the night,’ he said softly. ‘I have to admit I was scared, although devil a thing really happened.’
The dramatic tone irritated me. ‘If this is blarney, O’Fear, I’ll…’
‘This is straight goods! He had me driving around to all manner of places. I didn’t know where I was half the time. The whole of the bloody city we were covering.’
‘What was the purpose?’
‘I’m buggered if I know. He’d have me wait near the car while he sneaked off somewhere. He was taking photographs, that I know for sure. Had this bloody great camera around his neck.’
‘What sorts of places?’
‘I’m not sure.’
‘Don’t go coy on me.’
‘Be buggered. I was taking a drop or two at the time. From me flask. Well, it was all so bloody boring. I can drive like Stirling Moss no matter how pissed I get. I can drive all right, but I couldn’t always swear to where I am.’
‘You’re a disgrace. Go on.’
‘Well, he’d hop back into the car and give me a grin, and it’d be off to the next place. But one night it was different.’
‘When was this?’
He moved slightly, easing the wounded side. ‘I’m talking about the last time I saw him. Let’s see, that was about two weeks before he died, or a bit less. I’m not certain. I don’t keep a bloody diary, you know.’
‘When did you go inside?’
‘A couple of days after the night I’m talking about. I was bashed, of course, and I’ve had a lot on me mind. You’ll have to understand if I’m a. bit muzzy on the details.’
I took out my notebook. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll pull you up if you get too vague. Go on.’
‘This place I’m talking about. It was big, I know that, because he had me drive around the area a few times. Around the streets. I only caught a glimpse of the place itself. Look, I’ll admit I’m confused. I don’t where the bloody hell it was.’
It was rare for O’Fear to admit that he didn’t know something. A sign of truth? ‘Get on with it,’ I said.
