he worked his way back east and found himself a spot where he could gain access to a lot of business accounts and manipulate others, under cover of legitimate activity with Selim Houli as some kind of backer.
'It leaves us no closer to finding out what the big picture is,' Sabatini said.
'No, but at least we know something about him that he doesn't know we know. Tell me William Habib has an old mother who he couldn't bear to see troubled.'
'I checked the Brisbane phone directory. There's a column and a half of Habibs.'
'I wonder if he killed Malouf and swiped some of the things he'd need to do the identity change.'
Sabatini shrugged. 'It was a long time ago.'
It was a stalemate; far from learning anything that might give us the initiative, we were simply waiting for Malouf/ Habib to contact me when he chose. We decided that the only thing to do was wait a few days for the call and play it by instinct at that point-perhaps hinting that we knew his real identity and hoping that might throw him off-balance.
'If he doesn't call in that time?' Sabatini asked.
'You write something along the lines of 'Is Richard Malouf still alive? And who is he?' Something like that and see if it touches a nerve.'
'The police'll pick up on that and they'll be after us.'
'The more the merrier. I've dealt with the police before.'
'Yeah, and lost your licence. But, okay, we'll see how it plays out. I owe you for Rosemary. Keep your phone charged up.'
We had a drink and left it at that. I drove back to Glebe. The roadwork that had been going on for almost a year was almost finished and some of the businesses that had looked to be struggling were picking up. I reckoned it was about time I saw Megan again and was thinking about that as I turned into my street. The low winter sun was in my eyes and I shielded them with my hand as I brought the car to a stop outside my house. I was still a bit dazzled when I got out and jiggled my keys, feeling for the right one.
'Hardy!'
Lester Wong stepped out from behind one of the shrubs in front of the house. The muzzle of his sawn-off shotgun was about three metres from my chest.
A voice: 'Police! Drop the gun!'
I hit the ground hard. There was a roar like an unmuffled exhaust, and shredded leaves dropped on me as I heard the pellets bouncing off the car.
'Drop it!'
Two sharp cracks, and when I looked up I saw Lester on his back, sprawled across the tiled path and he wasn't moving. part three
PART THREE
25
I had grazed palms, bruised knees and torn trousers-pretty soft landing after facing a sawn-off. That didn't mean I could go quietly inside and pour myself a congratulatory drink. The police arrived, then the media; mobile phone signals bounced around and I ended up in Chang's Surry Hills office.
'Thought it was about time we had a chat, Hardy,' Chang said. 'Lucky for you we were there, or lucky Ali was there- best pistol shot in the service.'
Ali was still wearing his displeased expression.
'Thank you,' I said.
'You might like to help me with the paperwork.'
'We're getting whispers that Freddy Wong's not around, and now his crazy brother comes after you. We also know Sabatini flew back home today.'
'Is this a formal interview?'
'No, come on, Hardy. You're up to your balls in something too big for you. I had to talk fast to keep DI Caulfield off your case-being present at two violent deaths tends to make people suspicious. Sheer stroke of luck that now you're not just down the way from your place in the bloody morgue.'
All true, and Malouf/Habib hadn't rung. Maybe he wouldn't. Maybe Lester's death, which was bound to be on the news that night, would scare him off. When I thought about it, our plan for something Sabatini could write was our best chance of provoking him and that would bring the police running anyway. It was time to come clean-well, cleanish.
I told them Freddy Wong was definitely dead, and that three people (that was stretching it a bit) whom I wouldn't name were present. I said it was somewhere between an accident and self-defence.
Ali shot an astonished look at Chang. 'Can you believe this guy?'
'There's more,' I said.
I told them that a man calling himself Richard Malouf had spoken to me on the phone, the deal he'd proposed and that he said he'd be in touch. I said that I was working with Sabatini and that we'd uncovered evidence to suggest that his real name was William Habib. I started to talk about the plan Sabatini and I had, but Ali cut me off with a snort of derision and an angry slap of his hand against the wall.
Chang, making notes, fiddled with his pen. 'You didn't think to get in touch with us when you got this call?'
'Thought about it, but, no, I didn't.'
' Why not?' Ali snapped.
'I got into this to try to get a couple of gangsters off the back of a client…'
'You don't have the right to have a fucking client,' Chang said.
'A certain person, then. To help someone in a difficult situation.'
'And recover the money Malouf stole from you,' Ali said.
I shrugged. 'If it worked out that way, sure. But that's not the real reason.'
Ali shook his head. 'All right, what is?'
I knew. It was to do with a missing person, a false identity, something unknown at the heart of the matter. And it was about doing something I'd been doing for a long time and was good at; about not feeling useless. But it was difficult to put all that into words.
'Curiosity,' I said.
Ali walked out of the room.
Chang leaned back in his chair. 'What am I going to do with you? Cancerous-that was the word he used, right?' 'Right.'
' What does it mean?'
'It's a metaphor.'
'I know it's a fucking metaphor. So?'
I shrugged. 'Something that'll eat… away at society.'
'Doesn't cancer sort of overwhelm the other cells in the body?'
'I think you're right. Whatever it refers to it's something very big. He sounded serious. I've been thinking about you and the sergeant: a special unit to combat Chinese and Lebanese crime? There have to have been whispers, signs of something brewing. Look, without giving you the details, Freddy Wong was prepared to do something horrific to another person just to get some information. And this Malouf/Habib-he knows what's going on, he has a connection to Houli and is prepared to double-cross him. That takes guts and it suggests that the business, whatever it is, has got too big, is getting out of control.'
Chang glanced down at the notes he'd been scribbling while I talked. 'Tell me again about this deal.'
I went over it but I'd remembered another detail.
'He knew your name and the name of your bad-tempered mate-not that I'm not grateful to him for saving my life.'
'But he hasn't called you back. We can't find any trace of that boat. It could be registered in Panama or
