By Wednesday morning I was starting to feel rather jaded. But I was too keyed-up to rest. Just a few more hours, I told myself. Like that refrain from My Fair Lady. A few more hours. By five I was up, and at six I was back at the phone booth in Martin Place. It was too early to bother Considine, but I had to talk to Hao. If all went well we’d be rejoicing that night, congratulating ourselves on a job well done. If my fears were correct and the worst came to pass, it might be the last time she’d ever speak to me.
She was home this time.
‘Paul?’ she cried as soon as she heard my voice. ‘I’ve been trying to ring you since Sunday! Where have you been?’
‘Here and there,’ I said. ‘Why? What’s happened?’
‘I have to go to the US, to San Diego. My mother’s had a stroke. She’s in hospital. I have to go and see her, Paul.’
‘Of course! Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. How bad is she?’
She had rung her brother, who had told her. They’d been trying to contact her, and didn’t know she was back in Leeds. Her mother’s condition was serious: she was conscious, but her speech was impaired, and they feared she might have another stroke. Hao had booked a flight to the US, for the next day (it was still Tuesday evening in Leeds). She didn’t know how long she’d be there.
‘I’m sorry Paul, I won’t be able to get back as soon as I hoped.’
‘Don’t worry about that. Stay as long as you want. Do you need more money?’
‘No, I’m fine, they’ve given me all my severance pay at work, I’ve got more than enough. I’ll even be able to pay you back what I borrowed.’
‘Don’t be silly!’
‘Can you tell Eric, please? How is he?’
‘He’s fine,’ I said, lying in my teeth. ‘Everything’s going well. We should be through in a couple of hours. I’ll give him a ring as soon as I get to work.’
‘Are you alright, Paul? I’m worried about you.’
‘Yes, I’m fine too. Don’t worry about me.’
‘You’re not going round seeing all your old girlfriends while I’m away?’
‘What do you think!’
‘Where did you go? On Monday and Tuesday?’
‘Oh … I just had to go out a few times. Don’t worry, I explain it all later.’
‘You sound so mysterious. Are you sure everything’s alright?’
‘Yes, don’t worry, everything’s fine. You just worry about your mother.’ There was no way I could tell her the truth. Especially not at that moment. ‘Anyway, I’m not asking where you spend your evenings. I tried to ring you on Monday night, but you weren’t home.’
‘I went out to dinner.’
‘I thought as much.’
She paused. Maybe she too was having trouble deciding how much to tell me. She chose to tell the truth.
‘I went out with Robert.’
‘Ah.’
‘He asked me out. I thought I owed him that.’
‘How did it go? If it’s any of my business.’
‘Of course it is! I told him about us. He was pretty unhappy. He said he was going to ask me to marry him. He wants to leave his wife. I told him he was too late. He should have thought of that a year ago. And even then I would have said no. He asked me if I knew what I was doing. He said he could give me everything I wanted.’
‘Pretty tempting offer. All that money, plus sex on demand.’
‘Are you serious? You’re the only man I want, Paul! I told you. Stop talking nonsense. And stop being jealous too. There’s no need. I told you it’s over.’
‘You’re right. I’m contrite.’
‘But I’m glad you are,’ she added.
I asked about her house. She said she’d found a good agent, who’d put it up for sale, she could expect over three hundred thousand pounds. More than twice that in dollars. And he’d sell the furniture for her as well. Meanwhile she’d sold her car to a friend at work.
‘You’ll be rich.’
I suggested she put the money in a trust, for herself and Eric. She gave me her brother’s number in San Diego. I said I’d ring her on the Thursday evening, local time. That would give her time to get there.
‘I’d like that. Listen, about Eric, I’ll wait until I get there, but I think I’d like him to come. To San Diego. To see his grandmother.’
‘Of course.’
‘She hasn’t seen him for over five years. Do you think you could help him, the way you helped me? With his visa and things? I’m sorry to be such a nuisance.’
‘Don’t be so silly. Of course I will.’
‘What about you, Paul? Would you like to come? We could all fly back to Sydney together.’
‘Do you want me to?’
“Of course I do! I want you to meet her.’
‘I’d like that too. Let me work on it. We’ll talk about it again on Thursday.’
‘You won’t forget to call him, will you?’
‘I won’t.’
‘When you ring me on Thursday, can you ask him to be there too? I’d like to talk to him.’
‘I will.’
‘I miss you.’
‘I miss you too. I hope it’s not too serious about your mother. People recover from strokes, you know.’
‘I know. But I’m very worried.’
‘I love you.’
‘I love you too. I really do. I can’t wait to be back with you.’
We hung up on a tender note, that brief moment of tension pushed aside. I felt guilty about my deception of her. But I had no choice. And something else had come out of that phone call: she had given me the perfect excuse to call Eric. It was too early to ring him, assuming he was back in town, and I thought I’d better talk to someone else first, to make sure I didn’t cross any wires. Considine would be best. I’d ring him as soon as I got to the office.
I went back to the apartment. Vivien was up now. I gave her Hao’s news, asked if she could be in the office before nine.
‘I have to ring Eric, and I may need your help.’
‘Of course. Oh, poor thing. She must be so worried!’
I had a quick breakfast, went home, changed, went to the office. At eight I rang Considine, at the operational number he’d given me. He wasn’t there but I said it was urgent and gave the codeword, Dragon. Within seconds his deputy was on the line.
‘Ric Barnes. Anything I can help with?’
‘Thanks, Ric, but it’s something I have to discuss with Brian direct. It follows on something we talked about on Sunday. It’s pretty urgent.’
‘He should be here soon. I’ll get him to contact you as soon as he comes in.’
I sat back and fretted. At eight-twenty Viv came in, and soon after Considine rang.
‘I tried to ring you last night,’ he said.
‘I had to go out for a couple of hours. Why? What’s up?’
‘Nothing. That’s the trouble. We still haven’t heard from Jason, and there’s a bit of a flap. We’d like to know what’s going on.’
‘You and me both. Look. I’m going to try and ring him. I’ve just spoken with his aunt in Britain.’ I gave him a quick rundown of my talk with Hao. ‘I have every reason to want to speak to him now.’
‘Do you think you should clear it first with Bentinck?’
‘No. You can tell him if you want, but this is something I have to do. In fact I’ll ring as soon as we’ve finished speaking. But I thought you ought to know first.’
‘Thanks. If it’s any help I agree with you. Will you let us know what happens?’
‘Of course.’ A thought struck me. ‘Listen, did he and Medea have any arrangement, for when he rang? Some kind of code, in case he couldn’t speak freely?’
‘Let me check. Maynard may know. If not I’ll have to wait until Bentinck gets here. I can’t get in touch with her myself. He should be in in about an hour.’
‘I don’t think I should wait. By all means check up, but I’ll ring him anyway. I’ll just keep my ears open. I’ll ring you back after.’
‘Good luck.’
I asked Viv to make the initial call. If anyone other than Eric answered it would sound less suspicious, and she could explain why she needed to get in touch with him. I listened in on my extension as she dialled.
A Vietnamese voice answered, a young man by the sound of it, in the rough approximate English I was getting used to.
‘Hello, may I speak with Eric Tran please?’ Viv said in her most civilised tone.
‘What you want him for?’
‘I have a message for him from his aunt. His adoptive mother, Mrs Tran.’
‘He sleep.’ At least he was there, I thought with relief. ‘What message?’ It sounded like ‘messit’.
‘I’m sorry. I have to speak with him myself,’ she said more firmly. ‘She’s asked me specially to ring him. It’s very important. It’s about his grandmother.’
‘I tell him.’
‘No, I need to speak to him directly!’ She could sound like a prim headmistress when she chose. ‘Please ask him to ring me as soon as he wakes up! It’s most important, and very urgent! Are you sure he’s not awake? Tell him it’s Mrs Berridge calling.’
Something in her tone must have got through. There was a brief silence, then a grudging:
‘I go and see.’
We waited. I heard muffled sounds, voices in the background, footsteps, breathing, then Eric’s voice on the phone.
‘Hello,’ he said drowsily.
‘Eric? Is that you?’
‘Yes. Who’s that?’
‘It’s Viv, Eric. Paul’s assistant.’
‘Oh, right.’
‘I have a message for you, from your aunt. Actually Paul has it, he spoke with her earlier. I’ll put him on.’ She switched me through without waiting for his answer.
‘Hello, Eric,’ I said quickly. ‘How are you?’
‘Oh, fine. And you?’
‘Fine too. Listen, I’m sorry to ring you like this, but I spoke with your aunt earlier this morning, and she asked me to give you a message. It’s about your grandmother.’
I told him briefly what Hao had told me, and asked me to pass on.
‘I’ll be speaking again with her tomorrow, after she gets to San Diego. She said she’d like to speak to you too then if that’s possible.’
‘Oh … I’m not sure if I’ll be free then …’
‘She said she’d like you to come to San Diego as soon as you can. She’s very worried about her mother. They’re afraid she might have another stroke.’
‘Right. Thanks. I understand.’
‘Are you alright? You sound a bit funny.’
‘Yes, I’m okay. I think I got a bit of a chill.’
‘Nothing serious I hope.’
‘No, I’m fine. I’ll live.’
I was listening hard. No sign of a code there.
‘When do you think you’d be able to go?’
‘Oh … I have to think – sorry, I’m a bit tired, I didn’t sleep too well … I’ll be right after today …’
‘About going to see her. Would you like me to help? I can get the ticket for you if you like. Be glad to. She asked me to help.’
‘Thanks.’
‘When do you think you can go?’ I insisted. ‘In case she rings back, I’d like to be able to tell her.’
‘Well … not today, obviously …’ I could almost feel him getting his brain into gear. ‘I guess it would take time to get seats – not tomorrow or Friday, I think …’
‘Saturday then? I can make a booking for you.’
‘I don’t have enough money–’
‘Don’t worry about it. You can pay me back later.’
‘Thank you.’
He sounded stilted. I guessed others were listening.
‘Saturday would be fine, I think. Not too early. Got something on Friday night, don’t want to miss that … Saturday evening, is there a flight Saturday evening? Or maybe Sunday?’
‘I’ll have to check. Can I ring you back?’
‘No, it’s okay, I’ll ring you later … thanks. Saturday evening would be okay, or Sunday …’
I scribbled his words as he spoke, trying to read some meaning into them, some hidden message. Maybe there was something in his insistence on the days, Saturday, Sunday. I tried another tack.
‘I can come and pick you up, take you to the airport. Do you need any luggage? I can lend you some.’
‘No, it’s alright, I won’t have much luggage – I like travelling light …’
‘Alright. Let me know if you need anything.’
‘Thanks. Don’t worry. I’ll be okay. How is she?’
‘Your aunt? She’s fine. She’s keen to get back here. But she’s very worried about her mother. That’s why she wants you to go and see her too.’
‘Yeah, she’s nice … I like my nan …’
‘Anything else I can do for you, Eric? In the meantime?’
‘No, thanks, I’ll be alright … I’ll give you a ring later on … maybe tomorrow …’
‘Okay. Look after yourself then.’
‘Thanks.’
‘Ring me if you need anything.’
‘Yeah, thanks. Bye.’
I hung up, and rang Considine at once. He answered straightaway.
‘Roger’s here,’ he said. ‘He wants to speak to you.’
‘I don’t–’
Too late. Roger’s voice came on the line, sounding grim.
‘Paul? I told you you shouldn’t–’
‘Fuck off Roger. I want to talk to Brian.’
‘Paul–’
‘Put Brian back on. Or else I hang up.’
He obeyed, with much gnashing of teeth no doubt. Considine came back on.
‘Paul?’
‘Sorry Brian, but you’re the one I need to talk to. You’re the one who has to run things here.’
I told him what Eric had told me, as accurately as I could from my notes. He listened in silence.
‘Hold on,’ he said. I waited as he conferred with the others.
‘You’re right. It fits. Most of it anyway. They did have a code.’
‘What was it?’
‘Based on time slots and days of the week. If he rang her they were going to talk about the next time they could get together. Today was out of the question. Tomorrow – Thursday – meant this afternoon, before six. Friday meant between six and eight. Saturday meant eight to ten. Sunday meant after ten.’
‘Sounds as if it’s planned for tonight then, probably late-ish.’
‘Sounds like it.’
‘What about the rest? The luggage bit?’
‘Probably means a handgun. They had a second code, using heavy for a rifle, light for a handgun. He said he would be travelling light?’
‘Yes. That’s what he said.’
‘Sounds as if that’s what he meant.’
‘What about the chill bit? I’ve caught a bit of a chill?’
‘Not sure. Not part of the code. Maybe it’s for real. Or maybe it was meant as a warning. I’m being watched, or something like that. You’re sure that’s all he said?’
‘Yes. You’ve got it, word for word.’
‘Thanks. That’s great. At least now we know he’s back in town and we have some idea of what’s likely to happen. Thanks Paul, you’ve done a great job.’
I thought.
‘You know what, Brian? I think I know what they’re going to do.’
‘Good for you. Wish I did!’
‘Can I come and see you? I need to talk to you about it.’
‘Can’t you tell me now?’
‘No. It’s too complicated to discuss over the phone. Can we meet somewhere? Just you and me. I’d like to discuss this just with you first.’
‘You’re sure?’
‘Yes. This is only a guess, but if I’m right this is something you need to know, and I need to tell you, without anybody else there.’
‘Alright. How soon can you get here?’
‘Forty minutes?’
We made an appointment for ten o’clock, in Hyde Park, near the Anzac memorial, a stone’s throw from Police Headquarters across the road on College Street.
He was there, in a dark suit, the better to blend in with the crowd. We found an empty bench and sat down.
‘This is what I think,’ I said. I outlined what I’d surmised. He listened in silence.
‘I can’t prove any of it,’ I said. ‘But it fits. And I think Roger knows it too. That’s why I wanted to talk to you alone, Brian. I know you both don’t want Loc to get killed, Bentinck possibly even less than you. But he’s working to a different agenda from yours, and I think he’s prepared to sacrifice Jason if need be. I’m not, and I don’t think you are either.’
‘No. I don’t want anyone to get killed.’
‘I don’t care how noble the cause is. And frankly I don’t think it’s all that noble.’
He nodded.
‘We talked it over after you rang,’ he said. ‘It makes sense. I’ve had a funny feeling about this. That cop’s instinct I was telling you about. There’s something smelly about it.’
‘What are you going to do to stop it?’
‘Well, what I was going to do all along. Only better now you’ve told me all this. The Vietnamese don’t want any police presence on their floor, but we’ve booked rooms on the floor below, without telling them. There’s a quick way up by way of the stairs. And we’ll have two uniformed police in the lobby and some in the street outside, in case the demonstrators try to get close to the building. Though they probably won’t try that at night.’
‘How do you think he’s going to try to get in?’
‘No idea. What do you think?’
‘Remember what I said? That I thought I knew why they wanted to use him? Because he didn’t look Asian? I think he’s going to come in the front door, under some pretext, looking very innocent and non-threatening. Maybe to visit one of the residents.’
‘We’ve checked all the residents, there’s no one there who fits the bill.’
Thank you Maisie, I thought.
‘Will your guys be able to spot him?’
‘Yes. They’ve all got a photo of him.’
‘Presumably you’ll search everyone who comes in.’
‘Of course. All hand luggage. Anything they bring in with them. And we’ll run a metal detector over them too.’
‘You’ll be doing that in the lobby, I take it.’
‘Yes. As soon as they get in. Just inside the door.’
‘Can I make a suggestion? Go one further. Take a room on the ground floor, near the lobby, and take everyone there. Especially if they’re carrying something. That allows you to do more thorough searches if you want. Then when Jason gets in, take him there too. Search him too of course. Go through all the motions. But put body armour on him.’
He looked at me, his dark eyes steady.
‘You really think they’re going to try to kill him, don’t you.’
‘I would, if I were them.’
There was little else to discuss. For form’s sake I asked if I could be included in his operation, but he refused, as I expected, politely but firmly.
‘I can’t, Paul. This is a police job. I can’t have any civilians. Too risky. Besides, Bentinck’s right, you know. You’re too close to this, you’re too emotionally involved. Sorry. I know you mean well, but this has to be totally professional. That’s the only way I can be sure we’ll do everything right.’
I nodded, and looked resigned.
‘Go home, Paul. Get some sleep. You look exhausted. Don’t worry. We won’t let anything happen to him.’
‘I know. Thanks, Brian.’
I walked back to the city, caught a train at Town Hall station, heading for North Sydney. If anyone was following that’s where I wanted them to think I was going. I got off at Wynyard instead, the next stop along. I bought some take-away food, checked again I wasn’t followed – my street skills were rusty, but I was fairly sure I wasn’t – then walked up to Clarence Street and the apartment building. No one paid attention as I went in. I went up to the apartment, and settled down to wait.