As soon as Josh and Lexie walked into the detectives’ office, they were summoned by Casey Blair.
‘Just thought we’d have an informal, mini briefing to get up to speed,’ she told them, before her nose suddenly wrinkled in distaste. ‘No offence – but you two stink.’
Lexie visibly cringed.
‘Sorry about that,’ Josh apologised, knowing there was nothing they could do about it.
He’d doused himself with the aftershave he kept in his locker for just this reason but the smell of the morgue was the type of stench that clung to you and no amount of soap, cologne, or formaldehyde could eradicate the odour.
Casey took off her wire-rimmed glasses and rubbed her eyes. ‘How’d you go at the autopsy?’
Josh gave her a rundown of the post mortem, which had told them nothing they didn’t already know. He left out the part where he’d collapsed. He still couldn’t believe he’d done that and the fewer people who knew about it the better. Nothing like that had ever happened before so he could only attribute it to exhaustion, possibly hunger, or maybe his body was crying out in protest that he hadn’t had his regular hit of alcohol. Maybe he just needed a top-up of bourbon to keep him going.
No, that would make him an alcoholic.
A heavy feeling invaded his chest at the thought of Lexie, so composed and completely in control, witnessing his moment of weakness. He decided it was a combination of hunger and fatigue; nothing more sinister than that.
‘I’ve just entered the bullets as an exhibit so I’ll take them to ballistics for profiling,’ Josh continued. ‘While I’m there I’ll check how long it will take for DNA tests on the casings. We already know what type of gun we’re looking for, so wouldn’t it be nice if we could get some forensics to help us out a little? Wouldn’t hurt if we could find the actual gun either,’ he added, wistfully.
‘Now, that would be too easy,’ Casey scoffed. ‘Get someone else to courier the bullets to ballistics – ’
‘I’d rather keep the chain of continuity going, so it – ’
Casey cut him off. ‘You have an interview with Rex Donaldson,’ she glanced at her wristwatch, ‘in close to an hour.’
Josh was surprised and breathed in deeply. He gave Lexie a quick glance. She was biting her fingernails.
‘How did that happen?’
‘Rex Donaldson rang the office. He asked for you but since you weren’t here, I spoke to him. He didn’t sound happy but he was at least co-operative. His girlfriend had given him your card. Apparently he had been meeting with his members, informing them of Bluey’s death and appealing with them to keep the peace. He’ll be here at 12.’
‘Kate Bushell will be coming in with him but since she seems to have a problem with Lexie, I might get Batman to interview her at the same time. That way they can’t confer, and he might even be able to work his charm and get something useful out of her. You never know.’
Josh nodded, a thousand thoughts swimming around his head.
‘I was intending to ask everyone we speak to if they know of anyone called the “Grub”. Do you think that’s the way to go or is it better to keep that bit of information up our sleeves?’
‘Normally I’d say keep it up your sleeves, but since we have nothing else to go on I think we have to ask the question. Not that I expect you’ll get a straight answer. You know what they’re like. They live and die by that stupid bikie code of silence.’
Casey gave him a knowing look and then turned the conversation back to business.
‘Now, I just have to get through this before you go off and prepare for your interview,’ Casey said, reading from notes in her hand.
‘Homicide has been to the crime scene. They’ll continue to assist us until we get a strike force set up. Grumpy has arranged to get a statement from Derek Gormely – the president of the Devil’s Guardians – this afternoon.’
Casey paused to flick her brown fringe out of her eyes.
‘Sleeman and Burgh have spoken to Max Croft. He has an alibi – he was in the clubhouse at the time of the shooting. The surveillance branch has confirmed this, as they saw him come out of the place at 9.30 pm with two other members. Croft claims he was in there setting up for a party later this week, and having a few drinks. He got there around 5.30 pm; said we could check their cameras to prove it.’
‘When asked about Maggot, Croft freely admitted that the man is a bit “nuts”. He’s apparently lost his girlfriend recently which Croft says has made him a bit more unpredictable than usual, but he was adamant that the man’s not capable of murder.’
‘Of course he’s going to say that,’ Josh said.
‘Of course,’ Casey agreed. ‘His last contact with Maggot was Saturday morning. They met at the clubhouse and Croft told him to pull his head in, to stop shooting off at the mouth and making stupid threats. And that’s the last time he’s seen or heard from him. Burgh has told him to contact us if anyone hears from him. Croft was apparently very co-operative, even stating they didn’t want any trouble.’
‘All these bikies being so co-operative is almost scary,’ Josh said. ‘Makes me suspicious.’
‘Everything makes you suspicious, Harrison. I’ve told Burgh and Sleeman to organise a telephone intercept application for Dorothy Magentagitt’s phone. If he’s going to call anyone it will be his mother, and as luck would have it the gangs squad have already got intercepts on some of the Assassins’ phones regarding one of their investigations.’
Casey looked down at the notepad in front of her.
‘They’ve got Metho Max (Max Croft), Maggot (Barney Magentagitt), Snake (Tony Thornton), Chuck (Charlie Bennett), and the Phantom (the president, Jeff Coglan); all these phones are already being monitored.’
‘Gotta love those nicknames,’ Josh joked.
‘Mmmm, anyway, Mal Laycock, the boss of the gangs squad, has informed me his staff will continue to monitor those phone lines. They’ll let us know if anything comes to light regarding our investigation, though he’s warned me not to be too hopeful. Unfortunately the bikies’ lack of talk over the airwaves has led him to assume they’ve been tipped off. They’re not talking about any trouble, not even in code. He’s just hoping that someone will get complacent and slip up eventually.’
‘I still think it’s strange we get tipped off that there’s going to be “trouble” at the Assassins’ clubhouse, and a shooting occurs at the Devil’s Guardians. Max Croft’s alibi is rock solid because he knew we’d be watching,’ Josh said. ‘Perfectly orchestrated, if you ask me.’
Casey shrugged and took a sip of coffee from the mug on her desk.
‘I’m still waiting on the results of the call charge records. When I get the number of the caller who gave us the tip-off we’ll chase that up.’
Lexie, who had hardly said a word, spoke at last.
‘How did the analyst go with the bikie data base? Did anyone come up with the nickname “Grub” or something similar?’
‘There were a few hits on bikies who go by that name but not in New South Wales, though we’ll still check them out.’
The phone on the boss’s desk let out a shrill ring. Casey spoke quickly to the person on the other end of the line.
‘Good work. Let me know how you go.’ She hung up.
The room was still as they waited for her to elaborate on the call.
‘That was Grumpy. He’s spotted Dorothy Magentagitt’s car parked several streets away from her home. He’s arranging for some uniforms to doorknock around the area, show Maggot’s picture around to see if he’s been spotted.’
Josh was surprised at Grumpy’s unusual competence. The man was usually half asleep or too uninterested to notice anything that was going on around him.
Casey glanced at her wristwatch then back at Josh.
‘You two had better prepare to speak to Donaldson.’ She shifted her gaze to Lexie. ‘Will you be all right to sit in on the interview?’
Josh knew Casey was referring to the search warrant incident. He glanced at Lexie, who nodded her head. Her face was a beautifully controlled mask not giving anything away. He dragged his gaze back to Casey.
She gave him a long look. ‘Good luck with Donaldson.’
Josh sucked in a breath, a bubble of excitement forming in his gut. ‘I’ll do my best.’
‘That’s all I ever ask. And Josh,’ she paused for effect, ‘try not to upset him this time.’