Acknowledgement

As a first time story teller, finding inspiration and reaching the end of this tale which started in 2005 were new experiences for me. My mother-in-law, Molly (now deceased), would frequently say: Agatha Christie always said her stories came from just around the corner. Believing that to be sound advice, I liberally plundered the newspapers for ideas, information and themes relevant to my story. To The Age, The Australian and Herald Sun, I express my heartfelt appreciation.

Information about the Mafia came from many sources, including the internet. Particularly helpful were Paul Elliot’s, Brotherhoods of Fear and the work of William Balsamo and George Carpozi Jr, The Mafia: The First 100 Years. For an understanding of the Russian Mafiya, I am indebted to Robert I. Friedman’s stark account of their activities in his book, Red Mafiya. The hostilities which occur between these two criminal elements in this story is my fiction, although it is not difficult to imagine that, from time to time, it could happen.

Helpful Australian texts included: Frank G. Clarke’s Australia in a Nutshell – A Narrative History, the Herald Sun’s One Hundred and Fifty Years of News From The Herald, Gordon Greenwood’s Australia: A Social and Political History, W.H. Newnham’s Melbourne Sketchbook and John Ritchie’s Evidence To The Bigge Reports. From the last, the fictional politician, Lance Baker, claims Major George Druitt as a forbear. Druitt was Chief Engineer of the Colonial Establishment in 1817. Baker’s claim is myth but the slim account of Druitt’s life in my story is fact and may be found in Ritchie’s work.

Teresa Marchese’s interest in the martial arts is drawn from three sources: The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Mushashi, as translated by Bradford J. Brown, Yuko Kashiwagi, William H. Barrett and Eisuke Sasagawa; Samuel B. Griffith’s Sun Tzu: The Art of War and of course, an old favourite, Machiavelli’s The Prince, translated by George Bull.

Other helpful references have been James Morton’s Gangland: The Lawyers, J.P. Chaplin’s Dictionary of Psychology, Dr. Cyril H. Wecht’s Crime Scene Investigation, Death’s Acre: Inside The Legendary Body Farm by Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson, Helena Kennedy’s Just Law, Robert Payne’s The Corrupt Society, Athol Moffitt’s A Quarter to Midnight and the amazing book of political dirty tricks by John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, Toxic Sludge Is Good For You.

To the authors of these books I express my gratitude for creative guidance and insight. Any failure to optimise their ideas and information is due to my own inadequacy.

To the men and women of the Victoria Police Witness Protection Unit I am deeply grateful. Their amazing work, quite properly unsung and unheralded, is performed with commitment, compassion, infinite patience and steely resolve. The ideals portrayed by the fictional Aleisha Campbell reflect the work of not only Victoria Police, but similar units in each of Australia’s States and Territories.

The difficulties experienced by witnesses in protection are substantial. The quotation in Chapter 49 which alludes to these comes from a former USA Federal Drug Agent appearing before a Senate Committee on Governmental affairs. It is also recorded in a Report to the Commonwealth Parliament of Australia prepared by a Parliamentary Joint Committee on the National Crime Authority in 1988 titled simply: Witness Protection.

I am indebted to Professor David Wells of the Coroners Court, Victoria, for his practical and helpful discussion of DNA and retention of body parts.

Many places referred to in this story are factual: Gaffney’s Bakery at Heathcote, The Rose Café at Kilmore, Di Mattina’s in Carlton, Connoisseurs, Andrew’s Bookshop (now departed), The Booktalk Café in Richmond, Dimmeys, Borders (now departed), The Queen Victoria Market and others. And, while the Alfred Hospital is probably known to most Melbournians, the layout of the carpark and Surgical Wing described herein is fiction.

Apart from Major George Druitt and a handful of contemporary people who attract passing reference such as Lord Hutton, former Premier, Jeffrey Kennett, Vivian Alvarez, Christina Rau, John T Cusack, ”Chuck” Bennett and Tony Mokbel, all my characters are wholly fictional.

Profound thanks goes to my litmus readers for wading through the original manuscript and making constructive suggestions to improve presentation, style and story: Sabina Robertson, Kevin Gaitskell, Glenn Zimmer, Alex McAllister and my good friend Graham Sinclair who, since completion of this tale, has passed on. The value of their contribution has been inestimable. Particular thanks for help with final polishing are also due to long time friends Bob Haldane, Chris Fyffe, Jeff McCubbery and my great mentor, S. I. “Mick” Miller.

To the editors, Julie Capaldo and Paul Bujiea whose brilliant work honed my story to its final form, my gratitude is boundless. To my publisher, Mark Zocchi of Brolga Publishing Pty Ltd, without whose support this book would not have seen the light of day, my sincere thanks.

Finally, to my wife Jennifer, for her endurance and patience, her debate on so many aspects of the story, her probing questions, eternal support and constant exhortation to ‘simply enjoy the experience,’ my endless thanks and love.

W.H.G.R.
November, 2012