Peter Corris - Appeal Denied

A while ago Lily and I had been to an exhibition of police photographs dating back to the early years of the last century and running through to just after the Second World War. The show was at the Police and Justice Museum-sepia and black and white stuff, very stark, very dramatic. The notes that would have put the photos in context had mostly been lost, so the images had to speak for themselves with a minimum of interpretation. They did. They showed the underbelly of a city founded by lawbreakers and their punishers which bore their stamp down the generations. I loved Sydney, but I never imagined it could be as beautiful on the inside as the outside. Not a single street of it. After working on the seamy side for as long as I had, and associating with police and others who did the same, I knew that corruption and violence were an inescapable part of the scenery.

‘You’ve got that sceptical look again,’ Townsend said.

‘No. I’m just trying to remember when I last thought a beautiful place was capable of being good as well.’

‘You think I’m naive,’ Jane said.

‘Maybe, but in a bloody nice way.’

‘I’m not naive. What I just said might sound that way, but I’ve seen people corrupted and destroyed.’

I nodded. ‘These people, these string-pullers, do you know who they are?’

She hesitated before replying. ‘Yes. I’ve got a list.’

‘In general terms?’

‘A big developer, two politicians-one local, one state- an owner and an operator of several clubs.’

‘No minister of religion?’ -

‘No, why?’

‘Doesn’t matter. What area does this unit cover?’

‘Not that much-North Sydney, St Leonards, Crows Nest, across to Greenwich, and to Mosman on the east and up to Balmoral.’

‘Lot of people there.’

‘All the more to exploit.’

‘All the more to get upset.’

‘Look, I’ll tell you how it works. Give you an example. A developer wants to take over a site, put up a block of apartments, but it’s zoned commercial. He funnels some money to the councillors and they get a zoning variation so the citizens don’t have to be consulted- commercial-cum-residential. Up go the flats, but the developer has a criminal record and shouldn’t be in business. That’s when my colleagues step in. They let him get on with his building on the understanding that a certain number of the units are set aside for the girls and that brings in the drugs, automatically. The same police talk to the girls’ suppliers and make arrangements for other people living in the flats, or nearby, to be serviced. The cops take a percentage. It’s all kept quiet. Everybody’s happy.’

Townsend looked worried. ‘Wouldn’t it change the character of an area? Wouldn’t someone notice and complain?’

Jane shook her head. ‘People are too busy to notice. Do you know what sort of hours they work to keep their jobs and meet their mortgages? But you’re right, some have complained. They’re either intimidated or bought off. For a few, like Rex Robinson and Lillian Truscott, the intimidation went all the way, as I said. Anyhow, that was just an example. The development scams, rezonings, kickbacks to councillors-no one cares anymore. Just like no one expects the politicians to accept that the buck stops with them. It does, but not the way whoever said it meant.’

‘Harry Truman,’ Townsend said.

I said, ‘The man who dropped the atom bombs.’

Jane shrugged. ‘There you go. The other thing is, it’s intermittent and spread out and happening on a large and small scale all over the place. Especially at the beaches. A fuss blows up over something, usually some conflict of interest within the organisation, as I like to think of it. It’s not like it’s a criminal syndicate. It’s a loose organisation with people operating on a nod and a wink and a brown paper bag-the way it was in Queensland under Joh Bjelke-Petersen, I’ve been told. They settle it down and things go on as before, after a pause.’

‘What you say’s very convincing, Jane,’ I said, ‘but can you supply the evidence?’

She fiddled with the coffee cup. ‘This is the hard part. I’ve kept a detailed record of things I know happened- names, place names and dates. And I have personal knowledge of amounts of money involved in

… some of the minor matters. I’ve got all this in a safe place, at least I hope it is. But I’m not going to come out of this squeaky clean. I’ve taken kickbacks myself. I had to, or I would’ve been sidelined. Or they would’ve made it so hard for me I’d have had to quit. That’s probably going to be difficult for you to understand.’

Townsend said, ‘Not necessarily, but it’s a complication in terms of your credibility.’

‘I know, but I’ve got every dollar documented and it’s all put away with the other stuff.’

She was very pale and her hands were shaking. Townsend put three fingers on her forearm and leaned a bit closer towards her. He was good at the body language- comforting, not condescending. I was sympathetic, but I didn’t feel I was getting a whole lot closer to my focus- who, in this tangle, spoke to Lily and who found that out and took the next step. Jane said it wasn’t her who put Lily on the track, but could I believe her? Professional, highly competent, concerned woman. Who more likely?

‘Cliff?’ Townsend said. ‘Where’ve you gone?’

‘I’m sorry. I’d like to know what your next move is, Jane. I mean, you’ve accumulated this… data. Why act now? And how?’

In fact, I had more questions: What was your relationship with Gregory and Williams? How did you team up with Townsend? Why were you happy to have me along at this meeting? Why are you prepared to blow the whistle now? But I let the questions I’d put stand.

Jane stopped fiddling and shaking. She drank some water, drew in a deep breath, and colour returned to her face. She glanced at Townsend and then looked straight at me. ‘I met Lee. As far as I could tell he wasn’t trying for a story, he was just…’

‘Attracted,’ Townsend said. ‘Right.’

‘So we talked, and then Lily Truscott was killed. I knew the name and that she was a journalist, and as soon as Colin Williams was reassigned, I made a connection to the sort of stuff I’ve been talking about and I spoke to Lee a bit more… specifically. And now we’re here.’

‘Lee,’ I said, ‘sounds as if most of this is all news to you.’

‘It is,’ Townsend said. ‘Jane has been very guarded. She gave me a few more hints when she heard I’d made contact with you.’

‘Why’s that?’ I said.

‘Because I want protection,’ Jane said. She broke off and took in another deep breath. ‘You’re driving, Lee. Can I get a brandy?’

Townsend ordered two-one for her, one for me. Not my favourite drink by a long way, but I wanted to give her some kind of support and Townsend was bound to get the best stuff. I’d do my nocturnal sobering walk trick if necessary. The drinks came and Jane took a slug. Me too. Smooth.

‘I’ve got a plan,’ she said.

Jane Farrow’s plan was for her to meet with Vince Gregory, who was unhappy about her having broken off their affair. She intended to confirm that it was all off between them, to insult him and then tell him she was planning to report the corruption within the Northern Crimes Unit to the police ombudsman.

‘He’ll go nuts,’ she said. ‘He’ll be furious with me on both counts, but he’s a cold, calculating bastard and he’ll try to persuade me not to talk. I’ll say I need certain guarantees from Gary Perkins, he’s the Chief Super, and pretty much at the heart of the corruption, or very close to it.’

‘They’ll kill you,’ Townsend said.