Alex Palmer - The Tattooed Man

‘She’s remarkable. Very competent, very intelligent, very attractive. And very, very driven. She has immense energy. I could use some of that now.’

He looked exhausted, trying to draw out useful information from things that had ceased to have meaning for him. They were approaching the door to the incident room. Harrigan could hear the buzz.

‘I don’t think we need to go into the incident room, Minister,’ Trevor said. ‘There’s a conference room down here. You’ll be more comfortable there.’

‘What do you think I’m going to see in there that I won’t like?’ Edwards asked. ‘Why don’t I go and have a look?’

With his adviser behind him, he walked quickly inside the room. Harrigan and Trevor followed. The room was crowded. Telephones rang, paper was accumulating in ever-growing piles on everyone’s desk, there was a sense of hurried activity. Edwards and his adviser walked over to the room’s whiteboard. There, as Harrigan had known it would be, was pinned a large, full-colour photograph of the Pittwater murder scene. The room became silent, people watched.

‘Were you afraid of me seeing this?’ Edwards asked. ‘You forget, I’ve seen it in real life. It was the first thing that came into my mind when I woke up this morning. I’ll probably die seeing it, whether I want to or not. Let me tell you, it can’t do anything to me on paper. It’s time for me to talk to your people. Who have you got organised?’

‘I’ll take you over and introduce you to them, Minister,’ Trevor said. ‘Can we get you some coffee? Maybe something to eat?’

‘Thank you. My adviser too. We’ve both been working most of the night. Thank you for your time, Commander. I’m sure I’ll speak to you again.’

Edwards walked away with Trevor, his faithful adviser behind him. Not more than a few moments later, Marvin entered the room and came up to Harrigan.

‘Why did you bring the minister in here? Can’t you find him some better accommodation?’

‘He came in of his own accord. What are you doing here?’

The level of noise in the room had increased as the members of the task force returned to their work. Marvin’s arrival quietened them again. Harrigan could see people staring in surprise at the arrival of so many heavyweights in their space. It would fuel the gossip for days.

‘I’ve come down here to see how your people are spending my money. Why wouldn’t I want to know that?’

He turned and walked away quickly, going into Trevor’s office. Harrigan followed, angry at having to walk in Marvin’s footsteps. When he reached the office door, he saw Marvin flicking through the papers that covered Trevor’s desk.

‘What do you think you’re doing?’

‘I’m your inspector’s senior officer. I can look through his desk if I want to. I’m paying for this and I want to be fully informed about what’s going on.’

Trevor appeared in the doorway, still carrying the dossier the minister had given him in the commissioner’s office. At the sight of Marvin, blood rushed into his cheeks.

‘You’d better sit down, mate,’ Harrigan said. ‘It’s your office.’

Before anyone could move, Marvin sat at Trevor’s desk.

‘Couldn’t you find somewhere better for the minister than a small room at the back of this badly ventilated mess of a place?’ he asked Trevor abruptly. ‘Who’s that you’ve got talking to him?’

‘Frankie’s dealing with him.’

‘Looking at her will put him off his lunch. Couldn’t you get someone more senior than her? Didn’t you recruit her? How do I know she’s any good?’

‘Frankie knows what she’s doing.’

‘It’s not whether you think that. It’s whether I do.’

‘No, that’s a question for me, Marvin,’ Harrigan intervened angrily. ‘What do you think you’re doing, talking to my inspector like this? Get up from that desk. Did God rip into you because you made a fool of yourself just now? Now you’re taking it out on us. Don’t bother. We’ve got work to do.’

‘The commissioner doesn’t rip into me. He listens to what I have to say. But he will rip into your inspector if he doesn’t do his job properly.’ Marvin turned back to Trevor, ignoring Harrigan. ‘The money’s mine. I expect you to run your operational decisions past me for my countersigning. If you want God on your side, you’d better start doing that today.’

‘No, mate,’ Harrigan interrupted. ‘You don’t make operational decisions. God said that was my responsibility and I’m not sharing it with you.’

‘You’re not here. You’re on leave.’

‘Nothing is going to happen on this job without me knowing about it. You can get that through your head right now.’

Marvin looked at him silently for a few moments. Then he glanced around at the pictures of home and family on Trevor’s desk, at the Sydney Roosters football club scarf draped over the filing cabinet. In a relaxed way, he got up from behind the desk.

‘How do you know you can trust your inspector?’ he suddenly asked. ‘I’ve often heard it said that he’s an embarrassment to you.’

‘What did you say?’

Trevor’s voice made it clear that he was close to losing it. Urgently, Harrigan signalled to him to stay silent.

‘You’ve never heard that from me, Marvin. You be very careful saying things like that.’

‘How do you know he’s not a security risk as well? Did he leak any of the information that’s in today’s papers? Was he paid for it? How much?’

‘You look me in the face when you say that kind of thing!’ Trevor almost shouted.

‘Quiet!’ Harrigan ordered. ‘You keep your scuttlebutt to yourself, Marvin. I have complete confidence in Trevor. I’ll say so to God whenever I’m asked to. But I don’t have to, do I? The minister said it himself.’

‘Aren’t you two golden-haired boys?’ Marvin spoke very softly. He moved closer to Harrigan. ‘It’s your career down the toilet if this goes belly up. You should be careful what you do and who you rely on.’

‘You know, Marvin, you never come down here to get your hands dirty. Why are you so interested all of a sudden? You must have a reason. Come on. Share it with me. I’d like to know.’

‘I told you. The money’s mine. I want to know how it’s spent.’

Marvin walked out, the rest of the incident room silently watching him go. Trevor sat down at his desk and put his head in his hands. Unlike other offices in the building, Trevor’s office walls weren’t made of glass. People couldn’t see inside. Harrigan shut the door.

‘Don’t let him bait you like that again!’

‘Jesus, boss.’ Trevor rubbed his large forehead. His face and neck had turned a deep, dangerous red. ‘He’s getting to me. He’s been on my fucking back ever since I got here this morning. Where are we up to? What are we doing? He was down here bending my ear when his PA rang to tell him Edwards was here. I never saw anyone run out of here so fast in my life. Fucked if I know where that “security risk” stuff came from. I’m not letting him get away with saying that sort of thing about me.’

‘No, I told you. Don’t let him bait you. If you do, you’ll end up hanging yourself. That’s how he works. Take this and put it away with yours. Then get your head together. Tell me exactly what you told Marvin this morning.’

Trevor locked both copies of the dossier away in his filing cabinet. Then he took a packet of tablets out of his desk drawer and swallowed one of them. Slowly the red flush faded from his face and neck. The big man suffered from hypertension. Too much pressure could put him in a hospital bed or worse. Did Marvin know this? Was it all part of the plan? Harrigan glanced at one of the photographs on the desk, just visible side on. Taken at a party sometime somewhere, it showed Trevor with his partner of eighteen years, Vincent, an accountant who had his own business at Randwick Junction. They were sitting side by side on a sofa, laughing. Harrigan reflected how pictures of the people who mattered to him were always hidden in his wallet. Trevor had never had any such qualms. He’d always said he was big enough and ugly enough to look after himself. Not if the Tooth had him in his sights.