Alex Palmer - The Tattooed Man

Trevor glanced at Ralph.

‘I can show one of them,’ Ralph said. ‘This is it.’

He placed the bagged contract on the table. The dried bloodstains were dark against the blue cover.

‘Christ,’ Stuart said softly and looked away.

‘Only one?’ the solicitor said. ‘Where’s the other one?’

‘You only need to see one in this context,’ Trevor replied. ‘Was this dinner put on to celebrate signing this contract?’

‘Yeah,’ Stuart replied, still looking away.

‘It’s a very complex document,’ Trevor said. ‘What exactly is the International Agricultural Research Consortium? How would you describe your mission statement?’

‘My client wishes me to advise you that he had only an investor’s role in that consortium,’ Lawrence said. ‘He went into it on the advice of his good friend Natalie Edwards and took no part in its management. He has no detailed knowledge of its activities other than a general understanding that it was involved in the development of proteinenriched crop lines for Third World countries.’

‘Can he tell us where this consortium is based? Where it does its research? Where it grows its crops? Presumably it does do all those things.’

‘I’m afraid my client has no information on any of those matters.’

‘Stuart, aren’t you the joint owner of a property with your brother, Harold? It’s somewhere out west,’ Ralph said. ‘What about out there?’

‘That dump! Nothing would grow out there. There’s no water.’

‘Anything relating to my client’s property near the Riverina has to be decided jointly by both brothers, including access.’ The solicitor spoke quickly and sharply. ‘You cannot go onto that property without my client’s permission and he sees no reason to give it. If you do go there without his permission, your actions will be illegal and your evidence tainted.’

‘You’re telling us you were prepared to put money into a business you knew nothing about?’ Ralph said.

‘Jerome was the one with all the details. Nattie told me to put some money in because it would be worth it. I trusted her.’

‘You’re the sole principal left, Stuart. Are you going to continue with the business?’

‘I don’t see how I can do that. I don’t know enough. No, it’s finished as far as I’m concerned.’

‘Where’d you get your diamonds from, Stuart?’ Trevor asked.

‘What does that have to do with this interview?’ the solicitor asked.

‘My information is that those diamonds were a gift from Jerome Beck. The stone Mrs Edwards was wearing when she was found was also a gift from Beck. Do you know where he got them from?’

‘Who told you that?’ Stuart asked.

‘A rock solid source, Stuart.’

Harrigan watched Stuart look from Trevor to Ralph. He hesitated. ‘He was like that. Generous.’

‘Very generous, you’d have to say. How much are they worth?’ Trevor asked.

‘I don’t know.’

‘Don’t you have them insured?’ Ralph asked. ‘Or don’t you have enough information regarding their provenance to find an insurer? Do you know where they came from?’

‘Out of his safe. No, I don’t know where they came from. Why would I ask?’

‘A man you barely know asks you to put money into a scheme you know nothing about. At the same time, he gives you diamonds because he feels like it,’ Ralph said. ‘I wish I knew someone like that.’

‘This whole line of questioning is grossly insulting to my client,’ the solicitor said.

‘One thing about this contract,’ Ralph said, moving on. ‘It’s got very strict provisions relating to the protection of intellectual property. Violate any of those provisions and you stand to lose everything you own. Why is that necessary?’

‘Isn’t it standard?’ Stuart said.

‘This contract is anything but standard,’ Trevor said. ‘If you were going to sign it, you must have looked it over. You must have realised that for yourself.’

‘My client has answered your question,’ the lawyer replied. ‘He considers the contract standard. There’s no need to pursue the point further.’

‘What about the money you were going to get for what you were selling?’ Trevor asked. ‘That’s a lot of money for very ordinary-looking produce. Why send it to Johannesburg?’

Stuart glanced at his solicitor before answering.

‘We were signing the contract because it was ready for harvest. It was just seed stock. It was being sent over there because that’s where it’d be used and they wanted to test it out first. That’s all I know.’

‘Was the contract going with it?’ Ralph asked.

‘As far as I know. I guess we’d have to exchange. Can we talk about something important? Nattie and Jerome are dead. What if these people come after me? I’m here helping you out. What are you going to do for me?’

‘Why would they come after you, Stuart?’ Ralph asked.

‘Someone may have a vendetta relating to Jerome Beck’s business, concerned with issues we possibly know nothing about,’ the solicitor said. ‘Two of my client’s business colleagues are dead. It’s feasible he may be on a death list.’

Remembering the scene on the patio, Harrigan looked at Morrissey through the window. The glass seemed to distort the man’s face. He had one hand stretched out on the table. In the artificial light, Harrigan saw the glimmer of his diamonds.

‘If we’re going to get you protection, we’ll need to justify it. You haven’t given us any reason why you’re in danger from anyone except maybe Ray Foster,’ Trevor said.

‘Nattie and Jerome are dead and you’re asking me to prove why I need protection?’

‘If you saw those pictures on the net, Stuart, you must have seen your old friend the Ice Cream Man up there,’ Trevor said.

‘Ex-Detective Cassatt is not an acquaintance of my client.’

‘Our intelligence tells us otherwise. Someone really worked him over before he died, by the look of it. He must have had information someone else wanted pretty badly. Do you also have information that someone else may want to get their hands on just as badly? Is that what you’re telling us?’

Stuart looked from Ralph to Trevor. His face was grey with fear.

‘Anything’s possible,’ he replied.

‘You haven’t told us enough, Stuart,’ Trevor said. ‘If you want protection, you’re going to have to tell us more about the consortium. What is there about it that could put you in so much danger? If you can answer that question for us, then yes, we can help you.’

Stuart looked at his solicitor who gave him the faintest of shrugs. Then he looked from Trevor to Ralph, calculating and frightened in one. With a movement so sudden it startled everyone, he slapped both hands on the table.

‘Then fuck it! This interview’s over. I’m getting out of this dump!’

‘You can watch your language first,’ Ralph said.

The lawyer stood too. ‘If you had treated my client with more sympathy and less sarcasm, he would not be reacting like this.’

‘Before he storms out of here,’ Trevor said, ‘let me say we’ll want to talk to him again.’

‘You’ll be lucky,’ Stuart said viciously.

‘Before we do anything,’ the solicitor said, ‘we’d like to know the source of some of the information you presented here today. I think my client has a right to know that.’

‘At the moment, it’s confidential,’ Trevor said.

‘It won’t be if we get to court. However, there’s another very important matter we have to address. That contract on the table is my client’s property. I will be going to court as soon as possible for an injunction to have both copies returned to him immediately. You have no business holding on to them and you have no business examining them.’