Alex Palmer - The Tattooed Man

‘As far as I know, all those crops were destroyed,’ Parkin said. ‘How do we prove this?’

‘Harold Morrissey was badly injured handling the tobacco. We have documented proof of that.’

‘If it was the tobacco that caused those injuries and not a farming accident. What happens next in this scenario of yours?’

Harrigan almost announced that crop samples did exist, then changed his mind. It was information he would share later with Trevor.

‘Whoever shot those people, after they’re dead the shit hits the fan,’ he replied. ‘Calvo goes into survival mode. She wipes the IAR Consortium off the face of the earth. She tries to shut down this investigation and stop anyone from implicating her and her company in whatever Beck was doing. Which means that whatever Beck was up to, it was dynamite.’

‘Hold it right there,’ Parkin said. ‘You’re telling us she’s behind this sabotage. She hired the man who blew a government minister, his adviser and a police guard to eternity. We know that Elena Calvo was a good friend of Edwards. She’s also the CEO of a cutting-edge scientific institution he helped bring here. Besides which, the senator doesn’t refer to her in his affidavit. Also, he makes no connection between Beck and LPS. Given who he has accused, surely he would have voiced any suspicions he might have had about her? Especially since he knew from the dossier that she did have this connection with Beck.’

‘Given the senator’s friendship with Calvo, he may not have wanted to face up to the possibility that she was implicated in these events,’ Harrigan said. ‘Secondly, he may not have wanted to bring down a company he’d worked so hard to establish here. That affidavit is almost entirely a personal attack on the man he accuses of bribing him, so much so it undermines what he has to say. I’d like to know what his state of mind was when he wrote it. If we’d had the chance to go through it with him, it might have been a different story.’

‘That can’t happen now.’

‘That’s the point.’

‘This is all conjecture. Do you have any real evidence to back this scenario other than these assertions?’ Parkin asked. ‘Because let me tell you, Commander, even if this was true, you’d have the devil’s own job proving it.’

‘Proof is what we’re looking for,’ Harrigan said. ‘Trev. I asked you to look into Sam Jonas. What did you find out about her?’

‘She’s on the books of the same security firm as du Plessis,’ Trevor said. ‘Griffin Enterprises. She gave their name and number as a reference on her resume. When we rang, they confirmed that, but as soon as we said who we were they put the phone down and now they won’t take our calls.’

‘Who is this person?’ Parkin asked.

‘One of Elena Calvo’s security people,’ Harrigan said. ‘She’s a wild card. I think it’s worth finding out who she really is.’

‘Do you have any reason to believe she’s involved in any of this?’

‘We’ve just heard she shares an agency with du Plessis. My information is, she was tailing Beck for months before his death. Yes, I think she’ll have something to tell us.’

‘Then we’ll wait to find out what she has to say. But all these things you’ve put forward need proof,’ Parkin said.

‘If we get du Plessis, we have a good chance of getting some of the information we need. This is where your people and mine could cooperate.’

‘Commander, we all know that du Plessis supposedly abducted your son. Are you sure you’re not letting any personal feelings get in the way of your judgement?’

‘I never do. If you knew anything about the way I work, you’d know that was true.’

‘So you say.’ Parkin stood up. ‘In my eyes, we’re already cooperating. Every law enforcement agency in the country is out there searching for this man. But if this scenario is where your antenna is fixed right now, I prefer to follow my own investigation. Is that the full body of information you have for us so far?’

‘Pretty much,’ Trevor said.

‘Then thank you again.’ Parkin’s two colleagues got to their feet as well. ‘We’ll get to work. We’ll certainly be in touch with what we find, and we expect to hear from you too. In the meantime, Commander, if you get any proof of that scenario, you bring it to us. I’m happy to hear facts but I’ve never been interested in fantasies.’

Harrigan didn’t reply. They walked out.

‘Arseholes,’ Frankie muttered.

There was silence.

‘Where do we go from here, boss?’ Trevor asked.

‘Where you’re going now,’ Harrigan replied. ‘Keep looking into Calvo’s background. Check out Sam Jonas. Sit down and work through the information again. In my opinion, you’re on the right track. Meantime, I think everyone here needs a break. Get some fresh air. Trev, your office now.’

At his desk, a change came over Trevor. The public face had gone; he seemed to have trouble looking Harrigan in the eye.

‘I got your wire, boss. I’m guessing that’s why you wanted to talk to me.’ He passed the paraphernalia over to Harrigan. ‘Are you sure you just want to record? You don’t want us to listen in?’

‘No, what you’ve given me is fine.’

‘Boss, your son being snatched like that. What was it really about?’

‘What do you think it’s about?’ Harrigan said.

‘He wanted something from you, didn’t he?’ Trevor asked quietly.

Harrigan shook his head.

‘Come on, boss. Was it what Freeman gave Gracie, maybe? Did you give it to this du Plessis? He didn’t even tell you where your boy was. Gracie found him, thank Christ.’

‘Grace got some information for us,’ Harrigan said, changing the subject. ‘She gave it to me last night. She says there’s a connection between Jonas and Brinsmead.’

‘How can she know that?’

‘To put it simply, she found it out talking to Brinsmead. He’d met her at the LPS launch. He wanted to tell her how he got his burns. He’s got a connection to the DRC with du Plessis and Beck. According to him, all three of them were there together.’

‘Are you telling me Brinsmead is our anonymous operative in the dossier?’ Trevor asked.

‘He’d have all the right qualifications,’ Harrigan said.

‘You didn’t say that to the boys and girls out there.’

‘Grace thinks Brinsmead and Jonas might be legitimate operatives from a secret service agency and their brief is to find out what Beck and LPS are up to. Now that scenario makes sense, but we have to find out whether it’s actually true. If we advertise this information, we could be sabotaging their investigation. But if they’re rogue, then they’re right in the picture for this. They’re an obvious source for the dossier, for example.’ Harrigan spoke more quietly. ‘I’d also be looking at Sam Jonas for Marvin’s shooting.’

‘What makes you think that?’

‘Gut. And the fact that it couldn’t have been du Plessis.’

‘What are you going to do, boss?’

‘See the commissioner as soon as I leave this office. Ask him to take the question to ASIO. If Brinsmead and Jonas are legitimate, then they’re the ones who should be able to find that fact out for us. Until we know that, I don’t want this information going anywhere. It’s between you and me. That’s why I’ve waited until now to discuss it with you. I wanted to think it through first.’

‘What about getting a statement from Gracie?’

‘We do need to do that. I’ll talk to her about it. In the meantime, add Brinsmead to your list of people to check out. There’s something else you need to know. There are crop specimens in existence. Harold Morrissey took some and gave them to me to bring back. They’re at the Millennium lab right now being tested.’