Jon Cleary - The Easy Sin

Malone wondered what sort of man Errol Magee had been that neither his wife nor his girlfriend appeared too upset at his disappearance. But then as he and Detective Constable Fernandez had agreed, women were a mystery.

‘We’ll find him eventually, Mrs Magee,’ he said. ‘We sometimes have unsolved murders on our books, but when we know who the murderer is, we usually find him. No matter how long it takes.’

‘So you basically think he killed the maid,’ said Cragg.

‘We never use the word basically in Homicide, Mr Cragg. With us, it either is or it ain’t. Not basically.’

‘I don’t believe Errol killed Juanita,’ said Kylie.

‘Neither do I,’ said Caroline.

They looked at each other as if they had heard disembodied voices. They will never be friends, thought Malone, but they’ll defend Magee if only because they want to get to him before we do. And he began to wonder if the women, separately, knew more than they were telling.

Then the computer on the table behind Cragg began to print out a message. Malone stepped round Cragg and read it: There’s a call for you, Jared. They won’t speak to anyone but you .

He looked towards the far end of the room. Louise had sat back from the computer on her desk and was looking towards them. Crumbs, he thought, they even talk to each other on the screens. ‘It’s for you, Mr Cragg. The phone.’

Thanks,’ said Cragg sarcastically and picked up one of the three phones on the table. ‘Put them through, Louise.’

Then: ‘Yes, this is Jared Cragg. Who’s that? Who?’

Then he looked at Malone, nodded at a second phone and reached across and pressed a button. Malone picked up the second phone.

‘Look –’ Cragg was showing no agitation; Malone, watching him, had to admire him. ‘How do we know you’ve got Mr Magee?’

‘He was the one who gave us your name,’ said the woman at the other end of the line. It was an Australian voice, Malone remarked, no accent. Over the past few years the police had started to divide crims up into ethnic groups, much to the loud disapproval of ethnic groups. ‘He’s all right, Mr Cragg. He hasn’t been harmed – not so far. He said you’d be able to raise the money we’re asking. Five million dollars, US.’

Cragg raised his eyebrows at Malone, who gestured at him to keep talking. ‘US? Why US?’

‘You know what the Aussie dollar is like, Mr Cragg. Up and down like a yo-yo. Five million, American.’

‘Mr Magee knows we don’t have that sort of money right now, US or Aussie. He would’ve told you that, right?’ There was silence at the other end. ‘Right? Well, I’m confirming it. Name a reasonable sum and I’ll see what we can raise.’

‘You can raise the five million. Try your partners, the Kunishima Bank. I’ll call back at five this evening. Have the money by then.’

‘Just a moment,’ said Malone, cutting in. ‘This is Detective-Inspector Malone, of Homicide. Put Mr Magee himself on.’

The woman laughed, a pleasant laugh. ‘You’re kidding, aren’t you? Get lost, copper. This is between us and Magee’s company.’

‘Did you kill the Magee maid? That puts it between you and me.’

There was a moment’s silence, then the phone went dead.

Cragg said, ‘Can you trace that call?’

‘Maybe the area, but not the actual phone. Sheryl, get them started on that.’

‘Right away, sir.’ She checked the number of I-Saw, then went quickly down to the reception desk.

‘Did you recognize the woman’s voice?’ Malone asked Cragg.

‘A woman ?’ Kylie’s voice rose. ‘Holy shit, he’s got another woman?’

‘It’s getting crowded,’ said Caroline Magee and there was just a hint of a smile around her lips.

Malone ignored them both. ‘If they’re demanding ransom for Magee, if they do have him, why the pantomime of the ransom notes on the computers for Miss Doolan?’ But he was talking to himself; he wasn’t looking for an answer from the others. ‘Could the woman on the phone be someone who works here?’

I didn’t recognize the voice,’ said Cragg. ‘You still think someone from here organized all this?’

‘I don’t know. We consider every possibility and then start eliminating them. I still think the strongest possibility is that Errol organized his own kidnapping and it all went wrong when the maid was killed. Maybe the woman is in on the scam with him –’

‘Bastard!’ said Kylie.

Malone had been thinking aloud, something no cop should ever do. He realized it and tried to get his thoughts and his tongue under control. He looked at Caroline: ‘Did he ever mention another woman to you?’

‘Only Miss Doolan,’ said Caroline and made it sound as if Miss Doolan were no more than graffiti on a wall.

Malone swallowed his smile, turned back to Cragg. ‘I want a list of everyone who’s worked here in the past twelve months.’

‘Everyone?’

‘Everyone. It shouldn’t be any problem, Mr Cragg.’ He nodded at the deserted work-stations, every one with its own computer. ‘Not with Information Technology.’

He spoke with the sarcasm of a troglodyte who still scratched sketches on the wall of his cave. Cragg and Smith looked at him as if they saw him exactly like that.

‘Can we help?’ asked Smith.

‘Just see no money goes out, five million or even a dollar. No ransom, unless you talk to us first. We’ll be in touch.’

He walked down the long room to where Sheryl waited for him at the reception desk.

‘They’ve started the trace,’ she said. ‘But they’re not hopeful.’

‘Good,’ said Malone, but entertained no hope. ‘Have you got Louise’s full name?’

‘Louise Cobcroft.’

‘Why do you want my name?’ Louise was standing at her desk, antagonism in every line of her slim body. She had drawn her hair back, holding it in place with a headband, and it improved her looks, showing the fine bonework in her face. Her eyes were almost glassy in their severity. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Louise, you stayed on the phone when that call came through for Mr Cragg. I saw you, you listened to every word. Do you usually do that on your boss’ calls?’

‘No-o.’ She backed down, but only an inch.

‘Did you recognize that woman’s voice? One of your workmates, for instance?’

‘No, I didn’t.

‘Why were you so interested in the call? Did the woman mention Mr Magee when she first came on the line?’

‘No-o.’ She was looking less and less confident.

‘How well did you know Mr Magee? Did you work closely with him?’

‘Yes.’

‘How close?’ said Sheryl, coming in at the other end of the pitch. She’s learning, thought Malone, she’s going to be a good change bowler.

‘We’d work at night together –’

‘That all?’

Suddenly all the stiffness went out of Louise. She glanced down towards the far end of the room. The group there were looking in the direction of Malone and the two women. Louise sighed and turned back to Malone and Sheryl. ‘Okay, sometimes we’d hold hands –’

Malone grinned. ‘How tightly?’

Unexpectedly she smiled; it changed her whole face, made her very attractive. ‘It was nothing serious … He had Kylie. But now and again one thing would lead to another … You know how it is –’ She looked at Sheryl, not at the old man beside her. ‘Basically, just one-night stands.’

‘Here amongst the work-stations?’ said Malone.

‘No. Up till yesterday the work-stations were in operation twenty-four hours a day. He’d take me home …

‘Did he hold hands with any of the other women on the staff?’

‘I don’t know. He might have … And that’s all I’m going to tell you. Here comes Kylie. Don’t tell her.’