The Family Cleaner, page 16
“This will be fun, Frankie. What do ya reckon, twenty messages from Prosser and his mates?”
He started deleting voice messages from Prosser then stopped at one from Monahan asking him to call him back urgently. The next message was from a number he didn’t recognise, the message was brief, ‘call back’.
He called Pav. “Pav, I’m back at Fairhaven, thought I’d better show my face.”
“Good move, David, better you here now. I think we have trouble. Buyers tell me others sniffing around.”
“We’ll talk about it when I see you.”
“Will be in Geelong this week. We can catch then, okay?”
“Sure. Usual place.”
Chapter 18
Fairhaven, 14th October 2018
David took Frank to the beach, returning at 9 a.m. He knew once he started retuning his missed calls he would be drawn back to reality. He made a plunger of coffee and fed Frank.
He called Monahan. “What’s up, Monahan? It sounded urgent.”
“I’m sorry, David, but I had to give your number out. They threatened my kids. Someone in the city must have put us together and blabbed,” Monahan blurted out.
That explains the message he had from the unknown mobile number. “You okay?”
“I hope to have my left leg out of plaster in about five weeks.”
“Ouch, sorry to hear that. And the kids?”
“They said if I didn’t give them your contact details, they’d do the same to my kids.”
“Lovely. Real gents, then. Let me guess, bikies from Melbourne who are missing a couple of friends?”
“Don’t know about that. He was a Serb, big, nasty piece of work. Sorry, David.”
“So you said. Other than my number, what was he after?”
“My source says his mob deal coke and they want to make a move into Geelong. They have a very nasty rep, David. I suspect they don’t just want supply; they want to control supply. They want to take over your operation.”
“No one is taking anything over. Sorry about your leg. Leave this with me. I thought I had seen off the last of these types.”
“David this is too dangerous. He came to my office; he knows where I live.”
“Calm down, Monahan, I’ll take care of this.”
“I’ve taken on security guards; you have to pay for that.”
“Monahan what you do to make yourself feel safe is up to you. You make a lot of money off the business I send to you. I am not paying for your security. Are we clear?”
Monahan was silent.
“Are we clear?” David repeated more forcefully.
“Yes,” Monahan replied and ended the call.
David dialled Prosser’s number; he almost knew it ‘by heart’ because there had been so many voice messages from him.
“Detective Prosser. It’s David Carter, you left a message. Well, several.”
“Where have you been?” Prosser said angrily down the phone.
“Steady on, Detective, I’ve been away. I don’t have to keep you informed of my whereabouts.”
Prosser sighed.
“Carter I know you are up to no good. Everything about you shrieks rotten.”
“That seems harsh Detective. I’m just a surfer who likes to mind his own business.”
You need to come and see me,” Prosser said.
“I’ll be in town the day after tomorrow, after lunch.”
Pav’s phone rang. “I thought we meet tomorrow, David?”
“We are, but we have some trouble. Might relate to what you said,” David said.
“More trouble how?”
“Serbs want our powder business. They roughed up the solicitor, broke his leg, and threatened his kids. I’ll call and see what their story is, but it looks like we’ll have to keep an eye out.”
“Getting too hard, David.”
Pav ended the call.
David fiddled with his phone while contemplating his next move. He wondered what the impact would be if he made the call to the mobile number with the brief message. He grabbed a burner from the drawer and dialled.
“You called, what is it you want?” He asked.
“You don’t know me, but I know about you. We have a mutual friend in the legal system. He was persuaded to give me your number.”
He sounded a bit like someone doing a bad impersonation of The Terminator but with an Australian twang.
“I very much doubt you and I would have a mutual friend but go on.”
“We are taking over your action.”
“Not sure what action you’re talking about. I’m a gardener.”
“Get serious, we’ve been following you. We’ve talked to your dealers.”
“My dealers? Don’t think so, I don’t have dealers. You’ve got the wrong bloke.” David ended the call.
He let the call back go to voicemail, then waited and played it back.
“Listen, fool. We know it’s you and we are coming after your patch. Get out of the way.”
He hit “end” and called Pav. It went to voicemail. “I spoke to the Serb who visited Monahan; we have trouble. Will explain tomorrow.”
Café Greek, Geelong, 16th October 2018
Café Greek wasn’t much more than a hole in the wall, with uncomfortable chairs, Greek music on a continual loop and staff who didn’t seem to care about whether they served you or not. But it had two redeeming features: a clear view of the front street, and a rear exit that lead onto an alley.
David arrived first and pre-ordered Pav’s usual, a double-double espresso. He sat where he could see both doors. With this new threat, he needed to be alert.
Pav arrived, shoulders slightly slumped and sat heavily into a chair.
“What’s that matter, mate?”
“David I don’t want trouble. Serbs are always trouble. Big trouble.”
“Let me take care of them.”
“Big trouble, David.”
“Last time we had trouble they got to me through one of our buyers. Are you hearing anything?” David said.
“Da, two buyers tell me bikers again sniffing. Look for you.”
“I take it they’re connected to those two I dealt with before.”
Pav nodded.
“So we have bikers after our hash business and Serbs after the coke. This is getting hard.”
“Da.”
“Where do they hang out?”
“Coffee house on Pakington Street. Not good guys these, David.”
“Let’s check them out before we decide what to do. I’ll meet you there.”
Geelong, 18th October 2018
David and Pav watched the coffee house from across the street; Frank sniffed around the base of a nearby power pole, then lifted his leg. Two black SUVs were parked nose to tail, straddling the footpath and the road. Two large, heavily tattooed men leaned against them, transfixed by their phones.
“Pav, why don’t you take Frank for a walk over near those SUVs and wait for him to do his thing? Wait till I go in the café and check it out, then come over.”
“Da.”
As David entered the coffee shop, a tattooed cabal squished around a table in the back of the café turned and stared. He ordered and leaned against the wall, looking at them.
“What are you lookin’ at?” One called out. He stood out, dressed in a black suit and stark white shirt. A chunky gold chain hung down over the top of the shirt. The rest of the group stopped what they were doing.
David looked behind himself and then back at the group. “Who? Me?”
“Well, fuckhead, there ain’t anyone else here.”
“I can understand why.”
“Get your coffee and fuck off,” he said and turned back to the group.
David left. Pav was standing near one of the SUVs, Frank was sniffing around the rear wheel of the SUV.
Wait for it, there you go, good boy.
One of the men looked up from his phone and yelled out, “Stop ya fuckin’ mutt from pissin’ on me wheel.”
“Or what?” Pav said.
They pocketed their phones and moved towards Pav.
David moved quickly from the front door of the café and kneeled to pat Frank. “Great looking dog.” Then he stood and turned to face them. He lifted his T-shirt to reveal the butt of his pistol. “I think you two need to stop right there and let this guy and his dog get on their way.”
They stepped back and one moved quickly to the front door of the café and yelled, “Get out here.”
The chunky gold chain flashed in the sunlight as the ‘main man’ from inside pushed through the door.
“Now, listen!” David said. “Let’s all calm down. This guy’s dog just pissed on a wheel, that’s all. Why don’t you all go back to your little meeting.”
“You again, I thought I told you to fuck off?” He turned to the two who had been outside and were now standing behind the group. “Did you get us out here cause a dog pissed on a wheel?”
“No, this one is carrying.”
Hands went inside jackets and the group moved apart. David could tell they had been in this situation before from the way they positioned themselves.
Pav and David backed away, turned their backs on the group and walked. “Keep walking slowly, you and Frank go left here and I’ll see you back at the Greek,” David said quietly. Frank started to follow David till Pav whistled.
Back at the Greek café, David said, “What did we learn from that?”
“Pretty tough bunch,” Pav said.
“Do you want to get out?”
“Have plenty of cash. Go home now, I am King Pav.”
“Yeah, well, cash isn’t my problem either. The way I live, I don’t need much. Do you reckon we should just bail? Seems a shame to let them get away with this, but I suspect they’ll just keep coming.”
Pav scratched his chin with a gnarly thumb, then finished the inky coffee in one gulp. “I hate Serbs.”
“Do we see if we can change their minds and then make the call on what we do from there? What do you think?”
Pav gave David a quizzical look. “I think you talk too fast.”
“Pav, trust me. I don’t like bastards pushing me around either. We’ll push back hard and if that doesn’t work, we’ll pack it in.”
“Da.”
“Okay well let’s sort these parasites.”
Fairhaven, 18th October 2018
Back in Fairhaven, David sat on his porch while Frank snuffled around in the bushes.
“There simply cannot be another thing for you to have to pee on, Frank.”
Frank raised his head and continued to sniff around, defiantly lifting his hind leg on a hydrangea bush.
David wondered whether getting into the coke business had been clever. Dealing with the Serbian mafia seemed a quantum leap from seeing off a few bikers. Still, he liked a challenge, and he had the essence of a plan.
Geelong Police Station, 21st October 2018
“Come with me,” Prosser said to David, pushing through the doors to the interview room. “I guess you heard the news about the Chisholm family?”
“Someone told me you guys were on the TV saying they were dead.”
“They were found in your cellar.”
“My cellar, you mean the place where I slept? Bit ironic that, and on the property the whole time. That must be a bit embarrassing for you then.”
“They were carefully concealed. We wouldn’t have found them if there hadn’t been some clever police work.”
“Albeit a few months too late.”
Prosser glared at David, shuffling the file in front of him.
“Where have you been?”
“Away, driving, camping, seeing the sights. It’s a free world, Prosser, and I’m not tied to a desk.”
“And you don’t seem to work much,” Prosser said.
“Detective, my dog doesn’t eat much, board wax is pretty cheap, so I don’t need a lot.”
“Yet here you are living in a nice house, driving a new ute...” Prosser stopped talking and looked directly into David’s eyes. “Makes me start to think you have access to money, the source of which isn’t apparent.”
“Why did you want me to come in?” Verbal jousting with Prosser wasn’t smart.
Prosser opened his file. “What can you tell me about your cousin, Jessica?”
“No more than I would have said before. She was the best of a bad lot as far as treating me went. I was glad she got out of Bendigo and away from those pricks. She’s living in Sydney, but other than that, zilch.”
“I thought you hadn’t seen her since you were fifteen or so. How do you know all that?”
“Err, people talk, Prosser. Bendigo isn’t that big.”
“And you last saw her when?”
“Saw her? Didn’t I just say I haven’t seen her since I went West at fifteen?”
“When did you last speak with her, then?”
David shifted his gaze to the mirror on the wall of the interview room.
“Is that one of those two-way mirrors you see on TV? Are there cops on the other side watching this?”
Prosser resisted the temptation to look over his shoulder. “You watch too much TV, Carter, this is Geelong. We can’t afford two-way mirrors, and none of this is interesting enough to demand an audience.”
David looked back at Prosser. “Are we done?”
“When you answer my question, which was when did you last talk with Jessica?”
“Talk with her...”
David’s phone rang and he answered, holding his finger up to Prosser. “Hey, how’s it going? ... Yes, I’m finished here ... Where? ... Okay, see you then. Sorry, Prosser, I have to run. I’d like to say it’s been nice to catch up, but there you go.”
He took two strides towards the door but Prosser leaped up and grabbed his arm.
“Answer my question.”
David wrapped his fingers around Prosser’s throat. “Don’t touch me, Prosser.” Then released his grip.
Prosser bent over coughing, stunned. The door flew open and two uniformed officers burst through and grabbed David.
“You lied, Prosser, you do have a two-way mirror.”
“Let him go,” Prosser said after he finished coughing. “Carter, you’re rotten to the core, and I know you’re involved in the Chisholm deaths. We will find out, I promise you.”
David left the police station and called Pav.
“These cops are getting way too close. I’m worried they might tumble onto our operation and drag you into things.”
“All good, David. No worries.”
“Yeah, but this local cop wants to get me on the Chisholm thing. I’ve been thinking about our problem, and I have a plan. Meet me around the corner from the coffee shop in Pakington in thirty minutes and I’ll step you through it.”
He drove to the meeting place and fished around in the glove box for something to write on. He found the service book and ripped a blank page out, then drew a sketch of the area.
Frank barked and wagged his tail as Pav opened the passenger door.
“This is what I have in mind.”
Pav nodded here and there as David unfolded the plan to him.
“The most important thing is for you to keep to the left of the second vehicle. I don’t want you in my line of sight. And don’t take a weapon. I’ll call the cops and tell them there’s a shooting a few minutes before so they can get their arses over there. Understood?”
Pav looked at the paper. “Da, should work.”
David punched Pav gently in the chest and smiled. “What do you mean, should work? I did this for a living for five years.”
“Da, da.”
“So be here at ten tomorrow morning and I’ll do the rest.”
Chapter 19
Police Video Conference, 24th October 2018
“DS Jefferson, how did it go with Jessica?” Kleinberg asked.
“Pretty much as I expected. She asked about the release of the bodies and said she guessed she would have to arrange the funerals ’cause the other two were also missing,” Jefferson said.
“So still ‘neutral’?” Kleinberg said, using air quotes.
“Maybe what you said wasn’t a surprise!” Prosser said.
“What do you mean?” Jefferson said.
“What if she knows what happened?”
“Master of the conspiracy aren’t you, DS? But you may be on the money,” Kleinberg said.
“Do you mean she was actively involved or Carter maybe told her about it?” Jefferson asked.
Prosser held up his right hand and counted off the statements as he made them. “One, why is she so confident about her safety? Two, Carter doesn’t care about the death and disappearance of his family, and we have a fair idea why. But what happened to Jessica that causes her to be ‘neutral,’ to quote you? Three, Jessica and David were supportive of each other as kids. Four, Carter was a sniper in Afghanistan and Jessica is a forensic scientist. Both jobs suggest people who are cold, dispassionate, and used to death,” Prosser said.
“You’re running out of fingers,” Brownsill said, chuckling.
“Almost,” Prosser replied. “Five, Lauren said that Jessica seemed unsurprised when she learned about the bodies in the cellar. How do you explain that? Even if you don’t care about someone, surely you can’t hide your surprise at that news. Unless you already knew.”
There was silence.
“None of you have been able to pin Carter or Jessica Chisholm down on whether they have been in contact since they were kids. Is this a silly game they are playing with us or have they genuinely not been in contact?” Kleinberg said. “Because it’s fundamental. If they have been in touch and they are lying about it. What else are they lying about?”
“John, you’re serious about this theory?” Brownsill said.
“I’m sure Carter is involved because of his absences and his circumstance. Lauren is convinced Jessica has either had a personality bypass or is such a hard arse that nothing is a surprise to her,” Prosser said.
He started deleting voice messages from Prosser then stopped at one from Monahan asking him to call him back urgently. The next message was from a number he didn’t recognise, the message was brief, ‘call back’.
He called Pav. “Pav, I’m back at Fairhaven, thought I’d better show my face.”
“Good move, David, better you here now. I think we have trouble. Buyers tell me others sniffing around.”
“We’ll talk about it when I see you.”
“Will be in Geelong this week. We can catch then, okay?”
“Sure. Usual place.”
Chapter 18
Fairhaven, 14th October 2018
David took Frank to the beach, returning at 9 a.m. He knew once he started retuning his missed calls he would be drawn back to reality. He made a plunger of coffee and fed Frank.
He called Monahan. “What’s up, Monahan? It sounded urgent.”
“I’m sorry, David, but I had to give your number out. They threatened my kids. Someone in the city must have put us together and blabbed,” Monahan blurted out.
That explains the message he had from the unknown mobile number. “You okay?”
“I hope to have my left leg out of plaster in about five weeks.”
“Ouch, sorry to hear that. And the kids?”
“They said if I didn’t give them your contact details, they’d do the same to my kids.”
“Lovely. Real gents, then. Let me guess, bikies from Melbourne who are missing a couple of friends?”
“Don’t know about that. He was a Serb, big, nasty piece of work. Sorry, David.”
“So you said. Other than my number, what was he after?”
“My source says his mob deal coke and they want to make a move into Geelong. They have a very nasty rep, David. I suspect they don’t just want supply; they want to control supply. They want to take over your operation.”
“No one is taking anything over. Sorry about your leg. Leave this with me. I thought I had seen off the last of these types.”
“David this is too dangerous. He came to my office; he knows where I live.”
“Calm down, Monahan, I’ll take care of this.”
“I’ve taken on security guards; you have to pay for that.”
“Monahan what you do to make yourself feel safe is up to you. You make a lot of money off the business I send to you. I am not paying for your security. Are we clear?”
Monahan was silent.
“Are we clear?” David repeated more forcefully.
“Yes,” Monahan replied and ended the call.
David dialled Prosser’s number; he almost knew it ‘by heart’ because there had been so many voice messages from him.
“Detective Prosser. It’s David Carter, you left a message. Well, several.”
“Where have you been?” Prosser said angrily down the phone.
“Steady on, Detective, I’ve been away. I don’t have to keep you informed of my whereabouts.”
Prosser sighed.
“Carter I know you are up to no good. Everything about you shrieks rotten.”
“That seems harsh Detective. I’m just a surfer who likes to mind his own business.”
You need to come and see me,” Prosser said.
“I’ll be in town the day after tomorrow, after lunch.”
Pav’s phone rang. “I thought we meet tomorrow, David?”
“We are, but we have some trouble. Might relate to what you said,” David said.
“More trouble how?”
“Serbs want our powder business. They roughed up the solicitor, broke his leg, and threatened his kids. I’ll call and see what their story is, but it looks like we’ll have to keep an eye out.”
“Getting too hard, David.”
Pav ended the call.
David fiddled with his phone while contemplating his next move. He wondered what the impact would be if he made the call to the mobile number with the brief message. He grabbed a burner from the drawer and dialled.
“You called, what is it you want?” He asked.
“You don’t know me, but I know about you. We have a mutual friend in the legal system. He was persuaded to give me your number.”
He sounded a bit like someone doing a bad impersonation of The Terminator but with an Australian twang.
“I very much doubt you and I would have a mutual friend but go on.”
“We are taking over your action.”
“Not sure what action you’re talking about. I’m a gardener.”
“Get serious, we’ve been following you. We’ve talked to your dealers.”
“My dealers? Don’t think so, I don’t have dealers. You’ve got the wrong bloke.” David ended the call.
He let the call back go to voicemail, then waited and played it back.
“Listen, fool. We know it’s you and we are coming after your patch. Get out of the way.”
He hit “end” and called Pav. It went to voicemail. “I spoke to the Serb who visited Monahan; we have trouble. Will explain tomorrow.”
Café Greek, Geelong, 16th October 2018
Café Greek wasn’t much more than a hole in the wall, with uncomfortable chairs, Greek music on a continual loop and staff who didn’t seem to care about whether they served you or not. But it had two redeeming features: a clear view of the front street, and a rear exit that lead onto an alley.
David arrived first and pre-ordered Pav’s usual, a double-double espresso. He sat where he could see both doors. With this new threat, he needed to be alert.
Pav arrived, shoulders slightly slumped and sat heavily into a chair.
“What’s that matter, mate?”
“David I don’t want trouble. Serbs are always trouble. Big trouble.”
“Let me take care of them.”
“Big trouble, David.”
“Last time we had trouble they got to me through one of our buyers. Are you hearing anything?” David said.
“Da, two buyers tell me bikers again sniffing. Look for you.”
“I take it they’re connected to those two I dealt with before.”
Pav nodded.
“So we have bikers after our hash business and Serbs after the coke. This is getting hard.”
“Da.”
“Where do they hang out?”
“Coffee house on Pakington Street. Not good guys these, David.”
“Let’s check them out before we decide what to do. I’ll meet you there.”
Geelong, 18th October 2018
David and Pav watched the coffee house from across the street; Frank sniffed around the base of a nearby power pole, then lifted his leg. Two black SUVs were parked nose to tail, straddling the footpath and the road. Two large, heavily tattooed men leaned against them, transfixed by their phones.
“Pav, why don’t you take Frank for a walk over near those SUVs and wait for him to do his thing? Wait till I go in the café and check it out, then come over.”
“Da.”
As David entered the coffee shop, a tattooed cabal squished around a table in the back of the café turned and stared. He ordered and leaned against the wall, looking at them.
“What are you lookin’ at?” One called out. He stood out, dressed in a black suit and stark white shirt. A chunky gold chain hung down over the top of the shirt. The rest of the group stopped what they were doing.
David looked behind himself and then back at the group. “Who? Me?”
“Well, fuckhead, there ain’t anyone else here.”
“I can understand why.”
“Get your coffee and fuck off,” he said and turned back to the group.
David left. Pav was standing near one of the SUVs, Frank was sniffing around the rear wheel of the SUV.
Wait for it, there you go, good boy.
One of the men looked up from his phone and yelled out, “Stop ya fuckin’ mutt from pissin’ on me wheel.”
“Or what?” Pav said.
They pocketed their phones and moved towards Pav.
David moved quickly from the front door of the café and kneeled to pat Frank. “Great looking dog.” Then he stood and turned to face them. He lifted his T-shirt to reveal the butt of his pistol. “I think you two need to stop right there and let this guy and his dog get on their way.”
They stepped back and one moved quickly to the front door of the café and yelled, “Get out here.”
The chunky gold chain flashed in the sunlight as the ‘main man’ from inside pushed through the door.
“Now, listen!” David said. “Let’s all calm down. This guy’s dog just pissed on a wheel, that’s all. Why don’t you all go back to your little meeting.”
“You again, I thought I told you to fuck off?” He turned to the two who had been outside and were now standing behind the group. “Did you get us out here cause a dog pissed on a wheel?”
“No, this one is carrying.”
Hands went inside jackets and the group moved apart. David could tell they had been in this situation before from the way they positioned themselves.
Pav and David backed away, turned their backs on the group and walked. “Keep walking slowly, you and Frank go left here and I’ll see you back at the Greek,” David said quietly. Frank started to follow David till Pav whistled.
Back at the Greek café, David said, “What did we learn from that?”
“Pretty tough bunch,” Pav said.
“Do you want to get out?”
“Have plenty of cash. Go home now, I am King Pav.”
“Yeah, well, cash isn’t my problem either. The way I live, I don’t need much. Do you reckon we should just bail? Seems a shame to let them get away with this, but I suspect they’ll just keep coming.”
Pav scratched his chin with a gnarly thumb, then finished the inky coffee in one gulp. “I hate Serbs.”
“Do we see if we can change their minds and then make the call on what we do from there? What do you think?”
Pav gave David a quizzical look. “I think you talk too fast.”
“Pav, trust me. I don’t like bastards pushing me around either. We’ll push back hard and if that doesn’t work, we’ll pack it in.”
“Da.”
“Okay well let’s sort these parasites.”
Fairhaven, 18th October 2018
Back in Fairhaven, David sat on his porch while Frank snuffled around in the bushes.
“There simply cannot be another thing for you to have to pee on, Frank.”
Frank raised his head and continued to sniff around, defiantly lifting his hind leg on a hydrangea bush.
David wondered whether getting into the coke business had been clever. Dealing with the Serbian mafia seemed a quantum leap from seeing off a few bikers. Still, he liked a challenge, and he had the essence of a plan.
Geelong Police Station, 21st October 2018
“Come with me,” Prosser said to David, pushing through the doors to the interview room. “I guess you heard the news about the Chisholm family?”
“Someone told me you guys were on the TV saying they were dead.”
“They were found in your cellar.”
“My cellar, you mean the place where I slept? Bit ironic that, and on the property the whole time. That must be a bit embarrassing for you then.”
“They were carefully concealed. We wouldn’t have found them if there hadn’t been some clever police work.”
“Albeit a few months too late.”
Prosser glared at David, shuffling the file in front of him.
“Where have you been?”
“Away, driving, camping, seeing the sights. It’s a free world, Prosser, and I’m not tied to a desk.”
“And you don’t seem to work much,” Prosser said.
“Detective, my dog doesn’t eat much, board wax is pretty cheap, so I don’t need a lot.”
“Yet here you are living in a nice house, driving a new ute...” Prosser stopped talking and looked directly into David’s eyes. “Makes me start to think you have access to money, the source of which isn’t apparent.”
“Why did you want me to come in?” Verbal jousting with Prosser wasn’t smart.
Prosser opened his file. “What can you tell me about your cousin, Jessica?”
“No more than I would have said before. She was the best of a bad lot as far as treating me went. I was glad she got out of Bendigo and away from those pricks. She’s living in Sydney, but other than that, zilch.”
“I thought you hadn’t seen her since you were fifteen or so. How do you know all that?”
“Err, people talk, Prosser. Bendigo isn’t that big.”
“And you last saw her when?”
“Saw her? Didn’t I just say I haven’t seen her since I went West at fifteen?”
“When did you last speak with her, then?”
David shifted his gaze to the mirror on the wall of the interview room.
“Is that one of those two-way mirrors you see on TV? Are there cops on the other side watching this?”
Prosser resisted the temptation to look over his shoulder. “You watch too much TV, Carter, this is Geelong. We can’t afford two-way mirrors, and none of this is interesting enough to demand an audience.”
David looked back at Prosser. “Are we done?”
“When you answer my question, which was when did you last talk with Jessica?”
“Talk with her...”
David’s phone rang and he answered, holding his finger up to Prosser. “Hey, how’s it going? ... Yes, I’m finished here ... Where? ... Okay, see you then. Sorry, Prosser, I have to run. I’d like to say it’s been nice to catch up, but there you go.”
He took two strides towards the door but Prosser leaped up and grabbed his arm.
“Answer my question.”
David wrapped his fingers around Prosser’s throat. “Don’t touch me, Prosser.” Then released his grip.
Prosser bent over coughing, stunned. The door flew open and two uniformed officers burst through and grabbed David.
“You lied, Prosser, you do have a two-way mirror.”
“Let him go,” Prosser said after he finished coughing. “Carter, you’re rotten to the core, and I know you’re involved in the Chisholm deaths. We will find out, I promise you.”
David left the police station and called Pav.
“These cops are getting way too close. I’m worried they might tumble onto our operation and drag you into things.”
“All good, David. No worries.”
“Yeah, but this local cop wants to get me on the Chisholm thing. I’ve been thinking about our problem, and I have a plan. Meet me around the corner from the coffee shop in Pakington in thirty minutes and I’ll step you through it.”
He drove to the meeting place and fished around in the glove box for something to write on. He found the service book and ripped a blank page out, then drew a sketch of the area.
Frank barked and wagged his tail as Pav opened the passenger door.
“This is what I have in mind.”
Pav nodded here and there as David unfolded the plan to him.
“The most important thing is for you to keep to the left of the second vehicle. I don’t want you in my line of sight. And don’t take a weapon. I’ll call the cops and tell them there’s a shooting a few minutes before so they can get their arses over there. Understood?”
Pav looked at the paper. “Da, should work.”
David punched Pav gently in the chest and smiled. “What do you mean, should work? I did this for a living for five years.”
“Da, da.”
“So be here at ten tomorrow morning and I’ll do the rest.”
Chapter 19
Police Video Conference, 24th October 2018
“DS Jefferson, how did it go with Jessica?” Kleinberg asked.
“Pretty much as I expected. She asked about the release of the bodies and said she guessed she would have to arrange the funerals ’cause the other two were also missing,” Jefferson said.
“So still ‘neutral’?” Kleinberg said, using air quotes.
“Maybe what you said wasn’t a surprise!” Prosser said.
“What do you mean?” Jefferson said.
“What if she knows what happened?”
“Master of the conspiracy aren’t you, DS? But you may be on the money,” Kleinberg said.
“Do you mean she was actively involved or Carter maybe told her about it?” Jefferson asked.
Prosser held up his right hand and counted off the statements as he made them. “One, why is she so confident about her safety? Two, Carter doesn’t care about the death and disappearance of his family, and we have a fair idea why. But what happened to Jessica that causes her to be ‘neutral,’ to quote you? Three, Jessica and David were supportive of each other as kids. Four, Carter was a sniper in Afghanistan and Jessica is a forensic scientist. Both jobs suggest people who are cold, dispassionate, and used to death,” Prosser said.
“You’re running out of fingers,” Brownsill said, chuckling.
“Almost,” Prosser replied. “Five, Lauren said that Jessica seemed unsurprised when she learned about the bodies in the cellar. How do you explain that? Even if you don’t care about someone, surely you can’t hide your surprise at that news. Unless you already knew.”
There was silence.
“None of you have been able to pin Carter or Jessica Chisholm down on whether they have been in contact since they were kids. Is this a silly game they are playing with us or have they genuinely not been in contact?” Kleinberg said. “Because it’s fundamental. If they have been in touch and they are lying about it. What else are they lying about?”
“John, you’re serious about this theory?” Brownsill said.
“I’m sure Carter is involved because of his absences and his circumstance. Lauren is convinced Jessica has either had a personality bypass or is such a hard arse that nothing is a surprise to her,” Prosser said.
