Chapter Seventeen
Judith spent the early part of Tuesday back on the Haddad case.
Forensics had recovered casings from the scene, and ballistics had matched the striation pattern to an unresolved shooting in Footscray six months prior.
That shooting had resulted in only a minor injury to a known criminal who hadn’t wanted to pursue the matter, and therefore had not been a priority.
With the Haddad murder, priorities had changed, and they were now poring over evidence from both cases.
A partial fingerprint taken from the Footscray casings was matched to Seb Brandi, a twenty-eight-year-old with a long criminal record.
Judith applied for a warrant for Brandi’s arrest, and the team spent the day trying to locate him, and trying to find links between Brandi and the Haddad crime scene.
At the end of the day, Rocky came by her desk and asked her what she’d thought of the Jack Miller interview. She wasn’t ready to tell him the truth. She needed more time. She dealt with the situation by changing the subject.
‘Tell me what you’re up to, Rocks. What’s going on with my bike?’
Rocky shook his head. ‘The problem with you, Jude, is that you’re a woman without patience. Can’t you let me—’
‘Just tell me!’
‘Fine.’ Rocky threw up his hands. ‘You know Jean Bayliss?’
The name meant nothing to Judith.
‘Come on. You must know her. Blonde. Works Fraud and Extortion. Husband is loaded. A banker. Interesting pairing, when you think about it.’
‘I don’t know her, Rocky.’
‘Right, well Jean drives a brand new BMW 5 Series. Her husband got it for her for her birthday. It’s a very nice car.’
‘For god’s sake—’
‘The BMW has a security system,’ Rocky cut in smoothly. ‘Called the Remote Theft Recorder. It’s triggered by outside movement. And on the day in question—’
‘She parked in the motorbike bays,’ Judith said. ‘I remember.’
‘She did. She couldn’t find another spot and she was late so she took up three motorbike bays. She assures me that she was planning on coming back and moving the car, but the day got away from her.’ Rocky was smiling. Grinning really, from ear to ear. Judith found that she was smiling back.
‘You’re joking. There’s no way we got that lucky.’
Rocky’s grin widened. ‘She sent me the file. High definition video. Full colour. I took it to Arnie to do a verification before I brought it up the line.’
‘Who was it?’ Judith felt tension grip her stomach. She’d told herself that she could be cool, that she could keep her head, but now that she was on the cusp of knowing, she wanted to beat the living shit out of whoever was responsible.
There was no one sitting nearby, but Rocky looked around and lowered his voice as he answered.
‘Luke Fraser.’
‘Luke?’ That piece of shit. ‘He only got out on station bail that morning. And he was suspended. Doesn’t that mean that his security pass would have been deactivated?’
‘He wasn’t alone. He was with Alex Thompson. Thompson swiped him in.’
‘Christ.’ Thompson was an idiot to allow himself to be used like that. He wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was ambitious. Maybe he’d done it in the expectation that Eddie Fraser would reward him.
‘What happens now?’
‘Well, whatever attempt Eddie was making to overturn the drug test, that’s over now. There’s no coming back for Fraser junior. And Thompson’s been suspended.’
There was a look in Rocky’s eye that told her that there was more.
‘What?’ she said.
‘It’s nothing. At least, nothing concrete.
But my read of the situation is that Eddie’s overextended himself.
He’s embarrassed the force. He fed all that hype to the media about Luke Fraser joining Victoria Police and now this.
Not just the arrest and the meth test, which is a nuclear bomb all by itself, but actual video of his golden boy taking out what God gave him and pissing all over your bike.
Eddie has managed to keep the arrest quiet so far, which if you ask me is a miracle, but that’s all over now.
Journos will be all over the story by tomorrow, I guarantee you. ’
Was that just experience talking, or had Rocky tipped someone off? Either way, Judith felt no sympathy for Luke. He’d more than earned what was coming his way.
‘So Eddie’s burned through whatever goodwill or favours he’d built up,’ Rocky continued. ‘And if you ask me, Alex Thompson isn’t the self-sacrificing type.’
Judith thought about it. ‘You mean, he might know some secrets? And he’ll try to throw the Frasers under the bus to save himself?’
‘He will if he can. No guarantee he knows anything useful. Eddie is careful.’
‘Yeah, but Luke isn’t. Who knows what he spilled to Thompson over a few pints?’
Rocky wagged a finger at her. ‘Don’t get excited. It’s early days. We have to wait and see how things play out.’
‘Maybe I should talk to Thompson, see what—’
‘You stay out of it, Jude,’ Rocky cut across her.
‘I didn’t mean—’
‘No,’ he said, firmly. ‘If there’s something to be done, I’ll do it. Carefully. This is not a situation that will benefit from your brand of direct action.’
* * *
Judith’s shift was over. She went back to her desk to get her jacket, telling herself that it was okay that she still hadn’t told Rocky what she knew about Miriam.
She had decided to give herself one more day to try for some answers.
One more day wouldn’t make any difference.
After all, it wasn’t like telling Rocky the truth would change anything.
Jack Miller was already in custody and he wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Judith called Katy on her way out of the station and asked her to meet for a drink.
She wanted a favour. As Katy didn’t like surprises, Judith confessed the specifics of the favour up front.
They met at Black Pearl, a very cool cocktail bar that was a Melbourne institution.
Black Pearl had been Katy’s choice. Judith had tried to suggest Mulraney’s, but Katy had shut that down fast.
‘I owe you one right now, Jude, but I’m not going to that dump again. I’m too old for sticky floors and loud, angry bands. I want somewhere with soft lighting and delicious things to eat and a cocktail menu at least six pages long.’
Katy was waiting when Judith got there. She’d taken a corner booth, and her head was bent over her phone.
This was out of character. Katy was a talker, a social butterfly.
She was always excited to meet a stranger, loved a big group, and could find common ground with almost anyone.
Judith had seen her talk parking rangers into ripping up tickets and convince sales assistants to take late returns.
Katy managed to do that kind of thing, not because she was some kind of manipulative genius, but because she genuinely liked people, and they felt it.
‘Hello, Kat,’ Judith said. She leaned in to hug her friend. ‘What are you doing tucked away in the corner?’
‘Oh god. Nico has an assignment due tomorrow. Digitech. He was supposed to take photos of our browser and hub and other stuff, and do a PowerPoint presentation but of course he left it to the last minute, so he keeps texting me and asking me where everything is.’
‘Can’t Ollie help him?’ Nico was Katy’s twelve-year-old son. Ollie—Oliver—was Katy’s husband. He was a defence lawyer.
‘He’s working. Bianca’s at home, but she’s not much help.’ Katy reached up and hugged Judith back. ‘But that’s enough of that. He’ll figure it out. I had a wine while I was waiting, but why don’t you grab the menu and we’ll order something more interesting?’
Judith retreated to the bar and retrieved a couple of menus.
She handed one to Katy, then settled in, knowing that the process of ordering would probably take a while.
Katy did not like to be rushed. She’d always been like that, even when they were little kids together in primary school, when all she’d had to choose from was the content of her own lunchbox.
‘I’m getting the Espresso Zabaione,’ Katy said, after five or six minutes had passed. ‘Why don’t you get the Yuzu Mule? You’ll like that, and that way I can taste it.’
‘Sure.’
Katy nodded. ‘And let’s get the Everything Board charcuterie, and a little cheesecake to share.’
‘Sounds good.’ Judith went to place the order. She brought back a packet of chips.
‘Oh, good call,’ Katy said. ‘We can have these while we’re waiting.’ She ripped the bag along the side and placed it in the centre of the table. ‘So. What’s new with you? Any man on the scene? What happened with Geoff? Was it Geoff? John? I can’t remember.’
‘It was Jacob, probably. And I’m pretty sure that’s done.’
Katy gave Judith one of her level gazes. ‘When are you going to settle down? Are you going to freeze your eggs? If you’re thinking about it, you know you’ll have to do it this year. It’s probably already too late.’
Judith laughed. ‘Yeah. Last time we met you told me to never ever have kids and to run a mile from any man who makes me feel clucky.’
Katy made a face. ‘I was probably right. Kids are a nightmare. I mean. Gorgeous. Lovely. Centre of my life, but a nightmare. Bianca wants to go to uni in Sydney. Did I tell you that? I told her she must have confused her parents with people who have money, and she told me she can just borrow to pay for it.’
‘Bianca will be fine. She’s razor sharp.’
‘She’s not razor sharp if she’s going to borrow tens of thousands when there are perfectly good universities here in Melbourne.’
‘She just doesn’t want to live at home.’
‘She’d better get used to the idea.’