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losing work by missing delivery deadlines. Dominic took a statement and said he could go. At least Ginny checked him over.’

  After a disturbed night, Judith woke early on Wednesday. Max was not beside her. She found him in the kitchen eating breakfast.

  ‘Tea’s not long made,’ he said.

  She poured herself a cup without speaking, then sat at the table and reached out to put her hand on his. He patted it and smiled before launching into the business of the day.

  ‘I’ll telephone Trudy shortly. I think she’s an early riser. She’s usually at school well before eight. I want to brief her, grab some books, and be away by the time the kids arrive. We don’t know how long it will take Lenny to organize another hit man; but we have to assume something might happen any time. I’ve loaded up the old Ford. It’s what I normally use to cart things for church events. I’ll leave it in full view in the car park.’

  ‘Max, is it really necessary to–’

  ‘I’m not trying to be the noble martyr or anything. But I couldn’t live with myself if someone else got hurt. And the sooner this is over the better.’

  ‘For those who survive.’

  ‘Justin’s team should be here tomorrow morning. I’ll call him later to find out what’s happening and arrange a meeting place. It’s only today I have to get through on my own.’

  ‘What can I do?’

  ‘I don’t know yet. I don’t want the staff here or at school brought in to it until Justin tells me how he wants to handle things. I trust him, Judith. I think we have to let him call the tune.’

  ‘I have to be involved, Max. I’ll go mad if I’m just another bystander.’

  ‘You’ll be involved. I promise. And, thanks to the wonders of modern technology, you can call me any time. I’ll keep my mobile switched on. Which reminds me, I must take one of the chargers.’

  He rose and went to the drawer where he kept electrical appliances. When he turned back, Judith was standing beside him, her expression miserable. He took her in his arms. Her head barely reached his shoulder and he had to bend his lanky frame to kiss her. For a moment they stood together.

  ‘What about telling Emily and Tony?’ Judith asked.

  ‘There you go. You want to be involved. Why not pay them a visit?’

  ‘Okay. That’s a start.’

  ‘I’d forgotten Ginny. If she’s told anyone what Mad Charlie said, it will be hard to keep a lid on things.’

  ‘She wasn’t there when he mentioned d’Aratzio’s name. But I’ll ring her anyway.’

  Operation Bravo

  Wednesday 12th August 1992

  ‘Listen in, people,’ Detective Inspector Justin Brody called for attention. The room went quiet. Although physically an imposing figure, with a mop of dark hair now greying at the temples, it was his reputation as “the best of bosses” that drew respect and immediate compliance from his team. ‘Even the newest of you have heard the name Leonard Stanley d’Aratzio, aka LSD. If you haven’t, you’d better not admit it or I’ll want to know why you haven’t been through all the open case files. Lenny’s name appears often enough. I want everybody to be the full bottle on this lot.’ He tapped a stack of thick manila folders. ‘Yes, Kenny?’

  ‘I’ve put a matrix on the white board. They can tick the boxes as they finish the files.’

  Several voices chorused, ‘Good work Kenny!’ and there was general laughter.

  Probationary Constable Kenny Fetlow grinned and took a bow.

  Brody continued. ‘The Reverend Max Kingsley got himself embroiled with the dark side in the days of the old Anglican Youth Shelter at the Cross. He caught a dealer injecting kids to get them hooked. Beat crap out of the guy. The way he was going, he might have killed the bastard if one of our under-cover operatives hadn’t pulled him off. Kingsley was charged with assault. When the details came out, we asked the prosecutor to drop the charges. Kingsley got into the act again when d’Aratzio was tried for trafficking. Kingsley’s evidence linked Lenny to the dealer, which helped us put the rotten sod away. There were threats of pay back; and they weren’t just hot air. I want you all to read the file on the murder of Detective Vince Harley. He was the officer under-cover at the shelter. It was his evidence nailed Lenny. The bloke Kingsley beat up didn’t give evidence; but we think Lenny might have lost confidence in him, because he disappeared soon after. You’ll find others like that in these files—mystery disappearances. Lenny has a method. If he falls out with someone, he makes it known he’s added a new name to his wish list—people he wishes would be hit by a meteor. If something happens to anyone on the wish list, Lenny can produce a stack of witnesses to say everybody knew the list was a joke and there were lots of evil gents who would happily use it to frame him. We tested the position in court once. Got two fingers from the defence and a shrug from the judge for our trouble. Lenny’s lawyers are real pros and highly creative. One of them owns the red E-Type Jaguar you see parked in William Street.

  ‘I’m crossing to the dark side,’ somebody said. ‘That is a beautiful motor car.’

  ‘It’s also well known that if you can convince Lenny you were the one who made like a meteor, you get a brown paper bag. He keeps a box of brown paper bags in a room. Nothing illegal about a room full of brown paper bags. We believe there is always a bag containing a large sum in untraceable bank notes. Nothing illegal about that either, although the attorney-general keeps promising to make changes to the law. Recently we got the word Lenny had put out some specific contracts. When we went looking for an explanation of this departure from past practice, we discovered Lenny has a terminal illness and wants to settle a few old scores before he croaks. Unfortunately, we didn’t know Max Kingsley was on the list so we couldn’t warn him. Enter and exit Mad Charlie. Luck was with Kingsley, this time. Any questions?’

  ‘There’s sure to be, boss; but first I’ve got a comment to make.’ Detective Sergeant Eamon Callanan strode to the front and stood beside Brody, facing the assembled group. They could have been mistaken for twins, and from another era, these two old style coppers, both nearing retirement. ‘At the risk of a reprimand for not clearing it first, I’ll tell you lot the bit the boss left out. He says this job is about providing the protection we promised Kingsley. But it wasn’t just witnesses Lenny threatened when he went to the pokey. It was coppers as well. Vince Harley got whacked, and there’s nobody higher on Lenny’s hate list than our boss.’ He pointed a finger at Justin. ‘So we’ll all be watching his back, right?’ There were nods and murmurs of assent.

  Brody looked at Callanan and shook his head as if disapproving. Then he said, ‘Questions?’

  Detective Constable Megan Schmitz was first. ‘Are we moving Kingsley to a safe house?’

  ‘I made the offer, Meg. He’d rather be the bait to precipitate some action than be holed up for God knows how long while Lenny’s hopefuls sniff around. He’s also worried that if he goes to ground the forces of evil might target his wife or turn up at the school. It’s a good point. The word in the Cross is Lenny really is at death’s door, so I’m not figuring on this being a drawn out affair. The news about Mad Charlie blowing the contract has already hit the streets. There’s other low life out there who’d be glad to win one of Lenny’s paper bags. We can’t drop everything else, but I’ll be sending three of you to Arajinna. I’ll come back to that in a minute. Other questions?’

  ‘Senator Caroline Blake?’ somebody asked.

  ‘Kingsley’s wife, Judith, is Senator Blake’s half-sister. As far as we know, Lenny has no special beef with the senator, although she has been vocal on the subject of drug legislation, and she’s on a senate committee dealing with customs and excise, so you never know. Our chief has alerted the commonwealth police and they’ll cover that base—at least for now.’

  Megan Schmitz said, ‘I’ve read the d’Aratzio case files but they don’t say much about the bloke himself.’

  ‘He’s not easy to slot into a category, Meg. He’s unusual and unpredictable. But he’s als
o intelligent and well educated. There’s a psychological profile somewhere. Suggestion is he was a reactionary to a demanding father and deliberately went off the rails to piss his old man off. According to rumour, one of his hits was a bloke from his old school who blackballed his application to join Tattersall’s Club. Lenny’s a smart operator. He gives a lot of his dirty work to older blokes with long records of success as crims. Kenny can find you the file. Yes, Norm?’

  ‘Is there a nick at Arajinna?’

  ‘There is. But only one young constable. There’s a bigger station at Calway Junction. I’d guess Calway’s close to an hour’s drive from Arajinna these days. Perhaps this might be a good time for Eamon to give us a briefing on the terrain and the key personnel.’

  The Detective Sergeant turned on a projector and brought up a series of maps and images as he spoke. ‘Arajinna is the oldest town in the Shire of Kalawonta. Five hours drive from Sydney. The turn-off to Calway Junction is just north of Gundagai. Good roads all the way. The Blake property, Banabrook, dates back to the nineteenth century. After the death of Walter Blake in 1990, the descendants—Caroline and Judith Blake—turned it over to the shire to be developed as a tourist attraction. It still runs as a farm but has accommodation for families, and an art centre and a museum. There’s a brochure here about