Bitter Wash Road: The First Book in the Bestselling Australian Crime Series by Disher Garry

Author:Disher, Garry [Disher, Garry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: thriller, FIC022020, Mystery, Suspense, Crime, FIC050000, Contemporary
ISBN: 9781921961465
Amazon: B00E2V363G
Goodreads: 19090561
Publisher: Text Publishing
Published: 2013-10-01T07:00:00+00:00

18

HIS ALARM SOUNDED at eight on Sunday morning. Hirsch lay stunned, trying to work out who and where he was. He swung his legs out of bed and planted them on the scratchy mat beside it. Yawned and stared at the floor.

It was no good. He showered, brewed coffee and drank it with toast on a licheny chair in the back yard, a cumquat tree breathing down his neck, the filtered sunlight struggling to encourage him.

Then, still feeling pretty ordinary, he walked for thirty minutes, exploring the town, saying hello to the bony horse on its patch of dirt, a galah in a cage and an old codger squirting his roses.

‘Lovely morning.’

‘Remains to be seen,’ the bloke said, and Hirsch thought that was about right.

NINE O’CLOCK NOW, A civilised hour. Hirsch, using his office phone, said, ‘Hope I woke you.’

‘You’d have to get up early,’ Rosie DeLisle said. ‘What’s up?’

‘Overheard something last night,’ Hirsch said, telling her about Nicholson and the girlfriend who’d crashed his car.

‘No licence?’

‘Which might mean she was too young,’ Hirsch said.

‘Excellent. This is exactly what we want from you.’

At once, Hirsch felt dirty. Less so when he said, ‘And I know who planted that stuff in my car.’

WHEN HE GOT TO Redruth there was no one in the lockup or the police station, so he walked around to the courthouse, a wood-panelled side room in the district council offices, wondering if Kropp had already released Raymond Latimer.

Not yet ten o’clock and court was already in session, the magistrate at a slightly raised table, the court reporter—a middle-aged woman—at a tiny corner desk, and Kropp sprawled with two of the overnight drunks on a bench in front of the public gallery, which at that hour on a Sunday was empty.

Ray Latimer was seated at a long table across the aisle from Kropp, next to a natty suit. Lawyer, Hirsch guessed, taking in the briefcase and files. And something cute was going on between Latimer, his lawyer and the magistrate, some sort of football banter concerning champion goals and high marks. Hirsch slid onto the bench beside his sergeant, barely covering a yawn.

The magistrate caught it. David Coulter, according to the name plate, a twinkling butterball who looked like a forty-five-year-old ex-small-town solicitor. Already dressed for Sunday golf. ‘We boring you, mate?’

‘Late night,’ Hirsch said.

He was the centre of attention now, the magistrate, the lawyer and Latimer, all three smirking at him. But Kropp was seething. Hirsch edged away and made himself invisible.

Thirty minutes passed. The two drunks were fined. And now the court reporter was packing up, getting out of her chair, leaving with a little finger wave to the magistrate and the lawyer.

‘Sarge?’ murmured Hirsch. ‘What about Mr Latimer?’

‘Done and dusted,’ Kropp snapped. ‘Pleaded down to disorderly conduct and the minimum fine.’

Hirsch checked his watch. ‘I didn’t get here late, Sarge.’

Kropp folded his arms and snorted. Some deal had been cooked up, but why was Kropp so pissed off about it? His mate had got off with a slap on the wrist, after all.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.