Blank by Matt Eaton

Author:Matt Eaton [Eaton, Matt]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Matt Eaton
Published: 2017-09-04T04:00:00+00:00

Twenty-Nine

Luckman was unsurprised to hear Bell wanted no part of a break and enter. He said he was happy to stay put at the motel and watch for trouble, although Luckman suspected he would probably just fall asleep again.

Clarence Paulson’s house was about 15 minutes away on foot. The quickest route was straight across the river bed, which, by now, was bathed in eerie moonlight. Luckman took Mel past the place where Paulson’s body had been discovered.

“Someone dumped the body here,” he explained. “The Aboriginal couple are just patsies to keep the police occupied. I can’t see that they had any reason to kill him, although Detective Pollock seems determined to focus on the notion of some mythical domestic dispute.”

Mel stopped in her tracks. “What are we doing, Luckman? I take it you haven’t forgotten why you came here?”

“Whatever weird shit is happening in this place, that mob at Pine Gap have gotta be wrapped up in it. If I just waltz out there now they’ll see me coming a mile off.”

They finished the rest of their journey in silence. Paulson’s house was in total darkness. Luckman pulled himself over the brick wall and opened a small door beside the main gate to let Mel in.

“You hang here in the front yard and keep an eye out for trouble,” he whispered. “If anyone turns up, run to the back door and knock.”

“Who’s going to turn up?”

“Probably no-one but let’s not take any chances.”

The rear of the house was likewise shrouded in darkness. He spotted the back door, but also noticed a large shed a short distance away. It had a roller door and a window. He peered through the window. It was pitch black inside. He glanced around and decided to risk shining his torch through the window. There was a US Army truck parked on the other side of the roller door. He had no idea what to make of it, but it was surely confirmation the defence base was linked to Paulson’s death.

All the entry points to the shed were locked. He would have to break the window to get in. That would almost certainly prompt the neighbours to call the police. He headed for the house. He found a key under a pot plant as Favaloro had said he would. He opened the back door, but made sure to put the key back where he had found it before going inside. He pulled out his torch again and quietly padded around to check for Daisy the housekeeper. Her room was empty. If she wasn’t still in police custody she had headed for the hills. He found his way to Paulson’s office, pulled the curtains closed and then turned on a desk lamp.

It occurred to him any self-respecting spy would be wearing gloves, but he decided that if Pollock had wanted his boys to fingerprint the desk they would have done it already. And the detective had let him loose in the room earlier in the day – his prints would prove nothing now.

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.