Gun Control by Peter Corris

Author:Peter Corris
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2015-01-23T16:00:00+00:00

15

I was sure Greenhall still hadn’t told me everything. There was the question that Harry’s student contact had raised about how Precision Instruments had stayed afloat. It hadn’t seemed appropriate to bring it up while Greenhall had been in confessional mode, but it left me wondering whether he’d continued his association with criminals he’d helped from time to time early on. It was a definite possibility.

He left and I watched him walk to his Audi. He was upright and purposeful, very much the CEO. I remembered commenting in our first interview that his son had some heavy burdens. Well, Greenhall was carrying his share and hiring me hadn’t exactly off-loaded them.

It was well after midday; I poured a glass of white wine and washed down the required pills. That left me feeling hungry. I walked to the delicatessen a few blocks away, bought a salad sandwich and took it back to the office.

I put the half-full wine glass on the desk along with the sandwich and the piece of paper on which Greenhall had written five names in his neat, slightly back-sloping script:

Owen Patmore

Charlie Henderson

Luke Soames

Tony Cantello

‘Rooster’ Fowler

Two of the names jumped out at me. ‘Charlie’ could be the ‘Chas’ in Hawes’s recording and Soames-Wetherell was the name of bikie Paul’s lawyer. Connections—the investigator’s friend, sometimes the only friend. Good wine, good sandwich and a shaft of optimism to go with them.

I rang the hospital and was told that Hawes was showing signs of improvement but was still a long way short of normal function.

‘Has he had any visitors?’ I asked.

‘Only his wife.’

‘What are the visiting hours?’

‘There aren’t any in intensive care.’

No help. With the list of names, Cathy Carter might be able to identify the voices on the recording now but where was she? Not at home, that was for sure, but close by, almost certainly. But I didn’t fancy hanging around RPA for who knew how long waiting for her to turn up. Efficient watching takes manpower.

I finished the wine and the sandwich and brushed the crumbs and the wrapper into the wastepaper bin. That just left the note and those names, especially Soames. I took the card Paul had given me from my wallet. I was frustrated and impatient but I told myself not to be. There was no urgency. What I needed was calm, efficient procedure, something I have never been very good at.

I rang Viv Garner and asked him what he knew about Arthur Soames-Wetherell SC.

‘He’s not the man for us,’ Viv said, ‘we don’t need him.’

‘Us? We?’

‘I assume you’ve got yourself in the shit again and need a barrister. Not him.’

‘Why not?’

‘He’s a comedian. Tells jokes to juries.’

‘I like him already. Does he win?’

‘Wins some, loses some.’

‘Don’t we all? No, I just have to talk to him about something and wanted to be sure he’s not a bagman in somebody’s pocket.’

‘There you go again with the crummy jokes. You’ll get along well with Arthur. No, he’s okay. Eccentric, does pro bono work for asylum seekers, rides a bike to his chambers.

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.