Shore Leave by David Whish-Wilson

Author:David Whish-Wilson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fremantle Press
Published: 2020-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

35.

Swann’s best night’s sleep in six months ended when the phone rang in the lounge room next door. He ignored it, keeping his eyes shut to prolong the fugue, but the phone kept ringing.

He was alone in the house except for the dog which joined him as he padded down the hall. He answered the phone and sat on the floor, let the dog nudge into him.

‘Swann, Steve Webb. Sorry to wake you but we’ve got a situation down at the wharf. Cassidy is here and demanding entry onto the Vinson. There’s media. Get down if you can, please.’

‘Ok,’ was all Swann could manage before hanging up. The dog followed Swann into the kitchen where he took down the makings for his morning injection. He broke an ampoule and drew up the solution into a fresh syringe, planted it in his thigh. It was the time of morning he and the dog normally walked into town, but he didn’t want her around angry crowds – the anti-nuclear picket that his daughters attended would be raucous if the media were there. Swann dressed in a collared shirt and dug out some fresh trousers, put on socks and shoes. He took his cap off the hook behind the front door, put on his sunglasses and walked into the glare of another hot day.

The wharf was crowded with punters arriving from Rottnest Island and the anti-nukes picket, fenced at a distance from the passenger terminal used by the Vinson for embarking and disembarking personnel. Beside them were many of the same journos and photographers from the Northbridge crime scene yesterday, with the addition of Louise’s friend Maddie. She clocked Swann from a distance and watched him come. He pulled down his cap but was relieved to see that she wasn’t going to collar him for questions. She gave him a small wave instead and turned toward the sight of Cassidy and two of his detectives, stood at the bottom of the gangplank, berating Steve Webb and four burly uniformed Shore Patrol sailors who were blocking their path.

Swann climbed over the low barrier fence and heard the cameras clicking behind him. One of the Shore Patrol uniforms reached for his sidearm as Swann approached but Webb stayed his hand. Neither Cassidy nor Webb spoke until Swann joined them. The look on Cassidy’s face said it all – red from arguing in the hot sun. He held up what Swann recognised to be a magistrate-signed search warrant.

‘But as I’ve explained, Detective Inspector. The USS Carl Vinson is sovereign American territory and therefore your search warrant has no legal status.’

Cassidy put a foot onto the gangplank and once again the uniformed officer reached for his sidearm. Once again, Webb signalled for him to stand down.

Finally, Cassidy turned to Swann. ‘I caught your mate out. I called him this morning, asked him a simple question –’

‘Which I was under no obligation to answer.’

‘Asked him a simple question. What brand of cigarettes does Charles Bernier smoke?’

Webb looked to Swann.

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.