Genius Squad (53 page)

On receiving an affirmative response, the detective climbed out of his car – just as Fiona looked back and saw them. Immediately she jumped to her feet. And while the bodyguards were busy deploying themselves, she began to cross the wide expanse of lawn that lay between the road and the harbour.

Saul and Cadel reached her in the middle of this lawn, where a patch of bare earth marked the site of many informal soccer games.

‘Hello!’ she chirruped, wrapping her arms around Cadel. ‘How
are
you, sweetie? Are you all right?’

‘I’m fine.’ Cadel still wasn’t used to being hugged, and found it hard to respond gracefully. Instead he flushed, and ducked his head.

At which point, with a start, he noticed that Fiona was wearing a brand-new diamond on her left hand.

He caught his breath, and looked up.

‘Are you engaged?’ he said. ‘Is
that
what you wanted to tell me?’

Fiona coloured. Then she released him. Then she threw a telltale glance at Saul, who placed his hand gently on the small of her back.

‘It’s one of the things we had to tell you,’ he affirmed. ‘The fact that we’re getting married.’

‘When?’ Cadel demanded, so abruptly that Saul levelled a solemn and searching stare at him. Fiona’s brow puckered.

‘You mustn’t worry about it,’ she implored. ‘It doesn’t mean we’re going to run off and abandon you. On the contrary!’

‘I’m not worried. I’m pleased. It’s great.’ Forcing a smile, Cadel tried not to sound as confused as he felt. On the one hand, he knew that he ought to be delighted. Two of his favourite people were forming a unit; that was cause for celebration, surely? It would mean that neither of them would now be tempted to hook up with anyone Cadel didn’t like.

On the other hand, when he saw them standing together – linked by such a warm and delicate regard – he felt painfully excluded. He felt as he had once felt at school, watching all the other kids playing in the sun, while he lurked alone in the shadows.

‘Let’s not talk about this here,’ Saul suggested. He took Cadel’s arm, and scanned the array of benches surrounding them. ‘Come and sit down. There’s something else you need to know, and it’s important. We have to get comfortable.’

Cadel didn’t want to ask why. He had a horrible feeling that Saul was afraid of what his reaction might be. And that could only mean one thing.

Bad news.

‘It’s all very complex,’ Fiona was saying. ‘And everything’s connected, so we have to give you the whole story from the beginning.’ She sat down beside Cadel on a bench under a tree; Saul seated himself on Cadel’s other side.

Then the detective took his hand.

‘It’s about Prosper,’ was all that Cadel heard before he interrupted Saul, his voice cracking on a high note.

‘He’s dead, isn’t he? Prosper’s dead!’

‘No!’ Saul’s grip tightened. ‘No, it’s nothing like that!’

‘As far as we can tell, he’s still alive,’ said Fiona. And Saul added, ‘If he was dead, we’d find out about it somehow. He’s not dead, Cadel. It’s just . . .’

He paused.

‘What?’ Cadel was starting to feel sick. ‘What is it?’

‘You might find this hard to accept – ’

‘
What is it?
’

But Saul couldn’t seem to locate the right words. He sat there with a frown on his face and a muscle twitching in his jaw, until at last Fiona spoke for him. She pushed a dangling curl out of Cadel’s eyes and said, ‘He’s not your father, sweetie. Prosper English isn’t your father.’

Cadel mouth opened.

‘Remember that DNA sample the police took off him? After the prison guard died?’ Fiona continued. ‘Well, because of what Prosper told Saul about you, and because Prosper’s lawyers haven’t been paid, lately, the police were able to use that sample for a paternity test. Which showed that you aren’t Prosper’s son.’

‘But – but I have to be.’ Cadel couldn’t believe it. ‘He has to be my father!’

‘He can’t be, sweetie. It’s impossible.’

‘But . . . but . . .’

Cadel didn’t know what to think. He didn’t know what to say. Then he realised that Saul was crushing his fingers.

‘Ow,’ he complained. ‘You’re hurting me.’

‘Sorry.’ The detective released him. ‘Cadel, there’s an upside to this.’

‘I know.’ Not wanting to look like a fool, Cadel said defiantly, ‘I’m
glad
I’m not Prosper’s son. It doesn’t matter to me. He’s an arsehole.’

‘Well . . . yeah. Sure. I’m glad you feel that way.’ Saul seemed unconvinced, however. ‘The thing is, if Prosper isn’t your father – ’

‘– my father must have been Phineas Darkkon.’ Cadel spoke with a kind of brittle indifference. He could feel himself trembling on the edge of hysterical laughter, and battled to suppress the urge. ‘Another arsehole. Oh, well. At least he’s dead, I suppose.’

‘No, listen. I’m not finished.’ Saul proceeded to explain what he himself had done after discovering the truth. ‘It got me thinking,’ he said. ‘About that paternity test Prosper ordered fifteen years ago. Do you remember? I mentioned it the other day.’

‘Of course I remember.’ Cadel began to rub at his forehead. ‘You were trying to make Prosper admit that Chester Cramp did it.’

‘That’s right. ’

‘Only he wouldn’t give you Chester’s name.’

‘No. He wouldn’t.’ Saul grimaced. ‘All the same, he was about to. I’m sure of it. So I did a bit of research into Chester Cramp, and discovered something interesting. Seventeen years ago, Carolina Whitehead filed for divorce. She divorced him, and then she remarried him about a year later.’

‘Oh,’ said Cadel blankly, wishing that he could concentrate. ‘Why?’

‘Well – that’s what I decided to ask, when I talked to her on the weekend.’ Seeing Cadel blink, the detective once more clasped his hand. ‘You see, she was picked up in Brisbane last week. She’s been hiding out there all this time.’

Cadel said nothing. Following so closely on the first big shock, this second one had rendered him speechless. But he tried hard to collect his thoughts as Saul described how an apartment, a bank account and a false identity had been awaiting Carolina in Brisbane ever since her move to Australia. ‘They were part of a contingency plan, in case anything happened,’ Saul revealed. ‘She was supposed to keep her head down for a couple of months, and leave when all the fuss was over, using a forged passport. But she didn’t. Because she was caught.’ After a momentary silence, during which he appeared to be savouring a particularly gratifying recollection, Saul continued. ‘She wasn’t very cooperative at first. In fact she wouldn’t give us a thing until I mentioned that paternity test. I was wondering if it had anything to do with her remarriage, since the two events were so close together.’

‘And did it?’ asked Cadel.

‘It sure did. I came straight out and asked why her husband would have lied to Prosper English about the results of that test. Because I assumed she must have known about it. But she didn’t. In fact she hit the roof.’

Cadel waited. And waited. Finally he abandoned his dazed contemplation of the harbour’s choppy surface to look at Saul, who once again was lost for words. Clearly, he would rather have hit Cadel with a blunt instrument than with another piece of unwelcome information.

So Fiona had to break the news that Carolina Whitehead had divorced Chester because he’d been having an affair with Cadel’s mother, Elspeth. According to Fiona (who related the story in a calm and soothing manner, as if to imply that such things happened all the time), Chester had then ditched Elspeth in a successful bid to win back Carolina. And after Elspeth moved in with Phineas Darkkon, Chester had remarried his ex-wife.

‘But Elspeth and Chester must have kept seeing each other,’ Fiona said. ‘That’s what Carolina thought, anyway, when she heard about the paternity test. Which was why she got so mad, I suppose. You can’t blame her.’

‘She felt betrayed, and blew her top before she could stop herself,’ Saul interposed. ‘I guess she figured that Chester must have lied because . . . well, because . . .’

He looked to Fiona for assistance. And Fiona shouldered his burden. ‘Because Chester Cramp is your real father, Cadel,’ she said.

There was a long silence. Then Cadel started to laugh. He couldn’t help himself. His laughter was thin and shrill, and it made Fiona recoil.

‘Dad number three!’ he exclaimed. ‘This is crazy!’

‘I know.’

‘Who’s next? The Dalai Lama?’

‘I’m sorry, sweetie.’

‘But are you sure?’

‘Fairly sure.’ This time it was Fiona who appealed to Saul for help. And Saul obliged.

‘We’re not a hundred per cent sure,’ he said. ‘There haven’t been any tests run on Cramp’s DNA. But he’s confessed to being your father.’

‘
Cramp
has?’

‘We got him on tape.’

The detective went on to recount how the police, in cutting a deal with Carolina, had persuaded her to entrap her husband. The ploy had been quite simple. It had involved a call made to Chester by his wife, during which she had claimed (falsely) that she was still on the run. She’d said that she and Prosper had decided to cooperate while they were both in hiding – an unlikely scenario, but not impossible. (‘We pretended that Prosper didn’t know she’d tried to have him killed,’ Saul explained. ‘And Chester accepted that.’) Under Saul’s guidance, Carolina had announced that Prosper was very angry. Why? Because by some mysterious means, he had discovered that Cadel wasn’t really his son. Meaning that Chester had lied to him, all those years ago.

And Carolina had demanded an explanation from her husband.

‘He gave her one,’ Saul disclosed. ‘He said that you were really his, but he’d been afraid to tell her because he loved her so much despite everything.’ Saul’s tone took on a sarcastic edge. ‘Personally, I’m inclined to think he was more afraid of Phineas Darkkon, not to mention Prosper English. But I’m just a cynical old cop.’

He paused to examine Cadel’s face, as if expecting some kind of comment. When none was forthcoming, he ploughed on.

‘Cramp also said that during the various tests he’d carried out, it became clear that Phineas Darkkon was infertile. Some sort of genetic abnormality. That’s why Cramp decided to point the finger at Prosper instead of Phineas – just in case Darkkon became aware of his condition at a later date. In which case Prosper would take the blame for lying, not Chester Cramp.’

The detective broke off again. Perhaps he was expecting an inquiry, or a request. But still Cadel remained silent, staring at the broken, shifting reflections on the water.

Saul and Fiona exchanged an uneasy look.

‘Anyway, that wasn’t all we got on tape,’ Saul concluded. ‘There was other stuff, too. We’re using it to go after Chester Cramp. And GenoME, of course.’

He related how police on both sides of the Pacific were currently working to have GenoME shut down; how Earl Toffany had disappeared, taking a great deal of his money with him; how Rex Austin was now under close scrutiny, thanks to his flagrantly illegal dealings with Prosper English – not to mention his funding of Genius Squad. At last, however, the detective could restrain himself no longer. ‘Are you all right, Cadel?’ he asked.

‘Oh, yeah. I’m fine.’ Cadel’s harsh tone made both of his companions turn pale. ‘I was just thinking: how on earth did my mother fit Prosper in, when she was already having it off with Chester Cramp
and
Phineas Darkkon? I mean, she must have been pretty busy!’

Saul shut his eyes for an instant. Fiona put an arm around Cadel’s shoulders.

‘We don’t really know what happened to your mother,’ she pointed out. ‘She was very young, don’t forget. And these were unpleasant, overbearing men. We’re not in a position to judge her, Cadel. You mustn’t think the worst of her.’

‘Besides, no matter what she did, she didn’t deserve to be killed,’ the detective declared firmly. When Cadel clenched his fists, Saul added, ‘At least you know now that your father didn’t kill your mother.’

‘Oh, yeah,’ Cadel spat. He could hardly contain his fury and dismay. He wanted to punch someone, or overturn the bench on which they were sitting. ‘Terrific. That’s a real bonus, that is.’

‘Cadel. Look at me.’ Saul’s firm grasp moved to Cadel’s wrist. ‘It doesn’t matter who your parents are. It matters who
you
are.’

‘Tell that to Prosper English!’ Cadel snarled, finally erupting. ‘If he finds out about this – God, he’ll be
furious
! He’ll kill me!’

‘No – ’

‘He will! He’ll kill Chester Cramp, and then he’ll kill me!’ Cadel threw off Saul’s hand and Fiona’s arm. He sprang up and spun around to confront them both. ‘I know too much! He can’t afford to let me survive! Not now that I’ve turned out to be Chester Cramp’s!’

Saul reached for him. ‘Listen – ’

‘And what does
that
mean, anyway?’ Cadel cried, stumbling backwards as the detective rose. ‘Does it mean I’m American? Does it mean I’ll be deported? Am I going to have to live with
Chester Cramp
?’

‘Be quiet.’ Saul spoke sharply. He caught hold of Cadel with fingers like steel rods, and shook him. ‘Calm down. Cadel?
Look at me
. Chester Cramp was born in Australia. He had an Australian father. Which means that you’re part Australian. And that’s
good
news. Are you listening?’

Cadel nodded. All his red-hot energy had suddenly evaporated like steam. He was close to tears.

Saul must have seen this, because his grip relaxed.

‘Chester Cramp is not your problem,’ he said quietly. ‘I haven’t finished with Chester. You don’t have worry about him – he won’t be in a position to make any demands on you.’ Saul took a deep breath. ‘As for Prosper English – well, that’s something else we have to talk about. Because I agree: he’s still a risk. It’s my belief he won’t want you any more when he finds out you’re not his son, but that doesn’t mean he won’t try to get rid of you. As a potential witness.’ The sound of these words, spoken aloud, seemed to pain Saul. He blenched, as if he himself was the one threatened with physical harm. ‘I’m sorry, Cadel. This can’t be something you want to hear. It’s just the situation as I see it.’

Cadel swallowed. ‘I know,’ he whispered. ‘Me too.’