Smoking Gun (Adam Cartwright Trilogy Book 1) (24 page)

But D S Strong was not placated. “Hah! No dark secrets you say. A good looking guy like you and so well dressed. Are you gay? You might have been blackmailed into taking part in the robbery.”

My good intentions immediately evaporated and I replied, “Just because I have clean shoes, an ironed shirt, neatly pressed trousers and clean fingernails doesn’t make me gay. All it indicates is that I am not employed by the Townsville CIB.”

D S Strong did not take the putdown well. He looked about to make an angry outburst when Hargreaves placed a hand on Strong’s forearm tacitly instructing him to not respond. Hargreaves then ostentatiously made a note in his notebook while saying to no one in particular. “Cartwright did not actually deny being gay.” He then looked up at me and said in a conversational tone of voice. “Don’t you think that it’s outrageous that homosexuals have hijacked the word ‘gay’ like they have?”

I guessed that he was inviting me to make a sexist comment so that he could record it and somehow use it against me later. So, since he was back to playing word games, I said in an offhand manner. “No I don’t think that it is outrageous as you claim. In fact the term ‘gay’ when referring to homosexuals is not a word but an acronym. It came about in the early 1980s in San Francisco when members of the homosexual community were being struck down with AIDS. Another acronym by the way. At that time it was common for them to greet each other with the question ‘Got AIDS yet?’. That’s how it came about. G A Y stands for Got AIDS Yet. Not the totally unrelated word, ‘gay’. And, for the record, I am not a homosexual.”

For a moment none of them spoke, so I added. “I was only at the Mount Godwin Mine for three months or so. My focus was entirely on a project to increase the annual production capacity of the processing plant. On the few weekends that I was not at the mine site I stayed on my yacht in the Townsville Marina. I drink little alcohol and did not mix socially with the regular drinkers and potential troublemakers at the mine site social club bar. Nor at any other location. The only people that I got to know were others engaged on the expansion project. I had little contact with any of the mine operation personnel. I knew nothing of the workings of the gold room nor did I have contact with anyone that worked there outside normal working hours.”

Hargreaves asked, “What about Townsville. Did you have contact with anyone here in town?”

I shook my head. “Not really. I spoke to the owners of boats in marina berths near me at times but I never socialised with any of them. I can give you the pen number where my yacht was berthed. You can ask the neighbouring boat owners if you wish. I never drank at any of the bars in town although I did eat at several bistro-style restaurants on Flinders Street on my own from time to time. Also I did eat a few meals at the Casino but never gambled.”

Hargreaves gestured with his hand dismissively. “We know all that already. We have checked who you have had contact with and will continue to do so. If you have, or had, a secret life you can be assured that we will uncover it. Now, is there anything that you would like to add to the statements that you gave to the Commission. Are there any details that you have recalled later and would like to add now?”

“I don’t think so. But if you gave me ten minutes or so I will read them through and let you know.”

“Sure.” Hargreaves nodded. “We’ll give you fifteen minutes. I’ll have a black coffee, no sugar, sent in for you.”

His change of heart surprised me but I was grateful for any improvement in his demeanour and I did not question it. Not at that time anyway.

***

I read through my copy of the statement of the attempted drowning for the first time since I had submitted it to the Commission three months earlier. There was nothing that I had left out and I had found no typos.

As I was checking the document my coffee arrived. Sitting there reading, prepared to make notes if needed, I was aware that the three others were probably watching me via the CCTV and it occurred to me that they might review the footage of the early part of the meeting. If they studied the video carefully they might detect that I did not actually turn my digital recorder on when I took it out of my pocket. They would then realise that it had been running already and that I had also recorded the earlier part of the meeting. If so, they could be even less friendly when they returned.

As I picked up the hit-and-run statement to read it, I recalled that I had not given the Commission copies of all the photos. My focus had been on showing the position of the cigarette butts on the ground to support the inclusion of the cigarette butts that I had couriered to the Commission later.

I now remembered the haste in which I had completed the hit-and-run statement while Christine was getting changed for the flight back to Cairns and then to Sydney. I smiled at the thought. I would be surprised if there were not a few typos in this document as I had been quite distracted with thoughts other than the hit-and-run.

As it turned out I did not find any typos. But what I did find made my hands shake. As I read the document I realised that I had left out any reference to the culvert. Quickly checking the photos included I confirmed that there were no photos showing the culvert. By now my hands were shaking so badly that I put them out of sight under the table as I tried to calm down. But it would have been too late if the others were watching the CCTV it would have been obvious that I had discovered something. Something very important.

It was extraordinary. Hargreaves had referred to the presence of the culvert saving my life. But how did he know that? I had told no one. The only persons that knew about the culvert were Christine and me plus the persons who contrived the hit-and-run attempt on my life. There could be no other explanation. Detective Inspector John Hargreaves was somehow involved. It was no wonder that he had reacted angrily to my jibe about corrupt policemen.

But that was not where it ended. If he had been watching the CCTV and seen my reaction when I realised he was involved in the attacks on me then he could probably put two and two together. He would have a pretty good idea that I had uncovered something in the hit-and-run statement that upset me. Knowing that much, I was sure that he might well think back to our discussion and realise his mistake when he mentioned the culvert. If he did recall his blunder, how would he react?

But all that was just speculation. I did not know for sure if he had been watching the CCTV nor did I know if he had put two and two together. But just knowing that Hargreaves was somehow involved was a major breakthrough for me even if it didn’t immediately help me discover why I had been singled out. In regard to that detail I was still in the dark.

Breakthrough though it was, the mis-statement by Hargreaves about the culvert would not provide the degree of certainty required by law. Means, motive and opportunity still had to be proven.

***

The three of them were in a sombre mood when they returned to the interview room and showed little enthusiasm in pursuing the previous topic of conversation. No sooner had they sat down than D S Strong leaned over the table and picked up my digital recorder. Without any explanation he clicked the stop and rewind buttons then clicked on the play button.

I decided not to protest. I didn’t know how much they had worked out and I didn’t feel like mounting a pointless charade of outrage and indignation. As soon as the recording of the meeting with the three of them began playing, Hargreaves motioned for it to be switched off.

Turning to me he said, “Our agreement was for you to record from the point that we said ‘okay’, not earlier.”
Turning sideways towards D S Strong he nodded and Strong clicked the delete button. I immediately leaned across the table and tried to grab the digital recorder but failed to grasp it when D S Strong held it further away from me, out of my reach. Then with as much indignation as I could muster I exclaimed. “I protest. You have no right!”

Hargreaves held up his hand and waited until I had stopped protesting and had sat back down in my chair. “No Mister Cartwright. It is you that has no right. Your recording device will be returned to you as soon as D S Strong has confirmed that the whole recording has been deleted.”

We all sat in silence as Strong clicked various buttons until he turned to Hargreaves and said, “It’s clear now.”

Hargreaves nodded his head in my direction and said to D S Strong. “Okay, Give it back to him.”

Strong, with a satisfied grin flicked the recorder back to me forcing me to catch it saying. “Here, catch.”

Hargreaves also had a victorious look as he said, “Mister Cartwright, be warned. We do not look kindly on fools who think that they are smarter than us.”

I did not look him in the eye. Nor did I respond. Instead I switched the recorder back on to record and placed it on the table in front of me.

Hargreaves reacted to my subdued demeanour with a grin and sideways glances at the two detectives. Then looking back at me he said, “So getting back to the matter at hand, Mister Cartwright. Is there anything you wish to add to your two statements to the Commission?”

“No. But I do have a question.” I paused until he nodded. “The cigarette butts that I sent to the Commission. Did they pass them on to the police? Do you have them?”

“Yes. We have them but what are we supposed to do with them?”

I responded in what I hoped was a diffident tone of voice. “They were collected from the spot where the hit-and-runners waited for me to jog past. I thought that you might get some DNA from the butts for later comparison with the DNA of any suspects that you may later get your hands on.”

Hargreaves laughed. “Mister Cartwright. You have been watching too much CSI on TV. Even if we did take a suspect into custody, you have no proof that the alleged attackers were the ones that dropped the cigarette butts in the first place.”

I did not take his condescending manner well. It angered me, and I was tempted to retaliate, but it was in my best interest that he believed that he had the upper hand. “What will you do with them then?”

“Probably keep them for now anyway. What about the tyre tracks near where you collected the cigarette butts and where you claim to have been run down? Can we still get plaster casts made of them?”

I realised that he already knew the answer but I played along anyway. “No, they were washed out within a few hours of the hit-and-run. Won’t the photos of the tracks be of some help?”

“No, not good enough definition. But none of the photos that we have show track marks near the hit-and-run location.”

“Sorry, I forgot. There were no clear tyre tracks near the spot where I was run down. There were just skid marks with no discernible tyre tread marks visible. I did take some photos though just before the vehicle left the roadway and moved onto the shoulder to hit me. You already have all the photos that I took.”

If I didn’t know better I would have believed that Hargreaves was actually disappointed when he responded, “That’s a pity. We had hoped that you might have a few more photos that you hadn’t passed on.”

I shook my head. “Sorry.”

***

The remainder of the interview was almost cordial. Even so I was relieved to exit the police station. I had been worried that I might have been searched and my second digital recorder discovered. The recorder that I had placed on the table was in the nature of a decoy. I had expected that they would have refused me approval to record the meeting at all and that I would have had to rely on the hidden recorder for my verbatim record and proof of what was actually said,

The probability that the attacks on me were somehow connected with the Mount Godwin Gold Mine robbery had strengthened. It was the only connection between me and Hargreaves but I was still at a loss to imagine why I had been singled out. Hargreaves and his accomplices must believe that I am somehow a threat to them. And of course, I didn’t know if Hargreaves was actually involved in the robbery or had got involved later. Perhaps he had discovered who the robbers were and was seeking to get a share of the loot. Just as the corrupt policemen had done after the Great Bookie Robbery in Melbourne.

Even though I believed that there had been a significant breakthrough, most of what I now believed to be true was still mostly conjecture. All I knew to be fact was that Hargreaves knew about the culvert and its significance in my narrow escape from serious injury.

Nothing had been said in the later part of the meeting to indicate that Hargreaves had realised his blunder regarding the culvert. A situation that I was grateful for as a confrontation would have been inevitable, and the consequences unwelcome. I much preferred that he at least have a degree of doubt that I was aware of his prior knowledge of the culvert. Even though an immediate confrontation had not eventuated, Hargreaves now had another reason to have me eliminated. Not only was there something connected to Mount Godwin that led to me being a threat to him, he now might be nervous that I was aware of his inside knowledge of the attempted hit-and-run.

***

Later that evening I composed an email to Toni Swan describing the meeting with Detective Inspector Hargreaves in Townsville and explained the significance of Hargreaves reference to the culvert. I also suggested that she have the Commission’s records checked to confirm that there had been no mention of the culvert at the scene of the attempted hit-and-run. After attaching a copy of the sound file recording of the meeting, and sending it off, I made a Skype video call to Christine. After an exchange of greetings I told her about the day’s events.