Priors. Stuart Jackson E.
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it’s not her, then we could be in real trouble finding out the hell it is. No one knew it was Christie’s place.”
“Any other links with evidence at the murder scene?”
“Found items of women’s underwear in the murder room. Bra and panties. Same size of similar items found in the bedroom. Also some other items with the same labels. Forensic will do some checks to see if there’s any sort of match.”
“What about head hair?”
“Deceased was blonde. Matches knowledge of the Deacon woman and also some photos.”
“Photos?”
“She was a model. That’s as much as we know. There were some photos of her in an album we found at Christie’s place.”
“How do you know they’re photos of this Deacon woman?”
“There’s a few notations against a couple of them. You know the sort of thing - Amy at the beach, Amy in her new hat.”
“Anything else at Christie’s?”
“Nothing obvious. One of the lads is with Forensic there at the moment.”
Lefroy was suddenly quiet. Barron sensed that he was worried. The Christie link made it very nasty. With all the potential to blow up in their faces.
“This is a bloody mess,” Lefroy said, as if reading Barron’s mind.
“Couldn’t agree with you more,” Barron said.
“Where’s Christie now?” Lefroy asked.
“He’s downstairs with the MO.”
“And the MO is quite firm about this amnesia thing?”
“As clear as he can be. I’d suggest...”
“What?”
“I’d suggest we transfer Christie out of here as soon as possible. As few people here know about this the better.”
“Agree. Who does know?”
“Only the investigating team. And two members of Forensic. I’d like to keep it that way.”
“Good idea. Where are you going to take him?”
“Mornington.”
“You think so?”
There was a facility on the Mornington Peninsula that the AFP used - and sometimes shared with other agencies. Like Special Branch and ASIO. Barron had given the matter a fair amount of thought and he could offer no better alternatives. He knew also that Lefroy operated best with his officers when they were giving him suggestions. Showed they were thinking and not just relying on Lefroy to come up with all the answers. This thing was likely to get messy in the future and if Lefroy and he worked together on it, it would make the process cleaner. Easier.
“It’s not ideal, but it gets Christie out of here and out of the city,” Barron replied. “We can keep the place secure. And secure not only to keep people out, but also to keep Christie in. I’d need a couple of men.”
“No problem,” and Lefroy allowed himself a short laugh. “Well, it is a bloody problem. Finding extra staff out of a declining budget is always difficult, but this is bloody serious. Let Admin know I’ve said it’s okay.”
Barron knew Lefroy to only use mild expletives - if he used them at all. He saw that as a good trait in a superior. It set a good example.
“Good. The MO’ll go out with him. He can undertake a more thorough examination and let us know how we stand.”
Lefroy smiled to himself. If he had to choose any of his officers to handle this case it would have been Barron. He was competent, knowledgeable and engendered a great team spirit amongst the people he worked with. They trusted him and, in the process, supported him solidly. He also had a good network and if there were operations that involved liaison with Customs or the State Police or even the intelligence people, there was no friction, no demarcations, no petty squabbling for the points that went with making the final bust. Barron had a good track record and he’d handle this well.
“He thinks a murder could have brought on this amnesia?” Lefroy asked again. This was a complication they could well do without. He watched Barron as he answered.
Barron looked worried. “Yes. But he’d like more time on it.”
“Does he know whether it’ll go away? When it’ll go away?”
“No. Too soon to tell.”
Lefroy assessed the look on Barron’s face. “What is it?” he asked.
Barron ran his hand across his face and kneaded his tired eyes with his fingers. Then he looked straight into Lefroy’s face.
“Well?” Lefroy asked.
“We’ve got Christie cold on this one. Caught at the scene of the crime.
“So?”
“There’s no obvious motive. There’s...”
“Hey, look. That we have a murder as gory as this one is bad enough. That Christie is involved is unbelievable. But as you quite rightly say, he was caught at the scene of the crime. All you have to do is bring together the evidence that we need. Just wrap it up thoroughly and wrap it up quickly. It’s not our job to investigate murders, but in this case we make the exception. We don’t get outsiders involved in our business.
“I want you to take charge of this. Keep it contained. I do not want the media involved. Not even a whiff of it. Understand?”
“Yes.”
“And I don’t want to be fielding the Victorian Police because they’ve found out about it.”
“That may be easier said than done.”
“Try. Make sure your team understands all of this. I’ll talk with Forensic.”
Lefroy turned his back on Barron and looked out the window. Without turning he said, “You keep me informed on a regular basis. Me and only me. I’ll talk with the boss and let him know what’s happening.”
Barron nodded. Lefroy turned back to face him.
“Make sure this is done by the book. No loose ends. The boss’ll go through it very thoroughly. You know what he’s like.” Barron nodded. “If it’s done properly we can complete the investigation, make the submissions and convince the Internal team - and then close the file.”
Barron was thinking ahead. This was an unusual case and he knew that Lefroy was taking a chance that it could all be resolved by having the boss create an Internal Investigation Enquiry. There was, he realised, a pretty good chance of that happening. The alternative - resolution in a much more public arena, could be very damaging to the Force. With absolutely nothing to gain by it. He hoped Lefroy could swing it. It would be simpler all round.
“Okay.”
“Thanks, David. I know I can count on you. Coffee?”
“Thanks.” Barron suddenly realised how hungry he was. He’d been at the crime scene all night, making sure that nothing was missed and he hadn’t eaten since lunch yesterday. Barron followed his superior into the small room off Lefroy’s office that held an urn, a fridge, and other basics. He watched as Lefroy spooned coffee into the empty cups and then added the water.
“There’s milk in the fridge. Sugar’s there.”
Barron put more sugar in the coffee than he needed and walked back into Lefroy’s office.
“What’s first?” Lefroy asked, sipping at the hot drink and looking at Barron over the rim of the cup.
“A number of things. We’ll follow up on the Deacon woman. Establish positive ID.