AC05 - Death Mask (30 page)

Anya tried not to sound patronising. ‘There is actually a genetic link that predisposes certain people to more severe damage from head injuries. My guess is that Terri Janson will argue her husband should have been tested. It’s a bit like checking a boy doesn’t have haemophilia before he plays a contact sport.’

The lawyers feverishly took notes.

‘Pete Janson’s blood was tested at the autopsy. They’re waiting for the result of the APoE4 allele,’ Anya added.

There was a prolonged silence.

Anya continued. ‘The thing is, if this sport was car racing and even one or two deaths had occurred, there’d be a revision of safety procedures and standards that would have to be accepted by all competitors.’

Masterton approached the table. ‘Well this is the great game of football. Do we have to listen to this self-righteous nonsense from someone under our employ? Heck, she isn’t even one of
us. The way she’s talking, you’d think she put Terri Janson up to this whole interview business.’ He stood behind Anya. ‘Did you?’

Gavin Rosseter placed his hand on Anya’s arm, in support, rather than to silence her, she assumed.

Buffet thumped the table. ‘Bentley, shut the hell up! We need to know what we’re dealing with. And the press are going to eat this stuff up.’

Kitty Rowe stood. ‘Not necessarily. To routinely test players would infringe their civil liberties. I can haul out no end of experts who would say we did Janson a favour by not testing him for that gene. Without us he wouldn’t have had a successful football career or the means to support his family so well. That test would have taken all his fame and success away. We racked our conscience to come to that decision, but we put our players’ families first.’

‘I like the way you think.’ Masterton seemed to have forgotten his angst and moral indignation.

‘If Terri Janson wants a trial by media, we’ll give her one.’ She refilled her wine glass.

One of the lawyers spoke. ‘We’re already looking into her private life and suspect she was having affairs.’

Buffet looked weary. ‘You do what you have to.’ He patted the lawyer nearest him. ‘While you’re all here, it’s come to my attention that at least one of the players in the alleged incident at the Rainier Hotel lied in his police statement. I’m therefore invoking the morals clause in his contract. He will be traded, or fired immediately. Little shit had the hide to push for a bigger salary to keep quiet on Janson’s affairs and off-field antics.’

Rosseter and Ingram looked up.

‘I will not be blackmailed. As of today, Clark Garcia is finished.’

The meeting was at an end for Anya. As she and Rosseter left, she asked about the neurological questionnaire the doctors used to assess players with head injuries.

‘The Neurotrauma Functional Assessment.’

Anya was unfamiliar with it. ‘Do the local emergency departments use it?’

‘It’s issued by the league, specially designed by one of its own board members.’

The neuro questionnaire was, therefore, not an objective medical assessment.

Gavin Rosseter may have inadvertently contributed to Janson’s death. The team was in significant legal trouble.

E
than was short of breath when he arrived at Anya’s table.

He didn’t wait to sit down. ‘You know Roman Bronstein?’

Anya swallowed a mouthful of eggs and looked up from her computer.

‘He’s funding the head injury study. Why?’

He slid into the seat opposite and lowered his voice. ‘Word is, his home just got raided.’

She put her fork down on the plate. ‘What for?’

‘Illegal performance-enhancing drugs. He’s been charged with supplying.’

It didn’t make sense for him to be risking players’ health by dealing in steroids while also trying to get a better deal for them by funding concussion research.

‘What evidence do the police have?’

‘That’s the thing.’ Ethan helped himself to a piece of toast on a spare plate. ‘They acted on an anonymous tip-off they received late last night.’

Anya took a sip of warm coffee. ‘He seemed really passionate about developing protocols to save lives and prevent future disabilities. Why would he supply players with dangerous drugs on the side?’

Ethan smeared honey on the toast. ‘Maybe that’s how he
gets the money. Kind of like the Robin Hood of footballers’ health.’

Anya watched him devour the toast and follow it with a pastry. ‘Don’t be shy, help yourself.’ She had never met a man who ate so much, so often and managed to stay so trim. The man was a metabolic machine.

The waitress brought the coffee pot over and offered to fill Ethan’s cup before cheekily requesting his room number. Anya could have sworn the waitress was flirting. The investigator definitely had a certain charm.

‘You said there was an anonymous call to police, after Columbia’s training session last night?’

She wondered about the timing. The research was just getting definitive results and could change the way players were assessed and whether or not they were permitted back on the field. That would be bad news for all sorts of people.

‘That’s what my source says. Did any of the players approach him?’

‘He was there when we arrived but the players hadn’t taken to the field.’ She and Leske stayed until practice had finished, but Bronstein excused himself about half an hour earlier. ‘He mentioned picking up his daughter from dance class. He didn’t have any contact with the players. The only ones who did were two research assistants and they’re employed by neuropathology.’

‘I might just check out the daughter’s dance class. If he can’t run his business …’

‘He can’t fund the research and the study will fail.’ She pushed her plate away and told him what had occurred at last night’s meeting and how she had explained about the research they were doing on CTE. ‘Incidentally, where were you while Masterton was having his conniptions?’

‘I was following up a lead on the woman who was in the hotel room before Janson “checked out”. Seems Dorafino didn’t see her or know her name.’

‘Any other leads?’

‘Nothing concrete.’ Another piece of toast disappeared from the plate.

‘I need to talk to Harrison Leske.’

‘Just let me grab some breakfast and I’ll come with you.’

Anya noticed a couple opposite them kissing passionately across the table. The shiny gold bands on each of their fingers suggested newlyweds. With all the infidelity she’d heard about over the last few days, she hoped they were actually married to each other.

Ethan headed back to the buffet. Anya continued to read over her notes from the preceding night. Testing for the APoE4 allele would be outlawed if Buffet and Rowe had their way. She thought he and Pope were being short-sighted if they could not see how much of an issue this would become, if not now, then in the very near future.

Ethan returned with a yoghurt, banana, apple and bowl of cereal. ‘I’ve just come from a meeting with Buffet.’ He spoke quietly. ‘More damage control about Janson. But something doesn’t sit right. The woman hasn’t come forward, so she’s got something to hide. Look at all the mistresses who come forward for their fifteen minutes of fame and financial gain. Either this woman is loaded or she needs the affair, if it was one, to stay secret.’

Although, from the way women threw themselves at the players, it could have literally been anyone off the street. Maybe he was alive when she left and she hadn’t registered his death – unlikely given the media frenzy, but not impossible.

She checked her phone for messages and placed it on the table where she could see it. That way there was no risk of losing it again.

Something else had been bothering her. ‘Don’t you think it’s a little coincidental that within a few days Robert Keller and Pete Janson are dead? They both just signed significant sponsorship deals, albeit with different companies.’

‘Maybe someone wants to ruin the league’s reputation. They weren’t in the same team, so it can’t be a Bombers vendetta. I
agree it’s odd, but these guys are risk-takers. They’re away from home and do stupid things.’

The way members of the team acted, they were capable of destroying themselves. No need for anyone outside to do it for them.

‘Hate to say it,’ he chomped on the apple, ‘but we need to find out where Kirsten Byrne was when Janson died.’

‘She’s in police protection. Linda Gatby organised it the day we saw her, after she started getting death threats.’

‘Sorry, I didn’t know. Guess that cuts her from the equation. The lawyer Jim Horan told us she’d hired had nothing to do with Janson and his friends. She’s suing Cheree Jordan for wrongful dismissal.’

So much for that vile journalist suggesting Kirsten was merely an opportunistic whore. Anya remembered reading the papers that day, after Keller’s death. Pete Janson was quoted in an interview.

‘Janson and Keller were friends in high school. Didn’t Terri tell us that the accusations of abuse started back in high school, when he began to star?’

‘I can check if they were involved in anything illegal from that far back. Have to admit, I stopped looking after we found Darla.’

Anya realised it sounded ridiculous. The deaths probably were unrelated. High-risk behaviours performed often enough led to accidental deaths.

She watched Ethan combine the yoghurt and muesli, stirring the sloppy concoction.

‘What do you think the chances are of successfully suing Buffet for wrongful death?’ He managed through a mouthful.

‘Terri’s lawyers will probably argue that a reasonable person in the football business would have known about the specific risk of head injuries to people who tested positive for Apolo-protein E4. They could have a point, that is if Janson does prove positive.’

Ethan put down his spoon and pushed the bowl to the side.

‘Then you’ll get players claiming discrimination if they’re prevented from playing by the team. We have to accept there are inherent risks in everything. That’s what life is. If we only allow people who have the good genes to play, where does it all end?’

Ethan’s top lip curled, as if disgusted by the concept. ‘Next thing, we’ll be testing infants for all the potential genes. If they have those …’ he clicked his fingers twice, ‘… fibres. What are their names? The ones that show you’ll be either a sprinter or long-distance runner?’

‘Fast and slow twitch muscle fibres.’

He clicked his fingers again. ‘They’re the ones. Where will it all lead? We’re talking eugenics, and it’s just the beginning.’

Anya noticed Ethan’s hands were shaking as he reached for his coffee cup.

‘Let’s back up,’ she said quietly. ‘We’re not talking about people who want to create the perfect society, or a superior race. No one’s suggesting embryonic testing to help parents select which ones they’ll keep, based on whether or not they have the build for an athlete, a supermodel, a genius IQ or a brain that is more resistant to head injuries.’

A family of six passed by the table. The last two children straggled, looking at the food on every table they passed.

A waitress refilled their water glasses and Anya hesitated before explaining, ‘What could be debated is whether the test should be offered to kids in school who suffer concussion in sport. That way the parents would be more able to make an informed decision about whether they want that child to continue playing a contact sport. If a child tests positive for a genetic component that can make the brain damage from head injuries much more severe, don’t you think the parents deserve to know? Or would you prefer to condemn that child to a far greater risk of early dementia and chronic traumatic encephalopathy?’

Ethan took a few deep breaths. ‘You’re right. I’m sorry I got so heated.’ He smiled. ‘I can just see Buffet’s face when he found out about a potential lawsuit.’

Anya smiled. ‘I’d say it’s lucky he didn’t burst a blood vessel.’

Ethan sat back.

‘I’ve got more news on McKenzie. The night after raping Darla at the strip club, he visited the mailman at his hotel, just like he did after Kirsten. Guessing he got rid of his clothes that time.’

If he were posting items with potentially incriminating evidence on them, they had to be at his home. If the women consented to sex, he wouldn’t have had to hide anything. There was no doubt in Anya’s mind: Liam McKenzie was a repeat rapist.

‘So Linda Gatby needs to organise a search warrant for his place.’

‘That’s the trick. McKenzie doesn’t mail them to his own home. He sends them to his dear old mother.’

Anya wondered what his mother would make of bloodstained sheets, and whether or not she even opened the packages, or kept them until his next visit.

‘So, fancy a road trip to New Jersey?’

Anya drained the last drop of coffee from her cup. ‘Are you sure we’re not going to spook her by dropping in before the police can search the place?’

‘If she knows we’re working for Lyle Buffet, she’ll think we’re trying to exonerate Liam. Besides, you learn more when you surprise people.’

S
omething else had been bothering Anya. ‘Ethan, can I ask you something?’

A black limousine waited outside the hotel. A number of men in black suits congregated and joked with porters. The smell of cooking meat wafted from a kebab seller on the corner. When he saw the investigator, the limousine driver donned his cap and stamped out his cigarette.

At the curb, taxis lined up and tourists clambered in almost as quickly as others climbed out. As Anya stood watching, a fire engine turned the corner, its siren blasting. A flash of flame in the passenger window caught her eye. One of the firefighters was lighting a cigar as the unit raced to its next emergency. She wondered if the irony was lost on him.

‘No rush, buddy,’ Ethan reassured the driver and turned to Anya. ‘Sure. If I can I’ll answer it.’

‘What if we’re being used to make it look like the league and team owners are doing the right thing?’ Anya was still troubled by the timing of Bronstein’s arrest.

‘It’s a reasonable question. The only way to answer is to say that I trust Lyle Buffet. The other two, I don’t know for certain. They have their own reasons for being involved in the game. Masterton uses the team to employ people from
his church. The kids who hand out programmes at games are juvenile offenders who are being rehabilitated in a programme initiated by Masterton. The club allocates funds each year to pay them. Church members take care of cleaning and maintaining the grounds, and the club seems happy to have them doing the work. Kitty Rowe spends her life trying to get her father’s attention, but Lyle has always been honest and upfront with me. He lives for the game. I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt.’