An Iron Rose (11 page)

Flannery was in one of the sheds working under the hood of a Holden ute by the light of a portable hand lamp. The vehicle was covered in stickers saying things like
Toot to Root
and
Emergency Sex Vehicle
and
Bulk Sperm Carrier.

‘
My cousin’s boy’s,’ he said. ‘Virgin vehicle. Never had a girl in it.’

‘I can see he’s waiting for someone special,’ I said. ‘Listen, you know of Ned ever going around asking for jobs?’

Flannery was wiping his large hands on his jumper, a garment that qualified as a natural oil resource. ‘Ned? Ask for a job? You smokin something?’

‘Second question. He ever talk about a doctor called Ian Barbie?’

‘What’s this? Doctor? Ned wouldn’t know a doctor from a brown dog.’

I looked into the engine. ‘Dirty.’

‘Clean inside that matters,’ Flannery said. ‘Let’s go a beer. Got some in this little fridge over here, bought it off Mick.’

‘I can see the dent.’

‘What dent?’

‘Dent it got falling off the truck.’

The perfect is the enemy of the good. Making knives would be easy if all you wanted was a good knife. But you don’t. You want a perfect knife. And so, in the endless grinding and filing and fitting and buffing, the mind has plenty of time to dwell. Today, moist Irish day, sky the colour of sugar in suspension, I dwelt on Brendan Burrow’s parting words. All I wanted from Brendan were the details of Ian Barbie’s suicide. And then he said:
The Lefroy thing. Heard Bianchi was in that pub in Deer Park one day around then.
And I said:
Yes?
And he said:
Mance was there too.

Mance was there too.

The feeling of missing a step, of walking into a glass door, of being shaken from deep sleep. With Bianchi? At the same time as Bianchi? I knew the answer. Just before noon, I finished polishing a small paring knife and the dog and I went over to the office.

The file was at the back of the cabinet, not looked at for years. I sat down at the table and took out the record of interview. I didn’t want to read it again. I read it.

RECORD OF INTERVIEW

DATE: 5 June 1994.

TIME COMMENCED: 3.10 pm.

TIME TERMINATED: 3.25 pm.

NAME: MacArthur John Faraday, Detective Senior Sergeant, Australian Federal Police.

OFFICERS PRESENT: Colin Arthur Payne, Inspector, Australian Federal Police. Wayne Ronald Rapsey, Detective Inspector, Internal Affairs Division, Australian Federal Police. Joseph Musca, Detective Inspector, Victoria Police.

SUBJECT: Matters relating to the surveillance of Howard James Lefroy.

D-I RAPSEY: For the record, this is a resumption of the interview with Detective Faraday terminated at five forty-five pm yesterday. Detective, do you have anything to add to your statements yesterday?

DSS FARADAY: No. Sir.

D-I RAPSEY: I want to go over a few things. The decision to wait for Howard Lefroy to dispose of the heroin. You made it.

DSS FARADAY: Yes.

D-I RAPSEY: Did you inform your superiors that Lefroy was in possession of the heroin?

DSS FARADAY: No.

D-I RAPSEY: Why was that?

DSS FARADAY: I was afraid it would jeopardise the operation.

D-I RAPSEY: Reporting something to your superior officer would jeopardise an operation. Serious statement, detective.

DSS FARADAY: Yes, sir. As I said last time and the time before, it was not my superior officer I was worried about but other officers.

D-I RAPSEY: Equally serious. What was your reason for waiting?

DSS FARADAY: I believed Lefroy was dealing with a top-level distributor. We had no idea who. Just take Lefroy out, some other importer takes his place. Nail everyone at the pick-up, we at least have a chance of finding out who’s buying. Small chance, but a chance.

D-I RAPSEY: You say you discussed this with Inspector Scully.

DSS FARADAY: I told him. Correct.

D-I RAPSEY: What was his view?

DSS FARADAY: I don’t recall him offering a view.

D-I RAPSEY: Did he disagree?

DSS FARADAY: I don’t recall that he offered an opinion.

D-I RAPSEY: What if Inspector Scully says that he made it clear to you that he strongly opposed waiting for Lefroy to dispose of the heroin and wanted to…?

DSS FARADAY: He did not.

D-I RAPSEY: So he’d be lying?

DSS FARADAY: Draw your own conclusions.

D-I RAPSEY: Moving on. Howard Lefroy’s flat. Visual contact?

DSS FARADAY: Three windows. Only the dining room blinds were left open at night.

D-I RAPSEY: And audio?

DSS FARADAY: All rooms except the hall. Sitting room was weak. Had been for a couple of days.

D-I RAPSEY: Why didn’t you fix it?

DSS FARADAY: Too risky. Too close.

D-I RAPSEY: Too close to what?

DSS FARADAY: The pick-up.

D-I RAPSEY: There was going to be a pick-up at Lefroy’s place?

DSS FARADAY: According to my information.

D-I RAPSEY: Source?

DSS FARADAY: I had information.

INSP. PAYNE: Answer the question, Mac.

DSS FARADAY: Lefroy’s woman, Carlie Mance.

D-I RAPSEY: She was a registered informant?

DSS FARADAY: No. I believed registering my informant would endanger her.

D-I RAPSEY: You going to stick with this line?

DSS FARADAY: Yes, sir.

D-I RAPSEY: We’ll come back to it. Believe me, we’ll come back to it. Moving on. So Lefroy had five kilos of heroin in the flat and you were waiting for someone to come along and collect it?

DSS FARADAY: That’s correct.

D-I RAPSEY: How long were you going to wait?

DSS FARADAY: As I said before, I had reason to believe that we didn’t have long to wait.

D-I RAPSEY: How long had you been waiting?

DSS FARADAY: It’s on record.

D-I RAPSEY: Tell me.

DSS FARADAY: Two days.

D-I RAPSEY: According to Inspector Scully, you initially informed him that the pick-up would take place within four days of the heroin’s arrival at Lefroy’s flat. Is that correct?

DSS FARADAY: Yes.

D-I RAPSEY: How did you know?

DSS FARADAY: Informant.

D-I RAPSEY: Ms Mance? The unregistered informant?

DSS FARADAY: Correct.

D-I RAPSEY: We’ll revisit this. Moving on. Let’s talk about the night.

DSS FARADAY: This’ll be the third time.

INSP. PAYNE: Don’t be an arse, detective. You’re in serious trouble here. This isn’t about dry-cleaning on the house or free screws.

D-I RAPSEY: What time did Ms Mance arrive?

DSS FARADAY: Just before Howie went for his walk. Around noon.

D-I RAPSEY: What did they talk about?

DSS FARADAY: The usual. Nothing. Howie didn’t talk business to her.

D-I RAPSEY: So how did she know his business?

DSS FARADAY: She didn’t. All she knew was that the pick-up was going to be at Howie’s.

D-I RAPSEY: So Howard’s on his walk? What then?

DSS FARADAY: Dennis rang. Said he was coming around. Eight-thirty sharp.

D-I RAPSEY: You were listening?

DSS FARADAY: It sounded like Dennis. It still sounds like Dennis.

D-I RAPSEY: Dennis been to Howard’s place before? DSS

FARADAY: Not while we were on him, no.

D-I RAPSEY: Didn’t think it strange Dennis suddenly decides to visit Howard?

DSS FARADAY: They’re brothers. Their mother needs to go into a home and she doesn’t want to. Howie takes her side. Dennis is on the phone to Howie for weeks trying to talk him round and he’s getting nowhere. No, I didn’t think it was strange he wanted to see Howie.

INSP. PAYNE: Your people made a positive ID of Dennis when he showed up?

DSS FARADAY: Good as they could. Mackie knew him. His car. Tinted glass. We took pictures. We’ve enhanced them. Looks like him.

INSP. PAYNE: But they didn’t get a good look at him.

DSS FARADAY: They saw him for about thirty seconds. He drove up, the garage door opened, he drove in.

D-I RAPSEY: Opened?

DSS FARADAY: It’s a high-security building. You need a remote control with your own code to open the garage door. Or someone in the building can press a button and open it.

D-I RAPSEY: So someone was watching for Dennis?

DSS FARADAY: They knew when to expect him.

D-I RAPSEY: Who was on duty?

DSS FARADAY: Mackie and Allinson.

D-I RAPSEY: You didn’t think this was important enough for you to be there?

DSS FARADAY: No. Mackie knew Dennis. He knew Dennis better than I did. What would me being there help?

D-I RAPSEY: And with hindsight?

DSS FARADAY: With hindsight, I should have spent twenty-four hours a day on the job instead of just twenty.

D-I RAPSEY: Let’s go on. Mackie rang you.

DSS FARADAY: Correct. I was asleep.

D-I RAPSEY: What did he say?

DSS FARADAY: He said Dennis’d turned up.

D-I RAPSEY: And you said?

DSS FARADAY: I said: So?

D-I RAPSEY: Mackie suggested a tail on Dennis when he left. What was your response?

DSS FARADAY: I said no.

D-I RAPSEY: Didn’t even consider it? Five kilos of smack up there, brother shows up on short notice.

DSS FARADAY: Dennis is clean, no history, no connections. Rotary clean. In the time we covered him, he did nothing. He thinks Howie made his money on the stockmarket. He’s not going to courier smack for Howie.

D-I RAPSEY: So Dennis drives off. When did Mackie call you again?

DSS FARADAY: Nine o’clock. Just after.

D-I RAPSEY: The reason?

DSS FARADAY: He was worried about a call Howie made as Dennis came out.

D-I RAPSEY: Listened to it?

DSS FARADAY: I’ve listened to it.

D-I RAPSEY: Howard’s voice.

DSS FARADAY: Howie’s voice.

D-I RAPSEY: Sound a bit stagey?

DSS FARADAY: Yes.

D-I RAPSEY: Know the person on the other end?

DSS FARADAY: As you know, the person doesn’t say anything.

D-I RAPSEY: One-way conversation.

DSS FARADAY: Not unusual for Howie. They pick up the phone, he talks.

D-I RAPSEY: Never raised a doubt in your mind?

DSS FARADAY: Not when Mackie described it, no.

D-I RAPSEY: What did you tell Mackie?

DSS FARADAY: Told him I’d listen the next day.

D-I RAPSEY: Ten minutes later, he rings you again. What did he say this time?

DSS FARADAY: Someone rang Howie. Howie didn’t make any sense, didn’t answer questions, said goodbye in the middle of something the guy was saying.

D-I RAPSEY: That didn’t alarm you? Didn’t interest you?

DSS FARADAY: No. Sounded like vintage Howie.

D-I RAPSEY: And when you listened to the tape?

DSS FARADAY: I had the benefit of hindsight.

D-I RAPSEY: Would you have picked it if you’d been there?

DSS FARADAY: Yes.

D-I RAPSEY: And exactly when did you listen to the tape?

DSS FARADAY: The next day.

D-I RAPSEY: Mackie says he asked you to come back and listen. Is that right?

DSS FARADAY: He did.

D-I RAPSEY: And you didn’t.

DSS FARADAY: I didn’t see any reason to.

D-I RAPSEY: So let’s get this straight. Lefroy is sitting in his flat with five kilos. You believe that a pick-up could take place at any time. He gets a visit from his brother. Something that hasn’t happened before. Your man calls you to suggest a tail because he didn’t get a good look at Dennis. You say no. Howard makes a phone call to someone who doesn’t talk back. Your man calls you. Forget it, you say. Then someone calls Howard. and it sounds weird to your man. He calls you. You say, I’ll listen tomorrow. Is that a fair account?