Deadly Diplomacy (26 page)

He looked startled by her anger. “What do
you
know?” he sneered.

“
Tell
me, then!”

But he just looked away, which infuriated her even more.

“So what did Anthony Harris have to say before he was murdered?” she asked.

His eyes narrowed.

“That is who you were talking to on the phone when I came into your office yesterday morning, wasn’t it?” She paused. “Christ, Tony, you said. Then you mentioned you’d given him something in confidence. What was it, Nigel? What did you give the Federal Minister in confidence?”

“Were you
eavesdropping?
”

She ignored the accusation; she had him cornered and he knew it. “So what had Harris done, Nigel?” She paused. “He knew about the murder of Ellen Chambers by then, didn’t he? After all, he
was
her lover and the father of her unborn child.”

“
Unborn child?
” Nigel looked shocked.

“Ellen was 16 weeks pregnant when she was murdered. Did Anthony Harris have something to do with her murder, Nigel? Is that why he phoned you?”

Nigel glared at her, furious at being challenged.

But Jess was on a roll. “And what about Chen Xiamen, the man suspected of paying bribes to Ellen Chambers? I’ve just seen you both having a cosy chat in a back street café. The police can’t seem to find him. So how did you?”

“You’re
imagining
things now.”

“And you’re
lying.
” She knew she had him on the back foot. “Don’t bother denying it. I just saw you with your heads together.”

His face turned hard as he stood up. “
How dare you!
”

The gloves were truly off now. She pushed the chair back and stood up to face him. “You know exactly what’s going on, Nigel; and you’re somehow involved.” She lifted her chin. “You like to think we’re all fools, but we’re not.”

“
You bitch!
” He towered over her, fists clenched.

Time seemed frozen as they glared at each other.

Then he turned and stormed out.

As he slammed the door behind him, Jess staggered back onto the chair, heart hammering.
What the hell just happened?
One minute he was quiet and upset, the next he turned on her like a raging bull. She was shaking as she replayed every word of the row in her head. But now she was convinced she was right; Nigel was definitely involved.

She flicked on the metal desk lamp, which shone its bright beam over the desk. Outside, the last of the winter light had almost faded. The lights in a nearby office block were blazing. She could see people still working inside, which meant they could probably see her. Had they witnessed that argument? Feeling vulnerable, she got up and snapped the blinds shut. She went over to the door and poked her head out. Everything was in darkness.

Her ringing mobile shattered the silence.

“Jess.”

“Simon.” She could hear the relief in her voice. “I’m so glad to hear from you.”

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s Nigel! We just had a blazing row, and he’s stormed out of the Consulate-General. God knows where he’s gone.”

“
A row
? What about?”

“I accused him of lying. He got mad and…”

“
Christ, Jess!
What did you do that for?”

“Because he
is
lying, Simon. I don’t care what he told you and the High Commissioner, he deliberately kept hold of that intelligence report and deliberately didn’t tell us about the police investigation into Chen and Ellen Chambers. And on my way back to the Consulate-General from Police HQ, I saw him in a café with Chen. When I mentioned it, he accused me of imagining it.”

“Could you have been mistaken?”

“
No way!
He’s lying, Simon.”

“This is going to send the High Commissioner into the stratosphere.” Simon’s voice was tense. “He just had a strop at the Federal Police Commissioner; he thinks he’s not being kept in the loop. He pointed out in no uncertain terms that Ellen Chambers was a British citizen and demanded to be given all the information. Now, I’ve had to ring up the heads of Foreign Affairs and Trade and all the Security Agencies to get them here for dinner an hour earlier than the other guests, for a drink in his study.”

And Jess knew what that meant; HC was going to give them all a grilling. She’d witnessed that before, the High Commissioner sitting at his desk in his dinner suit, gold cufflinks glittering in the lamplight. He’d be rolling a fat cigar between the finger and thumb of his right hand like a weapon. If the assembled group didn’t tell him what he wanted to know, he’d light up and suck on it until a cloud of smoke filled the room. Everyone would be loosening their collars and ties to breathe. But he wouldn’t let anyone out until he’d got what he wanted.

“Our security technician has been over to sweep his study for bugs,” said Simon. “HC insists he wants a full and frank discussion.”

“Any more news from our Embassy in Beijing, Simon? Do we know the
source
of the corruption allegations?”

“Not yet.” Simon sighed with frustration. “They have to get clearance from London to transmit sensitive information.”

Jess understood the intelligence implication.

“HC has asked for the e-gram to be delivered to his residence immediately it arrives.” Simon paused. “That’s where I am now. He came home early to work in his study before dinner. I’ve just been helping Lady Patricia with the table placement. Not that she needs my help.”

Jess could picture the High Commissioner’s wife slotting a place card into a silver holder at each setting on the dining table. The sinking late-afternoon sun would be bathing the surrounding hills and garden in the orange glow of sunset, and beaming through the dining room window onto the crystal glasses and glittering silver cutlery.

She looked around the Consul-General’s shadowy office in the lamplight and felt a pang of loneliness. She wondered, as she had so often, what stroke of fate had led her to join the Foreign Office, and end up living alone in far flung places. That offer of a job at Western Energy was becoming more attractive by the minute.

“Still there, Jess?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll go and tell HC about Nigel and Chen,” Simon said. “Or do you want to talk to him?”

“You tell him,” she said. “I’m finding it hard to keep my temper at the moment.”

There was a pause. “What are you going to do now?” he asked.

“Work on here for a couple of hours, where I can stay by the phone. I need to talk to London. Then, I’ll check-in the Riverbank for the night – it’s not far from here.”

“Right. I’ll talk to the High Commissioner and ring you back. It may take a while. Just don’t leave the Consulate-General until you hear from me.”

“Okay. But if Nigel rings, don’t let him talk you round, Simon. He’s
involved
.” She paused. “And that makes him dangerous.”

“
Jess
,” Simon said, crossly. “I can’t let you handle this on your own.”

“You have to see out the Foreign Secretary’s visit.”

“
Sod
the Foreign Secretary… I’m coming up to Brisbane tonight.”

“No, Simon. Someone has to carry on with business.”

“
For God’s sake, Jess!
”

“Simon,” she said, voice firm. “I’m not going to do anything stupid. I’ll wait here. You ring me back and tell me what the High Commissioner wants me to do.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” she said, with a confidence she no longer felt.

*

Jess tried to settle at the computer, but she couldn’t concentrate. Nigel’s angry face kept flashing before her eyes. She’d seen his true colours tonight, and it was an ugly sight. Too agitated to work, she closed her laptop screen and raised a slat of the blinds to peer out. Only one or two lights still burned in the nearby office block; most people seemed to have left for the night.

She stood up to go and make herself a cup of tea. Flicking on the lights in the main office, she glanced through the bullet-proof glass window at reception, and stopped dead.

The front door to the Consulate-General stood wide open.

Nervous, she looked around. Was she alone? She stood watching and listening, but there was only silence. She glanced up at the CCTV monitor, beaming pictures from the camera outside the front door in the corridor. All quiet. Nigel must have stormed out and left the front door open.

She went over to the front door and peered out. Everything seemed eerily quiet now everyone had gone home. Suddenly, the lift motor cranked up from the bowels of the building. She heard it climb higher and higher. Was that Nigel coming back? She slammed the front door shut, turned the key in the lock, and hurried back to watch the CCTV monitor.

But it wasn’t Nigel. It was Tom Sangster, who stepped out of the lift and rang the front door bell.

She unlocked the door and let him in.

“You alone?” He stepped inside.

She nodded.

“Any word from Susan?” he asked, quickly.

“Sorry, Tom.”

“
Damn! Where is that girl?
”

His face was pale with fatigue and worry. He was obviously under immense strain.

“I came to talk to your Deputy High Commissioner,” he said, wearily.

“I’m afraid he left a while ago.”

Sangster’s eyes narrowed. “Where’s he gone?”

Jess hesitated. “I don’t know.”

He stared at her. “Everything all right?”

How could she tell him she’d just had a blazing row with Nigel? What an impression that would make. “Fine.”

“Sure?”

She nodded.

“Only I’ve been ringing his mobile,” Sangster said, “but he’s not answering.”

“He left here a bit… distracted.”

“Distracted?”

“Oh, just internal issues,” she said.

It wasn’t so much the query in his eyes, as a softness she hadn’t seen in them before that threw her. “It’s nothing,” she mumbled.

He was standing close to her now, almost touching. She was so aware of him beside her that her hand was shaking as she tried to lock the front door again.

He took the key from her hand gently and locked it for her.

“Thanks,” she said, avoiding his eyes. She turned and walked back into the main office, while he followed. All the while, her mind was sifting through everything that had happened since she’d last seen him. Should she tell him about seeing Chen and Nigel in that café? Perhaps he already knew? Is that why he wanted to talk to Nigel? She stopped and turned. Looking into that exhausted face, she knew at that moment that she trusted him a damn sight more than she did Nigel. “I saw Chen Xiamen about an hour ago,” she said, quietly.

He looked startled. “Why didn’t you call me?”

There was a pause.

“He was in a café round the corner with my boss, Nigel Paxman.”

“
What?
” Sangster’s face hardened. “How did
he
know how to contact Chen?”

She put up a hand to stop his questions. “I don’t know, Tom. It seems I’m being kept in the dark.”

“You and me both,” he said, angrily.

She understood his frustration perfectly.

“I have to go,” he said. “What are your movements for the rest of the evening, Jess?”

“I’m going to work here for another couple of hours. Then I’ll check into the Riverbank for the night.”

“I still expect Susan to contact you.” His voice was low, but urgent. “You’re still our best hope of finding her and keeping her safe. And we must get that diary from her. You understand that, don’t you?”

She nodded. “I’ll call if she gets in touch.”

He gave a long sigh. “Right, well, I’m going to send an officer over to accompany you here for the rest of the evening. He’ll escort you to the hotel too.”

She could feel herself tensing. “Are you saying I’m in danger?”

“All I’m saying is this isn’t over yet.” He fixed her with one of his penetrating stares. “But please ring me immediately if you hear from your Deputy High Commissioner. Better still, tell him I want him to come down to the station?”

“I know he’s involved in all this,” she said, softly. “Can you tell me what he’s done?”

He held her gaze for a moment, then looked away.

“I see.” Her voice was cool now. She’d been kept in the dark by Nigel. Now
he
was doing it too.

“Jess…” Sangster touched her arm.

That touch both surprised and somehow reassured her.

“Look, you know Ellen Chambers was under investigation for corruption,” he said.

She nodded.

“Well, there were two other people in Australia under investigation with her.” He lowered his voice as if there were ears everywhere. “Anthony Harris… and your Deputy High Commissioner.”

“
Nigel?
”

He nodded, gravely.

Jess stood rooted to the spot.
Nigel and Anthony Harris under investigation?
She was so shocked she couldn’t think straight.

His ringing mobile interrupted. “Sangster,” he answered.

Watching him on the phone, Jess saw his face turn from weariness to shock.

“Where did the murder take place?” he asked, calmly, almost as if he were expecting it.

Another murder?
Oh God, Jess thought, please don’t let it be Susan.

“I’m on my way.” He hung up and looked at her.

Her stomach was turning somersaults. “Is it Susan?”

He shook his head. “It is a young woman, but not Susan.”

“Who, then?”

“I’ll ring you as soon as we’ve confirmed her identity.”

“If you can’t confirm her identity, how do you know it’s not Susan?” Jess could hear the panic in her voice.

“I promise you, it’s
not
Susan,” he said, gently, as he stepped outside the front door. “Now lock this after me and don’t open it for anyone other than my police officer.”

Jess locked the front door and threw the bolts. She should have been feeling shocked and upset at the news of another murder. But she just felt numb. It was as if Ellen Chambers’ murder had released some contagion that was spreading out of control; and no one could stop it.