Noah's Law (25 page)

‘No. I never refused.'

‘If you had helped out, wouldn't it have eased her workload?'

‘She was a very hard-working woman.'

‘So you keep saying. How convenient for you. No further questions, Your Honour.'

‘You may step down,' Judge Monahan said.

Bernie stomped out of the witness box and out of the courtroom. Casey whispered in Valopolous's ear and then stood up and followed Bernie.

‘Do you have another witness?' Judge Monahan asked Valopolous.

‘Yes, Your Honour. But it's now five to one. Perhaps . . .?'

‘Yes, let's break for lunch and you can call your witness at two.'

 

We ate lunch in one of the briefing rooms in the courthouse. Bernie was furious and too upset to sit down. He paced back and forth across the small room as Valopolous demolished several sushi rolls and Casey chewed on her tuna salad.

‘That was brutal!' Bernie cried. ‘I'm going to lose.'

‘It's Wallace's job to try to discredit you,' Casey said. ‘The worst is over. We're going to get into the nuts and bolts of the case now, which is the defendant's negligence.'

‘But Wallace crucified me up there.'

‘No he didn't,' Valopolous said. ‘He was clutching at straws. Perfume, chocolate and flowers. I nearly burst out laughing.'

Bernie's face reddened. ‘Did you see me laughing?'

‘My apologies,' Valopolous said and then took a gigantic slurp from his iced tea. ‘But Wallace couldn't prove you were freeloading off your wife.'

Bernie's eyes flashed angrily. ‘Is that what you think?'

Valopolous calmly wiped the side of his mouth with a napkin. ‘What I think is irrelevant.'

‘It matters to me.'

‘Bernie, take a seat. Drink your coffee. We're on your side.'

‘Well what am I supposed to think when you make comments like that?'

That Valopolous is finally waking up to the fact that you were a parasite of a husband?

‘I'm simply stating the defendant's case against you. I believe you, okay?'

Bernie slumped down into a chair and took a gulp of his coffee. ‘Yeah.'

Valopolous turned to Casey. ‘Can you check if Carlos Banks has arrived? He's due on the stand in ten minutes.'

Casey left to look for Banks and Valopolous turned to me. ‘I need you to ask the defendant's solicitor for access to the original WorkSafe Minutes of Meetings notebook. The copy I have is not clear.'

I went to look for Humphries, finally finding him in one of the other briefing rooms. I asked for the original notebook and he took it from a folder and handed it to me. I noticed Rodney Marks staring at me as I took the notebook. He needed us to rely on it. I'd read and reread Amit's list of text messages from Bernie's phone so many times that I'd memorised them.
Its called compensation 2 victims act. We can make a shit load out of this. You just need 2 keep it out of the courts & get me a settlement FAST.
That text message from Bernie to Rodney could only point to one thing: Rodney needed to lose. It was the only way to make sure Bernie got compensation and Rodney got a cut. I was sure of it.

But things were spiralling out of control. Valopolous was right: Wallace hadn't completely destroyed Bernie. He might have put ideas into Judge Monahan's head but he didn't have any solid evidence to back up his theory. I didn't think that Wallace had much chance of bringing Bernie's case down based on him sponging off his wife. It would come down to the negligence claim.

While Webb's statement was damaging, there were still the WorkSafe meeting minutes and purchase order. They both proved Jenkins Storage World knew about the security risks but didn't do anything about them. The trial would be over soon and I still had nothing to bring Bernie and Rodney down.

Court resumed at two o'clock. Valopolous asked me to hang onto the WorkSafe meeting minutes notebook. I sat down, the notebook on my lap. Valopolous then called Carlos Banks, our expert criminologist, to the stand.

Banks was dressed in a dark suit and retro tie. He had a stud in one ear. He took the oath and sat down. He was clearly relaxed and comfortable, probably used to giving expert evidence in the courtroom.

Valopolous started by going through Banks's CV, establishing his credentials to give evidence. I was bored. I'd read his CV. It was long and nerdy. One glance and it was pretty clear that Banks knew his stuff and was entitled to have a say. Obviously, though, courtroom procedure required things to be done the long way and so we sat listening to Banks explain his zillion job titles and roles.

To distract myself, I flipped through the notebook. The May entry had the first ‘smoking gun':
Should we hire security guards re transfer of money?
The June entry was even more damaging. If it was authentic, I'd be the first to admit that Jenkins Storage World were in the wrong. But there were too many rotten things about this case and my bullshit radar was on high alert. Fed up with the crap I was reading, I closed the notebook.

That's when I saw the sticker on the back.

9312311160651
Ref No. 19079
Made in China
Distributed by ACA Australia
www.belby.com.au

I studied it closely. And then suddenly I felt a massive surge of excitement as I remembered what happened with Mary at the newsagent. I had no way of knowing. But what if . . .? I needed to be certain. I had to do some sleuthing.

I copied the details into my notebook. I then crept up to the bar table and crouched down beside Casey.

‘I need to go to the toilet,' I said.

‘Fine,' she whispered.

‘Here's the WorkSafe minutes.' I handed them to her and quickly left the courtroom. I didn't bother waiting for the lift, but ran down the fire stairs. The library was three flights below. I rushed in and found an available computer. I opened the internet browser and entered the Belby website. Once the homepage appeared, I found a telephone number and copied it down. I then left the library and stood in the foyer outside the lifts on the same floor and made the call.

I tried to look nonchalant as I slipped back into court a few minutes later. Casey nodded, acknowledging my return, and passed me a note.

Start recording the exhibit list.

My heart pounded as I slipped her my own note.

Can we take a recess? Important news but need to tell you without Bernie.

Casey pulled a funny face and shook her head. ‘
In an hour
,' she mouthed and then returned to her furious note-taking as Valopolous continued with his examination of Banks.

I hated how she dismissed me like that.

‘And what did you conclude from these WorkSafe meeting minutes?' Valopolous asked.

Banks had a copy of the minutes in his hand. ‘The June entry clearly shows that Jenkins Storage World knew about WorkSafe cash-in-transit guidelines. They specifically flagged the risk of an audit or incident. The next line shows that they considered hiring security guards as a matter of urgency. Then they raised the issue of whether cash transits between stores should be done by one staff member or in pairs. They specifically noted that costs were an issue and I quote, “
But this would be expensive, extra time equals extra wages. Cheaper alternative?
” All of the above led me to conclude that the defendant knew the risks and the measures needed to eradicate such risks but that ultimately the bottom line took precedence.'

The door to the courtroom opened. A woman in a suit stepped in and took a seat beside Humphries. She gave him a grim smile and he nodded, his face tense.

‘Thank you. Could the witness be handed Exhibit 2, purchase order record. Mr Banks, could you please take a look at that document and tell me what it is?'

‘It appears to be a purchase order on the defendant's letterhead noting the purchase of a motion-sensor security camera. There is also a handwritten note in the corner.'

‘Could you please read that note out loud?'

‘Missing part call to arrange delivery replacement part staff pressing.'

‘What is your interpretation of this note?'

‘That the camera was faulty, missing a part, and that Mr Marks made a note to arrange for a replacement part to be delivered. As for the reference to “staff pressing”, I can only surmise that the staff were pressuring him to get the part delivered or have the camera fixed.'

‘Objection,' Wallace said. ‘The witness is not in a position to speculate on what the defendant's staff may or may not have been doing.'

‘Sustained.'

‘Mr Banks, in your expert opinion, would an operational motion-sensor security camera have made a difference to the security of staff members entrusted with the task of transporting money?'

‘Yes.'

‘In your expert opinion, was Maureen White's death caused by or contributed to by the defendant's negligence?'

‘Absolutely. I am convinced that had any one of the measures I recommend in my report been adopted, Maureen White would still be alive today.'

‘No further questions.'

Wallace stood up. ‘Mr Banks, your report recommends that Jenkins Storage World ought to have implemented WorkSafe cash-in-transit guidelines, correct?'

‘Yes, absolutely.'

‘But don't those guidelines apply to organisations of thirty or more staff ?'

‘Yes, but—'

Wallace raised his hand to silence Banks. ‘I only require a yes or no. And how many staff did Jenkins Storage World employ?'

‘I'm not sure.'

‘Ten in the Surry Hills store, five in the Blacktown store and ten in the Chatsbury store, where the deceased worked. The defendant was not, therefore, obligated to implement Work-Safe's expensive cash-in-transit guidelines. Do you agree?'

‘No.'

‘No? Was there an exclusion clause in the legislation?'

‘No.'

‘Was Jenkins Storage World singled out by legislators and required to implement the guidelines despite its small size?'

‘No.'

‘Then on what basis do you disagree with my proposition?'

‘The defendant was morally obligated. The cost of implementing the measures was certainly not prohibitive. It could have been managed to ensure the security of its staff.'

‘But Mr Banks, morally obligated and legally obligated are two very different standards.'

‘Objection!' Valopolous said. ‘Is there a question?'

‘I have no further questions for this witness.' Wallace sat in his chair and Judge Monahan asked Banks to step down from the witness stand.

‘Your next witness, Mr Valopolous?'

‘Your Honour, I seek the court's indulgence for a fifteen- minute recess. I hadn't expected the defendant's cross- examination of Mr Banks to finish so soon. My next witness won't be much longer.'

‘Very well. We won't take our afternoon recess then.'

Casey ushered me into a briefing room. She sent Bernie downstairs for a cigarette. ‘We won't be discussing anything important,' she reassured him.