Noah's Law (34 page)

I was nervous.

‘Let's put it another way,' Bernie said. ‘If I go down, I'll take you and Rodney with me. I don't want that to happen. What I want is to never see either of you again. I want to move to Bali or Thailand where I can enjoy me money and forget about the pair of you. And I'm guessing you've got a similar plan?'

‘Yeah. I'm getting out of here.'

‘So be me alibi. I'm telling you straight. If I go down, I'll take you both with me. If you're me alibi, it will all go away. The cops will get off me back and we'll never see each other again.'

There was a long pause. ‘Okay,' Webb said. ‘I'll say you were in the shop talking through your marriage problems with me.' He let out a bitter laugh.

‘That's perfect. That way we both get an alibi.'

‘Well fine,' Webb said. ‘Not that I need one.'

‘Actually, mate, you do. You and I both know I didn't kill Maureen, as much as I wanted to. I chickened out in the end. You did me a massive favour.'

‘Come on, give us a bite . . .' Constable Thompson whispered.

I held my breath. Casey and I exchanged nervous glances. He had to take the bait if this was going to work.

‘I don't know what you're talking about.'

‘Relax. Nobody suspects you. This way we both have an alibi. We walk away with all our cash and we never have to see each other again. They'll always think the guy who stole me car did Maureen, and they'll chase a phantom. If it wasn't for you, this wouldn't be happening. I didn't have the balls. You did and I'm bloody grateful.'

‘You weren't so grateful when you got paid out,' Webb snapped. ‘We had a deal.'

‘Yeah, I know. I can't pretend I'm not greedy. But I'm also not stupid. I'm acting out of self-interest now. I pay you, I keep you happy, we both stay out of jail.'

Webb grunted again.

‘Can I ask you a question?'

‘What now?'

‘How did you know I was planning on killing her?'

Webb was silent for a few moments.

‘I heard Rodney on the phone with you a week beforehand,'

Webb said eventually. ‘He was explaining that he'd have me doing a stocktake and get Maureen to transport the money so it would look like a robbery. Then I heard him telling you what time she'd be coming out. He was going on about how rich you guys would be if you pulled it off.'

‘The idiot. I told him not to talk to me on the phone when he was at the shop.'

‘Yeah, well, he is an idiot. I was suspicious. I stayed back late that night and looked through all his work emails. I couldn't find anything. So I opened his files and found an article he'd saved about a case in the UK. It was about a guy who got attacked at work and ended up getting killed. His wife sued and got over a million. I put two and two together.'

‘That day . . . when did you realise I wasn't going to do it?'

There was a long pause. My heart skipped a beat. ‘Come on, Webb . . .' I prayed silently.

‘I saw you standing like chicken shit in that doorway.'

‘I lost the balls to do it.'

His regret actually sounded genuine and I hated him for it.

‘I panicked,' Webb said. ‘I knew you were blowing your chance. I grabbed a mask from out back – one of the ones we use when we're cleaning up the store room. I ran out to High Street and jumped the wall back into the car park. There was no-one around. It's real quiet out the back there.'

‘I can't believe this,' Casey said in a strangled whisper.

‘Did she say anything when she saw you?' Bernie asked.

Webb laughed. ‘Yeah. Pretty ironic actually. She said, “Is that you, Bernie?” '

‘What did you say back?'

‘Nothing. There were some rocks and rubbish near the bins. I grabbed the largest rock I could find and hit her over the head with it.'

Constable Thompson gave the signal on his walkie-talkie and the cops rushed in on them.

Casey and I stared at each other in horror for a few seconds.

‘It's over,' she whispered.

‘Justice prevails,' I said, remembering the headline after judgment was handed down. Same headline, different ending.

 

It was my last day at Saleh & Co. My aunt had organised a going-away cake for me: double chocolate mud. We were in the boardroom munching on chips and fancy smelly cheese. She opened up the champagne bottles and handed me a soft drink.

Jacinta was sitting on the edge of the boardroom table, her feet propped up on a chair, laughing and joking with Branko. She'd kill me if she knew I had the hots for her. She'd think it showed a lack of respect for her intellect or something psycho like that. But I had to admit (only to myself of course) that I was pretty sad about finishing up here, as wacky as that sounded considering how much I hated the place in the beginning. It obviously wasn't because of the photocopying jobs, John's frequent ‘dude' usage, Casey's vibrant personality or even Aunt Nirvine's caffeine addiction, which kept me doing constant coffee runs. It was because I'd be saying goodbye to Jacinta. I'd go back to school to face the ball-breaking HSC, and Jacinta would start uni, breaking guys' hearts, maintaining her fantastic figure as she did the swimming team proud. I had no doubt she'd forget all about me.

Okay, okay, I was getting carried away with myself.

Aunt Nirvine stood up.

‘I just wanted to say, both as the principal of this firm and as Noah's aunt, that I am so proud of Noah. Although I have taken issue with some of his methods—' I smiled pretending to be modest – and John and Branko laughed ‘—Noah has shown courage in the face of other people's cynicism and dismissal of his opinions. He is highly intelligent and has demonstrated a strong sense of justice. And because of his contribution, Bernie White, Rodney Marks and Harold Webb will be locked up for a long time.'

‘Well done!' Branko cried.

‘Go, Noah!' Ameena said.

I bowed, grinning widely at them all.

Aunt Nirvine continued, ‘When Noah first walked into Saleh & Co Lawyers, he was sour and bitter, considering his six-week
sentence
– as he constantly reminded me it was – an unbearable punishment.'

‘Well you did bury him in the photocopy room,' John interrupted.

‘But he proved himself to be a real asset to this firm and we are going to miss him. Noah, go out and knock them dead in your final year. We have no doubt you'll get the marks to study law. You're always welcome to come back to work here.'

‘Just as long as I get an office with a view and a photocopying clerk to order around.'

‘Good luck, Noah,' Aunt Nirvine said, raising her glass.

The others raised their glasses too.

‘Well I couldn't have exposed Bernie without the help of Jacinta,' I said. ‘She deserves just as much praise.'

‘I kept him in line,' Jacinta joked. ‘That was harder than catching Bernie.'

‘And my friend Amit,' I continued. ‘Not that you know him, but he deserves a toast too.'

‘To the elusive Amit!' Branko called out. ‘Here in spirit!'

We all laughed. Everybody went back to their huddles. Jacinta walked up to me, a cheeky glint in her eyes.

‘You must feel pretty full of yourself right now?' she teased.

‘Oh, I reckon I deserve it,' I said. ‘I single-handedly solved the case.'

She rolled her eyes at me. ‘Oh, very funny.'

I leaned towards her. ‘You were a great sidekick. No, really, don't give me that look. Every genius needs some help now and then.'

‘Oh, Noah,' she gushed, pretending to act distraught. ‘What will this place be like without you? Will we all cry ourselves to sleep? Or will we remember the mood swings, the bits of crushed Milo in your teeth, the smart-arse comments every five seconds, the amnesia which had you forgetting you still hadn't graduated from school, the I'm-on-
Law-&-Order
delusions . . . and hold a party to celebrate the fact that we've got some peace and quiet at last?!'

‘You'll be sobbing into your pillow,' I said, and raised my glass to her.

As promised, that evening, 28 January, Dad called the scheduled hearing to decide whether I would be going to Terrigal. He slammed his meat tenderiser on the dining table and began.

‘This court is now in session. I have convened a further hearing to decide if the defendant, Noah Nabulsi, is able to demonstrate that he has become a responsible human being who has changed his attitude. In short, the defendant must satisfy me that he is a changed man. I am exercising my judicial discretion and dispensing with the rules of the court. I will allow the defendant to represent himself given that he and Nadine are not on speaking terms following a particularly ridiculous argument that ensued between them this evening.'

‘He started it,' Nadine said.

‘I thought you weren't speaking to me,' I snapped back.

‘Dad, let the record show I was talking to you, not him.'

‘Let the record show that you will both behave so we can continue this hearing.'

We sat in silence, sullen expressions on our faces. Even Mary wasn't her usual enthusiastic self as she was missing out on an episode of
Desperate Housewives
.

Then suddenly, miraculously, Dad grinned, removed his wig and shrugged off his robe.

‘Nirvine spoke to me. She told me everything. I'm proud of you, Noah. You're not only a changed man – you're a better man. Enjoy Terrigal. Now let's go and eat a litre of ice cream straight out of the tub.'

We were fishing off the beach in Terrigal. The sun was setting but it was a typically hot summer night and the beach and esplanade were still packed with people.

Amit and I were impressing Hakim and Luke with the story of all that had happened with Bernie. They thought we were spinning lies at first. They had spent their holidays watching movies, hanging out at the shops and playing on the Xbox. Come to think of it, that was how I had hoped to spend my holidays when Dad first handed down my sentence.

I missed Jacinta. But that wasn't going to be a topic of conversation with these guys.

I left my reel in the sand and sat on one of the beach chairs we'd brought. I took out that weekend's edition of the
Sydney Morning Herald
. There was a short report on the case. I'd read it over and over. Despite a one-hour phone interview with the pushy journalist earlier that week, I rated just a few horrible lines:

Noah Nabulsi, son of Magid Nabulsi QC, is keen to follow in his father's footsteps and thought doing work experience in a law firm during his school holidays would be the right start. He had been suspicious of Bernie White from the moment their eyes met. ‘I just felt there was something fishy about the case.'