Deadly Deceit Read online

  ‘Veal Scaloppini, that’s got my name all over it.’ Max tossed the menu down like it was a done deal.

  ‘Hmmmm.’ Jenny pursed her lips as she focused on the options. ‘The Sicilian spaghetti with sardines looks good.’

  ‘Okay, I’m having the basil chicken breast and veg. What about you Jack?’

  ‘You pick something,’ Jack offered with no real enthusiasm.

  ‘Don’t be a wuss.’ Max punched him gently on the arm. ‘We’ll get this sorted out but you can’t hide in a hole now. You were obviously getting somewhere. We’ll compare notes and see what you found. Now pick something to eat yourself.’ Liz could see his ex-partner didn’t like Jack’s mood. It was not like him at all. They’d never seen Jack look down, solemn yes, but never depressed.

  ‘Max is right.’ Liz’s tone was getting frustrated. ‘We can’t fix this without your help so stop feeling sorry for yourself. You can’t piss off Judges and MP’s and expect to walk away unscathed.’ Liz pointed her finger at the detective with the last few words. His eyes met hers and the corners of his mouth turned up.

  ‘You saved two girls and you solved Becca’s murder. This is nothing but trumped-up charges and you know we’ll get to the bottom of it.’ Liz saw his smile and knew she was getting through.

  ‘Yeah. You have the three best detectives in town on the case with you.’ Jenny offered as her sickly-sweet coffee arrived and Nino took their orders.

  ‘Okay. What did you find out Liz?’ Jack asked as Nino returned to the kitchen to put their order in.

  ‘I spoke with a former Renegades member.’

  ‘You what?’ The old Jack was back. Liz put her hand up.

  ‘We go way back. He’s trustworthy and we met somewhere out of sight.’

  ‘You went somewhere out of sight with a known member of the Renegades?’ Jack twisted his coffee cup around with agitation.

  ‘Former member and friend and we were in a public place, just not a busy one. I told you, I’m not new to being covert Jack. Staying under the radar is what I do, remember?’

  Jenny put her hands up between them. ‘Time-out you two. Jack, let her finish.’

  Jack looked at Max for reinforcement, but he just shrugged and the detective sighed. ‘Okay, sorry! Go on.’ He took a long slow drink of his coffee, his expression showing how much he needed it.

  ‘Anyway, word is Jack’s dad’s poisoning was a hit, but unsanctioned. Possibly a club novice, but definitely not a full badge member. Either way, the Harlequins weren’t happy.

  ‘So the Harlequins didn’t do it?’ Jack leant forward, his interest piqued.

  ‘Well, not exactly. My friend said your dad was involved with the Harlequins in some way. Maybe he’d turned over a few cases for them, who knows, but apparently, he wanted out. The Harlequins weren’t about to let him go, but they didn’t want him dead either, they wouldn’t have wanted the attention.’

  ‘No, they wouldn’t. Outlaw gangs usually bribe, blackmail or threaten officials into playing along.’ Jack frowned as he thought about his dad.

  ‘How is your dad anyway?’ Jenny asked.

  ‘He’s out of hospital. It’s like he’s had a stroke. His vision has deteriorated, while not totally blind, he can only see shapes and colours now. The doctors say long-term brain damage, not unlike a stroke victim, is likely. Memory loss, difficulty concentrating, that kind of thing.’

  ‘How’s your mum coping?’ Max tapped his friend on the shoulder in sympathy.

  ‘She’s going okay, all things considered. Dad won’t be helping out any outlaw bikie gangs again anytime soon though.’

  ‘So what did you find out that would have marked you for a frame up?’ Max drained the last of his coffee and pushed his mug toward the middle of the table. ‘You must have found something?’

  ‘The forensic team told me the poison was methanol and likely administered orally in alcohol. Dad collapsed in court, during his late afternoon session, so estimates are he drank the methanol up to seventy-two hours beforehand, depending on how much he’d ingested.’

  ‘And they couldn’t say how much he’d had?’ Liz nodded her thanks as Nino placed her food in front of her, then the others. No one touched their meals and no one spoke until Nino left the table.

  ‘It took them a while to work out it was methanol poisoning, not a stroke or heart attack, so best guess is he had the alcohol at dinner the night before or later.’

  ‘Where did he have dinner?’

  ‘At home, with mum, but then he went out for a meeting. I tracked down his movements to a bar in town. I hadn’t worked out which employee served him yet. I’d called in and spoken to the manager, that’s as far as I had got.’

  ‘So you think he was poisoned in the bar?’ Max looked at Liz, an unasked question in his eyes.

  ‘Had to be.’

  ‘Well.’ Max stopped speaking and frowned when Liz tapped his leg with her foot. They both knew that the bar didn’t have to be the only place, but Liz had no intention of jumping to any conclusions just yet. Max took the hint and recovered quickly. ‘You must have raised someone’s attention. We’ll start with the bar. I’ll make a visit tonight. What was it called?’

  ‘I’m going with you.’ Jack picked up his knife and fork, looking like his appetite had returned.

  ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea mate. Planting drugs in your place was only the beginning. Just a warning. If they think you’re still digging, they’ll likely get heavy-handed.’ Max cut into his veal and looked at Liz to back him up.

  ‘That’s only if my stitch-up is connected. I’m not just sitting here on my hands. I’m suspended pending further investigations, but I’m not going to stand by and get shafted.’

  ‘Go visit your dad. See if he can shed any light on why a non-badge member from an outlaw bikie gang would try and kill him and what he’s done to piss off the Harlequins,’ Liz suggested before she started on her own meal.

  ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea.’ Jack stopped eating, his expression uncomfortable.

  ‘Jack, he’s a crooked bastard, but he’s the only family you’ve got other than your mum,’ Jenny offered before slurping up a mouthful of spaghetti.

  ‘She’s right. Go talk to him. If he’s as sick as you say, you might not get another chance.’ Liz thought about her mum as she spoke, feeling like a hypocrite for having not seen her for thirty years. Jack looked to be trying to read her mind as he watched her eyes, then returned to his food.

  ‘Well, doesn’t anyone want to know what I found today?’ Jenny twirled her fork in her pasta.

  ‘Okay, what you got?’ Max spoke with his mouth full, at least some things never change Liz thought.

  ‘I found a victim on the tram tracks today. I know you’re eating Liz but he was in pieces, lots of them.’

  ‘Oooh.’ Liz screwed up her nose.

  ‘Anyway, I found his upper arm, well part of it and there was a tattoo that I thought was strange.’

  ‘Was he killed by the tram?’ Jack finished his meal in record time and placed his cutlery down neatly. Liz smiled at his private school boy etiquette.

  Jenny continued to twirl her pasta. ‘No, sorry, rookie mistake I should start at the beginning. The Chief caught the case, super weird that was.’ Jack and Max exchanged looks as Jenny continued. ‘Anyway, he came down personally to tell me to investigate and when I got there, Doc told me the guy died before the tram hit him. He thought maybe heart attack, but that didn’t fit with the tram timetable.’

  Jenny filled her mouth with pasta and Max sighed. ‘And?’

  Jenny put up a finger. ‘I’m hungry, give me a sec,’ she spoke from behind her hand, covering her full mouth, then carried on chewing then swallowed, but started to load her fork once more. ‘Someone must have put the body on the tracks between tram runs, before sunrise. The tram that hit him was like the tenth tram for the day.’

  ‘So before dawn, the killer dumps the body on the tracks hoping to mess up any evidence.’ Jack looked sceptical. ‘Why not put a pair of cement shoes on him and dump him in the bay?’

  ‘Why indeed?’ Max left his knife and fork scattered on his plate, then dumped his napkin on top.

  ‘Okay, so back to the dead guy.’ Liz directed the conversation.

  ‘Yeah.’ Jenny pulled her phone out. ‘Penny is sending me case photos, but I snapped this one of the tattoo that caught my eye. We are still waiting on an ID, running prints, dental records, you know the drill.’ Max and Jack nodded.

  Jenny handed the phone to Jack, who looked at the photo and frowned. ‘A pretty rough job.’

  ‘I know. I’m thinking a jail tattoo.’

  ‘So your body could have form?’ Jack passed the phone to Max who faced the screen so Liz could see too.

  ‘Well it’s not a Renegades’ or a Harlequins’ tattoo,’ Liz offered and Jack looked at her, waiting for further explanation. None was offered.

  ‘That would be too easy. I know a few guys who might recognise it. Can you text me a copy?’ Max asked and Jenny nodded.

  ‘Are you thinking this dead body is connected to our novice or associate bikie?’ Jack directed his question to Jenny, who finished texting the photo to Max and put her phone back in her pocket.

  ‘It could be a coincidence, but if Liz’s source is right, and a wannabe bikie tried to kill Bruce, then this might be our guy. The Harlequins could have knocked him off for stepping out.’

  ‘It’s only street talk, but he’s usually got his ear to the ground. He has to know how to stay clear of any trouble since he left the Renegades.’ Liz watched Max stand to leave, Jack joined him.

  ‘Let’s hope we can bring someone in who knows something. Ring me if you need an arrest. I don’t want Beavis and Butthead on the case,’ Jenny ad
ded as she stood to put her coat on and join the boys.

  Jack looked at her and she grinned. ‘That’s what the Chief called Rickard and Johnnie. I can’t think of them any other way now.’ Jack and Max laughed.

  5

  Jack knocked on the front door of his family home. The feeling in his stomach told him this was a bad idea, but Liz was right, if his dad didn’t make it, he’d never forgive himself. Besides, this was business. He heard the sound of footsteps on the timber floors before his mum opened the door.

  ‘Jack! Oh, what a surprise. Come in.’ His mum opened the door wide and Jack wandered down the old, expansive federation hallway to the open living area within the modern extension at the rear of the original homestead.

  ‘Is dad up for a visitor?’ His mum closed the door, holding the handle with her back to Jack for a moment. He turned and noticed her delay. ‘Are you okay?’ He moved back down the hallway, but his mother turned suddenly, a smile painted on her face.

  She was a tall woman, with long hair that she still hadn’t let go grey. Jack couldn’t remember what her true colour was, it had been blonde, auburn, brunette and every colour in between over the years. She wore fitted slacks and a lightweight sweater. Always the complete hostess. All Jack’s school days, he’d never seen her leave her bedroom in the morning without being ready to entertain.

  ‘I’m fine Jack. Your dad isn’t great you know. Why do you want to see him?’ She moved past him, his mouth open, words refusing to come out. He thought she’d be happy he was there, trying to patch things up with his dad. Was that what he was doing, or was he just trying to nail the old bastard before he died and find out who dumped drugs in his apartment?

  ‘I’m investigating his attempted murder mum, besides, he’s sick....’ He left the rest unspoken. His mother took a deep breath and turned away, carrying on into the open plan kitchen with the tall, vaulted ceilings and huge floor-to-ceiling windows that flooded the room with light. A section of bi-fold doors led out to a covered courtyard which was full of ferns and palms set around an outdoor pool and spa. His family estate was the epitome of wealth. What else screamed money if not two swimming pools, one indoor, one outdoor, a ballroom with a retracting floor and a large old stone stable converted to house his father’s vintage car collection?

  ‘Did you want a cup of something?’ her tone suddenly brighter, her smile even more forced.

  ‘I’m good thanks. I just need to ask dad a few questions. Can I see him?’

  His mother didn’t answer right away. She put the kettle on, got out three cups, with saucers from the overhead glass cabinets, then added tea to the fine-china teapot before looking Jack in the eye. ‘He’s in the study. Even half dead he can’t stay away from his work.’

  Jack nodded and walked through the lounge, to the hallway that led to the newer bedrooms and his father’s study. He stopped outside the room and composed himself for what he was going to see.

  His dad had looked so fragile, so weak in the hospital. The tubes would be gone and his dad would be awake, but Jack knew he wouldn’t be the same old arrogant, proud and confident man he was before the poisoning.

  He knocked. ‘Come in.’ The usual “Come!” command was gone. Jack opened the door slowly to find his dad, the infamous Judge Bruce Cunningham, propped up in his tall-backed office chair with pillows. A computer sat on his desk and Jack wondered how his almost blind father could see anything.

  ‘Dad. It’s Jack.’ The man smiled, something Jack had seldom seen.

  ‘I’m almost blind Jack, not deaf. I heard you come in.’

  Jack stood at the door, emotions long buried welling up and threatening to spill over. He forced them down with a loud, deep breath. ‘I’m here to ask you a few questions.’

  ‘Of course you are.’

  ‘Are you feeling any better?’ His father said nothing for a few heartbeats and Jack scanned the room, focusing on the legal volumes and political thriller novels that weighed down the shelves. Once more he felt like a school boy, making idle conversation with his big-wig father.

  ‘That’s not what you’re really here for Jack. Take a seat. What do you want?’ Jack moved to his father’s wide antique desk and sat on the edge.

  ‘It is, and it isn’t.’ Jack peered over the top of the laptop screen, trying to see what his dad was working on. A dictation program sat on the screen, a letter mid-construction still open. ‘I’m working, well I was working on your case. I felt like I was getting somewhere too.’

  ‘Then?’ His dad didn’t really seem to need an answer and Jack wondered again if he still, even in his current state, had his fingers in too many dirty mud pies.

  ‘Then the Bikie Gang Task Force found drugs in my apartment. It seems I got too close to finding out who poisoned you.’

  ‘Maybe.’ There was a pause. ‘Or maybe someone doesn’t want you digging further into any of this business. Let it go Jack.’

  ‘You know I can’t do that.’

  ‘I’ve done a lot of unscrupulous things, some you think you know about, some you most certainly don’t, but all of it was to protect you.’

  Jack looked at his father trying to think of what to say. The big Judge Cunningham wasn’t known for being a soft man, but discovering he’d been the leader in an organised crime ring had blown the detective away. Now the revelation that he’d done it for Jack was hard to swallow.

  ‘What did you do to upset the Harlequins dad?’

  His father closed his laptop and sighed as he readjusted the pillow behind his back. ‘I don’t think someone planting drugs in your apartment has anything to do with the Harlequins Jack but you’re asking the wrong question. If I have upset the Harlequins, it won’t be because of anything I’ve done, it’ll be about what I haven’t done.’ A tap came on the door and Jack looked up to see his mum, with a cup of tea in hand. She smiled at his dad.

  ‘I hope I’m not interrupting. Bruce, I made you a cuppa.’ She moved to the desk, ready to put the teacup down, but stopped to look Jack in the eye. The teacup hovered on the saucer, not quite making it to the desk as silence loomed between them.

  Jack held her gaze a moment longer, then looked at his father, whose expression was unreadable. Did his mum just stone-wall him?

  ‘I’ll let you know how I go dad.’ He stood up and moved to the door. ‘I’ll be back soon mum. Take care of him.’ He left the study and moved quickly to the front door, his mind playing over the look on his mum’s face and his father’s last words.

  6

  Liz and Max entered the bar, a seedy little spot hidden near the old stone pubs on Halifax Street. There was a Harley Davidson motorcycle shop on one side and the Majestic Hotel on the other. It screamed bikie bar if ever one did and Liz became aware that she had overdressed.

  Her red heels and designer dress didn’t fit the neighbourhood, but she didn’t feel a leather mini with fishnets and a denim jacket would have sent the right message in this dive either.

  Max wore a long trench coat and looked like something out of an eighty’s crime drama. Colombo or Kojak came to mind and Liz grinned to herself. Max would make an ideal Kojak, but with hair. She had no doubt he wore his shoulder holster beneath the coat. After being caught out on their last case, he’d renewed his hand-gun licence and permit to carry.

  Max nodded toward the bar and Liz led the way. She pulled out a studded leather stool, climbing up the rungs to reach the unnaturally high bar. ‘I’ll have a scotch on the rocks thanks.’ The barmaid raised her eyebrows, highlighting three different coloured eyeshadows which didn’t even remotely match her bright red lipstick.

  ‘I’ll have a Coopers luv.’ Max looked longingly at the younger woman and Liz wondered if it was an act or not. Either way, her features changed and a seductive smile crossed her face.

  Max was used to this world and although Liz had been too at one time, she now realised she was out of her comfort zone. Her pool-hall days were far behind her, having been replaced with mega yachts in Monaco and high-society balls.

  The tall wooden vintage bar appeared as though it had been lovingly restored. The back wall behind was lined with smoky mirrors and glass shelves, fully stocked with spirits, but the faux marble tables and chrome chairs beyond the bar just looked cheap and nasty.