When I came to, I found myself in my own living room, with a plastic restraint anchoring my right wrist to the arm of the sofa. A damp towel hit me in the face.
‘Fix yourself up a bit, Hardy. You’re a mess.’
The voice was familiar, but my vision was still fuzzy. I used the wet towel to clear my eyes and then pressed it against the aching places on my head. A lighter clicked and I smelled tobacco and smoke. Phil Fitzwilliam lounged against the wall near where I sat. He drew on his cigarette and flicked ash on the carpet.
‘I warned you, Hardy.’
The cool towel felt good against the throbbing spots. I blinked several times and began to feel as if I might be able to talk and function. I’d been wrong about Fitz: a direct approach; not one of his sideways jobs as in the past. What did that mean? Confidence? Desperation?
‘You’re out on a long, thin limb here, Phil.’
‘I wouldn’t say that.’
He took a ballpoint pen from the breast pocket of his jacket, reached into another pocket and fished out a pistol.
He wiped the pistol with a handkerchief and put the pen up the barrel. He opened the door of the cupboard under the stairs and shoved the pistol deep into the jumble inside. Then he shut the door and opened it, feigning surprise.
‘What’s this? Looks like an illegal weapon, traceable to a serious wounding, with your fingerprints on it. With your record. .’
‘What about the coke and the paedophiliac porn?’
‘No need. I can guarantee you some time inside, Hardy, and you and I know there are people in there who’ll be pleased to see you.’
‘They’ll be more pleased to see you when your time comes.’
He smiled. ‘Never happen.’
The ash on his cigarette was long now. He reached to the nearest bookshelf, turned the photograph of Lily over, and carefully deposited the ash on top of it.
‘That cunt got what she deserved.’
I shook my head, even though it hurt. ‘Phil, Phil, you’re a worried man. Internal affairs are breathing down your neck. You say I’ve got enemies in jail-you’ve got ’em inside and outside. I’d say that Sean Wells’d like to see you in the protection unit at the Bay. Probably wouldn’t visit except to see how stressed you were.’
‘All manageable.’
‘Yeah, maybe. With money. How much is Tarelton paying you to run interference?’
‘Who says anyone’s paying me? Maybe I just hate your guts.’
‘You never did anything on impulse, Phil. There was always a quid in it for you. And we’re talking about a big quid here. D’you know about this water thing?’
Fitzwilliam was never hard to read. Until I used the magic word, he was getting ready to drop his butt on the carpet and stamp it out, but he changed his mind. He lifted his foot, stubbed the cigarette on his heel and dropped the butt on the upturned photograph.
‘What about water?’
‘They’re keeping you in the dark, mate. A guy named McKinley was working for Tarelton. He discovered a way to solve the city’s water problem forever and a day. Then he got killed, as you’d know. Hank and I were investigating the murder for McKinley’s daughter. Tarelton became uneasy, made some funny moves we caught on to. They wanted to stop our investigation and see if some way could still be found to turn on the tap, if you follow me. What did they tell you? Let me guess. They said we were looking for evidence to back the daughter’s duty of care suit and that they were facing a big payout and needed your help. That’s bullshit.’
‘Fuck you. You always talked a blue streak, Hardy, and got yourself out of trouble. Not this time.’
But I knew I’d got to him. At his best, Fitzwilliam was quietly menacing, but it could turn to bluster when he lost confidence. I’d seen it before in the witness box, and it was obvious again now.
‘Tarelton’s in trouble,’ I said. ‘There’re two other players in the game. Tarelton borrowed big money from one of them and is under pressure. These three are all still hoping to get in on the water deal. Tarelton’s got at least one shadow minister on side and the others’ve probably done the same. It’s state and federal politics and international capitalism, Phil. Too big for you, too big for us, but we can still get something out of it if we play it smart.’
Fitzwilliam lit another cigarette. ‘You’ve just about lost me, but go on.’
‘There’s some guesswork in it from us, but it looks like this: Tarelton hired a shooter to break up the meeting between Hank and me and Global Enterprises-that’s one of the other players. The shots were aimed high-no real risk to life or limb. The guy from Global copped some flying glass. I suspect you arranged that, but. . never mind.’
‘The fuck do you mean, never mind?’
‘We think the other player was responsible for McKinley’s death and probably another one. That’s who we’re after.’
‘A couple of cowboys, that’s what you two are. Even if I believed this bullshit you’d never stand a chance against these big companies. They’ve got money to burn and more lawyers than you can shake a stick at.’
I shrugged. ‘Have it your own way. In any case, we’re not interested in Tarelton. There’s no reason for you to put the moves on us.’
‘Like I say, maybe I just want to.’
‘Look, Phil, you can do yourself some good out of this. Pick up some points you’re going to need when internal affairs come down on you.’
‘Who says they will?’
‘I have my sources.’
‘Fucking Parker.’
Just the mention of the name seemed to bring the trouble hanging over him closer to his mind. He dropped more ash on the floor.
‘For Christ’s sake go out to the kitchen and get a bloody ashtray. I’m not going anywhere.’
He did, returning with another cigarette alight and a saucer. He had a decent slug of my whisky in a glass. He settled into a chair and stared at me. He sipped, crossed his legs, trying for casual and not making it.
‘Go on,’ he said, ‘entertain me.’
‘You know how it works. It’s tit for tat. If you were in on a successful murder prosecution-exposing corporate corruption, protecting the public interest-a lot of your transgressions would be downgraded, even forgiven. It’d be worth a whole lot more to you than putting a couple of private eyes out of business.’
‘I’m listening.’
‘I don’t like you any more than you like me, but I’ve got a proposition for you, Phil.’