She drove. Why not? Her Saab would make the trip quicker and more comfortably than my old Falcon. She was a good driver, more adventurous than May Ling but not foolhardy. Like most people, I'm anxious about being driven by someone else until I'm sure they're competent. She was and I relaxed. We didn't talk much until we reached Edgecliff. She glanced across as we passed Standish's office.
'Did he tell you about the trouble he's in?' I asked.
'A bit. Some nasty people putting pressure on him. I was surprised. One thing I'll say for Miles, for all his love of stars, he steered clear of the fashionable criminals.'
I knew what she meant: the ex-coppers and jailbirds who sponsored ghosted memoirs and invited the glitterati to the launches. The books mostly ended up on the remainder tables and the socialites didn't stick around when the day in the sun was done. I decided it was time to press her for a few details.
'Why Watsons Bay?'
'He had a boat.'
'We know that. His wife told us.'
She drove on for a while before she spoke again. 'What's she like?'
'Damaged, but recovering. Watsons Bay?'
'He used to pick me up in Double Bay and we'd sail up there. I love sailing.'
Unlike some others; that must'vepleased him, I thought. This sounded promising. 'He had a mooring there?'
'No. He knew someone who had a mooring and he had the use of it sometimes, like the apartment.'
'The apartment?'
She steered smoothly around a truck. 'Look, the yacht was luxurious enough, everything that opened and shut, but the apartment was out of this world.'
'Hang on. Was the boat his?'
'Yacht. I don't know. He behaved as if it was.'
'Didn't it worry you? Someone working in a medium-range accountancy firm with all these toys?'
We passed the Gap and she didn't give the turn-off a glance. She wasn't the type.
'Ever been in love, Mr Hardy?'
'Cliff. Of course.'
'Did you size the person up completely before you knew you were that way?'
I thought of Cyn with her conservative North Shore attitudes I hadn't probably seen and Helen Broadway with commitments to other people and other places that overrode her feelings for me.
'Point taken,' I said.
The sun broke through as we came down into Watsons Bay and the place took on the sparkle it advertises. They say the Isle of Capri is like that-you look across from cloudy Naples and see it out there under a patch of blue sky. I wouldn't know but I wouldn't mind taking a look.
I'd been to Watsons Bay for lunch in the pub beer garden or, if I was flush or someone else was paying, at Doyle's restaurant on the jetty. I'd also had a case fairly recently where one of the parties had used a gym in the area. I mentioned this to Felicity.
'There's a gym in the same street as the apartment block. Belle Vue it's called, would you believe?'
She turned into a street not far back from the water and drove slowly past a big four-level apartment complex, glowing white in the sunshine. The gym I'd mentioned was directly opposite. The apartments were obviously top of the range-large, with balconies big enough to accommodate a lot of greenery. She made a turn and we went down a narrow street beside the block. The corner apartments featured two balconies and views across the beach and the water all the way back to the city.
'Look up, top floor, of course,' Felicity said. 'On the corner. Multi-million dollar view.'
We completed the circuit and stopped below the complex.
'What's the security like?' I said.
She shrugged. 'I forget. I'm sorry… I didn't realise how coming back here would affect me. Shit-that bastard! I need a drink.'
And I needed to think. We went to the pub, sat under an umbrella with a bottle of wine and a seafood basket and watched the boats coming and going and the well-heeled people having a good time in the middle of the week. She dipped a chip in the tartare sauce, ate it and reached over to touch my hand.
'Why don't we just book a room and forget about all this?'
She burst into laughter as soon as she spoke. She'd had two glasses.
'I'm sorry,' she said. 'It's a line from a movie. I couldn't resist it.'
'What movie?'
'I forget.'
'How about the security?'
'I'm sorry, I really don't know. It was only a couple of times and I didn't notice.'
Something about the apartment block worried me, something half noticed. We finished the food and the wine, had coffee and walked on the beach for a while. Then we drove back and I saw what hadn't registered properly-a For Lease and a For Sale sign discreetly displayed at street level. The agent was local.
'Can you remember the number of the apartment?' I asked. 'Twenty.'
The estate agent-thirtyish, well-groomed, pearly white shirt -probably perked up when he saw the Saab stop outside. Could've felt a drop in spirits when he saw me but regained confidence at the sight of Felicity in her stylish clothes and her air of affluence. She said we were interested in the Belle Vue apartments.
'Bargains there,' he said, 'for leasing and buying. It's the GFC you see. Some of the owners took very hard hits.' 'Selling their boats,' I said.
'Indeed, and their apartments, though some have other homes, of course, and are leasing their places out here until things improve.'
'I like the look of the one at the top on the west corner,' Felicity said. 'Is it available?'
He gestured for us to sit while he went behind his desk and rummaged for a document. 'Here we are. Number 20. Yes, it's for sale.'
'How much?' I said.
'It'd be negotiable, dear,' Felicity said. 'Would it be vacant possession or is there a tenant?'
'It's vacant. Has been for some months. The owner, well, I have to be discreet, but he's very hard pressed. Would you like to see it?'
'Ball park figure,' I said. He looked at me with dislike. 'Two million.' I got to my feet. 'No way. We can do better.' Felicity got up reluctantly. 'But…' 'No,' I said. 'Thanks for your time.' 'I'm sorry,' Felicity said. We left. The rough diamond and the pearl. We got in the car and she started the engine. 'I'm sorry, Cliff. A wild goose chase.'
'You know,' I said, 'under certain circumstances I reckon chasing wild geese could be fun.'
She laughed. 'I can see why Miles thinks so much of you. You can cope with things, can't you?' 'What else is there to do?'
Neither of us said much on the drive back. I asked her to drop me at a taxi rank. She pulled expertly into a tight spot, leaned across and kissed me on the cheek. Another one.
'I enjoyed today more than anything I've done for a while.
You've done me some good. I hope you find him and it all works out for you, Cliff.' 'Thanks. And for Miles?' 'Why not? Goodbye.'