That got my attention. Until very recently there were any number of cops and lawyers and magistrates and politicians in Sydney who acted as if none of the laws applied to them; seventeen years ago it was even worse. Thats interesting, Barry, I said. Tell me more.
He eased back in his chair. Are you in?
Come on, Id have to know a lot more than that. And in for what? You said a hundred grand.
Thats right. Ten per cent. Thats generous. Id have to split the reward with at least three other people.
Who?
He shook his head. I need a commitment.
And I get a five hundred dollar retainer and two hundred a day plus expenses.
Do I look like Ive got that sort of money? Youd have to work on a contingency basis.
Its a natural reaction to place some confidence in a person with a decent vocabulary and a reasonable command of grammar, but in Barry Whites case the impulse had to be fought against. As I say, he was well educated and no-one ever called him dumb, but he was corrupt and devious, or had been, and Ive never known adversity to straighten anyone out. I dont think so, Barry. No.
He gave that grin again which must have been appealing when he was in better condition. He squirmed bulkily in the chair and took a thin wallet from his hip pocket. It was worth a try, Hardy. He took seven one hundred dollar notes from the wallet and laid them on the desk. This buys me one day, right? The retainers returnable if you back out.
His eyes were faintly bloodshot and it clearly hurt him to part with the money. That he was doing it meant something, but what? Thats right, if I take you on. Youre not a good bet, Barry. You verballed blokes and planted drugs on women and took kickbacks till you forgot what job you were supposed to be doing.
All thats true, he said. I was a fucking idiot. I thought I was too smart to get caught. Do you know what I did with all that money? I drank and ate and fucked it away. Thats how dumb I was. Ive got nothing, Hardy. No wife, no kids, no house, no reputation, no pride. All Ive got is this one chance. Have you ever been down to one chance?
Not quite.
But close?
I thought about how it had been when Cyn left me, coldly removing every single item shed owned and breaking a lot of those wed owned jointly. I thought about the alcoholic slide Id gone into when Glen Withers married her policeman and the nice, structured life Id had had fallen apart like a house of cards. And it was my fault. Pretty close.
His eyes darted around the room, taking in the dirty windows, the dust on the fax machine and the top of the filing cabinet, the peanut shells in the waste-paper basket. Youre not exactly setting the world on fire yourself, are you?
If wed been in a boxing ring, youd have to have called the round about even. I was tired of sparring. I knew I wanted a crack at the hundred grand, I just didnt want to do it completely on his terms. Why dyou need me, Barry? You were a cop and a PEA. You know the ropes. Youve got some information, some contacts, some leads. You know how to talk to people. Whyre you here?
If he knew he had me, he didnt show it. He finally brought the rollie up to his mouth and lit it, again putting the match in his pocket. It made me wonder if hed been inside where they do little things like saving matches to play cards with. He drew on the smoke judiciously. I havent got the resources, he said. I havent got a car or a mobile or an answering machine. I havent got any decent clothes and most of all I havent got the contacts. This is going to mean talking to cops and lawyers and journos. You can do it, I cant. Theres a few things we can do together, but not much. Thats why I need someone. Im not going to piss in your pocket, Hardy, but I know you dont rip people off. Thats why I need you. What dyou say?
The lawyers are all doing it, so why not the PEAs? I negotiated a contract with Barry White on a contingency basis. I was to get 10 per cent of whatever reward money he recovered, my cut to come off the top. How he divided up the remainder was his business. I had the option to work on other matters simultaneously and to pull out of the arrangement at any time after the first week. This meant I was giving him six days credit. Give a little, take a little. He signed with a flourish.
Shit, I need a drink, he said.
Ill shout you one in a minute. First things first. Where does the information about the ransom note come from?
White had finished his cigarette without choking and he made another one. Does the name Leo Grogan mean anything to you?
I dont think so.
He was a Homicide Squad D. Good cop, but the grog got to him and he was invalided out. I was having a few drinks with him a week or so ago, just shooting the shit, you know. The Beckett case came up. Leo was pissed, of course. He was on the team that looked into it. He reckoned certain people took certain sums of money to suppress a ransom note.
Thats vague, I said. What people? And who paid up?
Thats where I played it smart. Leo hasnt got any time for me. If I showed an interest hed clam up for sure. I sounded him out about the reward. He thought it lapsed when the old man died.
So?
I told you there were things we could do together. This is one of them. We have to go to Grogan, get him oiled just right and tell him how things stand. We cut him in for a third if everything works out.
What if he wont play?
I happen to know hes drawing a disability pension hes not entitled to and that hes got assets he hasnt declared. If he gets stroppy
So there it was. Cyn always said that the people I associated with made me violent, insensitive and untrustworthy by osmosis. I resisted the idea but here was a good chance to test it. Barry White had his copy of the contract in his pocket and mine was in my filing cabinet. I could always pull out of this if it got too sticky, couldnt I? I went to the nearest pub with White and bought him three schooners of old with his money while I drank a couple of middies of light. The beer didnt seem to affect him until someone spilled a drink that splashed his newly pressed trousers.
You black cunt, White said. He lurched towards the man, a stocky Maori in singlet, jeans and work boots.
What did you say? The Maori put the drinks he was carrying down and set himself.
White threw a punch that missed and tipped him off balance. The Maori had been ready to punch but Whites stumble forced him to hold back. That gave me time to move in, grab the Maoris cocked right and jam it up behind his back. I pushed him a couple of steps so that he was up against a wall and couldnt get any leverage to swing back with his left. He was strong but when youre in that position strong doesnt help, any movement hurts like hell.
Hes drunk, mate, I said in the Maoris ear. And hes a sick man. Look at him. You hit him and youre likely to kill him. Hes an ex-copper, as well. You dont need that kind of trouble.
OK, brother, OK, the Maori said. Dyou want ago?
Ive seen all the blood and broken glass I need to see for the rest of my life. Just let it be. I released him and stepped away quickly, deciding to kick at his right knee if he was still belligerent. He glared at me and maybe the broken nose and scars convinced him.
Youre lucky youve got a sharp mate, pisspot, he said to White as he wrapped his big hands around the drinks. He walked away to the other end of the bar.
White was dabbing at his damp pants with a dirty handkerchief. Good team, Hardy.
Fuck you, I said. I ought to tear that bloody contract up.
You wont.
He was right. The small confrontation with the Maori made me realise how much I was relying on old tricks like armlocks and new ones like staying sober. If I wasnt quite over the hill I was certainly nearing the top, and a six-figure score would help me to face the summit with much greater equanimity. White didnt know where Leo Grogan lived, but he knew where hed be at 10 a.m. the following dayin the bar of the Cleveland Hotel in Chippendale. White himself lived in a room in a boarding house in Rose Street and I agreed to give him a lift home. We walked to where I park the Falcon in Upper Forbes Street and White sneered as I undid the club lock.
Youre in the fucking Dark Ages, Hardy. I used to have a Commodore with one of the first automatic locking systems. He held up an imaginary remote control. Press a button. Beep, beep, and youre sweet.
I put the lock on the floor at his feet, started the motor and didnt say anything. He reached down, a bit unsteadily, picked up the device and examined it.
Piece of shit. I knew blokes who could knock the lock out of that in two seconds flat. He dropped the lock on the floor and got out his tobacco.
Not in the car, I said. Youre talking about policemen, I suppose?
Yeah, of course.
I know people who can take out any car alarm system ever made and start the motor from the pavement.
That shut him up. He slumped down in his seat and I could sense the good feeling the beer had given him already ebbing away. The question was, did he come up passive or aggressive? We drove down William Street. Daylight saving had just ended and a bit after seven oclock the light was fading and the girls were beginning to emerge. White gazed out at them, and I glanced at him to gauge his response.
Jesus, he said. Will you take a look at that.
A six-foot transvestite or transsexual stood on the kerb outside a luxury car showroom. She had long, shimmering silver-blonde hair and wore a halter top, miniskirt and thigh-high boots to match.
Her dicks probably bigger than yours.
Whats the difference? he muttered. A holes a fucking hole.
I dropped him in Rose Street opposite a three-storey terrace that would fetch a fortune when it stopped being a dosshouse. Ive seen plenty of those places in my time; the metho bottles in the backyard can outnumber the sweet sherry flagons. White had wound his window down and stuck his face out on the drive in an effort to clear his head. He climbed stiffly from the car and leaned through the open window.
Im broke, Hardy. That seven hundred was all I had. Can you lend me a few bucks?
Sure, I said. Just tell me who staked you in the first place.
Youre a bastard.
I have to be. I deal with them every day. Dont lie to me, Barry. The way things are, every word we exchange is important.
A woman. Ive made her certain promises.
Shes an idiot.
Maybe, but she doesnt think so.
Human beings are hard to understand. Ive known a few intelligent, resourceful women whove fallen for useless, violent men, some who just couldnt get interested in any other type. I took two twenties and a ten out the change from the drinks and passed them to him. Dont drink it all, Barry. You need to rinse out that shirt and you could do with a deodorant and a mouthwash. See you tomorrow.
He took the money and didnt speak. I watched him in the rear-vision mirror as I drove away. For a few seconds he wavered between turning left or crossing the street. Left took him to the corner and the pub. He squared his shoulders and crossed the street. There were signs that Barry White wasnt a completely spent force, but that didnt make me trust him one bit more.
I drove home to Glebe, stopping to buy some fish and some white wine on the way. I grew up on a diet of fried meatchops, steak, sausages, bacon. That kind of tucker, plus large dollops of frustration, blocked my fathers arteries and saw him off at a fairly early age, but I seem to have inherited my mothers constitution and temperament. She ate, drank and smoked what she liked, made it to seventy, and went complaining about her short innings. These days I exercise some dietary caution, but not with fish; the only way to cook it is the way my Uncle Jim said. He used to catch flathead, bream and tailor off Maroubra Beach after pulling up sandworms for bait with his fingers. Fry the fuckers! was Uncle Jims advice, and thats what I did.
Ive lived alone since Glen Withers married her policeman. I occasionally see a former girlfriend, Terry Kenneally, who came out of longish relationships more or less intact, like me. We have a meal together, go to a movie and sometimes to bed. Theres nothing possessive about it. Were both looking for company and sex without complications. I cant say I prefer the arrangement to a passionate, committed relationship, but its not too bad. I enjoy the gaps and solitary spells, knowing that theyre not permanent.
I was in just such a spell at the moment with Terry, who was a tennis coach, away interstate with one of her hopefuls. Over the meal I lowered the level of the wine to halfway down the label and then quit, I made coffee and sat down to think about what I could be getting into with Barry White. It was hard to be optimistic. For years stories had circulated about cops with treasure trovesbales of marijuana, talcum powder tins full of cocaine, suitcases of money. As far as I knew none of these ships had ever come in, and the old rogue cops were all doing time or paying off their lawyers bills by installment. Still, Whites story had a different ring and the man himself wasnt the standard sticky-fingered corrupt moron.
I took out a fresh notebook and started plotting my course through some of the hazards. First things first, and my priorities are not necessarily those of the person whos hired me. I had to check up on the reward. Were the terms and the accrued amount what White had stated? Along with that went a need to know more about Barry White himself. Was my suspicion right that hed done some time, and if so, for what? I needed to know the personnel of the police instigating team and, if possible, get some idea of their conclusions. Had laying charges been considered and, if so, against whom? That led to the obvious question that shapes any investigationwho benefits? White and I had talked about Ramona Becketts victims as profiting from her death, but what about othersa lover, a family member? There was going to be some leg and telephone work involved as always and some favours to be asked for and maybe nothing to show at the end of it. But just maybe thered be a good deal more to show than usual.
I watched the late-night news on television for a few minutes, long enough to tell that nothing had happened that hadnt been predicted in the morning or developed during the day. I turned on the radio to catch Phillip Adams Late Night Live program, but they were talking about the next millennium and I was happy just to wait for it. I played Paul Simons Graceland through for the thousandth time and went to bed with Graham Richardsons autobiography which made me feel that the people I dealt with werent so bad after all. My tennis gear was lying in a corner where Id dropped it after my last game with Terry. I went to sleep thinking about her long brown thighs.