by John Bishop
bubbling personality had all but disappeared. I think it might be back. He seems so excited.
30 January 1993
Tony has purchased a caravan and hired someone to tow it to Arajinna. He intends to live on site so he can “watch the Phoenix rise” (his words).
17 February 1993
Arramulta is starting to look like a camping ground. There are now three caravans parked in the cleared strip between Rita’s Orchard and the river. Each has a colourful annexe and Tony arranged construction of a large barbecue on the riverbank where the campers cook and eat together most nights. Tony’s gigantic van is the centrepiece. Initially, he had told us he wanted to park it in full view of the bridge as a symbol of defiance. He changed his mind because he finds the view through the valley so uplifting; and there are no scars from the fire in that direction. Emily also opted to live in a caravan. The third is occupied by a gardener who was chosen because he used to be a security guard. He will be always on site when nobody else is there.
24 February 1993
An extraordinary and wonderful development. A fourth caravan at Arramulta with a charming occupant who knows the property better than we do. Marcus Loader has returned.
None of us knew Marcus had been released until Sean saw a report in a legal journal about a prisoner who had been “evicted” from gaol because of overcrowding. The report indicated that Marcus had asked the parole board not to review his case, giving rise to legal argument, which ended with the attorney-general apologising to Marcus but insisting that his desire to remain inside could not be accommodated.
When Tony was shown the article, he got in touch with Marcus and invited him to live at Arramulta. He arrived yesterday. What a delightful man he is. He has excellent social skills, despite his strange history.
An Interview with Miranda
Monday 8th March 1993
Miranda d’Aratzio sat back in her chair, her lips drawn tightly against her teeth in a line that gave the otherwise attractive face a look of menace. The few middle-age wrinkles suited her—they were laugh lines, not the thin floury folds of a long time smoker. Brody was good at reading faces. This was a woman who would age well. She looked from Brody to Megan Schmitz and back to Brody. ‘If you would like to record this conversation to save taking notes, please do.’
Without speaking, Justin looked at Megan. She took a tape recorder from her bag and put it on the desk.
Miranda gave them a tiny smile. ‘Shouldn’t you be saying something like “Interview with Mrs Miranda d’Aratzio commencing 10.05 am Monday 8th March 1993, etcetera etcetera?” No? Then I’ll start.’ She stood up from her desk and wandered back and forth while she spoke, glancing occasionally at the detectives to emphasise a point.
‘Firstly, Inspector, may I commend you for bringing a woman with you. It is a wise precaution, these days; particularly when you visit a lady like me who has so many friends around the building. Perhaps I should be insulted that you might have felt my invitation for you to visit to be an entrapment—that I might be planning to cry rape or something. I’m told those things do happen. But such behaviour must be the sad last resort of a woman who isn’t in a position of strength. My late husband never spoke of your being accompanied by a woman when you visited him. And, as you might expect, you have made yourself the subject of discussions at our dinner table on several occasions, so I know the tenor of your meetings with Leonard, and I’ve had graphic descriptions of the imposing officers of the law who’ve accompanied you here in the past. However, I choose not to be insulted, so let’s turn our attention to this fire in Arajinna that has caused you and your officers to pester my staff and business associates. As you have confirmed, the fire occurred on 17th December. Without any credible reason, you began your obvious and vulgar sniffing for smoke in this building before Christmas. Your invasion continued for weeks, at a time when my staff and associates should have been enjoying the festive season. Even my brother has been interviewed. I’m sure he gave a wonderful performance as a wrongly impugned citizen. He would have enjoyed every minute of it. He can be quite naughty that way; but only that way, inspector. The implied insults from your activity around here have certainly exercised my mind, increasingly so as I waited for you to arrive with guns drawn to arrest someone. You see, it did strike me there was a possibility you might know something I didn’t—that I was unwittingly harbouring a monster, or maybe I had a friend who knew the details of my late husband’s suffering and thought they might be doing me a service by attacking his tormentors. Nearly three months have passed and I have been on the verge of asking my legal advisers whether the police in this free society can continue harassing people when it must be obvious they are on a fruitless fishing exercise.’
Still standing, Miranda rolled her chair aside and stood facing Brody, leaning towards him with her hands flat on the desk. After a moment, she put a hand demurely to her cleavage as if conscious of exposing herself. Then she moved away and continued her slow pacing. ‘My late husband told me of one visit you made here. He referred to it as “Brody’s nod nod wink wink dissertation”. It was clear to him on that occasion you had no evidence of something you were trying to imply he had done, just as is clear to me now you have absolutely no evidence pointing to any arsonist, let alone to an arsonist known to me. So, in case your harassment is based on a misconception that I am harbouring a grudge against people in Arajinna, I thought I would do you the courtesy of something more than nodding and winking. My position vis a vis the Blakes and Kingsleys of Arajinna is this: I detest them, as I detest others whose wealth is inherited and not the product of their own endeavours. I resent what they did to my husband over an extended period of years. I have suffered at their hands and, for a time, I was angry—vengeful even; I can admit to that flaw in my character, as I am sure you admit to your shortcomings. But I believe the Blakes and Kingsleys have suffered also. I am reliably informed Mrs Kingsley had a bad fall from a horse a year or two ago—a fall from which she has never fully recovered. There will be no offspring I understand. How cruel life is. Also, thanks to you, I have learned that Tony Blake, whose actions were the direct cause of considerable suffering by my husband, is now having to deal with the consequences of the destruction of a much-loved property. Can you imagine I would wish death on enemies who are suffering so terribly? What I am saying Detective Inspector is that, if I ever had business of interest to me in Arajinna, I now have none. The thing that might cause me to develop such an interest would be continued harassment by the police.’ She rolled her chair back to its position, sat down, and smiled. ‘I think I have now said all I had to say. Your turn.’
Justin looked at her steadily. He had already decided on his response but he counted slowly to twenty to give the pause time to have an effect. ‘Since you appear to have been well briefed by your husband about my previous visits to this office, you will know that after the nod nod wink wink dissertation he acted contrary to my expectations. In fact, he responded to any nods and winks as might the proverbial blind horse.’
‘Indeed he did. Regrettably the response backfired—one of his rare failures. It is a good lesson to learn. Those who ignore informed nods and winks do so at their peril.’
‘I think we understand each other.’
‘I’m sure we do.’ She made an exaggerated nod of her head and screwed one eye into a gigantic wink! ‘For the tape, the interviewee is nodding and winking. Or am I the interviewer, on this occasion?’
When Justin was sure her performance was finished, he said, ‘You’ve been quite direct. Let me return the favour. Whilst it would be wrong for me to tell you what information we have obtained, I can disclose that we have good evidence linking people in Sydney to events in Arajinna, evidence admissible before a court or at an enquiry set up to assess the justification for the visits my officers have been making to your premises.’
Miranda smiled. ‘Evidence you would have passed to the prosecutor’s office if it was sufficient to support charges against anyone.’
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br /> Brody held her gaze for another count of twenty. Then he said, ‘Has the purpose you intended from inviting us here been fulfilled?’
‘I’m inclined to believe it has.’
Justin looked at Meg and pointed to the tape recorder. She turned it off. They all rose and Miranda escorted them to the door of her office where, wordlessly, they exchanged handshakes.
It was Meg who broke the silence when she had driven out of the car park and turned into William Street. ‘The bitch has won, hasn’t she!’
‘It depends on how you define a win, Meg.’
‘I’m listening.’
‘Many of the people we interviewed reported back to her. It’s what we expected to happen. It’s is what we hoped would happen. She has assessed the situation well. She has guessed correctly that we don’t have the evidence to make a case against anyone for anything. But her lawyers will have warned her against any attempt to pursue us for harassment. Her real concern is the on-going attention her operations would receive if we were concerned for the lives of the Blakes and the Kingsleys. She knew that so long as we thought lives were being threatened, her shady empire would receive far more than its usual