He had an unlit cigarette hanging from his lips. ‘Well, what?’
‘How did I go?’
‘Really good.’
‘You didn’t stay.’
‘No.’
‘And you were talking to Bishop while I was speaking.’
‘Yep.’
‘So what does that mean? Can’t you look at me? For Christ’s sake, say something.’
Cardilini looked up. He saw her anxiety. This is a really good copper and a really decent woman who deserves much better than us bunch of morons, he thought. He looked away. ‘What do you want me to say?’
‘I was dreadful, wasn’t I? And you don’t want to tell me.’
‘What did everyone else say?’
‘They said I was very professional. What the hell does that mean?’
‘Ask them.’
‘I don’t trust them.’ She sat down opposite Cardilini. ‘I want you to tell me.’
‘Ever thought of doing something else?’
‘That’s what the deputy commissioner said. I’m a policewoman. It’s what I want to do. We can make a difference. You know that. Tell me how they really took it.’
‘You basically told us we were wrong, that we’re complicit in the systematic beatings of women. How do you think they took it?’
‘But you think I’m right.’
‘Of course. It’s plain, no one should be beaten, no matter who they are. Forget them. You’re right. You’re just going against the tide.’
‘Thank God.’ Spencer sighed, dropping her papers on her desk. ‘So, what are we going to do about it?’
Cardilini wondered when he had last seen such earnestness in the eyes of a detective. He looked away again and answered firmly, ‘Oh, no. Not me, I’ve just got back from suspension. I’ve learnt my lesson. I’m going to work within the establishment from now on.’
‘Are you?’
‘Yes. I am.’
‘We could bring a police prosecution against that man at Duke Street.’
‘No, we couldn’t. We weren’t the attending police. It’s Fremantle’s case. We were just—’
‘You made the call to go in, Cardilini!’
‘Yep. Well, that could backfire.’
‘Legally, any of the four of us could bring a prosecution.’
‘We wouldn’t be allowed. You think Robinson or Warren would let you step in over the Fremantle branch? They wouldn’t. That’s not how it works.’
‘We should ask.’
‘Spencer, you’ve been in the force, what, fifteen years? How can you be so naive?’
‘Is it naive to want to protect women from being beaten?’
‘Yep. Maybe that’s what I’m saying.’ Cardilini stood and headed for the door.
‘Don’t you walk out. I can’t do it by myself. You know that. They can ignore me. They can just call me a female, and it won’t matter what I say.’
Cardilini paused in the doorway. ‘I’m not walking out. Even though I am walking out. I’m … I know the cost of what you’re proposing. You saw what happened with Louise Hardy and Faber. Being a pariah isn’t much fun. And my boy, Paul, is joining the academy next year so … I have to think about this.’
‘The commissioner told me after the meeting that he couldn’t prosecute as an individual or a department. But he said, “Talk to Cardilini, that’s why he’s there." It’s up to you.’
CHAPTER EIGHT
Thursday, 18 November 1965
1 p.m.
Cardilini entered Superintendent Robinson’s office and sat down.
‘You knock on the door, thank you, Cardilini,’ Robinson said brusquely.
‘Knock on your own bloody door.’
Robinson carefully placed his pen beside the document he was working on and exhaled. ‘Okay. What?’
‘Why have you got Spencer making speeches?’
‘Commissioner’s idea. We could have a female in the judiciary shortly. And the commissioner could be thinking of a knighthood. Any other questions?’
‘So, we can ignore everything she says?’
‘Sure. The state prosecutors don’t want to be seen as attacking the sanctity of marriage.’
‘You mean they don’t want to be seen undermining the male’s authority within the sanctity of marriage.’
‘Or that. What are you going to do?’
‘Why is it up to me?’
‘Because that’s why you were put there. We need to be seen as being on top of “the demands of a changing and emerging society". It’s the commissioner’s job to introduce new initiatives. He doesn’t have to carry them out, mind, which could be compromising. You get to carry them out. He just has to keep juggling all the interest groups – politicians, the judiciary, his wife – and sidestep when necessary.’
‘He told you this?’ Cardilini asked.
‘Are you kidding? No, he can’t articulate these things, neither can you or I; it’s the way it is. Now, what are you going to do?’
‘Does Spencer know?’
‘No. She’s a woman, Cardilini. Who knows who she’d tell. No. If you weren’t available and the commissioner didn’t care about a knighthood, this whole Spencer thing wouldn’t be happening and she’d still be out in the sticks. If you push for a prosecution, providing you have a case, the commissioner will make it happen. Of course, he won’t be anywhere in sight if it goes haywire. So you’re stuffed no matter what you do. That plain enough for you?’
‘A little too bloody plain.’
‘Detective Inspector Bishop is up for retirement, you know. Detective Inspector Cardilini has a nice ring to it.’
‘You tried that one on me some time ago.’
‘Did I? Honestly, Cardilini, who knows what the right thing to do is? The wife is in for a beating regardless of what happens. The only real recourse any of them have is to get the hell out. But you and me and every other copper knows the chance of that is slim.’
‘So we do nothing. Let Spencer grandstand, clap heartily, say what a great job she’s doing while ultimately we do nothing.’
‘It’s worked so far.’
‘Are you winding me up?’
‘Since when did you need winding up?’ Robinson returned his attention to the document on his desk.
‘Well, you’re bloody useless.’
Robinson paused and looked around the office. ‘Yep. It came with the promotion.’
‘I’m going to get Ryan, the attending officer, to push for a prosecution in the Cooper case.’
‘He won’t do it.’
‘How do you know?’
‘I spoke to the Fremantle superintendent; they’re not willing to stick their necks out. They’ve ordered Ryan likewise.’
‘Bullshit.’
‘I’m afraid not. See if you can mount a case. And if you go ahead the commissioner will have to convince the chief prosecutor or do whatever it is they do at that level – take the chief prosecutor and his wife to dinner, maybe.’
‘You couldn’t care less, could you?’
‘That’s not true, even though everything I’ve said could suggest it. But, whatever, I’ve got your back.’
‘I’ve heard that before but somehow I still end up in the shit.’
‘Rubbish, Cardilini. You’re still here, aren’t you?’
‘You’re becoming a real politician, Robinson.’
‘We can’t all afford a conscience.’ Robinson stood and stared at Cardilini.
In all the crap that was flying about, there were two constants: the image of the woman tied to a chair, mutilated, bleeding, terrified, and Spencer standing up against a shitstorm.
Cardilini looked Robinson in the eye. ‘Tell the commissioner to make a dinner date with the state prosecutor.’
‘Do you want to attend? You
could, you know.’ Robinson smiled.
‘Ha.’ Cardilini smiled too. ‘I’d resign before I did that.’
CHAPTER NINE
Thursday, 18 November 1965
1.15 p.m.
Cardilini made his way back downstairs and found his office door closed. He thought about stopping by the detectives’ office where he used to work: the large open space where you sat or stood around listening to all the gossip and crap … Then again, maybe his and Spencer’s office was a good idea, after all. The door opened suddenly.
‘Come in, you need to hear this,’ Spencer told him. They had a visitor. ‘This is Detective Sergeant Cardilini, he’s heading up this division. This is Mrs Abraham.’
A slim, attractive, well-dressed woman in her thirties wearing large sunglasses sat with her hands folded demurely on her lap.
‘How do you do,’ Cardilini said.
‘How do you do, Detective Sergeant Cardilini,’ Mrs Abraham said with a nod.
‘Mrs Abraham and I went to university together,’ Spencer said.
‘You went to university?’ Cardilini asked, dumbfounded.
‘Yes, but it isn’t a social occasion that brings Mrs Abraham here.’
‘Oh. Okay.’ Cardilini pulled up a chair. Mrs Abraham wouldn’t look at him.
‘Sally. He can be trusted. Truly.’ Mrs Abraham continued to look at the floor. ‘I know he seems intimidating but he’ll have your best interests at heart. Won’t you, sir?’
Cardilini looked at Spencer and raised his eyebrows. ‘Mrs Abraham, Detective Constable Spencer’s right. You have every reason to trust her and consequently, me. We’re partners.’
The woman turned to him for the first time.
‘Mrs Abraham has just told me her husband has threatened to kill her if she leaves him,’ Spencer said. Mrs Abraham didn’t move, not a gesture, not a flicker of expression.
‘Is he serious?’ Cardilini asked.
‘Yes,’ Mrs Abraham said, only her mouth moving.
‘Why would you leave him?’
Mrs Abraham slowly removed her sunglasses. Her eyes were shaded from crimson to black in one spreading bruise. ‘He held me by the throat on the pool table, placed a towel over my eyes and hit me with a billiard ball. He wasn’t angry. He was making a point. I eventually passed out.’ She replaced her sunglasses. ‘When I came to, he said he’d break my arms and legs and bury me alive if I tried to leave. There’s a big hole in the garden for a fully-grown fig tree that he’s going to plant. There’s a temporary fence around the hole at the moment so the children don’t fall in.’
‘How many children do you have and how old are they?’ Cardilini asked.
‘Aaron, eight. Charlotte, six. Benjamin, four.’ Her voice broke as she said the last child’s age but her face remained composed. ‘I won’t be leaving him now.’
‘He threatened to kill the children, too,’ Spencer said.
‘Would you like a cup of tea, Mrs Abraham?’ Cardilini asked. She remained so still he wasn’t sure she’d heard him. He was about to repeat the question.
‘Yes, please.’
‘Spencer. Would you mind?’
‘Of course.’ Spencer stood. ‘Milk? Sugar?’
‘Just milk, thank you, Lorraine.’
Mrs Abraham took her glasses off again and looked directly at Cardilini. ‘You want to see if I’m telling the truth?’
‘That would help,’ Cardilini said. Mrs Abraham’s eyes were defeated; it seemed only her posture stopped her from collapsing to the floor. ‘Has he hit you before?’
‘He didn’t need to. He beat me into submission by not allowing me to visit my parents or my friends, explaining every day since we consummated our marriage that I was a whore, a slut, a filthy, unclean thing. My oldest son now speaks to me like that while my husband laughs and claps.’
‘Why didn’t you leave?’
‘A number of reasons. Mainly, I was pregnant with Aaron when we got married.’
‘You had sex with him before you got married?’
‘No.’
Cardilini considered the implications of her statement. ‘Is your daughter your husband’s?’
‘Yes. I haven’t been unfaithful to him since we got married.’
‘If you knew what he was like why did you have another child?’
‘My husband believes he has unlimited sexual access to my body.’
‘How many people know about Aaron not being your husband’s biological son?’
‘Just three: you, Lorraine and me.’
Cardilini raised his eyebrows and looked closely at Mrs Abraham. ‘What would your husband do if he found out you were here?’
‘Apart from taking it out on me? Nothing, his pride wouldn’t allow such an insult. I hope.’
‘How have you explained the black eyes to your children?’
‘He told them I slipped in the bath. That I was drunk again.’
‘You drink?’
‘Yes, when the children have gone to bed and he’s not home, I drink until I pass out.’
Cardilini nodded slowly. ‘Where is your husband at these times?’
‘He has a number of lovers.’
Cardilini felt himself standing on a precipice. He knew why policemen hated domestics … because of the sense of powerlessness. ‘Would you bring charges of assault against him?’
‘Because I slipped in the bath? No.’
‘Then I’m at a loss.’
‘I love my children. I hope one day …’ At this her lip trembled.
Cardilini waited, their eyes locked, and she didn’t shy away. Cardilini felt he was looking through a narrow window into hell. ‘And your daughter, Charlotte, how does she behave?’ he eventually asked.
‘She’s afraid he’ll turn on her. I believe her fear, as she grows older, could be too much for her to bear. I stay alive for my youngest, Benjamin. I have nothing else. When that goes I will provoke my husband to kill me. When I’m gone I believe my children will be safe.’ She spoke so evenly, so flatly, so devoid of any artifice, that Cardilini believed every word she said. She put her sunglasses back on and Cardilini realised Spencer had returned with the tea.
‘Why did you come here?’ Cardilini asked Mrs Abraham.
‘I wanted to tell Lorraine where to look for me if I disappeared. He told me he’d bought an open ticket in my name to Europe. He knows how to manage these things. He forced me to write an undated letter to my parents, saying I was running off with a lover, a man I met. My family believes him. I’m afraid you would have, too, Lorraine.’
‘I did. At your wedding I was so happy for you.’
‘By speaking to us, Mrs Abraham, you now have reported a potential crime to the police,’ Cardilini said.
‘There’s no such thing as a potential crime, Mr Cardilini. I studied law too.’ Mrs Abraham nodded to Spencer.
‘You studied law?’ Cardilini asked Spencer, once again incredulous. Spencer frowned and directed Cardilini’s attention back to Mrs Abraham. ‘Okay. Do you want protection?’
‘No. If my husband finds out about this it would be so easy for one of our children to have an accident. We have a pool: Benjamin can’t swim. My husband tormented me one day by dropping him in the pool and stopping me from getting him out. He asked calmly if I understood, while Benjamin’s …’ she closed her mouth and sat immobile, ‘… while his arms flailed. I agreed to all his demands. He made me promise. My heart had stopped. Then he pulled Benjamin from the pool and told him his bad, bad mother had forgotten him.’
‘But it’s his son, Sally!’ Spencer cried.
‘I believe with my whole being he would do it.’
‘So how can you be here without him knowing?’ Cardilini asked.
‘He doesn’t think I’d leave the house looking like this.’
�
��And if he found out?’ Spencer asked.
Mrs Abraham looked at her and grimaced. ‘I had to change religions. I’m doing classes. The community believes that women are possessions of the man. He’s told me he never loved me, in fact that he hated me. He wanted to possess me, crush me, and that he hated my family and would like to see them suffer.’
‘Can we arrest him?’ Spencer asked Cardilini.
‘On what grounds?’
‘Her face!’
‘And Benjamin? How could you protect him?’
Spencer put her hands to her mouth, and then took them away. ‘Cardilini?’
‘How long could we hold the children and Mrs Abraham?’ Cardilini asked.
‘We couldn’t.’
‘Aaron and Charlotte will say whatever he tells them,’ Mrs Abraham said.
‘Could you and the children go to your parents’ house?’ Spencer asked.
‘Aaron wouldn’t come willingly and I’d be afraid for Charlotte and Benjamin. I’ve run through every possible legal scenario. I believe there is no situation where custody would be awarded to me. There are a number of people my husband has brought home so they could see me intoxicated. Besides, I’d be too afraid of what he’d do in retaliation.’
‘My God,’ Spencer said.
‘I’m sorry to bring this to you. I couldn’t face anyone else.’
‘No, you did the right thing,’ Spencer said. ‘Is this truly the only time he’s hit you?’
‘Yes. He’s a big man. When he wants something, he holds me firmly and places me in position. He enjoys tearing my clothing. I don’t try to resist him. He does it while the children are in the next room. I don’t make a sound. He has on occasion called out and talked to them while he abuses me. He can be very vile. Lorraine, there’s nothing left of me, I feel there must be something wrong with me or I wouldn’t be treated this way. I was reduced from what we were at university to a confused, drained wreck in a very short time. Try to understand. I thought if I showed my Christian duty, was a loyal wife but … it encouraged him. I threw myself into his religion still thinking faith was a way of stopping his behaviour …’
Cardilini wiped his brow and wondered if he was dreaming. He could feel Spencer tensing beside him.
The Final Cut Page 4