In spite of his dedication, Thomas Anderson had almost given up when he realised that he could use his wildcard Wayne Bruce who had received clearance for working on the case by Barry Itch a few days earlier. Thomas Anderson called him, and he appeared in a heartbeat since his mansion was located nearby Michael Fuller's house.
Wayne Bruce:
- Hi, Neo, I have seen you in better shape, how can I help you?
Thomas Anderson:
- Yeah, I have been here since 3 AM, so I am not feeling sharp.
Wayne Bruce:
- Well, that's 14 hours straight. One cannot complain about your dedication. Tell you what if I ever start a new IT company there will be a place for you in it!
Thomas Anderson:
- Thank you, Wayne! That's very generous of you. But let us focus on the tasks at hand.
- I need to access the files on this computer, but they have a biometric lock. I also need to find out who copied the data on this USB stick and handed it to Michael Fuller.
Wayne Bruce:
- You have this guy in custody right? What I would suggest is that you give him a glass of water tomorrow and cover that glass in a plastic material that absorbs fingerprints. That's way more convenient than getting a court order forcing the suspect to unlock the files.
- As for the USB stick verification, did you know that a lot of systems these days save an invisible code every time you make a copy of a file? This is an antipiracy/ anti-terrorist surveillance thing, but if you know how to find it, it's quite easy to crack.
Thomas Anderson:
- Thank you, Wayne. Can you do this for me?
Wayne Bruce:
- Sure it will take a couple of hours but sure. You can crash at my place for the time being.
Thomas Anderson:
- Thank you, Wayne, but I can't leave an outsider with a crucial piece of evidence without police supervision. But yeah I can sit next to you while you are working.
After saying that, Thomas Anderson left the computer and the USB memory stick in the hands of Wayne Bruce. He was unable to keep his focus up though and soon fell asleep leaving Wayne Bruce unsupervised with the material. A couple of hours later Wayne Bruce woke him up.
Thomas Anderson:
- Oh shit, did I fall asleep?
- How did it go?
Wayne Bruce:
- It went well, I managed to find the coding I was looking for, and it proves that the files were copied by the user JDEAN between 22nd of August 2013 and the 28th of August 2013.
Thomas Anderson:
- Great, please join me with me and go to the internal investigations office straight away, it's time to get this snake out of our organisation once and for all!
7.11 At the Internal investigations office
THOMAS ANDERSON AND Wayne Bruce went to the internal investigations office which located in a decidedly unflashy and grey office building situated in Redfern. To avoid a situation where police officers were investigating the colleague who sat next to them in their office all internal investigations was conducted by this particular department to prevent investigation bias. Considering the state of affairs at the internal investigations department, however, a police officer who broke against protocol was likely to get away with it since the agency auditing them was underfunded and in terrible shape. Thomas Anderson was by no means distraught by this fact as he had used his position in the police and the inadequate control of police officers to solicit bribes. He met up with the responsible officer Steven McLean who greeted him at the office.
Steven Mclean:
- Hello, officer Anderson, I am Steven Mclean the officer in charge here, how can I help you?
Thomas Anderson:
- Hi, Steven. I am here to give you some additional evidence in the case against John Dean at CSMI. I am sure such proof will prove that John Dean sabotaged our investigation as well as leaked information about it to our suspected killer Michael Fuller.
Steven Mclean:
- Yes, I have heard about the arrest of Michael Fuller. It's in the headlines all over Australia considering his relative fame within the police and all.
- When it comes to John Dean, there is no case pending on him so sadly I can't add any evidence to a case file that does not exist.
Thomas Anderson:
- Oh, that is strange indeed. The detective of my team, James Locker, spoke to Barry Itch the director of CSMI about John Dean and he thought a case was being started up.
Steven Mclean:
- Well, apparently he was mistaken. Now if you excuse me, we are closing now.
After witnessing the unhelpful and disinterested behaviour shown by Steven Mclean Wayne, Bruce felt compelled to intervene.
Wayne Bruce:
- No, you are not. I am an Australian citizen, and it's in my right to file a complaint. In my case, the claim is against John Dean that is an outrage and shame for the police corps.
Steven Mclean:
- Well that’s very interesting whoever you are, and I am sure you can call customer service to complain about this, but we are closing our office for today anyway.
Wayne Bruce:
- Nah I think I will pass when it comes to calling customer service.
- You see I am Wayne Bruce the IT billionaire. As a billionaire, I have a lot of ties with the New South Wales government.
- So I will discuss your behaviour, Mr Mclean, with Michael Lawson the minister of police, when I see him during the state fundraiser this weekend.
Steven Mclean had indeed not seen this headache coming five minutes before closing time. He was unsure of whether the man opposite to him was the man he claimed to be or not, but it seemed to Steven Mclean that it was not worth the risk to call as he could not know if his opponent was bluffing or not. With a loud sigh, Steven Mclean agreed to help them start up a case file against John Dean. 30 minutes later he summarised the case against John Dean like this.
Steven Mclean:
- Look, guys, I have set up the case file against John Dean now. I don't know if it's enough to get him convicted, but I will call high Command and make sure he gets suspended immediately.
Thomas Anderson:
- Sounds good to me. As long as the snake is out of my face, I am happy.
Wayne Bruce:
- And I am glad as soon as you have made the actual call. You don't seem to be the most cooperative of men Mr Mclean.
With an even louder sigh, Steven Mclean called the necessary calls to make sure The police force suspended John Dean from duty. Happy with the outcome Thomas Anderson went straight home postponing the after work drinks suggested by Wayne Bruce.
7.12 Initial interrogation of Michael Fuller
IT WAS 9 AM THE 4th of September 2013, and it was time for the first real interrogation of Michael Fuller. A shorter talk had been held the day before informing of his legal rights but due to the circumstances with the poisoning of James Locker and the suspension of John Dean the team had been unable to set up a proper interrogation the previous day. Present in the room were: Michael Fuller, Adam Smith, Thomas Anderson and Samantha Robinson. Thomas Anderson initialised the questioning:
Thomas Anderson:
- Can the suspect state his full name, date of birth and passport number, please?
Michael Fuller:
- Michal Samuel Fuller, 22nd of February 1957, M0992136
Thomas Anderson:
- Are you aware of the accusations against you? You stand accused of the murders of Antonio DiMaestro, Miranda DiMaestro and Jessica Hall. Furthermore; you are charged with the attempted assassination of Emily Luong and James Locker.
Michael Fuller:
- Yes, I am aware of this as assistants Johnson and Chung informed my lawyer and me about this last night.
Thomas Anderson:
- Great!
- Well, Michael, you know how this goes down, so please give us a general overview of your actions these last few weeks, and we will be adding questions to your story.
Michael Fuller:
- Well, I suppose what is interesting is what happened on the 19th of August 2013 the day I quit the force on supposed health issues?
Adam Smith:
- Well, initial analysis indicates that the head of Antonio DiMaestro has been decomposing for more than a month, but sure go ahead.
Michael Fuller:
- Well anyway. The 19th of August I get called into Barry Itch's office where he accused me of possessing stolen cocaine from the crime scene of the Lopez case which occurred the 12th of July the month before. Apparently, they had seen a bag on the video where Lopez got shot, and then the camera went down, and when we got there, the bag was not there.
- Anyway, Barry Itch did not want this to be a public scandal, so he had hired two operatives from a shady security company to search my house for the bag. Sadly I consented to this and signed the consent form he gave me. Apparently, the two operatives found the pack with 3.5 kilos of cocaine in my house and I had the option to either resign immediately stating health options or facing charges for severe drug crimes. I chose to leave.
Thomas Anderson:
- Wait a second. So you are accusing the director of CSMI to cover up serious crimes? Do you any proof to support these accusations?
Michael Fuller:
- I do. You see the entire situation felt very shady from the start, so I turned on sound recording on my mobile phone when Barry Itch was looking away.
- I can show you if you want?
Thomas Anderson:
- Well, since it's apparently against protocol to let the suspect have access to the evidence we can't accept that; however, we will do a thorough search for the file on your phone.
- But back to the new subject of the stolen cocaine, why did you take it? To use it or to sell it?
Michael Fuller:
- I did not! Someone placed it in my home to set me up.
Thomas Anderson:
- Well, that's a fascinating thought. You are aware that Australia has the most expensive cocaine in the world right?
- So you are claiming that someone spent cocaine with a street value of approximately $500,000 to set you up?
Michael Fuller:
- Yes, that is what I am claiming.
Samantha Robinson:
- Are you sure that it was real cocaine that was in that bag?
Michael Fuller:
- Well, Barry Itch used the compound on a standard drug test in front of my eyes, and it turned blue for cocaine.
Thomas Anderson:
- I see. What did he do with this cocaine afterwards? I can't recall any significant quantities of cocaine found by our department this month.
Michael Fuller:
- Well, he asked me to open the bag and flush all the cocaine down the toilet, and I did.
Thomas Anderson:
- That is a highly unlikely path of action if indeed Barry Itch and Antonio DiMaestro were conspiring against you.
Samantha Robinson:
- Let’s move on. Tell us your reasons for going to the DiMaestro estate intimidating Miranda DiMaestro and then murdering her.
Michael Fuller:
- Okay it might have been a foolish, drunken choice but my reasoning was like this:
- I had been looking for Antonio DiMaestro ever since the Lopez case a month before. I wanted to question him about his part in the whole matter. But I never got the chance since the case was transferred to the organised crime department after the suspected gunman Angelo Ramirez died in a gunfight with airport police.
- But I never gave up the DiMaestro trail even though it was not my case anymore.
- So I guessed that he was the one who set me up to get rid of me
- In my opinion, I did not intimidate her, and I did not kill her.
Adam Smith:
- Come on Michael this is fucking ridiculous. You are saying that you suspected the man, whose head we found in your house for trying to set you up? Even if he wanted to set you up, why would he spend 3.5 kilos when 100 grams would have been enough to attain the same goal?
Michael Fuller:
- Well, I never killed Antonio DiMaestro. Someone placed his head in my home while I was away. As for the amount I don't know why they used so much.
Samantha Robinson:
- Okay noted. So what were you doing in the DiMaestro mansion then if you did not kill Miranda? Were you drinking tea with her?
Michael Fuller:
- I have never set foot in the DiMaestro estate.
Adam Smith:
- Well, that's interesting, as we found your DNA at several places in the house.
Michael Fuller:
- Well, it must have been planted there by whoever killed her.
Thomas Anderson:
- Who you at the time believed to be Antonio DiMaestro?
Michael Fuller:
- That is correct.
Thomas Anderson:
- Okay. As you might be aware of the security cameras at the DiMaestro mansion was hacked, so the actual murder was not filmed. However, we did manage to backtrack the hacking to the IP address of your computer. Any comment on that?
Michael Fuller:
- I would not consider myself computer literate enough to comment on that.
Thomas Anderson:
- Fair enough. How do you explain your presence in your area at the time of the murder? According to our positioning data, you were connected to the same mobile phone base station for hours, thus being at the crime scene or in the vicinity of the crime scene when the murder of Miranda DiMaestro took place.
Michael Fuller:
- I was sitting at the local RSL club just down the road.
Samantha Robinson:
- Well anyone who can verify that?
Michael Fuller:
- I was not there with anyone if that's what you are asking. But I did sign it at around 10 PM, and that should be on their records.
Samantha Robinson:
- When did you leave Mosman RSL?
Michael Fuller:
- Around midnight.
Adam Smith:
- Well, that's a horrible alibi, Michael. You see you were phone was connected to Mosman base station until 1230AM and Miranda DiMaestro was murdered between 1215AM to 1230AM. So you are saying that you were in the neighbourhood without an alibi at the time of the killing.
Michael Fuller:
- Well, I might have left the Mosman RSL a bit later then.
Thomas Anderson:
- I am sure we’ll find out somehow.
Samantha Robinson:
- Moving on. On the 22nd of August, you withdrew $10,000 in cash from your bank account. What was the purpose of acquiring such large amounts of money?
Michael Fuller was considering the option to hand them John Dean, but he decided not to. Partly because John Dean had been his friends for several years but also because it seemed highly unlikely that John Dean was the man behind his situation. After all, why would John Dean sacrifice cocaine worth $500,000 to set him up and then ask him for $10,000 to help him? Such behaviour would not make any sense.
Samantha Robinson:
- Let it be noted, that the suspect refused to answer the question.
- We have reasons to believe that you have been meeting up with John Dean on several occasions the last few weeks, what were the purposes of those meetings?<
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Michael Fuller:
- And I assume you have figured this the same way you have calculated everything else, through your flawless mobile phone location data, right?
Samantha Robinson:
- That is correct.
Michael Fuller:
- Well in the case with John Dean it's straightforward. We are friends, and there is nothing wrong with us hanging out even after I finished working here.
Samantha Robinson:
- Very well and I assume the fact that you withdrew $10,000 in cash and the fact that John Dean somehow managed to miss you in surveillance tapes from the crime scenes are entirely unrelated?
Michael Fuller:
- Well, John has been under a lot of pressure recently with his daughter being sick and his marriage breaking down. He could have missed it out.
James Locker- The Duality of Fate Page 21