Cyanide Games: A Peter Tanner Thriller

by Richard Beasley

  She shrugged. ‘He can’t afford you.’

  ‘I hate those words,’ he said. ‘Was the victim injured?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘I tend to do cases where the charge is more serious.’

  ‘You only help murderers, Peter?’ Martin said.

  ‘If they can afford it.’

  ‘Rob hit a neighbour.’

  ‘Is adultery involved?’

  ‘The neighbour had just received a large cheque.’

  ‘I’d prefer it if Rob had,’ Tanner said. ‘Then he could pay me.’

  ‘The cheque was from Citadel,’ Lisa said.

  Tanner shook his head, and then smiled. ‘Start at the beginning.’

  When Citadel was granted a new exploration licence for coal in the Hunter two years ago, June Martin’s action group set out to be as disruptive as possible. They encouraged landowners not to willingly grant access to their properties for exploratory drilling. If a court ordered that access be granted, they organised blockades of properties.

  ‘Tim Byrne objected to one of our blockades,’ Martin said.

  ‘He’s the alleged victim?’

  ‘Nothing alleged about it. I saw Rob belt him.’

  ‘Then I won’t call you as a witness. Why did he hit this guy?’

  ‘When Citadel was granted its EL,’ Lisa explained, ‘it asked three of the owners of the ten properties on Lovelock Lane to give it access to carry out drilling on their land as part of their exploration program.’

  ‘And Byrne said yes?’

  ‘He said yes for his parents.’

  ‘His parents?’

  ‘For thirty thousand dollars,’ June Martin said.

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘Byrne’s parents own one of the properties. He lives in Sydney. The other owners are members of the action group,’ she said. ‘We set up a blockade.’

  ‘How do you do that?’

  ‘People power. We roster people on and off. We feed them, set up tents for sleeping. We use cars and trucks and tractors to stop Citadel’s vehicles. All other traffic we let through.’

  ‘What’s the aim?’

  ‘We’re trying to stop another great, big, dirty, open-cut coal mine in our backyards. That’s the aim.’

  ‘But this is just exploration.’

  ‘The exploration program inevitably leads to a mine approval,’ Lisa said. ‘The aim is to disrupt that for as long as possible.’

  ‘So what happened between Rob and Mr Byrne?’

  ‘We’ve got high rates of respiratory problems,’ Martin said. ‘Bronchitis, asthma. It’s chronic because of the coal dust. The Health Department would shut most mines down if they had their way.’

  ‘How did that make Rob throw a punch?’

  ‘He’d just come from the hospital,’ she said. ‘His son had an asthma attack. Rob’s boy – he’s only nine – has always suffered from breathing problems. He came to the blockade after leaving the hospital.’

  ‘Did Byrne say something to provoke him?’

  ‘He was arguing with me when Rob turned up. He said we were stressing his parents, and that they were too old for that. I told him to calm down, that this was a friendly protest, and that I’d spoken with his parents, who’d told me they didn’t give too hoots about our blockade.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘Rob was very upset, emotional, you know? He said something to Tim about forcing his parents to take their thirty thousand pieces of silver from the coal company, and … well, Tim called him naive and stupid, then – bang. It’s awful. Tim’s parents are lovely. They just didn’t want a fight with the coal company.’

  Tanner glanced at Lisa, then turned back to Martin. ‘Is this what you told the police?’

  ‘I haven’t said a word to the police yet.’

  ‘Has Rob?’

  ‘No,’ Lisa said. ‘As soon as it happened, June rang me. I told Rob not to say anything. He was charged on the back of what Byrne told the police.’

  ‘Anyone else see what happened?’

  ‘We had about fifteen people at the blockade,’ Martin said. ‘Amazingly, none of them saw Rob throw a punch.’

  ‘Incredible,’ Tanner said.

  ‘Rob works for the Department of Family and Community Services. If he gets a criminal conviction, he could lose his job. He’s got young kids, a mortgage –’ As she spoke, there was a knock on the front door. ‘That’s Rob now.’

  ‘Are you letting my client in, June,’ Tanner said, ‘or am I?’

  Rob MacQuaid was late thirties but looked younger, and he wasn’t carrying any unnecessary kilos. He wore a NO MORE MINES FOR THE HUNTER T-shirt.

  ‘I haven’t thrown a punch since I was a kid,’ he said after they’d taken their seats around June Martin’s kitchen table. ‘Lisa and June have probably told you – if I get a conviction for an assault, I could lose my job.’

  ‘We’ve discussed that.’

  ‘Not that – The main thing is stopping the mine.’

  ‘Rob,’ Tanner said, ‘you’re not going to stop a mine in the Singleton Local Court criminal list, okay?’

  MacQuaid looked at Lisa, then back to Tanner.

  ‘Tell me what happened at the blockade.’

  MacQuaid sighed. ‘Brock had a bad asthma attack. I’d been at the hospital all night. They –’

  ‘When did you arrive at the blockade?’

  ‘Maybe nine thirty.’

  ‘Why did you go?’

  ‘Jan – my wife – was taking Brock home. He was fine by morning. I was meant to be on shift that afternoon. It was a Saturday, so I just went early.’

  ‘What happened when you got there?’

  ‘Byrne was yelling at June and some others when I arrived.’

  ‘Yelling about what?’

  ‘He was telling them to get the cars and trucks off the lane. He said the blockade wouldn’t work, that it was just a waste of time.’

  ‘Do you know him well?’

  ‘No. He’s an accountant in the city. I really only knew his parents.’

  ‘Did you say something to him?’

  ‘I called him Judas.’

  ‘Nice.’

  ‘I was upset.’

  ‘Then?’

  ‘He got angry. He poked me in the chest and told me not to speak to him like that.’

  ‘What else?’

  ‘I don’t remember much else.’

  ‘What do you remember?’

  ‘Just – I just swung at him. I was so angry when he poked me . . . I just . . . I didn’t even think about it. I shocked myself as much as anything.’

  ‘How hard did you hit him?’

  ‘All I’ve got.’

  ‘So, not much then?’

  MacQuaid gave a slightly embarrassed shrug.

  ‘How did he react?’

  ‘He looked like he’d kill me. He moved towards me to square up, but Bill was too quick.’

  ‘Who’s Bill?’

  ‘Bill Sanders. He’s a regular on the blockades. He’s got a dairy farm near here. He wrapped Byrne up in a bear hug from behind. Pulled him away, tried to calm him down.’

  ‘Did he?’

  ‘Well, he was still yelling, said he was going to call the police.’

  ‘Did you see Byrne again that day?’

  ‘No. Yes.’

  ‘It can’t be both, Rob.’

  ‘He’s nervous,’ Lisa said.

  ‘That’s not a defence. Did you see him? Yes or no?’

  ‘Maybe an hour later in his car, going to the police station, I assume. They came to my house later that day, and told me he’d made a complaint.’

  ‘Did the police tell you he was injured?’

  ‘He told them I’d punched him.’

  ‘Listen to me,’ Tanner said slowly. ‘Did they say he was injured?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Okay.’ Tanner made some notes. ‘Did you tell the police he’d hit you?’

  Rob MacQuaid looked at Lisa, before looking back
at Tanner. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You told me he poked you in the chest.’

  ‘With his finger,’ MacQuaid said softly.

  Tanner nodded. ‘How tall are you, Rob?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Your height?’

  ‘One metre seventy-four.’

  ‘Weight.’

  ‘About seventy kilos, I think.’

  Tanner stared at him. ‘Wringing wet,’ he said. ‘What about Tim Byrne?’

  ‘He’s taller.’

  ‘Much taller?’

  MacQuaid nodded slowly. ‘Yes.’

  ‘He’s much heavier, too?’

  MacQuaid nodded.

  ‘And when he struck you, because he’s so big, you were scared, right?’

  ‘I don’t –’ Rob MacQuaid shook his head, a pained smile on his face. ‘Can I – I’m just not clear about this. Are you asking me to lie?’

  Tanner lifted his eyes from his notes, put his pen down, and glared at his client. ‘I am not asking you to lie,’ he said. ‘Is that clear?’

  MacQuaid shook his head. ‘Not completely.’

  Tanner rubbed his chin with his hand and smiled. ‘Let me make it clear, then, Rob. Under no circumstances do I want you to lie. Do you follow?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘It’s a fact Mr Byrne is much taller and heavier than you, correct?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And he was yelling in the face of a small woman who’s a friend of yours?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Who touched who first?’

  ‘He touched me.’

  ‘Do you really know how hard he hit you?’

  ‘I –’

  ‘It hurt a bit, didn’t it?’

  ‘I –’

  ‘Were you worried he might strike June? Don’t answer me. Just think about it, okay? And I want you to think about whether you were scared or not, Rob. Because I would’ve been. A big bloke like that, screaming at people, making contact with you – I would’ve been scared. I’d have been in self-defence mode.’

  MacQuaid motioned like he was about to say something, but stopped himself.

  ‘Any questions?’

  MacQuaid glanced at Lisa. ‘So what now?’

  ‘I’m going to write to the police prosecutor and get the charge dropped.’

  MacQuaid looked at Tanner for a long moment. ‘You’re going to argue self-defence?’

  ‘You had a lunatic screaming at June and jabbing you in the chest, Rob. A lunatic from the city. You were defending June, and defending yourself.’

  MacQuaid shook his head. ‘June’s not scared of anyone.’

  Tanner stood, to signal the conference was over. ‘June’s very scared of you losing your job, Rob,’ he said. ‘So I think we can count on her being terrified of Mr Byrne.’

  24

  They had dinner when they got back to Sydney that night. They dropped Lisa’s car at her place in Leichhardt, then walked to a nearby restaurant in Norton Street.

  When they’d finished eating, Tanner picked up his satchel from under his seat, took a thick document from it, and put it on the table. ‘I was going to show you this after we’d met June,’ he said. ‘I got sidetracked by Rob.’

  She smiled. ‘Sorry to spring that on you,’ she said. ‘It was June’s idea to do it that way. What’s this?’

  ‘When we first met, you told me that a report Citadel had for its Bageeyn River gold mine went missing.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘A hydrogeologist’s report? And the author has disappeared?’

  ‘I can’t find her.’

  He paused for a moment. ‘Her name is Gabriella Campbell, right?’

  She stared at him, a puzzled look on her face. ‘How do you know that?’

  ‘She was employed by GreenDay Environmental Consultants? You knew her?’

  ‘I met with her. How do you – ?’

  ‘Who organised the meeting?’

  ‘Anne Warren.’

  ‘The woman who was killed?’

  She nodded.

  ‘How did you know her?’

  ‘She contacted us. Pete, how do you know all this?’

  ‘You wanted commitment, Lisa. I’m giving it to you. Who is “us”?’

  She sat back in her chair and glared at him. ‘Someone in the Bageeyn River Action Group set up to stop the gold mine,’ she said. ‘Anne and Gaby were co-workers. Anne contacted them on Gaby’s behalf. She was put on to me.’

  ‘Who did Anne talk to?’

  She shook her head. ‘That doesn’t matter. Anne was given my number as the group’s lawyer. I told her she could trust me, that what she said would remain between us. Anne – she was angry about what was happening to Gaby. She told me Gaby was under huge pressure over a draft report she’d done on the Bageeyn River.’

  ‘Warren told you this, or Campbell?’

  ‘Both.’

  ‘What pressure was she getting?’

  ‘We set up a meeting. I went to Anne’s house, and Gaby was there. She told me what work she’d done on the proposed mine plan and production rates, and that she’d estimated how much water would be needed. Because it was so much, she’d then spoken to other experts: an ecologist, a riparian expert; those sort of people. Her conclusion with their input was that taking the amount of water from the river system that she thought would be needed would kill it. The ecosystems would fail. When she told Citadel, they said she was wrong.’

  ‘The people at Citadel who said she was wrong – were they experts of some kind?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘Did you tell anyone in your firm about talking to Warren or Campbell?’

  She shook her head. ‘No. It’s – I know I’ve broken the law, or at least some ethical obligations. I just –’

  ‘Who else knows?’

  ‘No one. I’m not sure yet how to use what I know. Even with the hydro expert we’ve engaged for the action group.’

  Tanner finished what was left in his wine glass. ‘When you met Campbell at Anne Warren’s house, did she have her report?’

  ‘She had a draft.’

  ‘Do you have a copy?’

  She shook her head. ‘We looked at it on her laptop. She wouldn’t give me a copy.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘She wasn’t sure what was happening. She was trying to convince them she was right.’

  ‘What were the highlights of the report? If you were trying to kill a gold mine approval and not a river.’

  ‘Just what I’ve said. Gaby was convinced they’d need more water than Citadel was saying it would,’ she said. ‘Among other things, she thought a mine of that size would deplete the base flows of the river enough to kill it.’

  ‘“Among other things”?’

  ‘The aquifers under the mining lease area would be depressurised. The water table drops, people can’t get water out of bores. Gaby thought it would be a massive drop, and last for hundreds of years – maybe forever.’

  ‘Did anyone else see this report?’

  ‘She discussed it with the government’s expert. She told him what was in her calculations, how she’d approached it.’

  ‘And the government expert didn’t agree with her?’

  ‘Worse. He rang someone he knew at Citadel and told him she’d called him.’

  ‘That’s what got her into more trouble?’

  She looked at him like he was a fool. ‘Pete, it’s their report. It’s confidential. She couldn’t just start discussing it with someone without their consent. They make you sign confidentiality deeds when you’re working on big projects. Citadel told GreenDay to use another hydro, and dump Gaby.’

  ‘And since then?’

  She shook her head. ‘The last time we talked, Gaby was being hauled in for a meeting – I haven’t heard from her since.’

  ‘Did they fire her?’

  ‘I don’t know. I rang GreenDay when I couldn’t reach her, and was told she’d resigned. They didn’t have any contact det
ails, and the mobile number I had was disconnected. Then – then Anne got killed . . . and . . .’ She closed her eyes, took a deep breath.

  ‘Are you okay?’

  She looked at him. ‘She died two weeks after I asked her again for a copy of Gaby’s report. I needed it. It had calculations – it was based on computer modelling I didn’t have.’

  He thought for a moment. ‘What was your plan? If Campbell had given you her report.’

  Lisa gave a rueful smile. ‘I didn’t think any of it through. I knew Gaby’s draft report was commercial-in-confidence at least. They were burying it, though. I thought maybe I could leak it to someone – I don’t know.’

  Tanner smiled. ‘Have it fall off the back of a truck?’

  She shrugged and put her hands over her face.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘I encouraged those women – I – with Gaby, I really pressured her to do something. She called the government expert because of me. I would really like to know what’s happened to her.’

  She turned away from him, and he gave her a moment. Then he picked up the document he’d taken from his satchel.

  ‘The hydrogeologist briefed by the government. What’s his name?’

  ‘Shields. Why?’

  ‘How did he get involved?’

  ‘They knew water would be a controversial issue. The government department probably didn’t want to solely rely on the GreenDay report in Citadel’s environmental assessment.’

  ‘So, it’s like some kind of peer review?’

  She nodded.

  ‘And his report supports the GreenDay report, and is silent about Gaby’s views?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Phillip Shields, is it?’

  She nodded. ‘You’ve looked online?’

  ‘Online?’

  ‘The department has to put the EA on its website so the public can read it. Shields’ report is on it.’

  ‘Shields isn’t the only one to see Gaby’s report. Nor are you.’

  ‘How do you know?’

  ‘Joe Cheung read it.’

  She leant forwards in her chair. ‘He told you this?’

  ‘No,’ he said.

  ‘Someone else at BBK?’

  He handed the document to her. ‘That’s a printout of all the bills BBK has sent to Citadel on the file for this proposed gold mine, starting at January last year, right up to the end of December.’

  She looked at the pile of paper, then back at him. ‘How did you get this?’

  He shook his head.