The Fruit Picker

by Bea Eschen

  Court

  “You did what?”

  Glenn Moore could not believe what Sebastian and Janda were telling him.

  It was the twenty-fifth of March and the group was sitting in the office, which was in an immaculate condition since Sebastian had tidied it up. Mama Pippa, Dural, Auntie Fa, Hunter Chase, Aroonah and Wundurra joined the meeting, and the group told Moore every detail of their show. Janda repeated the exact words he’d said before. “We performed a traditional death ceremony for Sebastian. He lay half dead in a hollow tree trunk and was thought to be dead by the killers. They were fully convinced he had died because they saw his lifeless face and his body driven away in a hearse marked with an undertaker’s logo. Dural did an excellent job playing the undertaker.”

  “And how on earth did you make Sebastian appear to be dead?”

  Sebastian smiled happily. “I smoked a pipe filled by Mama Pippa and slept through the entire ceremony.”

  “Who’s Mama Pippa?” Moore’s mouth dropped open.

  “Oh, she’s my mum’s soul mate,” Janda answered with his bright smile, pointing to Mama Pippa, who put her digging stick down with a loud bang.

  “And where are those killers now?” Moore asked with apprehension.

  Dural, who had been listening with a huge grin on his face, said, “I found out they took the next flight back to China.”

  Moore shouted with excitement. “This is incredible! A fake aboriginal death ceremony to get rid of potential killers of a crown witness!”

  He looked at Janda with admiration. “And I suppose you are the master brain behind it!?” It was more a statement than a question.

  Sebastian put his arm around Janda’s shoulders. “Yes, his idea alone.”

  Janda, who wasn’t used to being praised, shifted the attention to the rest of the group. “Without my people my plan would have not been possible. Each one of them should start a career as an actor and I promise they would become famous like George Clooney and Whitney Houston.”

  Glenn Moore couldn’t resist joining in with the group’s loud laughter.

  After they recovered, Moore became serious. He was thinking intensely for a long time and emphasised that it was of utmost importance that they kept Sebastian’s alleged death confidential until after the court hearing, and that he could reveal the reason for his request only after the trial. Talk surrounding death was a taboo subject in aboriginal culture, and only concerning those involved, so no one would have told anyone about it outside the camp. But Moore’s request for secrecy made them wonder.

  The rest of the day was spent going through Sebastian’s witness statement, explaining court formalities and fitting Sebastian’s suits. Moore had misjudged Sebastian’s height because both pants were too short. Reaching almost two meters himself, he had remembered Sebastian as a short man, although at one meter eighty eight he was tall. They measured his legs but couldn’t work out his size, so Janda called Auntie Fa to the rescue. She asked Sebastian to show his legs, which he did, when Auntie Fa let out an approving whistle. Sebastian was amused by her cheekiness and posed for more whistles while Auntie Fa did her best to get his measurements. Thanks to her expertise, she delivered a perfectly fitting suit a few hours later.

  Moore drove back to Darwin deep in thought. This was his chance to find out if Wang Yong, Arief’s defence lawyer, was in fact corrupt. During previous court hearings, Moore’s rival often seemed to have more background information than was legally possible. Strangely enough, Arief Lee had hired his own defence team with Yong as his defence lawyer. Sebastian’s court appearance was Glenn’s chance to see if Yong knew about Sebastian’s alleged death or not. If yes, Yong would have connections to the Chinese mafia. Moore would have to watch Yong’s reaction when Sebastian appeared in court.

  The day before the trial in the Darwin Supreme Court, Dural drove Sebastian to Darwin. It was a long day of driving, and Sebastian went over and over his witness statement. He felt nervous not only about his statement and answering questions but about the impact of his appearance. He sensed that Glenn Moore was up to something yet he couldn’t make out what it was. The only people who could know about his alleged death were the two Chinese professional killers and their employer. How could knowledge about my death reach anyone associated with the legal proceedings? Through Arief Lee perhaps? He would make himself guilty of organising my killing. But how would he have organised my killing from inside prison? Never mind, I’ll watch his reaction when I enter court.

  The Darwin Supreme Court building reminded Sebastian of the complex history and present situation of Australia. Dural parked his car in the designated visitors area. The white building emerged between clusters of tall palm trees, which gave the site a tropical flair. Strong horizontal lines, rendered by large eaves overhanging semi-outdoor verandas, marked the building. The mansard roof, semi-exposed colonnades and the portico entrance reflected Australia’s colonial past. Lattices in the masonry walls and large windows dominated the exterior pattern on the surfaces.

  As Sebastian walked up the flight of stairs leading to the entrance door, the height of the outer masonry frame, which surrounded two recessing inner frames, overwhelmed him. He looked up and noticed curved, metal latticework stretching between the inner sides of the outer frame. It reminded Sebastian of an old-fashioned goal with grids. The centre of the grid held an emblem, the Northern Territory Coat of Arms that was symbolic of the people, history and landscape of the Northern Territory. Inside the building, security guards searched his bag and made him walk through a scanner. Sebastian sat down in the main foyer and waited for Glenn Moore. The interior struck him as grandiose and he felt out of place as the height exceeded human scale. Polished brown granite was on the floor and staircases. To pass the time, he walked around slowly and discovered a huge floor mosaic labeled Milky Way Dreaming. A nice reflection of aboriginal culture, he thought and felt better.

  “From the upper levels you have an excellent view of it.”

  Sebastian looked up at Glenn Moore, who appeared well groomed and formal with a black

  suit, white shirt and black and white patterned tie. They shook hands. Moore stepped back and looked Sebastian up and down.

  “Wow,” he said. “Without Auntie Fa we would have been in trouble now.”

  But Sebastian felt too nervous to respond to humor. He hadn’t slept well and dreaded what was ahead of him. Since he had woken, he was longing for Magda’s company. She had always been the person with whom he felt most comfortable. The last news from her was about her new boyfriend. This lucky lucky person to find someone like Magda, Sebastian thought with a hint of jealousy. Without words Moore put his arm on Sebastian’s shoulder.

  “Do not worry too much. You are the innocent one, not the guilty! Arief Lee has reason to be nervous, not you!”

  “Sure. Let’s go where we have to go.” Sebastian said, his voice shaking.

  There was still plenty of time until the case started and the courtroom was empty, so Glenn Moore showed Sebastian around. The room had several wooden benches and seating placed in an oval arrangement. Coming through the main entrance, the public gallery to the right with the curved bar table in front divided the courtroom into two parts.

  The prisoner dock to the left impressed Sebastian as it was more enclosed than the other areas. A door on the back wall exited to the holding cell. Next to the dock a big chair behind a curved raised bench provided seating for the judge, with the desk for the orderlies in front of the bench. The witness box was next to the judge, and separated by a flight of stairs from the jury seating area, and positioned opposite the dock. Next to the jury area a passage led into another room. This must lead to the room where the jury decides, Sebastian thought.

  Now that Sebastian had seen the courtroom he felt calmer. He was sitting outside in the hallway. Decoration here was kept to a minimum and Sebastian stared at the opposite blank wall. This is the price I pay for having the Australian experience, he thought and his lips stretche
d to an ironic smile. The court orderly called his name and Sebastian jumped up from his seat. As Moore had advised him, he bowed towards the red-robed judge, who Sebastian thought looked funny as he wore a wig similar to those he knew from movies about previous centuries. The orderly led him to the witness box where he remained standing to take the oath. Sebastian placed his hand on the bible and for a fraction of a second his father's face appeared before him. His father would have taken this moment very seriously. To swear on the bible meant the most holy of all sacred customs in his father’s miserably limited world. In the excitement Sebastian forgot to watch Arief Lee’s reaction to his appearance, who was sitting in the dock. Yes, Sebastian thought, he’s the one who I saw fire the gun. Poor man. Strange, he doesn’t seem to notice me at all. He felt sorry for Arief, who looked destroyed. His face shriveled and shrunken, he had a blank stare with his head bent forward. His absent-mindedness and suffering expression did not go unnoticed.

  Once he sat down Sebastian glanced around the courtroom. To his surprise, the public gallery was filled with people looking curiously at him. He would have liked to crawl under the table, as he did when he was a schoolboy when the teacher scolded him. Head up, eyes straight, he told himself.

  The prosecutor, Glenn Moore, leading the questioning, was standing before Sebastian with a cheerful smile. Why is he cheerful in a situation like this?

  The defence counsel, Wang Yong, was sitting at the bar table. When Sebastian’s name was called and Sebastian entered the court, Yong’s head shot up in utter confusion. His team, comprising two other solicitors, whispered to each other.

  The judge asked for order. “Silence!”

  Moore opened the case for the Crown to the jury and told them he would present the evidence that would convince them that the accused man in the dock was responsible for murder. Then the defence counsel spoke to the jury. Yong knew that all he had to do was confuse them and make the jury doubt the evidence. Although he was extremely confused himself, Yong pulled himself together enough to sound completely confident to the jury.

  A short break followed. The jury knew this trial could take a few weeks, so in the break they muttered and swore to each other before trooping back into court.

  Sebastian was taken through his evidence. There was the occasional objection from the defence, but they were not allowed, and Moore continued with the interminable questions about everything Sebastian saw and heard on the day of the murder.

  All the while Wang Yong’s thoughts swirled around and around – what had happened? What had gone wrong – wrong for him, certainly, but not for Sebastian. Who would be made to pay for this mistake? He would have to make sure it was not him. It took a huge effort to drag his attention back to what was going on in front of him. At least he could congratulate himself that he had had the aboriginal witnesses disallowed. Amazing what a bribe could achieve in this part of the country, but money was no object when drugs were involved. He had learned that much earlier and taken advantage of it many times before. Only this time was different. Sebastian was supposed to be dead, yet here he was giving his evidence with supreme confidence.

  The prosecutor then asked the question Yong had been waiting for:

  “Is the man you saw shooting at the deceased in this courtroom?”

  Sebastian answered: “Yes.”

  “Would you please point to that man.”

  Sebastian pointed to Arief Lee, who showed no emotion.

  An eerie stillness fell over the courtroom.

  Yong then commenced his cross-examination. He still hadn’t recovered from his shock to see Sebastian alive and approached the witness stand slowly. He had a problem looking Sebastian in the face.

  Question: “You said earlier that you saw Heryanto Sukarnoputi firing the gun at the deceased. Did you also see the accused stabbing the deceased?”

  Sebastian: “No, I didn’t see that.”

  Yong saw a little chance to build a weak defence.

  Question: “When you looked up through the glass, did you notice anyone else in the room?”

  Sebastian: “No, I didn’t. There was no one else there.”

  Yong: “From where you were standing, you looked up, so you had a limited view into the office only.”

  Judge: “Mr Yong, is that a question or a statement?”

  Yong: “I am sorry, Your Honour, I was thinking aloud.”

  Yong to Sebastian: “I repeat my earlier question and I want you to think carefully before you answer. Did you notice anyone else in the room?”

  Sebastian: “I had a clear view into the office. There was no one else there besides the two men facing each other.”

  Sebastian gave the same answers he had given in his evidence. To clarify Sebastian’s view into the office, Moore then produced a scale drawing showing the relevant part of the warehouse to explain the angle of Sebastian’s vision. A big screen came down from the ceiling. Moore switched on a projector. A 3-D graphic showed on the screen.

  “As you can see, because Sebastian is tall and the glass frontage extends to the floor without obstruction, he had a full view into the office from where he was standing.” Moore explained.

  He continued: “The stabbing can only have happened posthumously, at the moment when Sebastian walked around that corner.”

  He pointed to the steel structure that held the glass in place.

  Moore called in the medical forensic pathologist, who had examined Wahir Dur Gus’s body. The pathologist confirmed that the shot in the head was fatal and the stabbing happened after Wahir Dur Gus had died.

  It became clear that this was a crime of passion. Arief had put a knife into his dead brother-in-law’s heart for a reason. Moore knew a woman was missing who had entered Australia with the two men. He observed Arief Lee scrunched up in the prisoner dock, ache written all over his face, which Moore interpreted as mourning rather than remorse. The story was unfolding in Moore’s mind. Her body must be out there somewhere.

  Yong continued with his questions, but nothing he said could shake the answers coming from Sebastian. He finally sat down in disgust. This was not going well for him and making his already disastrous situation worse.

  Moore stood up again. He asked the Judge to allow Sebastian to speak, an unusual request but to which the judge gave permission.

  The judge turned to the jury.

  “Well, Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, you may have an early lunch while we have a discussion.”

  Sebastian started to speak when the jury had trooped out.

  “In the weeks after the incident there was at least one unsuccessful attempt to kill me.”

  The judge looked confused and turned to Sebastian.

  “Why do you say at least one attempt?”

  Moore: “Your Honour, allow me to answer your question on behalf of the witness.”

  Judge: “Proceed.”

  Moore explained the circumstances of the two attempts on Sebastian’s life. He emphasised that one of the assassination attempts was proactively avoided by the witness protection service, which explained Sebastian’s previous answer.

  Judge: “Well, Mr. Moore, it is pretty clear that these accusations need to be tried separately at another time. I leave that in your hands.”

  “Of course, as your Honour pleases.”

  Pause.

  Moore glanced over to Yong, who looked increasingly concerned and nervous.

  “No further questions.” Moore sat down. Defeated. I will expose his connections to the Chinese mafia when this trial is over. The bastard is a bloody criminal.

  Sebastian was finally allowed to leave the witness box. After a lunch break court continued with the jury present again.

  Moore asked the judge if he could give a live Skype transmission with his second witness, Mr Aaron Roshal, who at the moment was in Tel Aviv, Israel. The judge assented and the large screen came down again from the ceiling. Moore went to his laptop and called Aaron, who was waiting at the other end. His face appeared on the scre
en close and clear. He was asked to state his name and place of residence and then took the oath to tell the truth. The court orderly went in front of the camera and spoke to Aaron. “You are speaking in front of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory. You have been called as a witness in the case of Heryanto Sukarnoputi, alias Arief Lee, who has been charged with the murder of Wahir Dur Gus, alias Garuda Megawati.”

  Moore commenced to question Aaron about the events of the 29th of November.

  Question: “Could you tell the court what happened on the day of the murder?”

  Aaron: “I was sitting in the van chatting with my brother, who had just called me.”

  Question: “Where was the van?”

  Aaron: “It was parked inside the warehouse on the ground floor.”

  Question: “What happened?”

  Aaron: “I saw Sebastian standing next to the van looking for someone.”

  Question: “Can you please identify Sebastian if you can see him?”

  Aaron pointed to Sebastian and identified him by the clothes he was wearing and where he was seated.

  Question: “Please continue. What happened?”

  Aaron: “I saw Sebastian waving to someone.”

  Question: “Could you see who it was?”

  Aaron. “No.”

  Question: “What happened then?”

  Aaron: “I heard a loud bang.”

  Question: “Where did this bang come from?”

  Aaron: “It came from inside the main office.”

  There was an objection from the defence. Allowed.

  “What happened after you heard this bang?”

  Aaron: “I climbed out of the van and I saw Sebastian racing up the stairs.”