‘Oh, I don’t know. I think it’s been quite entertaining, considering. Beats the hell out of watching the idiot box,’ replied Ron sitting himself on the stool between Georgie and Sue.
‘Okay, who haven’t we heard from?’ asked Simon, looking around the group. ‘Ah yes, Louisa. How about you tell your story?’
‘You don’t really want to hear it, do you?’ Louisa asked. ‘Yes, I suppose you do, but before I start.’ Louisa got up from her seat on the lounge and proceeded to the bar where she opened a fridge cabinet. She withdrew a small bottle of rum and poured a decent size nip into a glass before adding a smidgen of Coke. After swallowing the contents of the glass, she paused for a moment then took a deep breath. Refortified, Louisa returned to the lounge, sat and crossed her well endowed legs. Noel gave Simon a knowing glance; Louisa’s been here before today. So just how friendly are Louisa and Mr. Lee?
****
Well, as you know, I’m married to a State politician who is doing very well and is on the way up in the Party. Any politician’s wife will tell you that it’s not easy being married to someone who’s supposed to work a full twenty four seven. If it’s not the constituents, it’s Parliament. If it’s not Parliament, it’s the Party. It’s just one damn thing after another. And don’t think I don’t know what goes on at those Party conventions, Robert. The biggest decision delegates have to make is what type of beer to drink or who they’ll shag after the meeting. You seem to have all the fun and only drag me along when it’s politically correct for you to be seen with the little old lady.
‘Anyway, I thought it was about time I had a little bit of fun too. I had heard some gossip about The Taipan Club which sounded rather exciting, so I decided to have a look. Needless to say, it turned out to be quite a trendy place and not at all what I expected. After a couple of visits I was introduced to the owner, Mr. Lee. I didn’t know him before I started going there, but he seemed a nice bloke and he took the time to look after me. He showed me the different games and taught me the finer points of gambling, not that I ever spend much at the tables. As it was, I found you could be a bigger winner at the Club without spending a penny. It didn’t take Nigel long to make himself known to me, and I found him suitable for serving my specific purposes, and that was to satisfy my female urges. As I said, Robert was rarely home, and when he was he was usually too tired to perform, not that Nigel was anything to write home about.
‘Everything was rosy for a while until one night this lady, using the term very loosely, came up to me in the Club and introduced herself as Agnes Fisher. Naturally I knew straight away she was Nigel’s wife. What I didn’t know was the reason for her to want to speak to me. She cleared that up within two minutes; pay up or she would expose Robert, the prominent politician, as being the husband of a slut, who picked up strange men in illegal casinos. And those are her words, not mine.’
Somewhat surprised by the descriptive language used by Agnes, Nigel finally took umbrage and turned to her. ‘So, now you think I’m strange?’ he interjected.
Agnes frowned, closed her eyes and shook her head. ‘Oh, Nigel, give it away.’
‘Look, just shut up and let me get on with it,’ Louisa said in annoyance. ‘Okay, my private life with Robert could be a lot better, but that doesn’t alter the fact that I’m very fond of the man and couldn’t let Agnes destroy him, so I started paying her. Bloody ironic, isn’t it, she’s blackmailing me for screwing around on my husband while my husband is screwing around on me, and with her. In fact, it wasn’t until I found out a little more about Mrs. Fisher and the fact she was screwing my husband that I realised I didn’t have to pay her a nickel. After all, we were all in the same boat and I could have been blackmailing her for the same reason she was blackmailing me. But then again, I would never lower myself to blackmail anyone.
‘I also found out about her social aspiration of becoming a member of Sydney’s “A List”. If it was revealed her husband, a superintendent of police, was indiscriminately ploughing his way through the female population, and she herself was jumping into bed with a politician, she would become the laughing stock of the socialites. That, of course, isn’t to say some of those on the “A List” aren’t up to the same thing, and just as morally bankrupt, it’s just seems they’re a bit more discreet.
‘As I had absolutely no idea what was going on in Agnes’s pea sized brain, I couldn’t take the gamble that she might not be bluffing and go public to the detriment of Robert’s career. As I couldn’t see how to get out of the mess I was in, I approached Mr. Lee and asked for his advice. We discussed the matter at some length but came to no agreement. He suggested that if I felt the same way in ten days time, he would see what he could do. In view of the way things have turned out, I have no great desire to pay Mr. Lee some incredible amount of money to have the little old would be if she could be eliminated. By the same token, I refuse to pay Agnes any more money seeing I could get just as bitchy and blackmail her if I wanted to, but I don’t. So, I’m just going to ignore Mrs. Fisher and get on with my life, which looks like it’s without Robert.’ With her story completed, Louisa picked up someone’s glass of wine and finished it off before asking the handsome young man in white for a rum and Coke.
It was abundantly clear to Agnes that the Louisa story was nowhere near complete. ‘And who the hell are you to call me a “would be if she could be”, you, you, Jezebel. ‘You’re nothing without Robert, and while he’s in politics, you’ll go along for the free ride.’
Agnes’s outburst didn’t seem to faze Louisa one iota. She calmly turned to Mr. Lee and asked, ‘Mr. Lee, I have no burning desire to blackmail Agnes, but this little irritation I have will just not go away. So, further to our previous discussion, how much did you say it would cost?’
Mr. Lee, untouched by scandal up to this point, thought for a moment before responding. ‘Louisa, you know when we spoke of this earlier, we didn’t get as far as costs, but I can say a contract can prove quite expensive, depending on the subject, of course, and any special requirements you may have.’
‘A ball park figure?’ asked Louisa.
‘Anywhere from three to five for a basic job, including tax.’
‘Hundred?’
‘No. Thousand, and that’s just for the basics without extras.’
‘You’re kidding me? Five thousand pounds to eliminate someone who’s already a pain in the bum and a blight on society?’ After a moment to recover from the shock of such an exorbitant price, and a further moment to reconsider, Louisa said, ‘I suppose it might be worth it. I don’t suppose you have liquidation sales? No, I didn’t think so. Okay, what about the extras?’
‘Well,’ said Mr. Lee as he pulled a notebook from his short’s pocket and flicked through the pages. At last he found the page he was looking for. ‘Ah yes, here we are. Now, to eliminate the wife of a police superintendent, an extra thousand because of his occupation and rank. Oh, and as I said, these figures are inclusive of all taxes, by the way. Any special requirements, such as method of elimination, bullet, poison, over a cliff, and the like, and the disposal of the cadaver, etcetera, is open to negotiation. Payment can be made with a fifty percent deposit on making the booking, the balance to be paid within seven days of the elimination. We do have a lay-by arrangement should you find it difficult to come up with the cash.’
‘And how do I know if the job has been successfully carried out?’ asked Louisa, entranced with the ease of having someone done away with.
‘Photos. We have an independent photographer who will cover the elimination, either in still or video photography, depending on the method of elimination used.’
While this bipartisan conversation was being conducted, the remaining guests present in the saloon remained silent, probably horrified as to the nature of the conversation to which they were privy to. Simon, a police detective with many years experience, had never come across a situation where a known gangster was calmly in discussion with a client negotiating the costs involved in a
n assassination, with the proposed victim sitting less than six feet away.
The raging anger that had been flaring so brightly within Agnes moments earlier had now dwindled to a gloomy flicker as she listened intently to the debate on how much it was going to cost to have her eliminated. They keep saying “eliminated” she thought. Why can’t they say murdered, or bumped off or dispatched, anything but eliminated which sounds so final.
Fortunately for Agnes, the Chief interceded on her behalf. ‘Mr. Lee and Louisa, you are both very close to committing an indictable offence; conspiracy to murder. Should you enter into an agreement relating to the death of Agnes Fisher, or if she is the subject of a physical attack, be it lethal or otherwise, you may very well find yourselves under arrest. The fact that you have openly discussed the matter in front of nine witnesses, one would think that both of you would make every effort to ensure nothing untoward happens to Agnes.
‘The problem you have created for yourselves is that should Agnes fall in front of a train, or under a bus, the police will be on your doorstep to ensure you had no involvement in the matter. By the same token, if any of the nine witnesses to the conversation should harbour covert malevolent inclinations towards Agnes, it provides that person with a wonderful opportunity to do away with Agnes, knowing full well the suspicion will immediately fall upon you, Mr. Lee and you, Louisa.’
By now, Agnes was a troubled woman, very close to intoxication and really, at that moment, she couldn’t give a stuff how inebriated she became. In fact, on returning from a brief visit to the lower deck, she had asked the handsome young man in white for another double scotch while Louisa, now wishing she had started some serious drinking sooner, asked the young man to leave her a bottle of rum and a can of Coke.
‘Before we move on, there are a few questions I would like to ask my wife,’ said Robert Porter as he got up from the lounge and made his way to stand in front of the bar. ‘Louisa, I know of your relationship with Mr. Fisher, just as you are now aware of my relationship with Agnes. What I didn’t know of was, or is, your relationship with our redoubtable Mr. Lee. I would like to know just what the nature of your relationship with Mr. Lee is, or is Agnes’s description of you as being a whore correct?’
‘Hey, hang on. You mean you turned me down, a superintendent of police, for a gangster?’ asked Nigel, flabbergasted at even the thought of it. ‘Louisa, you must be out of your mind. And you’re not even discreet about it, leaving your negligee in his cabin.’
‘Totally agree,’ chimed in Robert Porter. ‘If you’re going to spend the night with your stud, at least don’t leave your jewellery lying around for all and sundry to see it.’
‘And when’s the last time you ever bought me anything, let alone a sexy negligee? Fine to buy one for the girlfriend; bugger the old lady, you bastard,’ said Agnes with a hostility Nigel had never seen.
‘Oh shut up, you, you charlatan,’ said Nigel as his anger started to get the better of him. ‘And while you’re casting aspersions on people, Agnes, you, the wife of a superintendent of police, prefer a bloody politician to have it off with. Just how degrading is that?’
Not to be outdone in the out-flowing of profanities, it was the taciturn Mr. Lee who unwound himself out of his bean bag, stood up and said, ‘Just hang on, the lot of you. Let’s get one thing straight. I might be on the wrong side of the law but a gangster, I’m not. I consider myself a businessman, and a very successful one at that, as you may have noticed,’ and with a wave of the arm, indicated to the “Chez `Anne”. As far as my relationship with Louisa goes, that’s between Louisa and myself, so you, Robert and you Nigel, can both bugger off because neither of you know how to treat a lady.’ Chivalry wasn’t quite dead, just very close to it.
CHAPTER 33
With the turmoil going on in the saloon, Chic Chambers decided it was time to up anchor and head for a new location and a change of scenery. Knowing the harbour as he did, Charlie nosed the cruiser past Bradley’s Head and across the harbour towards Watson’s Bay and Camp Cove, another area protected from the blustery nor’ easterly wind. Whether it was the cat fight in the saloon dying a natural death, the induced effect of copious quantities of alcohol, the fact that the cruiser was now heading off across the harbour, or a combination of all three, there was a noticeable decline in hostilities within the saloon. Apart from lunch time when everyone had taken to the afterdeck or availed themselves of the opportunity to have a look around the “Chez Anne”, it was the first time people seemed to be mobile, some stretching their legs with an idle stroll around the saloon, others venturing out onto the deck. Overall, a feeling of relaxed informality had supplanted the earlier hostility to the extent that some of the antagonists were now involved in courteous chit chat.
Around the sides of the afterdeck was a white vinyl lounge where both Noel and Sue now reclined, Sue in an electric blue bikini, Noel in a pair of black Speedo budgie smugglers. Georgie, wearing an elegant black one piece swimsuit lay on her back upon a white beach towel spread across the deck.
‘I don’t think I could have endured another session after lunch if this morning’s debacle was any indication of things to come,’ said Sue.
‘I’ll go along with that. I’m emotionally drained just listening to them,’ replied Georgie, as she raised herself onto her elbows to accept the glass of gin and tonic offered by the pretty young lady in white.
Meanwhile, it was Simon who approached Mr. Lee who was standing against the port rail, his back to the harbour, a can of beer in his hand. ‘Mr. Lee, mind if we have a word?’
‘No, not at all, but please, call me Graham as I feel I have known you for years. And how about you grab yourself a beer to keep things on an even keel?’ suggested Mr. Lee amicably.
Having grabbed a can off a tray held by the young man in white, Simon stood next to Graham Lee and leant against the railing. ‘Your conversation with Louisa, was that for real? Would you have really entered into an agreement with her for a contract on Agnes?’
‘Simon, I think I’d better show you this,’ he said and withdrew a notebook from his pocket. ‘You recognise this little book?’
‘Yes, it’s the one you referred to during your conversation with Louisa. It gave me, and probably everyone else, the impression it contained a list of contract prices.’
Graham Lee smiled. ‘It does, but your impression was only fifty per cent right,’ he said and handed the book to Simon. With great dexterity, he managed to flip the pages while holding a beer, the look on his face softening with the hint of a smirk now vaguely detectable.
‘Come on Simon, you disappoint me. You know everything there is to know about me. I have to play tough at times; or at least look like I’m playing tough. But if you go through my file again, you won’t find any mention of physical violence by me or by anyone on my behalf. I run a casino because it’s what people want; they provide the demand and I’m brave enough to satisfy that demand. If it wasn’t me, it would be someone else, and that someone else would probably be a real gangster. Until the Government sanctions legal casinos, there will be a niche for the Taipan Club. So until then, I’m just providing an up market place where professional people can go with some sort of discretion and anonymity assured.’
‘Phew,’ exclaimed Simon. ‘You had me worried there for a while. And you’re right, I should have known better so please accept my humble apologies, although there is one thing. Does Louisa believe the discussion was real?’
Mr. Lee looked at Simon and smiled. ‘Let’s go and have another beer,’ he said, leaving the question unanswered.
****
It wasn’t long before Ron and Simon joined Georgie, Sue and Noel on the afterdeck, leaving the Chief and Mr. Lee in conversation with the Fishers and the Porters in the saloon. Georgie, still sunbaking on the deck, propped herself on her elbows and looked at Simon. ‘Now we’re alone out here, Simon, what do you think’s going to happen?’
‘God knows. They’re all getting stuck into the grog so I
reckon it’ll be a case of kill or cure. The way I see it, Nigel’s deeply repentant for the situation with Agnes. He even gave the Chief that impression when he spoke to him some weeks ago. We haven’t seen very much of him at Day Street lately, especially since he volunteered to go undercover in this new Drug Squad. He’s very lucky in one way as he could have gone for a row with all the offences he’s committed. The downside is that if the mob ever finds out who he is, he’ll end up on the bottom of the harbour wearing concrete booties.’
‘And do you think Agnes will ever get back with Nigel?’ Sue asked.
Simon shrugged. ‘Who knows? Agnes is guilty of being exactly as Louisa described her; a “would be if she could be”. Whether Agnes ever takes the time to realise it is a moot point. As for the Porters, I’m sure Louisa does have a soft spot for Robert, in her own sort of way, although I have my doubts her feelings, whatever they are, would be reciprocated. Robert is an aspiring politician who could end up premier of the State. Somehow I don’t think there’s a place for Louisa in his life, or for any female for that matter, irrespective of any mutual feelings they may share. I’m sure Louisa would like more out of a marriage than tagging along after a politician where she’d probably end up like a puppet on a string. But that’s their problem, and they’ll sort it out for themselves. Who knows? Who cares? Oh look, Nigel, over there, Lady Jane Beach.
CHAPTER 34
The backyard lawn of the Collaroy bungalow was neatly mown, the yard tidy. Around a garden table with a blue, yellow and green sun umbrella stuck through a hole in the middle, sat five people, all clearly in good cheer and becoming cheerier.
‘Ron, pass me a light beer, please,’ asked Sue, who normally didn’t drink beer, but it was a hot, thirsty day.
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