‘Coming over,’ called Ron as he shook the water off the can he had extracted from the Esky, and lobed it gently to Sue. She pulled the ring-pull top and took a long sip, savouring the cold, bitter, refreshing taste of the amber fluid. Ron rocked back on his chair, a thoughtful look on his face. ‘Simon, everything seems to have worked out for everyone, one way or the other. I know you all did this job as a favour to me, and it’s really appreciated. I hope there is some way I can repay you for your handling of a pretty sensitive situation. So thanks everybody, it has been fun.
‘Now there are a couple points someone may be able to clarify for me, including the personal details of the Porters and Fishers? I hear Nigel, or should I say, Superintendent Fisher, has moved on to greener pastures.’
‘Yes, he has,’ replied Simon, ‘although whether the pastures are greener is a debatable point. Once the manpower establishment of the Drug Squad was finalised, Nigel just disappeared and hasn’t been seen around Day Street for yonks now. There’s a rumour going around he’s been seconded to the DEA in Washington for a couple of months before taking up the position offered by Chief Superintendent Paxton.
‘From what I hear, he gave Agnes an ultimatum; curb the spending and come back down to earth, or pack your bags and get out. I don’t know if he was bluffing, but by all accounts it worked and Agnes has evidently lowered her aspirations to sensible and affordable heights.’
‘You mean to say the police hierarchy has turned a blind eye to Fisher’s little transgressions?’ asked Georgie. ‘From the sound of things, your illustrious boss was a curse on constabulary morality in more ways than one.’
Simon smiled and tossed his empty can into the metal garbage bin with a “clunk”. ‘Yes, I know, he’s a sleaze and a con man. He would probably have made a better living out of being a baddie, but I think he would eventually get his fingers burnt, irrespective of which side he was on. He probably chose the only alternative available to him by going undercover, but I reckon his insurance premiums just took a hike. I feel a bit sorry for Agnes, but then she may have been the catalyst that started Nigel off on his mid-life crisis. It’s clear she was a major consideration in his decision to go undercover, not that anyone forced him into it.’
‘Oh, I wouldn’t say that,’ said Noel. ‘Paxton did give him a choice; stay in the Force and go undercover or go to jail. I suspect Nigel may have considered the longevity of both options; a convicted police officer’s lot in Long Bay, or the underworld finding an undercover cop in the midst. Neither option can guarantee a long life expectancy.’
‘Yes,” said Simon. ‘But I think I now know why Paxton wanted Fisher to confess to his crimes. Sure, Paxton could have crucified Fisher but he probably thought if Fisher had enough moral courage to confess, then the police hierarchy could turn a blind eye. There aren’t too many volunteers for undercover work, which is quite understandable.’
‘Has anyone heard how the Porters are doing?’ asked Georgie, as she poured herself a moselle.
‘Yes, and they’re not,’ replied Ron.
‘Not what?’
Ron smiled. ‘Sorry Georgie, I mean they’re not doing anything, at least, not together. Seems they both have their expectations in life and neither can fulfill those expectations with the partner they had chosen. Louisa didn’t mind playing second fiddle to Robert, up to a point, but she couldn’t tolerate all the crap that went on with the Party politics and the bullshit expounded by mental pygmies on subjects they know nothing about and that no-one gives a damn about in any case.
‘No, Louisa was fond of Robert but she couldn’t hack the politics and the lifestyle demanded. I think Robert could see the writing on the wall when Louisa started her own independent lifestyle, going to places like the Taipan Club, being able to be herself without having to be a polly’s dress accessory when needed. The bit you girls will be interested in is that Louisa and Mr. Lee are, according to all reports and my own observations, an item. She now works at the Club and is living with Mr. Lee. It seems Robert is the only one left out in the cold, but I think he would prefer it that way. He can now focus all his energy on politics as he certainly couldn’t on Louisa.’
‘Simon, there is one question I’ve been meaning to ask as it’s driving me nuts,’ said Noel. ‘While we were out on the boat, Louisa asked Mr. Lee for a price on doing away with Agnes. Mr. Lee referred to a book he carried from which he quoted some prices. Surely that book contains some very incriminating evidence against Mr. Lee and we never confiscated it. Why not?’
‘Ah, yes, the book.’ That was driving me nuts too, Noel,’ replied Simon. ‘I asked Mr. Lee about that while we were onboard the “Chez Anne”. He was quite happy to show it to me and it did contain various price lists. However, the prices we imagined it to contain were, in reality, the prices of beer and wines and the details of various distributors with whom Mr. Lee was dealing. He faked it, and did a very good job at it too.’
‘Did Louisa know it was faked?’ asked Georgie.
Simon smirked and shrugged. ‘Now, that is a very good question,’ he replied and dug into the Esky for another beer. ‘I suppose it doesn’t make much difference one way or the other. What was more important is whether Agnes believed it and from the look on her face at the time, I reckon she really did believe they were actually counting the cost of having her bumped off.’
Georgie poured herself another glass of wine and frowned. ‘And all this happened because we wanted to cut Chief Inspector Rose down to size. Did we achieve our aim?’ she asked Simon.
Simon pursed his lips and thought for a moment then said, ‘The police hierarchy had Rose in their sights before we ever decided to do anything about him. He was well aware that I knew what he was really like, regardless of the reputation he nurtured, hence his animosity and fear that one day I would expose him. As a consequence, he would have preferred to see me out of the Force altogether and he was hoping that by making my life difficult, I’d chuck it in.
‘Apart from my falling out with Rosey, Noel and I were completely unaware Paxton and Sergeant Mathieson were working on Rose and his corruption. However, it seems Rosey did the only thing he could possibly do to save his reputation and end his career on a positive note and that was to drop dead. By dying before the investigation was completed, he received a police funeral with full honours. For all the trouble we went to rob a bank just to make him look stupid turned out to be an utter waste of time. Mind you, the repercussions of that robbery have been nothing short of earth shattering, with the unexpected involvement of senior police, politicians, gangsters, loose women, and blokes who think they’re God’s gift to women.’
‘Woooa. Just stop right there,’ said Ron. ‘So it was you who robbed the bank. I knew it. It couldn’t have been anybody else. Chief Paxton knows you did it, too, doesn’t he?’
‘Even the Commissioner knows,’ replied Simon. Chief Paxton has made some pretty wild accusations and they’re probably all correct. He does see our side of things and knows the reasons why we did it, which is nice for us. He also confirmed our thinking regarding the proofs of the crime, and admitted it would be a hard case to prosecute. Things would’ve turned out differently if we had taken the cash, and I’m sure Paxton would’ve been forced to take some action against us. Mind you, it wouldn’t look good having an investigation into the conduct of one chief inspector followed immediately by another investigation of a chief inspector. And I doubt he would have promoted me to Rosey’s position of chief inspector if he knew he could gain a conviction against me for bank robbery, would he? Anyway, as far as the bank job goes, it seems both the Chief Superintendent and the Commissioner have turned a blind eye.’
‘And thank God for that,’ exclaimed Georgie. ‘I can’t wait for Simon to get on with a good murder case. Just how do you expect me to come up with a better idea of doing away with a little old lady who doesn’t like spiders if you’re not working on real murders?’
********
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A BLIND EYE Page 21