The Dark Series

by Catherine Lee

  “The police told me you and Jill may have been… intimate.” Beth took a seat at the dining room table, and Bryce sat as well. “I don’t care about that, if that’s what you’re worried about. You were both consenting adults, it’s none of my business. I won’t tell anybody.”

  For a moment she thought he was going to deny it, but he was a smart man. He knew she knew.

  “Are we alone here?” he asked.

  “For now, yes.” Well the Thai delivery man was due, wasn’t he?

  “Jill and I had what you might call a fling. I’m sorry she kept it from you, you were the one person she wanted to tell. We weren’t serious: we both understood our relationship for what it was. We laughed together. We enjoyed each other’s company.”

  “But you were never going to leave your wife for my sister.”

  “No. And Jill didn’t want me to, either. It wasn’t that sort of relationship. We were happy to just see each other occasionally, to have some fun. Look, Beth, I’m not proud of it, but it was what it was. I cared for your sister, but I love my wife. We’ve built a life together, we have two beautiful children, and I’d do anything to make sure that isn’t destroyed.”

  “So is that what you came here to talk to me about? Not telling your wife?”

  “I came to ask you not to mention Jill to her, yes.”

  “Don’t worry, I have no intention of doing that. What good would it do? Jill’s gone, I can’t protect her anymore.”

  Beth retrieved her glass of wine from the kitchen bench and knocked back a good swig. She was about to sit back down when she noticed Bryce watching her. “Oh, I’m sorry, do you want one?”

  “Yes, please,” he surprised her by saying.

  She poured a fresh glass, topped up her own, and brought them both back to the table. As she watched him sip, she realised she didn’t feel threatened by this man anymore. She felt sorry for him, if anything. He said he loved his wife, so why was he risking it all by fooling around with Jill?

  “Tell me what Jill was like when she was with you,” she asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I knew her as my little sister, and a colleague at work. But you knew her in a different way. I want to know what sort of person she was when she was with you.”

  He turned the glass in his hands, seemingly debating what to tell her. “She was shy at first,” he began. “We met at the library, I think I already told you that. We had a connection immediately, but whenever we got too close, Jill kept making excuses to leave. She knew I was married, and she didn’t want to get involved with a married man. So we were just friends for a while. But the attraction was too strong, and—”

  “Okay, no details, please,” Beth said, holding up her hand. “What about the ancestry stuff? You had that in common. Did you talk about it a lot?” Beth wasn’t sure why she was asking him about Jill, but she felt compelled. He’d shared a part of Jill’s life, and she was desperate for information. She’d latch onto anything that could keep her sister’s memory alive, if only for an hour or two.

  “Yes, we talked about that almost every time we met. Jill was passionate, and I was glad I could help her trace her ancestry back to the First Fleet. I’ve got the chart here for you.” He dug into his bag and pulled out a bunch of pages that had been taped together. When he unfolded it, she could see it was his own family tree. “If you look here, you can see my fourth great grandmother, Mary Fisher. Her brother was Charles Fisher, and Jill had discovered that he was your third great grandfather. So their parents and grandparents are your ancestors, too. I have copies of their paperwork for you.”

  Beth looked at the chart for a long time, unable to speak. This was what Jill had wanted: this was what she’d been working towards. They could finally finish the tree and have something unique to remember her by.

  “When did you give this to Jill?” she asked.

  “I didn’t give it to her, as such. We worked on it together. But she confirmed her ancestry back to Daniel Fisher, who arrived on the Lady Penrhyn with the First Fleet, a couple of weeks before she died.”

  “Was she excited about it?”

  “I think she was more relieved than anything, to tell you the truth. We all set out on this journey, wanting to see how far back we can go. When you get there, it’s a good feeling, but it’s also a bit of an anticlimax. It’s like any project that you spend a lot of time and energy on. When it’s over, you have a brief feeling of accomplishment, but then you soon start wondering what’s next. I think that’s how Jill felt.”

  “So what was next? I remember you said before that Jill was interested in finding other living relatives, once she realised you and her were distantly related. Had she moved on to that?”

  “I think so.” Bryce took another sip of his wine. “The last time I saw Jill, which was a couple of days later, she talked about looking a lot closer to home. She mentioned your mum and dad and your uncle and cousin. She was going to start by asking them some questions, and build the tree outwards from there. I had business trips, so I didn’t see her after that. I’m sorry.”

  Beth shrugged. It wasn’t really much help, but she supposed she could do the same. She’d try and catch Uncle Robert and David tomorrow, see if Jill had spoken to them about this at all.

  “Do you mind if I use your bathroom?”

  “Sure.” Beth pointed him in the right direction then sat back in her chair. She had just drained the last of her glass when he came back into the room, and the thought struck her like a slap to the back of the head.

  “Bryce? How did you know where I lived?”

  42

  “Thanks for coming in, Bryce,” said Cooper as they all settled into the interview room. “You must have landed early this morning?”

  “Actually, I came in last night. Things finished up down in Melbourne sooner than I expected.”

  “Nice. Now, I need to let you know that we will be recording this interview. You’re not under arrest, you’re free to go at any time. But we’d appreciate you answering a few questions to clear some things up for us. Does that sound okay?”

  “Sure. Like I told you before, I had nothing to do with Jill’s murder.”

  Cooper let that one go. He started the recording, introduced himself and Meg as the interviewing officers, and asked Bryce to state his full name. Once that was out of the way, Cooper jumped straight in.

  “We’ve checked out your alibi, Bryce, and we know that you were interstate at the time Jill Fisher was killed. Therefore we don’t believe at this time that you were involved in her murder. However, what we don’t understand, is why you sent two emails to Beth Fisher, threatening to harm her and her family if she didn’t stop researching her ancestry. Can you tell us about that?”

  He may be smooth with the ladies, thought Cooper, but he definitely wasn’t comfortable now.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” his attempt at denial was feeble; the guilt was written all over his face.

  “We’ve got proof, Bryce. You can sit here and deny it all you like. Look, I’ll be honest with you. This is a pain in my arse. You’re not a murderer, but we have this outstanding question of the emails. The sooner you tell us what that was all about, the sooner we can cross it off our list and get back to the job of finding Jill’s killer.”

  Bryce looked into the camera, which was recording his every move. “No. I can’t tell you what I know nothing about.”

  “Okay. Looks like we’ll have to do this the hard way.” Cooper suspended the interview and switched off the camera, before addressing Bryce with best no-nonsense approach. “We have fingerprint evidence that puts you at the computer terminal from which the emails were sent. That’s enough to get us a warrant to search your home and your office, including any computers we find at either place. If we go down that road, I’ll have no choice but to charge you when our forensic technicians find what they’re looking for. And believe me, they’ll find it. You may think you’ve covered your tracks, but let me
assure you these guys are experts. Now, we can do all that, which would be a huge pain in the arse for both of us, not to mention the questions it might raise for your wife. Or you could just tell me why you sent the emails.”

  Bryce fidgeted in his chair. For a suave businessman, he was sweating a lot. Cooper let him sweat another minute, before turning the camera back on and recommencing the interview.

  “I didn’t want Beth Fisher to tell my wife about the affair I was having with her sister.”

  “It’s more than that,” said Meg. Cooper did his best to contain his surprise. Yesterday that’s exactly what Meg had thought. “The affair ended when Jill died,” Meg continued. “You knew Beth wouldn’t tell. What would be the point? She’s never met your wife. She barely knows you. She’s not the sort of person to involve herself in other people’s marital affairs. You would have realised that the first time we all met. No, you have something else to hide.”

  “I can assure you I don’t.”

  Cooper took the chance. “We’ll just go ahead and get that warrant then.” He made a point of closing the file in front of him.

  “No, wait, wait.” He sighed. “Okay, there is something else. But if this gets out it will ruin me. Can you promise it won’t get back to my colleagues?”

  “I can’t promise that, Bryce. But tell us what it is and we’ll see what we can do.”

  Bryce fidgeted some more. “I fabricated my ancestry in order to join the First Fleet Descendant’s Society.”

  Cooper had to admit, he hadn’t seen that one coming. “Fabricated? What do you mean?”

  “I’m not related to Mary Allen,” he said, looking at Meg. “The sister of Beth and Jill’s third great grandfather.”

  “You mean they don’t exist?” Meg looked confused. Not half as confused as Cooper was, so he left her to it.

  “No, they exist. And Beth and Jill’s ancestry is solid. They are descendants of Daniel Fisher, a convict who arrived with the First Fleet. But I’m not.”

  “Why would you fake something like that?” asked Meg.

  “To join the club.” Bryce sighed again and moved the focus of his fidgeting to one of his cuff links. “The First Fleet Descendant’s Society has some of the most successful business people in the country as members. And it’s exclusive. I’d heard about the camaraderie, how they all help each other out in business terms. My own business took a big hit during the GFC, and I thought joining that society could give me the boost I was looking for. I did some research, and found an Allen who was related to the Fishers of Fisher & Co. It was like striking gold — not only did it give me an in with the society, it was possible I could work an angle to do business with one of the country’s biggest shipping agencies.”

  “So how did Jill figure into all of this?”

  “Jill and I met just as I described, in the library. But I’ll admit that once I found out who she was I did my best to maintain the relationship. We researched our ancestry together — hers was real, mine as I said was fabricated to make sure I could show a link to Mary Allen.”

  “And you did all this to further your business?” asked Cooper. He was struggling to understand.

  “Yes. I thought if I could establish ties with some of these people, including the Fishers, I could get a much-needed boost to my business. And it was working, too. That’s why I sent the emails to Beth. She was getting too close. I didn’t want her finding out the truth.” He looked at Meg. “She may not be the type of person to interfere with my marriage, Detective, but she sure as hell would have exposed me in the business world. I couldn’t afford that.”

  Cooper needed some time to process all of this. Had the guy actually committed a crime here? Beyond the intimidation of Beth Fisher, that was. Bryce Allen was a scheming bastard and an adulterer, no doubt about it. But he didn’t kill anybody, and he was now taking up Cooper’s valuable time. He could possibly persuade Beth to not press any charges against this guy, but only if he told her the truth, which was what Bryce had been trying to hide all along. Still, it was his mess, and Cooper didn’t feel one ounce of sympathy for someone who lied and intimidated innocent people for his own gain.

  “I’ll tell you what I’m going to do,” Cooper finally said. “I have to tell Beth the truth about the emails. I’ll try and keep your reasons out of it, but if she asks I’m not going to lie. You committed a crime. It’ll be up to Beth whether she wants to go ahead and press charges.”

  He terminated the interview and let Meg show Bryce Allen out. When they were both back in the strike force office, Meg sought him out.

  “Can you believe that?”

  “I believe anything in this job, Meg. But yeah, that one’s a first for me. Can you handle it with Beth? We can bring her family back from exile, now that we know they’re not in any danger. I need to catch up with Grayson.”

  “Sure, I’ll get it all sorted. You know I’m not going to hold back though, don’t you? I’ll be telling her everything he did and why.”

  His mouth curled into a half-smile. “I expect nothing less.”

  Cooper found Quinn at his desk and brought him up to date with the Bryce Allen situation, before asking if there was any news from last night’s raid.

  Quinn’s face broke into a wide grin. “I just got a call from DeSousa. No details yet, but it looks like they found the motherlode. They’re on their way in now.”

  It wasn’t long before Grayson and his men were back at headquarters, regaling the rest of the team with stories of the raid. Container searches had proved fruitless, and by the early hours of this morning Grayson had begun to think they’d got it wrong. But the two crew members with known criminal links were very nervous, so Grayson ordered his team to complete a second, more thorough search of the rest of the ship. A team had eventually come across more than twenty kilograms of what turned out to be a very pure grade of cocaine, hidden inside one of the ship’s waste containers. A quick check of the waste removal company that serviced the port found that the driver on duty was another known associate of the Chiefs. He had fled the scene as soon as the cops showed up, but was eventually found at home, smoking a joint to calm his nerves.

  The truck driver was pretty quick to give up Vince Macklin as his contact, and Macklin was arrested at his home shortly after five this morning. Also arrested were the two suspicious crew members, the customs guy, and Stan Walters. All five were currently in the cells downstairs, waiting to be questioned. It had been a busy morning.

  “We’re not expecting to get much from Macklin,” said Grayson. “Bikie code of silence and all that, but we think we’ve got a good shot with the rest of them.”

  “Mind if I sit in on the interview with Walters?” asked Cooper. “He’s my best chance of finding out what happened to Jill Fisher.”

  “You and Quinn can have first go at him if you like. I think he’s just the facilitator. Introduces the parties and makes sure the right people are on duty when a shipment is coming in, that sort of thing. I like my chances better with the customs guy and the crew members, so they’re my main focus today. Let me know how you go.”

  “Will do.” Cooper was grateful to be given the lead on the interview. Grayson was probably right: the drug investigation had bigger fish to fry. Nothing to stop Cooper using it as leverage to get Walters talking, though.

  * * *

  “Do you understand the charges you’re facing?” Cooper asked Stan Walters, once the formalities were out of the way and the interview had commenced.

  “I understand that you’ve got no evidence.” Walters smirked as he looked between the two detectives, then glanced at his lawyer. “Can’t you get me out of this?”

  Cooper noticed that the lawyer was sweating ever so slightly. He also noticed that Walters was represented by a public defender, which meant that he was on his own as far as Fisher & Co was concerned.

  “I advise you not to say anything at this stage,” said the lawyer.

  Good advice, thought Cooper. Nevertheless, he pressed on
. “I can assure you we have enough evidence to put you away for at least ten years, Stan. We have a recording of you on the phone, and we can prove that you were speaking to Vince Macklin of the Chiefs, one of the country’s worst outlaw motorcycle gangs. Macklin and his cohorts are being interviewed as we speak. You need to understand, Stan, that you are in a serious amount of trouble here.”

  Stan said nothing, but he was obviously rattled by the news of the phone recording.

  “Now as it happens, I couldn’t give two craps about the drug ring. My job is to solve the murders of Jill Fisher, Terry Dorman, Gail Simmonds, and Anton Coffey. That makes me your best hope right now. We’ve checked your alibis, and I’m convinced you didn’t commit any of these murders. But you do know something. So if you’re going to have any hope of leniency in regard to these drug charges, you’d better give me something I can work with.”

  Stan leaned over and whispered something to his lawyer, who gave it some thought before nodding his apparent agreement.

  “I can give you something about Jill, and the Foundation, but I want it known that I said nothing about the drug operation. I’m not ratting on that gang, if I do that I won’t make it to the end of the day.”

  “We can work with that. Tell me what you know.”

  “I’m not the only one at Fisher & Co who may be involved in dodgy dealings with the Chiefs. You need to go beyond the drugs, take a good hard look at the research that’s being done over at that foundation.”

  “What do you mean, exactly?”

  “I don’t know any details, but what I do know is that whatever they’re working on they’re desperate to keep it all a big secret.”

  “That’s consistent with the type of research they’re doing, from what I understand. It’s surrounded in secrecy because they don’t want other researchers stealing their ideas.”