The Dark Series

by Catherine Lee

  48

  “I thought his brother died nineteen years ago?” asked Cooper. He was confused. He’d just learnt that David Fisher had risked everything by illegally importing human eggs for research. If it wasn’t for the money, what was it all about?

  “Tim Fisher died nineteen years ago. Cameron Fisher was born fourteen years ago. Or whatever his name is. I suspect he’s not going by Fisher.”

  “Wait — you mean Annie and Robert Fisher had another son? Before she disappeared?”

  “Catch up, Detective. Annie had another son, by Robert, after she disappeared. Cameron is the reason she disappeared.”

  “So she’s not dead?”

  “No. As far as I know, she’s very much alive.”

  Cooper opened the door to the stuffy office and called both Quinn and Zach over. “You need to hear this,” was all he said, before gesturing to Professor Keane to continue.

  “I don’t know where they are,” he began by saying. “David said it was important to keep them a secret from his family, so he only told me what I needed to know. Annie disappeared because Robert wouldn’t allow her to have another child, for fear it would be ‘defective’ like Tim. His words, not mine. Anyway, she found out she was pregnant, so she and David hatched a plan to make her disappear. Again, I don’t know the details.”

  “How long have you known about this?”

  “David told me a couple of years after the Foundation was formed. I was advancing well with the research at that point, if slowly. He wanted to know if I thought we’d be able to cure nephronophthisis within the next ten years. I said I didn’t think so, which turned out to be the case. But I did say there was a chance stem cell research would advance to the point where we would be able to build an artificial kidney. That’s when he told me about Cameron. He’d just found out the poor little mite had the disease, you see, and was terrified of losing another brother. From that point onwards all of the Foundation’s research efforts were put into stem cell research, on David’s orders.”

  Cooper registered the confusion on his colleagues’ faces, but decided he’d explain later. “And that’s where the egg importation came in?”

  “Not at first. We went through the proper channels, got the appropriate licences. But it was too slow for David. He knew we were on a timer as far as Cameron’s life was concerned, so he asked me what I needed. I told him I needed embryos, or even unfertilised eggs. I didn’t for a moment think he’d be able to get them. But get them he did, and, like I told you, I didn’t ask any questions.”

  “Where is David now?”

  “I don’t know. He was here this morning, but left not long before you arrived. I think his cousin Beth visited him, and he left shortly after she did. And before you ask, I have no idea where he was going.”

  Cooper turned to his partner. “We need to find David Fisher. Call Fisher & Co, if he’s not there issue a KALOF for him and his car. Check the motorways as well.”

  “KALOF?” asked Professor Keane.

  “Keep a look-out for. Is there anything you can tell me that might help us find him? Do you know where Cameron and his mother live?”

  “No. That was one thing David was adamant I not know. He didn’t want me slipping in front of his father. Not that I ever see much of him these days.”

  “So Robert Fisher has no idea his wife is still alive, no idea he has another son?”

  The professor shook his head. “That’s the point. I think as time went on David worried that if Robert ever found out, he’d shut the Foundation down. But as long as we remained in the background, quietly advancing our research and not being too much of a financial burden on the parent company, he left us to our own devices. David loved working here, he always said it was a much more pleasant environment than Fisher & Co. I suppose that’s all over now.”

  Cooper wasn’t the least bit interested in workplace relations. He needed to find David. “You didn’t get any clues from him as to where they might be, how far away at least? How often did he visit them?”

  “I don’t know. All I know is that Cameron is getting worse. He’s in end-stage renal failure: he doesn’t have a lot of time.”

  “Is he on a transplant list?”

  “Yes. But David isn’t hopeful. He watched Tim die waiting for a kidney. He’s relying on me to build Cameron a new one.”

  “And have you? Built him a new one?”

  “No.” Cooper noticed the professor’s shoulders droop slightly.

  “You’re not going to be able to do it in time, are you?”

  “No. But David always said he had a plan B.”

  “Do you know what this plan B is?”

  “Not exactly. But there’s no-one else doing this kind of research that’s as close as me, so it can’t involve an artificial kidney.”

  “Meaning it has to involve a real one,” Cooper deduced.

  * * *

  Back at the station Cooper got as many people on the phones as he could find. It couldn’t be that hard to locate a fourteen year old boy named Cameron with a rare disease who was in end-stage renal failure. They started calling hospitals, and it wasn’t long before they got a result.

  “He’s in Wollongong Hospital,” Flynn Anderson called across the room. He scribbled down the address and ward details and handed the paper and the phone to Cooper.

  “Hello? This is Detective Sergeant Cooper. Who am I speaking to?”

  “Lyn Caulfield, I’m the nurse in charge of this ward.”

  “And you have a fourteen year old boy with nephronophthisis named Cameron there?”

  “We do, Detective Sergeant. Is there some kind of problem?”

  “We’re looking for a relative of the boy, although he may not have identified himself as such. His name is David Fisher.” Cooper described David to the nurse.

  “Yes, he was here earlier, but not for very long. I’m not sure if he even saw Cameron. He spoke to Annette, though.”

  “Annette?”

  “Cameron’s mother.”

  “Is she there now?”

  “Yes, I believe so. Hang on a second.” Cooper heard her put the phone down before he could tell her not to alert ‘Annette’ that he was calling. He didn’t want her disappearing again. After a few minutes the nurse came back on the line. “Cameron says his mother and another lady are here, but they’ve gone out to get something to eat and have a catch up.”

  “Did you get this other lady’s name?”

  “He said his mother called her Beth.”

  Great. Beth Fisher had found them before he did. That could mean David knows his secret is out. Time was now critical.

  “Listen, Lyn, can you do me a favour? It’s going to take me an hour or so to get down there. Could you keep an eye on things in the meantime? Annette and Beth aren’t in any trouble, but it’s very important that they stay there in the hospital until I get there. Can you make sure they stay put for me?”

  “I can try, Detective Sergeant. But I have a ward to run, and I’m not going to detain anyone against their will.”

  “Fair enough. Can I get you to give me a call if anything happens?”

  The nurse agreed, and Cooper recited his mobile number for her before hanging up. It was only then he realised that all eyes were on him.

  “Boss?”

  “Grab your stuff, Joe. We’re heading back to Wollongong.”

  49

  “Yes, Beth. Your sister found out about me and Cameron,” said Annie, twisting the hem of her skirt around her index finger.

  It finally made sense. This must have been what Jill had wanted to talk to her about, the reason for their lunch date that never happened.

  “How?”

  “It was the silliest thing. She came to see Mary, my sister. Said she was researching the family history, and wanted to get some information from our side of the family.”

  “But you married Uncle Robert. Jill was looking for living relatives of hers, of ours. Your family wouldn’t be related to us at all.”r />
  “No. Jill told Mary that she wanted to get a better picture of me and my ancestors for her tree. She said it was important to her to complete the tree as much as possible, and my disappearance left a gap that she wanted to fill. She was always a lovely girl, your sister.”

  “Yes, she was. So what happened? Did Mary tell her you were still alive?”

  “No, Mary’s been my rock these last fifteen years. We didn’t tell her straight away, of course. We knew Robert and the police would start with Mary when they came looking for me. We needed her to be genuine when she told them she didn’t know anything. Once it died down a bit I came here, to Wollongong, and turned up on her doorstep. She understood immediately, and has helped me out ever since. No, Mary didn’t tell Jill I was here. I did that myself.”

  Beth was again confused. “Why would you do that?”

  “Oh, I didn’t do it on purpose. Mary and I both have apartments in the same building these days. We have each other’s keys. I called her to say I was coming over, but she didn’t answer the phone. I figured she must have been in the bathroom or something. So I let myself in, and there was Jill, sitting having tea with Mary, the big family tree rolled out on the table in front of them.”

  “She was fourteen when you disappeared. Did she recognise you straight away like I did?”

  Annie nodded. “It didn’t take long. I watched as her face went from polite greeting to shock. It was a good thing she was sitting down.”

  “Then what did you do? Did you tell her about Cameron, too?”

  “No. I didn’t know what to do. She was in shock. I tried to keep her calm, and Mary made her another cup of tea while I called David.”

  David. Her cousin, the only man in her life besides Louis that she relied on, that she ran everything by. He’d been lying to her for fifteen years, since she was a teenager herself. Oh, God. What had he done to Jill?

  There was no time to ask this question, as they were interrupted by Detective Cooper.

  “Annie Fisher,” said Cooper, looking at Beth’s aunt. “You have a lot of explaining to do.”

  “I’m Annette, now.”

  “Annette. Listen, I’m sure you have a very interesting story, but right now we need to find your son.”

  “He’s just down the hall.”

  “Not Cameron. Your first son, David. Do you know where he is?”

  “He was here earlier, but he left a while ago now.”

  “That’s right,” added Beth. “I followed him.”

  “And how long have you known your aunt and cousin were down here?”

  “I didn’t. I just found out today. Like I said, I followed David here. I watched him leave, then I came into the hospital to get something to eat and ran into Aunt Annie. Annette, sorry.” Beth looked at her aunt. “She was just telling me all about it when you came in. Is David in trouble?”

  Cooper ignored the question. “Why did you follow him?”

  “I don’t know. I went to see him at the Foundation, and he told me he was swamped with paperwork to do with your raid and the drug operation. He even asked me to help, saying he’d be there for ages, but next thing I know he’s driving off. When he headed in the opposite direction to Fisher & Co, I got curious and followed him. I suppose in the back of my mind he’s been acting strange the last few days.”

  “And you didn’t think to mention that to us?”

  “I didn’t think anything of it. We’ve all been under a lot of stress. My sister was murdered, then my best friend. You’ve been all over us, and now this drug thing, it’s understandable everyone’s been on edge. I assumed that’s what was eating David, as well. But when he turned south today I had a bad feeling. That’s why I followed him.”

  “Excuse me,” said Annette, standing. “I need to get back to my son.”

  “My partner is with him, he’s fine,” said Cooper. “Sit down. You need to tell me exactly what’s going on here. Start from the beginning.”

  Beth listened as Annette explained again her reasons for faking her disappearance all those years ago. Her mind soon wandered to her sister. What would Jill have made of all this? She would have been confused by the secrecy, but thrilled to find out she had another cousin. Family was everything to Jill. She would not have understood why Cameron’s existence had to be kept secret. She loved Uncle Robert, she would have wanted him to know he had another son. She saw such good in people, Jill. She never saw the bad. Is that what got her killed?

  Beth’s thoughts were interrupted by her mobile phone. It was Louis. Shit, she should have been home by now.

  “Louis? I’m really sorry,” she began.

  “You got caught up at work, I know. David told me.”

  “David? Is he there with you?” Beth felt her throat constrict. Detective Cooper and Annette stopped talking and were looking straight at her.

  “No, he just left. He said you wanted Emily and Jacob to come and join you for dinner. What’s going on, Beth? Is this some family thing I’m not a part of again?”

  “I can’t explain right now. Look, Louis, keep the kids there and I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

  “He took them.”

  “What?”

  “David. He took the kids with him. He took them to you, didn’t he? Aren’t they with you?”

  50

  Cooper looked at Beth, who hadn’t said a word since handing the phone to him. He’d established from her husband that David had taken the children, ostensibly to have dinner with Beth at the office, and left no more than ten minutes ago. Louis had no reason not to trust David, of course, so he couldn’t blame him for handing the children over. The question was, what was David’s next move?

  “I just have to check in with my partner,” he said to the two women. “When I get back, I need you to tell me everything you know about Cameron’s condition,” he added, this time talking directly to Annette. “You might want to get someone to take a look at her, too. I think she’s going into shock.”

  Cooper went quickly back down the corridor to Cameron’s room, where he found the boy engrossed in his iPad, engaged in an online battle of some sort with Quinn.

  “Joe,” he called, taking his partner out into the corridor. “David Fisher’s on the move. He’s got Beth’s two kids with him. We don’t know where he’s headed.”

  “You think the kids have something to do with plan B?” said Quinn.

  “Yes, but how? The professor indicated that plan B would involve a kidney transplant. But surely he can’t assume that Beth will give permission for one of her kids to donate a kidney, not at such a young age.”

  “Unless he’s not planning to ask permission.”

  “Shit. Okay, he can’t do anything without Cameron, so you stick to him like glue. I’ll go and find out as much as I can from the mother.”

  What the hell was in this guy’s mind? After losing his own best mate, Liz’s brother, Cooper could understand David’s desire to not lose another brother. But was he really going to put his young cousins’ lives at risk in the process?

  Back in the visitor’s lounge, Beth had a bit more colour. She was being attended to by a nurse, so Cooper took Annette aside. “Tell me about Cameron’s condition.”

  “He’s got nephronophthisis, like Tim had,” Annette began. “He’s been on the transplant list for a kidney for over a year, but we’ve had no luck yet.”

  “What about family? Is anyone a match?” Cooper said it before he remembered that most of this kid’s family had no idea he existed. But Annette’s answer surprised him.

  “There’s no match. My sister and her kids got tested with me when he first needed a kidney, with no luck. Then David organised for the Fisher family to get tested.”

  “Without their knowledge? How?”

  “He did it as part of the open day they held when the company celebrated its hundred and fortieth anniversary.”

  Beth rejoined the conversation. “I remember that. He got one of those mobile blood donation vans to set up outside,
and encouraged all the staff to set a good example by donating.”

  “That’s right,” Annette explained. “He had Professor Keane volunteer to help take the blood, and when any of the family donated he took an extra sample and used it to see if any of you were a close enough match to donate a kidney to Cameron. You weren’t.”

  “Then why has he taken Emily and Jacob now?” asked Cooper.

  “They were too young to give blood that day,” said Beth.

  “Maybe he’s going to have them tested now,” Cooper suggested. “What exactly did he say to you when he visited Cameron earlier today?” he asked Annette.

  “He said that Professor Keane’s research wasn’t going fast enough, that there was a delay and they weren’t going to be able to build Cameron a kidney. But he told me not to worry, that he had a plan B. Oh, God, he’s not going to…”

  “Yes, he is,” said Beth. Cooper had seen it before, the look he now saw on Beth’s face, the look of a mother who’s unable to help her child. She knew what her cousin was going to do. “David had me bring Emily and Jacob to the Foundation about a month ago. He said they were going to test them for the gene mutation that caused nephronophthisis. I believed him, I let them take my children’s blood. Now he’s going to take one of their kidneys, isn’t he?”

  “Not if I can help it,” said Cooper. “Look, Beth. There’s nothing he can do without Cameron, who we have safely tucked away in his room down the corridor. Detective Quinn is with him. He’s not going anywhere, and nothing is going to happen to your children. We’ve got every police car in the state keeping an eye out for David. We’ll find them, okay?”

  Beth looked up, and Cooper followed her line of sight to find Quinn standing in the doorway.

  “Can I talk to you for a second, boss?”

  “What is it?” Cooper asked once they were out of earshot of the two women.

  “Someone just came to transfer Cameron to St George Hospital.”

  “What? You didn’t let them take him, did you?”