by Ian W Taylor
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
MONDAY MORNING - JABIRU
Bill pulled up the truck outside Barry Buckstone’s house in Jabiru, climbed out and knocked on the front wire door of the old weatherboard house. He could hear voices inside, said “Hello” and let himself into the front room. Lizzie was sitting on the sofa comforting Elsie, Barry’s widow, as he walked in. Lizzie looked up to see Bill and rushed over and hugged him. Elsie was sobbing, rocking backwards and forwards on the sofa, devastated by the loss of her husband. Bill put his arms around her and expressed his condolences. Elsie’s sister, Bonny, came out of the kitchen holding a tray carrying a teapot, cups, milk, sugar and biscuits. She embraced Bill and started passing teacups around.
Having drunk the tea, Bill followed Lizzie out to the kitchen. He could see she was upset but also angry. He put his arm around her. She looked up to him, tears falling down her cheeks.
“Bill, we’ve gotta do something about this. We can’t let the bastards get away with it. It was no accident that Barry was run down after being beaten up by those cops.”
“There’ll be an inquest into it Lizzie and the truth will come out,” suggested Bill.
“No it won’t, they’ll cover it up and nothing will happen. They’ve been trying to shut Barry up ever since he started investigating the deal between the mining company and the Land Council to open up the Jabiru mine. Barry said he had evidence of some dodgy deal involving payback to Bert O’Shea, the President of the Land Council, for giving approval to the deal.”
“Does Elsie know where this evidence is?”
“No, but she said their place was done over a few weeks ago, left in an awful mess, but nothing of value was taken. She reckons whoever went through their stuff must have been disturbed cause it looked like they left in a hurry. Barry was worried about it but couldn’t find anything missing.”
“Well, if Elsie agrees, perhaps we can search the house while we are here.”
Lizzie nodded her head in agreement. “I’ll ask her about it tomorrow.”
“Elsie said we can bunk down in the sleep-out for a couple of days till the funeral”.
“O.K., I’ll bring my bag in,” responded Bill and walked out to the truck.
MONDAY MORNING - DALY WATERS
Jake was woken up by the ringing of his mobile phone. He rolled out of bed and picked it up.
“Jake it’s John Fisher. Have you got a couple of minutes?”
Jake acquiesced and Fisher asked him for his version of the events that led to the plane crash which incinerated the Chinese at the Daly Waters airport. Jake gave him a concise account of the last few days. Fisher listened attentively.
“Thanks for that Jake. It pretty much tallies with what my guys are telling me. Look for political reasons it’s best you keep your role and that of your father quiet on this and let us handle it. The Acting P.M. wants to calm the media down and I’m sure you don’t want a media gaggle on your doorstop.”
“Yeah that’s fine by me, I’m happy to opt out altogether.”
“Thanks for that Jake. Anna Sentoro is very grateful for what you did and you’ll receive an official commendation for your help.”
“I don’t need any favours to keep quiet on this. You can take my word on that.”
“Thanks for your cooperation Jake. Will you be going to Canberra after this?”
“Yes, I’ll be there later in the week for a couple of days.”
“Perhaps we could catch up for a coffee and run through some details.”
Jake agreed. Fisher said his personal assistant would be in touch and rang off.
Jake checked his mobile to see he had a missed call from Helen Kwang who had left a message asking him to call her back urgently. While the last thing he wanted to do was to talk to the press, Helen was a good friend and he trusted her. He keyed in her number. She answered straight away.
“Hi Helen, it’s Jake here. I’ve been following your reporting of the P.M.’s assassination and Koshi’s survival. It’s been riveting stuff.”
“Thanks Jake. I was just wondering if you are O.K.? There is a rumour going around that you were involved in Koshi’s rescue. Is that true?”
“No, I’m fine thanks, they’ve got me mixed up with someone else,” Jake lied.
“Well, I’m glad you are O.K.,” she said somewhat sceptically. “Where are you now?”
“I’m staying in Daly Waters at my dad’s place and will be going on to Canberra in a few days’ time after going to Barry Buckstone’s funeral.”
There was a pause on the end of the line.
“Oh, I didn’t realise you knew Barry. How did you get to meet him?” she inquired.
Cursing himself silently for letting it slip that he knew Barry, Jake explained the connection with his father and Barry’s sister.
“Jake, you may not be aware of this but there are protests going on at Jabiru over Barry’s death. One of the protesters tried to burn down the police station. There is also a rumour suggesting Barry was killed because he had some documents exposing corruption and bribes involving a member of the Kakadu Land Council and the consulting company who did the environmental study for the Jabiru Mine.”
“I’ve heard the same rumour but I gather nothing’s been substantiated” replied Jake.
“Jake, I’ve tried to contact Barry’s family but no one is taking my calls. As you know the family do you think you could ask around and find out if there is any truth in the rumour?”
“It’s a bad time for them but I can ask. I doubt if I’ll find anything.”
“I’d appreciate your help Jake. I’m driving up to Darwin where Sentoro and Koshi are giving a joint press conference tomorrow. Could you call me if you dig up anything of interest?”
“O.K. Helen, but don’t hold your breath,” replied Jake.
They discussed the attacks on the Prime Ministers with Jake being careful to avoid any mention of his role in the pursuit of Koshi by the terrorists.
Jake ended the call after promising Helen he would contact her when he visited Canberra.