The Son Read online

  I’m not jingoistic, but it made me proud for a moment of being Australian. Maybe that was the advantage of being a minor player on the world stage. We were less inclined to exploit others for our own ends.

  Another visitor joined us: Detective Sergeant Emerson, dressed in grey this time. He gave me a grey look to go with it.

  ‘I didn’t know you two knew each other,’ he said, making it sound like an accusation.

  ‘Hello, Peter,’ Jack said a little uncomfortably.

  ‘We were together in Saigon,’ I explained. ‘How are you getting on with your investigation? Any ideas yet?’

  ‘We have some leads,’ he said non-committally. ‘Early days.’ He looked at me. ‘Are you sure you’ve told us everything you know?’

  ‘Of course. Why would I want to hide anything? I’m as anxious as you to see his killer brought to justice. More, if anything. Quang was becoming my friend.’

  He moved off, giving me another sceptical look. I wondered why he’d come. To pay his respects? Did he expect some dramatic revelation, the killer to appear and be struck down with guilt? Or was it just routine police procedure? I also wondered, irrelevantly, whether Quang had believed in God. I doubted it, for much the same reason that I didn’t. Not the kind that allowed a murder like that to take place, or the sort of vileness that Hao and her sister and countless others had been subjected to.

  ‘We’re having a small wake at our place,’ Jack said. ‘If you’d like to come.’

  ‘Sorry. I’d love to, but I have to get back to work. Hao might like to.’

  ‘No. I’d better come back with you, Paul.’

  She looked sad. I guessed she too felt this was a poor send-off for someone like him.

  Hao was thoughtful on the way back. I put it down to the funeral, and worry about Eric. But there was something else on her mind.

  ‘Would you mind if I went back to Leeds?’ she asked suddenly. I felt a little stab of terror.

  ‘I mean now, by myself. To sort things out.’

  ‘I thought we were going to go together, when this is all over.’

  ‘I don’t think I should wait that long. There’s such a lot to do. I have to put the house up for sale, and the car, and I need to organise my departure from work …’

  ‘You’re not having second thoughts, are you?’

  ‘Of course not! How can you think that!’

  ‘Because I can’t quite believe my luck. When you see someone like Quang die so easily, it makes you realise how fragile everything is.’

  She put her hand on mine.

  ‘No! It’s nothing like that. It’s just – I hate the place, Paul! All that unhappiness, the things I did, watching Khiem die … I don’t want to go back. But I have to, and the quicker I do it the better. And if you’re not there it’ll be easier. I don’t want you to be contaminated with all that, when I come back I want to start afresh. You understand that, don’t you?’

  ‘I suppose so.’

  ‘Besides, it’ll be easier for you too. I know you’re not telling me everything. I can understand, I expect there are things you can’t tell me, but I don’t like it, and I don’t want that to lie between us, as it’s doing now. It’ll be better if I’m not here.’

  ‘What will you tell Eric?’

  ‘He’ll understand. I’ll just tell him I have to go back to sort things out … just promise me you won’t let anything happen to him. Whatever happens. Promise me you’ll look after him, and make sure he’ll come to no harm.’

  ‘I promise. I don’t want anything to happen to him either.’

  In return I talked her into letting me upgrade her to business class. Flights were heavily booked at that time of year, this way she’d be surer of getting an early seat – and coming back earlier too. I trusted her, but Robert not at all.

  ‘Let me check with Roger about your visa. To make sure you have no problem getting back.’

  There was a travel agent on the ground floor of our building. I rang Roger while she went down to check on flights.

  ‘I was about to ring you,’ he said. ‘I’m coming up tomorrow, maybe we could meet.’

  ‘Of course,’ I said. ‘But first I need your help.’

  I explained about Hao’s trip, and the visa. He listened with resignation.

  ‘I’ll see what I can do,’ he said. ‘I’ll have to ring you back.’

  ‘Thanks. What’s happening with Eric? Have you heard from him?’

  ‘He rang Sam last night, they’re due to meet tonight. That’s why I’m coming up. We should know more after that. I’ve got a meeting in the morning, but we can have lunch together if you’re free.’

  ‘Sure. Is your meeting about Eric?’

  He hesitated. ‘Yes,’ he said.

  ‘Can I be there too?’

  ‘No. I’ll fill you in afterwards. It’s an inter-agency thing and we’ll be discussing matters that don’t concern you.’

  ‘Everything to do with Eric concerns me! Who’ll be there? A-S Ten?’

  He laughed curtly. An old piece of Agency slang, to refer to ASIO if there was fear of being overheard. Read the last two letters as digits. ASIA was A-S 14.

  ‘Of course they’ll be there. I told you they’d have to get involved.’

  ‘You also told me they’d want to talk to me. What better time?’

  ‘Look, it’s strictly insiders only! You don’t have any clearances any more!’

  ‘Then get me cleared!’ I cried. ‘Come on, Roger. I’m not trying to tell you your job. But I’m involved too. Who knows, I might even be of some use. I’m the one who started this whole thing, remember?’

  He was silent for so long I thought he’d hung up.

  ‘I’ll try,’ he said finally. ‘You’re pushing your luck.’

  Then he did hang up.

  He rang back an hour later. Hao had come back and was sitting at her desk. I didn’t have to say much.

  ‘On one condition. You don’t interfere. You’re there simply as an observer. Is that understood?’

  ‘Perfectly.’

  ‘Eleven thirty. Their office. Know where it is?’

  ‘Still in the same place?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Thanks. I’ll be there.’

  ‘Your lady friend’s visa. Done. Multiple re-entry visa, valid for three months. But she’ll have to go to Immigration before she leaves to make sure it’s amended on her passport. That do you?’

  ‘Yes. Thanks. I really appreciate that.’

  ‘So you should,’ he said. Hao looked up as I put down the phone.

  ‘That was Roger,’ I said. ‘He’s coming up tomorrow, and we’re having a meeting. He’s going to bring me up to date.’

  I told her about the visa. She said she would go to Immigration at once.

  ‘Thank you, Paul. And thank him.’

  ‘It’s the least he can do.’

  I wasn’t looking forward to Hao’s departure. But she was right. It would make life much easier for me over the coming days. I was finding it increasingly unpleasant having to lie to her, and I knew it would only get worse as the climax drew nearer. This way, I’d be able to get on with the job unhindered.

  The job? As far as I was concerned, all that mattered now was protecting Eric. I kept having second thoughts, and wished I’d listened harder to her. It was too late to back out now, I was stuck with what I had started, all I could do was stay with it and make sure he came out unharmed.

  The problem was, I didn’t have a clue how to do it.

  PART V

  MEN WITH GUNS

  CHAPTER TWENTY - SEVEN

  I felt a little rebellious the next morning when I went to attend Roger’s meeting at ASIO’s regional headquarters. It was in Kurraba Road in Neutral Bay, a short drive from the office, in a large red-brick Federation-era mansion which had been extended at the back. Roger met me at the glassed-in reception area inside the entrance.

  ‘A word of caution,’ he said as he signed me in. ‘We’ve got some
brass here and they’re keen to meet you, but you haven’t come here to tell them what to do. Is that clear?’

  ‘Very clear,’ I said, determined not to let him bully me. Whatever happened, I was going to make sure I was heard. He led me through to a room at the back, with a conference table and a large picture window overlooking Shell Cove and Cremorne Point. A group of people in office suits and dresses stood looking at the view and drinking coffee. To judge by the papers on the table the meeting had already started.

  One of the group detached himself and came over. This was Bob Maynard, the ASIO Regional Director, a slender pleasant man about my own age. I’d met him years earlier when he and I had worked together on a joint operation, and I remembered him as a quiet achiever.

  ‘Paul, how are you! It’s good to see you.’

  We shook hands, and he introduced me to the rest. Most of them were from Canberra, and I recognised other faces from the past: Tanya Throsby, from Foreign Affairs, Edwin Truscott, from PM&C – the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, also formerly from Foreign. Two or three senior police officers in civvies, from New South Wales Police and the AFP – the Australian Federal Police – and another heavy, Tony Scarferi from the NSW Premier’s office. I wondered briefly at this concentration of bureaucratic artillery, then remembered that we were dealing with an attempt to assassinate a foreign leader on Australian soil. It stood to reason that government at both federal and state level would want to monitor this with great care. Maynard’s deputy was also there and Roger had brought Keith along, but there was no sign of Samantha.

  ‘Grab yourself some coffee,’ Maynard said. He motioned me to a place near him as the others resumed their seats. As host he chaired the meeting, even though he was outranked by several of the participants.

  ‘Paul Quinn has been kind enough to attend this meeting,’ he started. ‘As you’ve gathered he’s now a private citizen.’ He ran briefly through my background, then asked Roger to bring me up to date. Roger looked at me with a bland expression, giving no hint of his earlier displeasure.

  ‘Very quickly, Paul, everyone here has been briefed about this case, which is codenamed Dragon, so I won’t go over the basics again. I’ve told the meeting what we know about the Mad Buffaloes, how you came to us with what you’d found out, and the role your young man is playing. He’s also got a code name by the way, Jason, and his case officer is Medea.’ That was Samantha of course. Some classical wag in Security.

  ‘She met him last night, and we now know a little more about the Mad Buffaloes’ plans. It seems clear they’ll try and mount their attack here in Sydney and not in Canberra. Canberra’s too open, too easy to protect, it would be too difficult for them there. They’re organising some noisy demonstrations both there and in Sydney, but that’s mainly atmospherics. The attack is likely to be much more stealthy. That’s all we know so far, Jason still can’t tell us exactly where or when, or how.’

  ‘One point I should make. Both the PM and the Premier are watching this case with great attention. And this is now very much a police operation, together with ASIO – New South Wales police here in Sydney, AFP in Canberra. We’ll continue to run Jason ourselves, but apart from that we’re here as observers. This case now belongs to Commander Considine–’ he nodded towards one of the police officers – ‘and to Bob’s crowd. Just so we’re clear.’

  ‘Of course.’ It made sense. The Agency had no business providing VIP security, that was a police job, and the intelligence side was now essentially an ASIO matter. But this raised questions, not least about Eric’s role. I kept quiet.

  ‘One other thing. Security. Everyone here knows you used to be with us, and you’ve behaved throughout with the discretion one would expect from a former ASIA officer. But you’re an outsider now, and you no longer have any clearances. Strictly speaking you shouldn’t be here. Just so you know, this operation is Top Secret, and strictly limited. No leaks, no words to the press, or to anyone outside this room. Under pain of death. Is that clear?’

  ‘Crystal,’ I said drily, starting to get irritated. Then I understood. His words were really meant for the others. Not all public servants had the same sense of discretion as spies. That went for the police as well, and particularly for political appointees. Scarferi had all the hallmarks of a party apparatchik.

  ‘Good.’ He passed me back to Maynard, who smiled at me, as if to make up for Roger’s asperity, and thanked me again for having brought the case to them. Then he threw the debate open for questions.

  The first was from Kathy Whitmont, a sharp-faced woman from the Attorney-General’s Department in Canberra.

  ‘Could you tell us how you came to be involved in this business.’

  I nodded. That was the logical place to start.

  ‘Certainly. It was by coincidence, really. I was approached by a relative of the young man in question. Jason.’ I’d have to remember to call him that.

  ‘Is that his aunt?’

  ‘Yes.’ I explained the background, and the steps which had led me to Quang.

  ‘That’s the man who was murdered, correct?’

  This from Truscott. A jowly, heavy man with a pompous manner, who’d been ambassador in a couple of B-grade missions before moving closer to the centre of power. Not to be underestimated for all that. PM&C didn’t go in for deadwood.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘What makes you think his death was connected to this?’

  ‘Gut feeling. Nothing I could prove. But he was inquiring into the Mad Buffaloes, he was getting deeper into them, his last comments to me before he was killed suggested he was on the verge of finding out something pretty sensitive. There was that. And I already knew they were capable of violence. I’d been beaten up by them myself only two weeks earlier. It made sense.’

  ‘You didn’t go to the police with that.’

  ‘No.’ The Whitmont woman again, with the look of an examiner putting a candidate through his paces. I didn’t mind. I’d have my turn later.

  She looked at me, waiting for me to elaborate. Another one observing me was Commander Brian Considine, head of the State Protection Group in the NSW Police. He was a powerful, muscular man with the head of a bull, tough and uncompromising, topped by a cap of tight black curls beginning to go grey, about Roger’s age. He had the hard flat stare of a cop, but there was an intelligent gleam in his eyes and I had the feeling that he didn’t miss much.

  ‘A couple of reasons,’ I said. ‘First, I couldn’t prove anything. All I had were suspicions. Strong suspicions, but nothing that would stand up in court. And I knew enough about Vietnamese to know that if the police started to question them they would simply clam up. So I decided instead to go to Roger. My old employer. I thought in the circumstances they would know best what to do. If Quang was right, and if my gut feeling was right, this murder and everything connected with it was part of a deeper plot, which was to do something nasty to Loc. And that was something Canberra needed to know about.’

  I paused. They waited, still watching me. I went on.

  ‘My second reason was Jason. Especially after my beating. He’d been very defensive towards me at first, very suspicious. I knew that if I reported it to the police they would come down pretty heavily on that gang, including him. But I was starting to know him better, and I was pretty sure he wasn’t involved in my beating. So I took a decision. I wouldn’t tell the police, but I’d use it on him. I’d use that incident to gain his trust. And it worked. From that moment on he began to trust me. He was shocked by what had happened. He felt responsible, because he’d told his friends I was harassing him, and that was what had led to the beating. But he hadn’t expected it to happen, and he was genuinely dismayed by it. He still felt a strong loyalty to that group. But it began to shake him. And when Quang was killed he was really shaken. That’s when I put the hard word on him. And when he agreed to help me.’

  ‘What made you so sure he wasn’t part of it all? That he hadn’t himself taken part in the beating? Or wanted
it to happen?’

  ‘I could tell. He’s an emotional lad, with a great capacity for commitment. But he’s not violent. Not in that sense. He dislikes injustice more than anything else. I could see his reactions were genuine. And after Quang’s death he himself contacted us – contacted me, and there was no hesitation then about working for me.’

  ‘When you say working for you, you mean you used him as a source?’

  ‘Yes.’

  There was a pause, while people thought of their next questions. I was still aware of Considine studying me. Maynard filled the hiatus.

  ‘Can you tell us something about the Vietnamese community, Paul. It’s not an area I’ve had much to do with. Apart from Brian here I doubt any of us know much about it.’

  ‘I don’t know much either,’ said Considine, speaking for the first time. He had a deep, rather pleasant baritone voice. ‘I’ve never dealt with them myself. And I don’t want to ask our area command in Cabramatta. We’re also playing this close to the chest.’ A dig back at Roger. His face remained bland.

  ‘I’m not sure they’d be much use to you anyway, Commander,’ I said. ‘I don’t think the Mad Buffaloes are very involved in crime. Sorry. It’s years since I had anything to do with the Vietnamese in Sydney, my knowledge is way out of date. But here’s what I know, for what it’s worth.’

  I gave them a quick thumbnail sketch. I talked of a hard-working community, with its various components, the regional variations, the religious affiliations, their wariness of outsiders, which made them secretive at first, but the way they opened up to those who took the trouble to know them, their generosity, their combination of hard work, intelligence, and sometimes fractious individualism. I talked rather more than I intended, but my audience didn’t seem to mind. And after that came more questions. About the Mad Buffaloes, Quang. And about Eric/Jason.