Private Oz (Private 7)

“What do I want? I want you to cease and desist. Not hard to understand is it, pal? Take the fucking cameras out this afternoon and do what I pay you to do. Any more questions?”

Geoff looked at him blankly.

“Good,” Loretto answered, stood, picked up the almost full glass of beer and poured it over Geoff Hewes’ head.

Chapter 23

I’D JUST WALKED into the lab at Private. Darlene was at a computer, tapping away. The police had sent over everything from the Stacy Friel murder scene for her to study. “Anything?” I asked.

“Not a lot more than the Police Forensics guys have found, I’m afraid. The banknotes are photocopies … high-quality – about the grade of a top-end domestic printer.”

“Fingerprints?”

“I wish! No … Zip. Actually, to be honest, I didn’t expect anything. The killer wore latex gloves. I found traces of the cornstarch powder that coats standard gloves.”

“And nothing special about that?”

“Nope. These gloves could have come from any one of a hundred outlets, a thousand – Coles, Woolworths, any drugstore.”

“Okay. Anything else?”

“Biological matter from the woman’s vagina. I could tell you where she was in her menstrual cycle and whether or not she’d had sex during the past twenty-four hours. But I can’t give you anything practical about what was put into her.”

“She wasn’t raped?”

“Definitely not.”

I looked round the lab. Benches on each side. On top of these stood impressive-looking machines with elaborate control panels and flashing lights. I recognized a powerful microscope and a centrifuge, but that was about it. The rest might as well have been Venusian technology.

“The cops gave you all the material you need?”

“Yeah, personal effects plus a file containing several hundred photographs of the crime scene. I’ve analyzed Stacy Friel’s jacket. I can confirm the police pathologist’s assessment of the attack – the number of stab wounds, the angle of entry, the type of knife. Although of course, the weapon hasn’t been found. I wish I could have been at the crime scene. It’s hard working second hand like this. I might have caught something the cops missed.”

“I understand,” I replied. “And you found nothing unusual with anything Police Forensics handed over?”

“No, Craig. I’m sorry. Hate to admit it – but right now I’m drawing a complete blank.”

Chapter 24

I WAS STARVING – it suddenly hit me as I left Darlene’s lab and strode into reception. Johnny was there talking to our receptionist, Colette. Justine was coming toward us through the main doors a few feet away. She looked hot and flustered.

“I feel like I’m going to get sunstroke every time I step outside,” she declared.

I laughed. “I thought LA was hot.”

“Yeah, but not like this!”

I grinned and glanced at my watch. “I’m going to grab a snack. You hungry?” I asked her. “Or how about a frappaccino?

She looked surprised for a moment. “Great.”

There was a café on the ground floor. We got coffee and muffins and started to head back to the elevator. I checked my watch again, realized I had a spare thirty minutes.

“You got anything to do for half an hour or so, Justine?”

She shook her head as she sipped the frappaccino through a straw.

“Well then, I know just the place for you. I think you’ll appreciate it.”