I explained how Moss resigned with no warning after the finance officer questioned a small discrepancy. And how Gillies didn’t seem keen to have anyone sniffing around the company. He certainly didn’t care that Moss had left without any explanation.
‘Lang’s a classic corporate parasite. He often travels with his wife, only they stay in separate hotel rooms. He orders porn movies and when it comes to checking out, acts outraged at the false charges on his credit card, threatens to tell the media about the hotel scam …’
‘And gets the charges wiped.’
‘Every time.’ He drained his mug and placed it in the sink. ‘You say Gillies wasn’t fazed by Moss leaving?’
‘Made out he didn’t care to know why. As if Moss was easily replaced.’
Brett frowned. ‘Doesn’t add up he’d be happy to see his meal ticket walk away. Unless, of course, Moss had something that could bury Gillies.’
That’s what bothered me. No one had seen or heard from Moss, and no one but Lang had seen the resignation email.
Brett continued as I walked him out. ‘Lawyers, police, defence forces and governments have a lot invested in Contigo Valley. If Moss uncovered corruption, you don’t want to be around when that powder keg blows.’
Chapter 42
A COURIER ARRIVED at seven-thirty am with a box on a trolley and instructions to deliver it straight to Darlene Cooper. His shirt had a logo on the pocket: Gene-IE Path Systems. They imported the latest in scientific machines.
Darlene returned with wet hair, and beamed when she saw the delivery.
‘I’ll explain once we get it in the lab.’ She led the way to where she wanted it. The delivery man obliged.
In the conference room, Johnny looked remarkably rested for someone who had managed a few hours’ sleep at the most. Mary was sucking on a protein shake she’d brought from home. True to her word, Collette had arrived early, already having collected coffees along with eight egg and bacon rolls from a café down the street.
The smell of the bacon made me realise how long it had been since I’d eaten. We took our seats and I told them first about Brett Thorogood’s visit. I didn’t need to remind them how much we needed to get a break today.
Johnny was the first with an idea. He wanted to go back to the street address the Finches had provided.
‘It’s a vacant block,’ Mary reminded him.
He wasn’t swayed. ‘That isn’t a coincidence. I really believe they’re familiar with the area. I can take copies of the images we made and canvass the streets in daylight.’
It was a good idea. ‘You might just get lucky. If you go now, you can catch the neighbours before they h
ead to work.’
Johnny grinned, grabbed copies of the images and squeezed past Darlene on his way.
Darlene pulled on her lab coat, her hair now tightly looped into a bun. ‘I’m hoping that machine will help.’ She picked up a roll. ‘It’s a Swift Gene-IE machine that can process DNA in ninety minutes.’
It normally took days to get a DNA analysis with our equipment, which was more advanced and faster than the police labs.
‘I didn’t think they were available yet,’ said Mary.
‘Well, not widely,’ Darlene declared. ‘It’s one of only two in the country. And we have it on permanent loan.’
‘What’s the catch? Does speed leave a wider margin for systematic error?’
‘No,’ Darlene said. ‘But you’re right about limitations. It can’t extract individual DNA from mixed fluids so isn’t any good for rape kits, and it can’t detect gender or race at this stage.’
‘When will you get a result?’ I appreciated that Darlene needed time to learn how to use it.
‘The tech’s calibrating the machine now. After the printout, the machine compares the DNA to all the others in the database.’ She dumped two sugars into her coffee. ‘Should have something by ten this morning.’
‘How did you manage to pull this off?’ I was amazed.
‘Quid pro quo. If we like it, we can recommend it to each of the other Private offices for a bulk discount.’ She grabbed a serviette and excused herself to get on with the analysis.