Private Sydney (Private 12)

Mary raised the other pressing issue. ‘How are you going to deal with the media leak?’

I rubbed my neck again. There was only one thing to do.

Chapter 55

I DOUBTED THE smashed office door was an accident now. We were the only business targeted in the attack and it provided access to plant listening devices. I wouldn’t put it past Roden. The visit could have been an excuse to hide additional monitoring devices or modify ones already in place. Roden was unchaperoned in my office before we came back, and the cronie with the metal detector kept Collette distracted. I thought back to the repairmen. They were from a company we hadn’t used before. Colette had found the card under the door and they’d answered her call straightaway.

I suspected we’d been set up. I pulled out my phone and checked for their website. The company didn’t exist in the Yellow Pages or online.

Whoever smashed the glass assumed a staff member would call the first available glazier. One thing concerned me: the timing. The door had been smashed before Jack Morgan rang me about Eric Moss.

Unless Jack’s LA office was being monitored, a US agency wouldn’t have known we would be involved. It was a stretch at best.

And how did Marcel Peyroni hear about the Dural raid if he wasn’t tipped off by someone in our office? If we were being electronically monitored, there was no way a secret intelligence agency would be in cahoots with a tabloid gossipmonger, or risk exposure by leaking news of a raid. That left the question as to whether one of my team was on Peyroni’s payroll.

I felt a deep knot in my gut.

I rang an old friend who specialised in technical security countermeasures sweeps. Without mentioning what I wanted, I asked if he’d like to come for a visit and see the offices. He agreed to be here within the hour. I trusted my staff and couldn’t believe any one of them would risk lives by notifying a low-life like Marcel Peyroni. I had no answer as to why a third party listening to us would, if only to discredit me and my team.

Mary and I headed to the lab. Darlene had just sent the DNA printout from the evidence beneath Louise’s fingernails to the police. The new machine was beneficial but an arrest depended on other factors. We had to show motive, opportunity and compare the finding to a suspect’s DNA.

Darlene was frustrated. ‘We won’t know if Wallace is our killer unless he agrees to a DNA test.’

His lawyer would no doubt advise him to avoid giving any samples that could be used against him until they had enough for a warrant.

Mary reached into her pocket. ‘Beg to differ.’

She pulled out a bag containing the severed cable ties she’d used to bind Wallace’s wrists.

Darlene’s face beamed. ‘Give me an hour and a half and we’ll know if it was Wallace at the murder scene.’

Chapter 56

GIDEON MAHLER HAD always been slightly eccentric. We’d met in the US when I introduced him to an expat friend. The pair married and moved to Australia. The marriage didn’t last but Gideon’s services became more in demand. Politicians constantly used him to test their offices for listening devices. Rumour had it ADIA (the Australian Defence Intelligence Agency) had the country’s one hundred wealthiest business people under constant surveillance. With trade agreements including China, Japan, Indonesia and Russia, it made some degree of sense – to ADIA.

Gideon was gaunt, sinewy and had deep-set eyes that constantly scanned his surroundings. His first stop was the reception area. He looked under the desk for remnants of dust from holes drilled, checked for any pictures that were even slightly askew, anything out of its normal position. Gideon’s assessment cost a premium but our business depended on confidentiality and that couldn’t be compromised. I was not about to get Eric Moss killed if we tracked him down.

The smashed door and computer virus on Collette’s laptop, which meant the video cameras didn’t record that night, had to be related. All I could do was wait. I tried Brett Thorogood and left another message. Once the DNA from the cable ties was back, we’d know if Wallace had lied about being at Louise Simpson’s house. Instinct told me he hadn’t. If Darlene could confirm that, I needed immediate access to quiz him about the woman he claimed to have met.

I rang Eric Moss’s assistant, Oliver Driscoll, to see if he’d accessed the filing cabinet yet. He sounded as if he was in an echo chamber.

‘Is Eric OK?’ Apart from Eliza, the young assistant and accountant were the only ones who had asked about their former boss’s welfare.

‘We haven’t found him yet, which is why I’m ringing.’

There was an audible sigh.

‘I don’t know how I can help. I’ve been given until four pm to clean out my belongings and leave the building. We’re not supposed to talk to you, but I’m worried. I can’t get the diary copies out.’

I asked him where he was at the moment and if anyone could hear him.

‘I’m alone in the bathroom for now. I’m not the only one who’s been told to leave. Renee Campbell, the lady you met with, was the first to go. Something is really wrong and I don’t understand. I couldn’t find the resignation email.’

‘Did you manage to get into Eric’s personal safe?’

‘Sir Lang got a locksmith in but it was empty when he opened it.’

If no one else had access, Eric could have cleaned it out before leaving. Something else was worrying the assistant.