Private Sydney (Private 12)

I felt a deep ache in my chest and took a slug of Chivas Regal that lived in the locked top drawer of my desk, in the flask Becky had given me on our wedding day. Right now it was the closest I could get to her and Cal.

But we still had to find baby Zoe.

I placed it back in the drawer.

In the lab, Darlene was busy processing samples. There was no word yet from her mystery friend.

Johnny and Mary were collating information. I decided to see how Collette had fared with her assignment.

I found her at her desk, face red and flustered.

‘Everything all right?’ I pulled up a chair by her side.

‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘You may want to sack me now.’

Before I could ask why, she blurted her explanation. ‘I haven’t found anything yet.’ She nervously checked her watch. It was nearing nine o’clock.

‘You must have found something in two hours.’ I couldn’t hide my frustration. Time was critical and I’d given her basic facts to gather.

‘I couldn’t even find a clear photo.’ She began to tear up again. ‘I promise I tried. I promise, I’ll be in super early tomorrow.’

Today had been tough on all of us, including Collette.

‘You should go home and get some rest.’

Collette looked relieved. She picked up her phone and bag and let herself out the new glass door, locking it behind her.

The pounding in my head returned. Collette’s task had been simple. Any of the others would have had a dossier on Moss by now. I began to wonder if I’d overestimated her potential.

I checked my phone for any messages from Brett Thorogood and Jack Morgan. Nothing so far.

Sitting at reception, I started with the list Eliza Moss had provided. Friends of her father, where he’d lived, been born.

Movement on the surveillance monitor caught my attention. A man greeted Collette. He was stocky, muscular. He had his back to the camera so I couldn’t see his face, only the bunch of roses he was hiding. He reached forward and kissed her on the cheek as he presented the bouquet.

As far as I’d seen, Collette’s relationships were frequent and short-lived. This one appeared to be in an embryonic stage.

I flicked through what Collette had recorded so far. There were question marks against passport, registration of birth, bank account.

While the others worked on identifying the mystery pair, I made a strong black coffee and prepared for a long night.

Chapter 32

I STARTED WITH the usual databases. There was no one with a name even resembling Eric Moss born on or around the date Eliza provided.

Even allowing for misspellings, typographical errors and flawed transcribing, his birth wasn’t registered in New South Wales. Definitely not in the sm

all town of Jerilderie or the nearby, larger town of Deniliquin. Jerilderie, in the state’s west, was famous for being raided by the country’s most notorious bushranger, Ned Kelly.

Searching the electoral rolls, there was no Moss registered in Echuca, Victoria, or Moama across the border, for the decade he and his parents supposedly lived there. Eliza had made a note about her grandfather drowning in the Murray River when the paddle-steamer he crewed for the sawmill caught fire. A quick search of cemeteries in the area proved futile. There was no record of Eric’s mother, Margaret, or grand parents living or dying in the area.

Eric Moss didn’t appear on the current electoral roll. He hadn’t requested a silent listing. From what I could tell, he had never voted, enrolled or been married.

He wasn’t listed in Who’s Who, despite being CEO of the largest Australian-based non-profit organisation. Infopedia only mentioned him in a page on Sir Lang Gillies, with no accompanying link to his name.

I began to wonder if records for Moss had been wiped. Or if they had ever existed. No tax file number, no Medicare number and no digital imprint. Scores of articles on Contigo Valley quoted Gillies and mentioned Moss in passing. He was rarely photographed without dark glasses.

What struck me most was he didn’t have a passport or driver’s licence.