Private Sydney (Private 12)

‘A hundred and twenty-seven thousand dollars!’

Eliza smiled broadly. ‘That’s brilliant. As usual, a great job done by all. And thanks for your help, Jules. You are a wonder.’

The colleague blushed, looked at me, then back at Eliza. ‘You may as well head off. I’ll finish up here.’

‘Appreciate it.’ Eliza slumped after the assistant left. ‘Where were we?’

‘You were telling me why I couldn’t find your birth certificate.’

‘The certificate had my mother’s name on it; the father’s name was left blank.’

As far as she was concerned, Eric Moss was her father. There was little doubt she also saw him as her saviour. Without him she may well have been left to rot in an institution.

I began to believe she had no idea her ‘father’ didn’t officially exist.

Chapter 38

ELIZA MOSS SEEMED blindsided by what I had to say. She explained that Eric avoided overseas trips. Even so, she’d assumed he had a passport. Her father had always been private about his own family and childhood but once talked about the accident in Echuca and his mother’s grief. He’d never mentioned it again.

Eric and Eliza had each other and didn’t seem to need anyone else.

In one of their holidays together, Moss hired a boat and crew. They sailed the Whitsundays for a couple of weeks and talked about politics, history and everything else but his past.

‘The few times I asked about his childhood, or even my mother, he’d fob me off by saying, “It’s not where you’re from that counts. Where you’re going and how you get there is all that matters.”’

Apart from a handful of trips and cabin visits, people usually travelled to see Moss in Contigo Valley. There they could see the facilities and equipment in action. Canberra was a favourite for the pair during school holidays. The museums, galleries and exhibitions were an easy drawcard.

It made sense that Moss didn’t have a passport. Even so, it was unusual for a CEO to negotiate major international deals without venturing outside the country.

A text interrupted. I excused myself to check. It was from Johnny.

Gone over Ruffalo’s and Simpson’s bank/phone statements. No leads so far.

I needed to relieve Johnny so he could go home. Darlene would be working for a lot longer. The broken door still unnerved me. I didn’t want my staff put at any risk.

I stood and pushed the chair towards the table. ‘I’m sorry but I have to go. Can we talk more tomorrow?’

She placed the second beer bottle on the table and nudged aside the half-eaten chips. ‘Of course. I hope it’s good news about the baby.’

‘How are you getting home?’

Those green eyes challenged me. ‘Would you ask an AB woman that?’

I had to concede, ‘Probably not. I just know how difficult taxis can be at this time of night.’

‘I have a room upstairs as part of the hotel package.’ She reached out her hand and we shook again. ‘Thanks for the thought, though.’

I felt like we needed to tread carefully finding Moss.

Eric wasn’t who he claimed to be and I had a bad feeling his daughter was going to be hurt when we unravelled whatever secrets he was keeping so well hidden.

I texted Johnny to go home and get some sleep. I’d be back in ten.

Chapter 39

JOHNNY HANDED OVER the Simpson file first. Thanks to Darlene, we had the data from Louise’s mobile phone and computer. There was no landline in the house.

Some days she made few calls, others were spent in a series of long conversations. Johnny had written ‘day care’ beside the dates they tended to occur. Louise’s brother, the compensation lawyer and her mother were frequent numbers on those days.