Free Wyatt - 04 - Cross Kill by Garry Disher

got his own law firm, a
big house right on the water, a society wife. He belongs to the night clubs,
knows the right peopleincluding the attorney-general, the police commissioner
and a few headkickers on the ALP Rightand he generally behaves like old money.
Hes charming, hes clever, he knows what knife and fork to use, and over on
the north shore they go all weak-kneed about this refined gangster in their
midst.

    Im not interested in all that. I
want to know whats underneath.

    Underneath, hes a thug. He bumps
people off if they get in the way or maybe just because hes got a sinus
headache that day. He knocks his wife around so it doesnt show on the surface
and spends most of his time running the Outfit from the penthouse suite of a
Darling Harbour apartment building.

    How old is he?

    Jardine thought about it. Sixty
odd. Hell be around for a while yet. Hes ambitious, hes trying to move his
people into Victoria.

    Ive met some of them.

    Both men lapsed into silence. Wyatt
began to build a mental picture of Kepler and the Outfit, looking for holes in
the armour. Jardine, he noticed, looked anticipatory. Wyatt needed him. Jardine
knew the local scene, knew the Outfit, but he also knew Melbourne. On top of
that he was good at what he did and he could be trustedas much as Wyatt
trusted anyone. Then Jardine said something that told Wyatt they were on the
same track. In some ways, the Outfit is easier to knock over than the local
Seven-Eleven.

    Hows that?

    They never expect trouble from
freelancers, Jardine explained. Blokes like you rob the banks, the organised
boys run the rackets, its all nicely balanced. The enemy as far as the Outfits
concerned is the law, and theyve taken care of that. A few thousand here and
there in a few pockets and they feel safe.

    Yes, Wyatt said.

    Jardine picked up his Scotch, looked
at it, pushed it away. Two things. One, my name stays out of it. Two, when you
finally tackle Kepler himself, youre on your own.

    Wyatt also pushed his glass away. Agreed.

    As to the rest, Jardine said, I
know two or three Outfit operations we can start with.

    I dont have much time, Wyatt
said. I also dont have the money to bankroll anything major.

    Mate, Jardine said, Ive had
these particular hits on the drawing board for years. He shrugged
apologetically. You know, out of academic interest, to keep my hand in. The
point is, theyre simple, cheap, nothing to set up

    When?

    We start tomorrow morning.

    * * * *

    Fifteen

    On
Wednesday evening a woman from Corrective Services came around and told Eileen
and Ross that their son had been remanded for trial in the Bolte Remand Centre.
She snapped open the gold catches on a new tan briefcase. For about six weeks,
she said.

    The briefcase didnt go with the
rest of the get-up. Eileen took in the womans skirt. It was made from some
crumpled-look summery fabric that had been washed and worn too often. There was
a white T-shirt with a rainforest message on it, and a faded denim jacket over
that. No jewellery. Espadrilles showed horny, hooked toes. Forty thousand a
year, probably, dealing with the public every day, it wouldnt have hurt the
woman to have made a bit of an effort. Eileen folded her arms on her vast and
comfortable chest. Bolte?

    The woman slid a pamphlet across the
kitchen table. Private prison. Only been open three months.

    Eileen looked to Ross for a clue.
Her husband had one arm hooked over the back of the kitchen chair, the other
outstretched to an ashtray on the table. He tapped off a centimetre of ash,
raised the cigarette, drew on it, blew a ring to the ceiling. He wasnt going
to help her. Hed listen while the woman talked, but she was government,
meaning that was all hed do. Plus which, hed been black and brooding since
the arrest, ready to wash his hands of their son.

    Its privately owned and managed,
the woman said. Like the ones in Queensland.

    Eileen skimmed the pamphlet. There
were artists impressions of long, narrow buildings laid out in the