Free Matrimonial Causes by Peter Corris

Farnham?’
    â€˜Juliet Farquhar. And what was discussed?’
    â€˜Nothing much. I said I wanted to speak to you re Miss Shaw. She said you had no client by that name and that I should try some other Perkins. I said I wanted to talk to you anyway. I got the impression she consulted you. Then she said you’d be out of town on business for a while.’
    â€˜You didn’t believe her and you persisted?’
    â€˜After someone took a shot at me and yelled at me to stay out of the Meadowbank thing. Seemed to me you had to be behind that.’
    The beer was cold and good. We drank at about the same pace and I had the odd feeling that we were thinking at about the same pace and along the same lines. Perkins put his empty bottle down on the table and used the paper towel again. He had thick lips and a problem with keeping them dry. ‘I can appreciate the reason for your intrusion and aggression,’ he said. ‘But I wasn’t in my office at that time yesterday, and Miss Farquhar didn’t mention your call to me.’
    â€˜And you do have a client named Virginia Shaw?’
    â€˜Not … officially.’
    â€˜Would Miss Farquhar know about this unofficial client?’
    â€˜Until now, I would have thought not.’
    My turn to drain the bottle. I used the back of my hand to wipe my mouth. Perkins was looking more worried now than at any time so far. I had an advantage but wasn’t sure how to exploit it. When in doubt, go for the chain of command. ‘What’s Miss Farquhar’s job? How long has she been with you?’
    Perkins frowned. A lot of horizontal wrinkles formed on his forehead below the red, crinkled waves of his hair—not a pretty sight. ‘A couple of months. She’s my … legal secretary. She has a Bachelor of Jurisprudence degree from Monash.’
    â€˜Meaning that she knows a lot about the law but she’s not a qualified practitioner and she’s not doing articles?’
    Perkins nodded. ‘She’s a very capable young woman.’
    â€˜Maybe too capable. There’s something going on here. Virginia Shaw thinks that Charles Meadowbank was killed because he didn’t want to go through with the divorce. You helped to set that divorce up.’
    â€˜Not really,’ Perkins said. ‘I’m not acting for either party. I just did Charles a favour by putting him in touch with Virginia.’
    â€˜You might have helped to get him killed.’
    â€˜Don’t say that! I don’t understand any of this. How do I know you’re telling the truth?’
    â€˜Call Juliet Farquhar. She’s the link.’
    His hesitation spoke volumes. Perkins wasn’tthe sort of man who hesitated unnecessarily—he’d been caught out, and didn’t like it. Juliet Farquhar was coolly playing a game of her own and he didn’t want to think about what the consequences might be for him. I now had my strategy. ‘Don’t piss around,’ I said. ‘Somebody’s plans have gone badly wrong. Your Miss Farquhar could be getting you involved in something very nasty, or she could be in great danger herself. Maybe both.’
    Perkins stood up and grabbed the wall phone. He didn’t need to refer to his little black book to get the number. He dialled rapidly. I opened the fridge, pulled out two more beers and opened them. I took a drink and put the other bottle within Perkins’ reach. He ignored it.
    â€˜No answer.’ He slammed the phone back into its housing.
    I shrugged. ‘She could be anywhere.’
    Perkins shook his head and seized the bottle. ‘We were supposed to be going out tonight.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘Drinks at six. She’d be getting ready by now. She puts in a lot of time on her appearance.’
    I took another pull on the bottle and then pushed it away. Strong. I got up and took my gun and the bullets down from the fridge.
    Perkins almost choked on his