Free Deep Water by Peter Corris Page B

was closest to him in the firm and she said he was a very private person who had no close in-house relationships, as far as she knew. I asked to see his office and was told it had been reassigned and that all his files were covered by commercial confidentiality.’
    â€˜A fun interview,’ Hank said.
    She relaxed a little—Hank can have that effect. ‘At first, it was like hitting a ball against a brick wall. Then she tried to pump me about what we knew about Dr McKinley’s …’ she consulted her notes, ‘… absence, she called it. My turn to play a dead bat.’
    Hank said, ‘A dead bat?’
    â€˜Cricket term,’ I said. ‘I’ll explain later.’
    â€˜My report to the inspector suggests that Tarelton Explorations is sensitive and evasive about Henry McKinley. Outwardly cooperative, but actually very obstructionist. I believe they have something to hide and should be regarded as of interest in the investigation of Dr McKinley’s murder.’
    Paul Keating said something like, ‘We’ll never get this place set up properly until we find a way to get everything settled with the Aborigines.’ He was right on the grand scaleand on the personal level as well. DS Roberts’s statement was a model of clarity and judgement and I wanted to say so and would have normally, but how patronising would that look? We haven’t found that way yet. Everyone around the table nodded.
    Gunnarson said, ‘Thank you, Angela. I hope that satisfies you, Hardy.’
    â€˜It does,’ I said. I risked the patronisation trap by adding, ‘And for my money, I hope DS Roberts can stay on the investigation team.’
    â€˜So?’ Dickersen said.
    After getting the nod from Hank I told them about Terry Dart’s death and the theft of his briefcase. I had the copy of Henry McKinley’s drawing in my pocket. I unfolded it and filled them in on the attempt to suppress the set.
    â€˜Three thousand dollars isn’t a lot of money,’ I said, ‘but it isn’t chicken feed either. I got the impression from the gallery owner that the buyer would have paid, whatever the asking price.’
    â€˜Find that buyer and you’ve got a fair way into this thing,’ Hank said.
    All three had been making notes. Gunnarson looked up. ‘Is there a good description of the buyer?’
    I shook my head. ‘Worse than useless.’
    â€˜We’re not in good shape,’ Dickersen said. ‘We can keep the surveillance on the car for a few days but we can’t keep the whole thing under wraps for much longer. McKinley’s daughter has to be told and we’ll have to appeal for witnesses who might have seen activity in the park. The media’ll take a pretty keen interest, at least for a while. As I see it, we don’t have leads, just a suspicion about the Tarelton company. DS Roberts is going to interview the CEOwhen he gets back and see how he reacts to this news about one of his employees. Something might come of that.’
    â€˜Like what?’ Hank said.
    Dickersen shrugged. ‘Maybe McKinley was caught up in something that went wrong. Who knows? Could be industrial espionage. Maybe Tarelton has a rival, an enemy of some kind. Might give us another line of enquiry. But that’s about it at this stage. Wouldn’t you agree?’
    Hank and I exchanged looks and we both nodded.
    Dickersen said, ‘I propose that we liaise through DS Roberts. Share whatever information comes our way.’
    â€˜That was weird,’ Hank said on our way back to Newtown. ‘Never said a word about you being on board, unlicensed and all.’
    â€˜It was odd all right,’ I said. ‘They’re playing a very cagey game. I don’t imagine for one minute that they told us everything, do you?’
    Hank shook his head.
    â€˜Which was why we didn’t tell them Margaret’s guess about the