Free Ladykiller by Candace Sutton Page B

almost unbearably upon Bray, who was about to receive a phone call he could have done without. Word of a ‘million-dollar kidnapping’ had begun to circulate among police and, inevitably, been leaked to the media. A reporter phoned Bray. He knew just enough about the case—that a major kidnapping involving a wealthy Sydney businessman’s wife had taken place—and he wanted Bray to fill in the details.
    Then another call came in, to the Major Incident Group office in Surry Hills. Next, a current affairs program contacted Chief Inspector Rod Harvey to say it was planning to air a story on the case. Over three decades Harvey had built up a good relationship with a number of police roundsmen and so he called in favours and stressed that no information was to be published as ‘lives could well be at risk if something goes wrong’. He promised each journalist early notice of the press conference police inevitably would have to call the following week.
    By 18 May the taskforce knew it was time to call upon the public for help. However, measures had to be put in place to get Bernie Whelan out of the house, at least for a few days while the media descended and he had to leave a message on his answering machine in case the kidnappers called. Bernie sat in his kitchen and read from a script into his answering machine. He was nervous as he recited: ‘Hello, this is Bernie speaking. I’ve decided to go away for a few days and I will be on my mobile if you need me. If it’s about the white VW at Homebush, will you please contact me urgently, day or night. Thank you.’ SPG officers would remain at the Whelan home while Bernie went to stay with the children at the home of his friend, Tony Garnett.
    Dennis Bray directed Bernie to amend the advertisement in The Daily Telegraph , to include Bernie’s mobile phone number. The detective advised everyone to get some sleep over the weekend. The lid was about to blow off the investigation.

8 THE RAID
    The wait had gone on long enough. Thirteen days had passed; the seven-day deadline of the kidnappers extended again and again, but not met. Dennis Bray was concerned that crucial evidence was being lost. The detective knew that if Kerry was Bruce Burrell’s prisoner, her fate was sealed. Eventually Burrell would have to kill her because she knew him; she was possibly already dead. A move had to be made at least to preserve the crime scene.
    Bray began rallying forces for a full-scale raid on Hillydale. A search warrant was obtained from Goulburn Local Court and Bray would need to call on the Operational Support Group, or OSG, led by Detective Inspector Bruce Couch. Couch had led the searches of the Belanglo State Forest that found the bodies of three of the seven backpackers who died at the hands of serial killer Ivan Milat. A nuggety-looking officer, with more than two decades of experience, Couch was tough and demanding.
    On this day, Monday 19 May, the 42-year-old was at the Army’s Infantry Centre at Ingleburn training some recruits to his specialist unit. Day one of what was to be a week-long course was drawing to a close when Couch’s pager beeped. ‘Wherever you are ring Peter Dein on this number. It is urgent. URGENT’, the text read. Couch did so.
    Detective Chief Inspector Dein did not waste time with a ‘hello’. ‘Is Bob Myers with you?’
    ‘Yeah, he’s here,’ Couch said.
    ‘I’m coming to see both of you, ASAP. Tell Bob to hang around.’
    As they waited, Myers, the operational commander for the south-west region, joked: ‘What’s this about, Couchie? You in trouble for swearing at the constable this morning?’
    Dein arrived and detailed the case. ‘We’ll be executing a search operation on a person of interest near Goulburn, at Bungonia, on Wednesday. A Mr Bruce Burrell resides on the property. Couchie, I need you to get thirty of your finest together by Wednesday morning. Tell them nothing. Just tell them to be in Goulburn,’ Dein said.
    Couch began