‘Why?’
‘I’m trying to fix it so Roger doesn’t get the idea that you and Bobby are in with me.’
‘But I called him.’
‘This’ll make it clearer. We go back in. I take a look at Roger and you bolt for the door. I trip over Roger and you get away.’
She took the bottle and had a drink. ‘Thank you.’
‘Call it an early Christmas present-for Bobby’s father.’
I gave them most of the rest of the day before I made a series of phone calls to the right people. No names, no pack drill. I also got the computer up and sent the pictures of the tobacco plantation using an anonymous Hotmail address. I let Roger listen and watch it all so he was in no doubt about what was going to happen. Then I took his pistol apart and told him I’d be scattering the pieces between Goulburn and Sydney. Then I kicked him out. He swore a bit. He was better at that than anything else.
The next day I called in on Spiro, who’d left messages on my answering machine. He was in a state. ‘Bobby’s gone. He’s disappeared.’
‘I know,’ I said, ‘but it’s all right.’ I explained things to him and he calmed down.
‘Where do you think he went, Cliff?’
‘I don’t know and if he’s smart he won’t have told anybody.’
‘This girl. What is she like?’
‘I wouldn’t hold my breath until the wedding,’ I said.