His listeners responded with silence. The commissioner sat back, his eyes bright with anger, outrage written on his poker face for those who knew how to read it. Marvin’s face had a watching expression, half-shrewd, half-fearful.
‘When did this meeting happen, Minister?’ Harrigan asked.
‘Four months ago.’
‘Why didn’t your son tell you this earlier?’
‘Put yourself in his shoes. He’d be dobbing in his own mother. Later he heard in the media that Cassatt was most likely murdered. He decided to leave it where it was.’
‘Why tell you about it now?’
‘It was mainly to do with Beck. The key to this whole story is this. Beck had another venture going with Nattie and Stuart Morrissey that was altogether separate to this diamond business. A consortium that was involved in researching some kind of experimental crop lines. That sounds ordinary but apparently it wasn’t, not according to Julian. Nattie stumped up the money to get this agricultural consortium off the ground. She was repaid later out of the profits from the diamond-trading scheme. The whole point of that venture had been to finance the consortium. Evidently, the start-up costs alone were huge. Just recently Beck seemed to be suggesting to Nattie that I might like to be involved as well. They were close to signing a contract, it was going to lead to a new phase in the business. With my contacts in government, I could be useful to everyone. If need be, I could protect their interests. That’s when Julian came to me. He said he knew it was the last thing I’d want to do.’
Harrigan decided not to ask the minister why Beck would be so sure of his cooperation in the first place.
‘You’d want to protect your son in that situation, Minister.’ Marvin was still flicking through his copy of the dossier. He spoke in a neutral voice without looking up.
‘Of course I would. He was getting his life on track, I wanted it to stay that way. I told Julian I’d talk to Nattie and we’d sort things out. I’d tell her and Beck to go jump in other words. Julian could live with me from then on. He said he was planning a quick trip to Tasmania in the meantime, they were mounting a blockade. I think he came home early because he knew I’d be talking to Nattie the next day. Now they’re both dead.’
They waited for some moments while Edwards again controlled himself.
‘We found the contract you’ve just referred to at the scene yesterday. The shootings prevented it from being signed. It’s a complex scientific document, it’ll need analysis before we can say what it’s about,’ Harrigan said carefully. ‘It identifies their venture as the International Agricultural Research Consortium. The amount of money specified for payment on delivery is extremely large, inconsistent with what they were producing. Do you have any information on that?’
‘None at all. Julian said they were very closemouthed about the details.’
‘So, as I understand it, Cassatt wasn’t involved in the consortium, just the diamond-trading business. Did he know anything about this consortium?’
‘He certainly knew about its existence and, according to Julian’s account of that meeting, he was angling to become involved in it. Presumably he was murdered before that was possible.’
Speedily removed, Harrigan translated to himself.
‘Beck was a strange man by Julian’s account,’ Edwards continued. ‘He kept trying to impress people. He gave Nattie the diamond she was wearing when I found her. He gave Stuart diamonds as well. I can only assume they were examples of his blood diamonds. They were rough diamonds, they needed to be cut.’
‘Were they cut here, Minister?’ Trevor asked.
‘Yes, they were. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you who did it.’
‘Do you know what sort of visa Beck had?’
‘He had an Australian passport. It was thoroughly legitimate. Julian said he boasted about getting it. He said the officials were stupid.’
‘I can see his point,’ Harrigan said. ‘Assuming that dossier to be authentic, in coming here Beck could only have had the aim of involving himself in more illegal activity. The entire history you’ve given us shows that to be the case from the moment he arrived. How thorough were the character checks?’
Edwards could only shrug. His face was haggard. ‘Clearly, not good enough,’ he replied in an exhausted tone.
‘Excuse me, Minister,’ Marvin interrupted urgently. ‘There’s something very significant we have to consider ahead of anything. It’s imperative this dossier be assessed under the utmost secrecy. If this is from a secret service agency, there will be important matters of national security to consider. We could be endangering any personnel who might be identified by it. I think it’s vital that knowledge of this dossier does not go out of this room.’
‘What are you talking about?’ Edwards replied sharply. ‘How can it be assessed if it doesn’t go out of this room? Don’t you trust your own people?’ Suddenly he laughed loudly, without humour. ‘Special Assistant Commissioner Tooth, isn’t it? Well, Special Assistant Commissioner, I’ve been in politics for a long time and I know exactly what you’re up to. I don’t intend to have this information buried by you or anyone else.’
‘Minister, that wasn’t my suggestion.’
‘Yes, it was. Why are you doing this? Is there something in that dossier that frightens you? Are you avoiding the simple truth there may be corrupt officers in your service? Are you frightened what the publicity will be if that story gets out? What’s your angle?’
In a rare sight, Marvin could barely frame a sentence. His face went deep red and he threw his copy of the dossier onto the coffee table as if throwing it away. The commissioner stared at him with surprise and anger.
‘I hope you’re not implying what I think you’re implying, Minister.’ Marvin’s own voice was distorted by anger. ‘In my entire career, twenty-seven years, I’ve never accepted so much as a cup of coffee as an inducement. To say otherwise is a gross insult.’
Harrigan found himself almost gaping at Marvin, usually so meticulously calculating. Even Edwards looked startled.
‘I have no idea how you can interpret what I just said as a personal accusation,’ he said sharply. ‘All I was doing was talking the politics.’
The commissioner intervened before anyone else could speak.
‘The special assistant commissioner has clearly misunderstood you, Minister. Let me assure you that if any of my officers were compromised, they would only have time to clear their desks before they left this building for good. Then they’d be subject to the full force of the law.’
‘I don’t doubt that’s true. Which brings me to my next question. I’ve just given you information that indicates there are corrupt police in this force. What are you going to do about it?’
‘I will be contacting the Police Integrity Commission immediately this meeting is over,’ the commissioner replied, clearly stung. ‘I will direct all my officers to cooperate fully with their investigation. But, before they can act, they’ll need to interview you. They’ll need access to all the information you have.’
‘I’m available whenever they want to talk to me. Which brings me back to the dossier. What do you intend to do with that?’
‘We will assess this information comprehensively, including verifying its authenticity. We will also put every effort into finding its original owners. They have a right to know it’s been stolen. But if it is from an intelligence organisation, then we do have to maintain a strict confidentiality. We may endanger the lives of the agents involved if we don’t.’
‘I’m not a fool, Commissioner. I’m aware that’s necessary. So far I’ve told no one else about that dossier except your people and my own staff, who I know I can trust. But let me tell you, I will not tolerate having this information ignored or suppressed. I’ll put it up on the web if I have to. I’ll blank out the names of any innocent parties but I will still put it up there. I’ll investigate it myself. I’ve told you. It’s my son with a bullet in the back of his head. I want his murderers found. End of story!’