‘Why don’t you call your hire car firm?’
‘LPS pays for my hire car and driver,’ he said. ‘It’s part of the arrangement that they always let Elena know when I’m on my way out there. I don’t want her knowing I’m going out there today. That’s why I have a different car. I hired this one myself.’
‘Why don’t you call a taxi? I’m sure the driver would be happy to take you there and back.’
‘I want to speak to you. I’m looking for a witness, someone who’ll report back once this whole set of affairs is finished with. You know half the story already. I want to tell you the other half. I want you to be my witness. You’re a reliable listener. You’ll be one other person who knows what actually happened, and then when this is over you can tell other people.’
‘I want you to answer a question first. Did you kill those people at Pittwater?’
‘No.’
‘Who did?’ Grace asked.
‘I’m guessing in some way or another that Elena was behind it and DP was her killer. Jerome was unreliable. He was an alcoholic; apparently, he was approaching the point where there was nothing left in his life but the drink. Sometime or another, he was going to do something that would bring the whole thing tumbling down, including LPS. I think Elena would have felt she had no choice but to act.’
Why should I believe you? Grace asked herself. And then considered that whether he was lying or not, and whatever type of man he was, he had information. By his own admission, he wanted her to pass that information on to other people. Right now she needed to hear what he had to say. It was better than sitting useless, waiting for Harrigan to call. She could sift the truth from the lies later when she had enough facts to know which was which.
‘How did Elena know she was in danger?’ she asked.
‘Because she was having Jerome watched. She knew everything he was doing. She’s a smart woman. She was protecting her back.’
‘How do you know?’
‘Because the individual watching him is a colleague of mine. I’m here, Grace, for the same reason that I called you and told you where you could find the commander’s son. I’m not what I seem. In fact, I’ve undertaken a job I’m not cut out for, least of all now that I’m damaged the way I am.’
‘What job is that?’
‘I was recruited by a secret security agency to act as a mole and get as close as I could to some of the scientific programs LPS is involved in. They picked me because I was ex-army. They had evidence indicating that the organisation backing Elena, Abaris, was involved in a wide-ranging experimental program developing biological weapons and they were using LPS facilities for research. Before he was shot, Jerome had been growing experimental crops at a property near the Riverina as part of that program. My colleague was able to get hold of some seed stock so I could test the wheat they’d developed. It gives no nourishment. You eat it and you starve. Can you imagine that? It’s almost beyond comprehension. But that’s what they were doing. There’s no better way to undermine a country than to target its food supply, particularly a Third World country. Abaris was also behind what you just saw on the video. They produced a very short-lived but virulent virus, not unlike bird flu, and tested it in Africa. That was done in a research facility I used to work in in north London.’
‘You were there when they tested it,’ Grace said.
‘I was, and I took on this second task because I thought that having seen them do that, I had to get the evidence that would allow us to shut them down. They’re not running a government-sponsored program. What they produce is for sale to the highest bidder. It could easily be a government, of course, but it could be anybody else as well. Either way, it’s a crime against humanity. But I shouldn’t have taken on this second task. I don’t have the physical stamina for it.’
‘Who’s your colleague?’
‘I can’t tell you that. In fact, if that person even knew I was here talking to you, they’d be very angry. I’ll tell you why I want to go to LPS. I’m not going to last much longer after today. I’ve reached the end of my endurance. But I do have comprehensive access to the LPS building. I’m the only one after Elena who does, including access to her office. I’m very certain that Elena has the contracts covering Jerome’s last venture. They’re in her office, just sitting innocently in a drawer. I want to get hold of them and send them back to our handlers. Those contracts will provide a proof of ownership of the biotechnology. I’ll be able to demonstrate once and for all who’s behind this program. Even if no one goes to gaol, at least it will bring the whole process to a stop.’
‘Why aren’t you asking your colleague to drive you?’
‘Once I’ve done this, I’ve blown my cover with Elena. There’s no CCTV in her office, but the building cameras will still show me going in and out. She has to put it together. My colleague doesn’t think we’re finished. You see, those contracts aren’t going anywhere until Elena safe-hands them to her father the next time she goes to London. That won’t be for another three weeks. My colleague wants to keep our options open until then.’
‘Why?’
‘They believe Elena was behind the murders at Pittwater and they want to prove it. You saw the net. In their opinion, that photograph was sent out as a warning to anyone who wants to mess with Abaris. This will happen to you if you push too hard. My colleague has no intention of taking that lying down. They want whoever killed those people and that boy.’
‘Why not leave it to the police?’
‘They have no faith in the police force, let me tell you that now. I’m different, I’d be happy to. But my colleague is more professional than me. They can make hard decisions I can’t. If I keep on with this undercover, I’m going to let them down so badly they could end up dead. I don’t want that to happen.’
‘Does anyone know the two of you are here?’ Grace asked.
‘No. It’s a breach of protocol, but the organisation we work for often works like that.’
‘Tell me its name.’
‘I can’t do that,’ Brinsmead said.
‘Then I’m not going to drive you,’ Grace replied.
‘What could the name possibly mean to you? You won’t have heard of it.’
‘Just tell me.’
‘Falcon.’
Grace had heard of them and their methods. They operated as Brinsmead had described: undercover, dangerously, and usually past the edge of legality. Their modus operandi fitted with Sam’s traits: always on the edge and aggressive.
Brinsmead was still talking. ‘What I’m doing is calling our operation to a halt. If I can get possession of those contracts, then I think we’ll have achieved a good outcome. But I’m not just bailing out. What I’m really doing is blowing the whole rotten business sky high. This is a nasty business, Grace, where innocent bystanders can end up dead. That’s why I posted that video on the net. It can go with everything else that’s already out there, including the material Edwards put out. People can make their own judgements. All I want to achieve is to get hold of those contracts and protect the identity of my colleague. Then that’ll be the end of it.’
‘Why should I believe anything you’ve said?’ she asked.
‘There’s no reason whatsoever, Grace. You can get out of the car and walk away now.’
The video was powerful in Grace’s mind. She was thinking of the dead, of some kind of redress. A hope that the people who were responsible might be found out and stopped, even if they were never prosecuted.
‘I’ll drive you out there and then back to the city,’ she said, ‘but only if you answer some questions for me about who you are.’
‘Before you do, I have to ring Elena. If she’s going to be out there today, then I can’t do this.’
‘Why didn’t you make sure of that beforehand?’
‘What Elena does from day to day is up to her. There was no point in asking her if I wasn’t going to be able to get there.’