Money Farm

by Clif Miller

  Chapter 15

  The road to Mount Isa took them west via Penrith across the Great Dividing Range to Bathurst. Here they made a detour to a 100 hectare riverside property and imposing mansion that Peter had purchased several years earlier. The grass on the hillsides was dry and seared but along the river course there were lush green paddocks and the property had an air of being well maintained. “Hopefully, this will be our little escape from the city when things get tough, as I expect they will before too long” he reiterated to Angelique, they having made several previous visits.

  They stayed only long enough for an early afternoon cup of tea with the property manager and his wife, David and Helen Brownfield, who knew Peter as Mr McPherson from Victoria. After that, the road took them to Orange and then northwestwards through the dry wheat and sheep country of the slopes that lead westwards towards the Darling River, one of Australia’s great watercourses.

  “Or it should be one of Australia’s great watercourses” Peter explained to Angelique who had not previously been this far west in northern New South Wales. “But the twin problems of states’ rights and greed have led to a farcical and truly tragic situation for Australian agriculture” he continued.

  Crossing the Darling River at Bourke he explained that this was one of the ways that water from the higher rainfall slopes in southern Queensland could find its way via floodplains and lakes to the Murray system and in turn provide sustenance for thousands of intensive small holders who grew the bulk of the nation’s foodstuffs, as well as providing water for the estuarine reaches of the Murray where fish habitats and incredible bird life were among the ecological marvels of the world. Yet, because states had authority over water on their land, regardless of the systems that were natural and not related to state boundaries, in Australia the Constitution allowed one state to take all the water for any purpose it chose. Hence, in dry seasons and dry years it did not matter at all if all the water was diverted into huge dams to supply cotton farmers even if the productivity value of that water was tiny in comparison with its ecological value and its intensive food producing capacity downstream.

  “There’s no limit to corporate greed is there?” said Angelique with a perfectly straight face.

  “No” replied Peter. “It’s a stupid system this free market system they call capitalism. It really amounts to using power and muscle as weapons rather than brains and intelligence” the irony of their present task not lost between them.

  Harry was right. The drive to Mount Isa in the relatively slow van took until late on the Friday night. They made it as far as Cunnamulla the first night but only by driving until well after dark. The problem with that was the frequency of braking due to kangaroos and the occasional emu crossing the road in flight as their headlights lit the way. By the second evening towards dusk they were at Long Reach, the drive through the Warrego Range having slowed them to a crawl at times. They arrived at the mining town of Mount Isa and located the campground on the western end of the town that Harry had told them about in the last of the now quickly fading tropical light. Fortunately, the showers were hot and the local food a welcome change from the limited supplies they carried with them. They both enjoyed their kangaroo patties and French fries although neither would relish it as a regular diet. After a look around the town the following morning and a restock at a local grocery store they were back enjoying the pool at the campground when the inevitable call jarred the serenity:

  “I’m in a cab now and on my way. See you shortly.”

  “The fun’s over for the time being” said Peter and they ambled back to the van to await their visitor.

  Before Harry arrived they had also had a chuckle at the antics of the security effort at the local store. It belonged to the same chain that they had bothered some weeks ago, and when Peter pulled the van in to the car park they were already conscious of more cameras than was customary even in Sydney supermarket car parks.

  “Big brother is really here now” Peter had remarked. “It’s a good thing we got in early and did our little thing eh?” he laughed.

  “Perhaps they’re waiting for us with a computer matching system” said Angelique. “I might just use the ladies while you go in first” and she was gone.

  Peter proceeded to select his groceries but there was no chance of a match, he felt certain. Things might change in the future though, he thought, and made a note to be more vigilant in future. When Angelique rejoined him between the aisles she selected what she needed and spent little time in close proximity to Peter. She did not want the cameras to have much of a chance at combining the two individuals and coming up with something like a potential match. She too was well aware of developments in computer matching and use of databases to store images that were improving the authorities’ ability to catch the bad guys.

  “Greetings” said Harry as the taxi pulled away and he hoisted a compact overnight bag into the van. “How was the drive up?”

  “Well, if you really want to know I’m pretty whacked” said Peter. “Just back from London and the dramas at the airport and then days on the bloody longest road in the world and then I have to meet up with you.”

  Harry caught the humour but also the undertone. Maybe they’d have to slow the pace a bit. He made a note to remind himself that Peter could be rather loose with his tongue. However, he did not conceive that the dislike could possibly be genuine and Peter immediately covered his tracks by becoming again much more affable.

  “Alright mate” he started, “Peter” correcting himself, “when we’ve had something to eat we’ll set off later tonight and do our first run. We’ll come back here each night until we’ve covered enough ground to make certain we get a really good outbreak.”

  “Fine with us” said Peter.

  “It’s a little early to eat yet or think about food so how about a beer Harry?” asked Peter, still feeling anything but hospitable towards his guest.

  “Thank you, that would be most enjoyable” Harry replied, and they pulled out some folding chairs and sat in the shade of the van’s awning to take in the late afternoon ambience in the little oasis of life created in the dry interior of the continent, all in the name of the fortunes to be made from copper, gold and other such minerals that lay beneath their feet.

  Typically, Harry got straight down to business.

  “I gave a little thought to how we are going to carry out our inoculations in the field” he said quietly to Peter. Angelique read his lips and managed to hear most of what he was saying despite being on the other side of Peter. “For one thing, I don’t fancy the idea of just bowling up to full grown bulls or steers or cows for that matter and just saying ‘would you mind standing still while I give you a dose of a very nasty little drop that’s going to kill you in a very uncomfortable way’ if you know what I mean?”

  “That’s been on my mind as well” said Peter. “The other animals we’ve inoculated such as those horses were all tied up and accustomed to people being around them. This will be very different. These animals have often not seen a human being for months, and I don’t expect they’ll just walk over to us and allow us to inject them either. So what do you have in mind Harry?”

  “Remember” said Harry, “one of the reasons we came north was that the open country is so empty that we should be able to do the job without any undue surveillance. So the price we pay is that handling the animals will be much more tricky. I’ve brought along a tranquilizer gun. We first get close enough to an animal to fire one pellet into it then we follow it until it drops. Then we inoculate the beast with our virus and let nature do the rest. The tranquilizer will wear off in a few hours and the animal will take a week to ten days to become ill, and more importantly infectious to other animals.”

  “You think of everything” said Peter, a little off-handedly but secretly believing it to be true. Harry certainly was well organized.

  After a second round from the stubbies of brown ale they were on their way to the same take-away cafeteria whe
re Peter and Angelique had eaten the previous night.

  “Brought a friend with yous tonight have yous mate?” came the voice from behind the display of greasy concoctions that passed for food.

  “Yeh’ he’s homeless” responded Peter, trying but failing, to properly get into the vernacular.

  “The roo patties were so good last night we thought we’d have another go tonight” said Angelique.

  “Oh good, I’ll get some on” replied the woman.

  Somehow the treat had lost its novelty and Peter struggled to enjoy more than a few mouthfuls although he did think it was better than any beef he’d ever had in burgers. They retreated to the safety of the van and Angelique made coffee while the strategy planning went on.

  “We came up here because within 100 Kilometres from where we are we can reach the outposts of cattle properties belonging to all four of the main listed companies that we have sold down” said Harry. “We’ll need to go in a different direction each night and we want to be back into the camp ground and under shade for the daytimes.”

  “So where do we go tonight?” said Peter.

  “West towards a place called Camooweal not far from the border with the Northern Territory. That’s a huge property that used to be owned by British investors but it’s now owned by one of our target companies” said Harry. “If we can’t locate cattle there we’ll push further over the border to Avon Downs. But the effects will be felt at Camooweal regardless.”

  “Do you have all the laboratory stuff you need to accurately extract the virus from the transporting capsules?” asked Peter.

  “All in my small case” said Harry. “How’s the fuel supply?”

  “Enough for about 250 Kilometers” replied Peter.

  “We’ll fill her up before we leave. No need to take chances out in this country” said Harry.

  Fuelled and prepared they set out on the drive west from the town of Mount Isa, and as darkness arrived they were again assailed by kangaroos as they drove along. There was also the odd feral pig, an emu and even a camel wandering alng the road.

  “It’s a good thing we have the bull bar” said Peter as sometimes he was unable to avoid an impact.

  “I wonder if the roo patties come from road kill?” said Harry.

  “People wouldn’t stoop so low, surely?” said Peter.

  With the problem of the kangaroos it took them well over two hours to reach their destination. At that point Harry suggested they start watching for any vehicle tracks leading off the road and especially for cattle fixtures such as loading ramps, holding yards and the like, or just cattle, he added.

  After a further 20 or so kilometers they found a side road and turned gently off the main highway. It was a fairly well worn road but had no signs of a homestead or other particular purpose but in a while they saw signs of stock. There were droppings and evidence of grass that had been grazed. They turned into a wide grassed area and there they were: a small group of Brahman cattle with their eyes shining out of the dark and their light colours reflecting the headlights. They stopped the vehicle and Harry took out his equipment.

  Tranquilizer gun loaded, Harry decided he’d have first go. He tried just walking slowly in the headlights but the cattle sensed his presence and began moving away. The range was too long. They decided that he should try circling around through the scrub to get the cattle between himself and the headlights of the vehicle.

  The tactic worked reasonably well. There was enough moonlight for Harry not to need a flashlight and he was able to move fairly quickly. Peter moved the vehicle to keep the cattle within the beam and after a while he caught sight of Harry coming in from beyond the animals.

  It did not take long. Within a few minutes Harry walked out into the headlighted area and waved to Peter. Coming over to the vehicle he said he’d got a good shot into a couple of beasts including the herd bull, and that they should just wait a few minutes before following the animals that were now wandering slowly through the scrub.

  They caught up with the two tranquilized beasts after a short walk. Both were stationary and looked as though they might fall over.

  “Just keep out of the way if they go down” said Harry. “We don’t want to be underneath one.”

  The animals were clearly not in a mood for flight or fight and by degrees Peter and Harry realized they could move calmly up towards the rear quarters and get in the necessary viral inoculation. This part was completed and the two men made their way back to their vehicle.

  “All in a night’s work as they say” said Harry. “Well done all.”

  They were back at the campground by 1.30 in the morning and dimmed their headlights as they swung past other sleeping families in tents and vans. They settled down to sleep with Harry on the settee berth and by the time they awoke the sun was shining and the world was up and about.

  “You guys were late out last night” said one of their neighbours.

  “Yes” replied Peter without bothering to explain that they’d be out every one of the nights that they camped here.

  They enjoyed the day in the campground only because they could go for a swim as often as they cared to, and in the heat of this part of the world that was very many times during the day. They also managed some hours of catch up sleep on mattresses that they dragged out of the van and set up under the overhanging awning. But Angelique in particular said that the flies were bothering her. They were small, multitudinous and interested in any available patch of moisture including eyes, mouth nose and ears.

  Inquisitive neighbours tried on several occasions to make friends with the trio, but all such efforts were gently rebuffed. They’d all learned from the Fred Bailey episode that you neither communicate with nor lie to strangers. Sooner or later you’ll slip up.

  “How’d you go with the supply of the virus. Is there enough there for the job?” asked Peter when he and Harry were out of earshot of any neighbours.

  “I used about a third of one of the tubes last night” said Harry. “We could do four or five more such runs.”

  “Well we won’t want any left over will we?” Peter replied.

  “I don’t think so” said Harry.

  “So where is it tonight?” asked Peter.

  “We go east first then north onto the Leichhardt River at Kajabbi. That station is owned by another of the target companies, Beef Australia, so two of the four companies could be hit within a day or so of each other” replied Harry.

  “And you’re sure we still have at least a week before the cattle start getting sick?” enquired Peter.

  “Most likely up to two weeks” said Harry.

  They topped up with fuel again at a different outlet to the one they used the previous afternoon and they treated themselves to a more up market restaurant in the downtown area before their work for the night. Again, because of the isolation of the area, on several occasions strangers endeavoured to strike up conversation. At one point Peter just said quietly:

  “If you were looking for gold would you want to tell everyone where you’re going?” It was a brusque response but seemed to have the right effect.

  Their second night turned out to be much easier than their first. They were on the road towards Kajabbi when the opportunity arose. They went over a cattle grid that Harry said probably indicated the start of the property, they passed a warning sign that said there might be cattle on the road and then they came across cattle sitting in the grass right next to the road. They slowed the van and then stopped adjacent the cattle.

  These animals were clearly more used to vehicles because they did not move away, merely continuing to chew their cud and look into the distance. Harry got the tranquilizer darts out all the same, loaded up and shot them into two cows that seemed most cooperative. Apart from flinching a little where the darts penetrated, the animals did not attempt to move away, and a short while later Harry had inoculated both with the fluid carrying the foot and mouth virus.

  They turned the van and retraced their steps, arr
iving back at the camp somewhat earlier than the previous night. The next morning the neighbour did not bother to comment on their night on the town. No doubt he would like to have known what they had been up to.

  The third day was spent much as the previous one and that night they again headed out of town but this time in a southerly course along a graveled road that led off into the distant hills of the Selwyn Range. Their destination over 90 kilometers south was a vast cattle spread headquartered at Dajarra beyond a place with the romantic name of Duchess. The driving was more difficult because the road was truly rough and at one point they had considered turning back and heading for easier targets.

  “This property was taken over a number of years back when the Vestys sold off some of their vast tracts” said Harry. “It’s now in the hands of our third rural listed entity, ‘Rural Meat and Livestock’ and they own a string of properties from here all the way down towards lake Eyre and beyond.”

  It was already nearing midnight when they reached a telltale cattle grid and began to see the eyes of cattle reflected in their headlights.

  “As soon as you see a place to turn off the track we’ll try to use the headlights to pick up some the way we did the first night” said Harry. But although Peter found several likely spots to get off the track there were no cooperative cattle to be found. They drove on and eventually passed a small homestead where there was obviously a resident because there was a pick-up truck parked next to the house.

  They continued on for a few minutes when Harry decided they should turn around and head back the way they’d come. It was a fortunate decision because the resident was on the move, probably alerted by the sound of their vehicle. The house lights were now turned on and Peter felt unhappy at this.

  “Let’s get the story straight. We had heard there was an opal mine out this way and we’re looking to do some fossicking for opals. Just stick to the story. No embellishments” said Peter.

  They drove back for some 10 or more kilometers when the headlights of the pickup could be seen closing on them from a distance behind. They pulled over as if to let the vehicle pass but as expected, the driver stopped next to their vehicle and got out of his vehicle to come around to Peter’s side of the campervan.

  “What the bloody hell are you people doing driving around at this time of night?” he said, in a none too friendly fashion.

  “We were trying to get up here before dark and find somewhere to camp” said Peter. “We were told there’s an opal mine around these parts somewhere” and he hoped he sounded as silly as the idea.

  “No opals here mate; just cattle. Who told you there was opals here?”

  “Fella we met in the pub down at Cloncurry” said Peter.

  “No well, he’s completely balmy. There’s nothin’ ’ere but sandstone and there sure ain’t any opal in it. You need to get down to Lightning Ridge in New South Wales to find opal, mate” he said.

  “Okay, sorry we bothered you” said Peter.

  Harry and Peter both had a feeling they would be remembered.

  “I’m pleased we put those other licence plates on the vehicle Harry, Peter said.

  “As soon as we’re clear from here the number plates come off” said Harry.

  “But as soon as we get back to the camp we need them back on as that’s the number we checked the van in with” said Peter.

  “Let’s hope they don’t put out an all points search effort for this vehicle or any like it” said Harry.

  Fortunately, as they rounded the next bend a cow and calf were simply standing by the roadside. They stopped, turned off the lights and walked back to the rise they’d just come over.

  “Any sign?” asked Peter.

  “No” said Harry. “He definitely went back. It’s over ten kilometers now and he’d be up to here now if he was still tracking us. He can’t drive this road without lights at night and we’d have seen his lights.”

  They strolled back to the animals that hadn’t moved since their arrival and Harry prepared his darts.

  “We’ll tranquilize mum and not worry about the calf” he said. “The calf will stay by mum and we can do it as well when we do Mum.”

  The tranquilizing and inoculation took no more than 10 minutes and they were on their way.

  “I wonder if that guy who spoke to us will put two and two together in a week or so and connect us with the little problem in the district?” said Peter.

  “All they’ll know is that there’s a chance some people in a campervan might, just might, have had something to do with this, but it’s a long stretch of the bow to really think that they have been sabotaging cattle all around the district, surely?” said Harry.

  By the time they reached the entrance to the campground it was already getting light in the east and Harry suggested that they not drive in and wake people up at this hour.

  “In fact, I’m a little worried about his guy we met along the road in there” Harry said, almost as though thinking aloud. “For one thing he’s only got to put in a routine report about a vehicle in a strange place at a strange hour and if the police are switched on they’ll check the local caravan parks and know we were staying there. Then they’ll find out our licence number is false and the hunt will be on. Take me to the airport and I’ll get a flight out. They’ll be looking for three in a vehicle. Fix the correct plates and ditch the false ones in the scrub once you are clear of town. Drive sedately away from Mount Isa back towards shall we say Brisbane, and ditch all the other evidence of our activities.”

  Peter knew that if Harry was worried they had reason to be worried. They did exactly as told. Harry was lucky enough to get an 8 am flight out to Cairns and he said he’d be fine from there.

  “See you in the big smoke” he said, and was gone.

  They refueled, bought some take-away breakfast and headed out of town to the east. A few kilometres out, Peter stopped the van, removed the false licence plates and carefully buried them under some logs and bark. He then took all the remaining evidence of their work and walked some distance into the scrub before pitching it down a hole that looked like a wombat hole but he wasn’t too sure in this locality. He covered the material with more bark and sticks.

  They drove on and were about to take the turn to the south at Cloncurry when Peter thought better of the idea and headed due east for Charters Towers, the choosing of different pathways home being one of his guiding principles in life. The police checkpoint intended to catch them had been set up on the outskirts of Longreach on the theory that they’d make a fuel stop there if they were returning south. There was another check point at Tennant Creek to the west of Mount Isa but manpower deficiencies meant the third, least likely route via the Queensland coast was not blocked. The police were about a day behind them and that was the margin they had before reaching the safety of the road south from Charters Towers to Emerald and then out to the coast at Rockhampton. From there they were indistinguishable from the thousands of such vans plying the eastern seaboard of Australia.

  The false licence plate on a campervan had rung alarm bells in the minds of an alert policeman at Mount Isa as the mysterious death of former officer Frank Bailey continued to exercise the minds of the forces of all the eastern states. There was also a hypothesis that two police deaths in New South Wales in the past six months might have been because they were getting close to some very nasty people.

  After they had rested for a night and much of the rest of the following day in a campground at Rockhampton, Peter and Angelique commenced the long haul down the coast. They stopped for a night at Gympie and then again at Coffs Harbour which was now familiar territory. Having again probably missed being arrested by no more than a hair’s breadth, Peter was becoming increasingly certain that there was no alternative but to contemplate an untimely end for Harry. He knew the risks this would entail, and that Harry’s friends in California would probably seek revenge, but he could see no reasonable way out. More and more he felt like a trapped animal. They pulled in to
their Point Piper parking apron a full five days after leaving Mount Isa.

  Somehow Harry had them down to the hour. The mobile rang soon after they’d had a shower and before they’d even finished their first decent coffee in two weeks.

  “All under control?” he said.

  “Yes” said Peter “but we heard a news item about some terrible people who were driving around in a campervan with false licence plates and who were seen in a very strange place in the middle of the night.”

  “Yes, well we won’t talk about such things. They make me quite ill” said Harry. “I’ll let you settle down and I’ll be over in the morning.”

  When Harry had rung off Peter told Angelique that they should expect another visit from the police.

  “Why?” she said.

  “Because they’ll have the type of van and again it’ll be the short list of ninety or so in the country that they’ll do a check on.

  “Right,” said Angelique. “I’ve definitely checked that there’s nothing in the van to indicate where we’ve been lately. But this time I’m being sloppy and leaving lots of general pamphlets and stuff lying there but nothing that pointed to the Mount Isa or north Queensland travel.”

  “You’re learning” Peter said.

  “A good teacher” she replied.

  It took nearly ten days for the police to visit. By that time there was no other evidence of their trip away. Their mail service was back to normal and they had not been anywhere for more than a month. The van had also been thoroughly washed. The police were polite, friendly and just doing their job.

  It also took about the same amount of time for the foot and mouth outbreak in far western Queensland to hit the headlines. Suddenly, cattle across three large stations had been found with the symptoms that pathology testing had confirmed was foot and mouth disease; Australian livestock producers’ worst nightmare.

  All the livestock on these properties, including many feral donkeys, camels, pigs, goats and almost any other descendant of a domestic livestock breed was being rounded up, slaughtered and burnt. A massive aerial shooting war was underway. Helicopters, motor bikes, all terrain vehicles and a plethora of weapons were at work ridding the countryside of the scourge. Even the military were unleashed on the animal population. A foot and mouth vaccination program was commenced for livestock further south but there seemed no alternative to the mass slaughter in the Tropics as the disease was spreading at an alarming rate.

  The economic cost of the battle to contain the disease was seen as minute compared to the cost of not doing so. Meanwhile, the perpetrators were reaping a handsome reward. Three of the target companies had been hit first and were down by more than fifty percent. The fourth was considered vulnerable and had fallen over 30 percent. The beneficiaries of these falls watched the mayhem from the safety of their San Francisco office adjacent the legal office of George Kuidel.

  “The recovery of our short sold shares in this market need not be rushed” George Rosenthahl told his group. “The companies will not recover for some time. They will lose most of their income this year and hereafter will have reduced markets because of the number of countries currently buying Australian beef that will not do so again, or at least for the foreseeable future.”

  This buyback was prolonged and easy for the consortium and was conducted slowly over several months. The fortune they made was enormous. When Isaac Eisenhower, one of the other consortium members, commented at a meeting that it was incredibly easy to drive the share prices of companies downwards George Rosenthahl looked at him blankly and said that market forces are what drives prices downwards. That was sufficient explanation. It was also Isaac Eisenhower’s caution not to rock the boat when all aboard were doing so well.

  Over the next couple of months Harry kept Peter informed of progress and towards the end said to him that his bonus share of the funds for this episode would be over four million dollars. Peter could thereby do his sums and work out that the consortium had taken at least four hundred million dollars from the four companies involved, or at least from their shareholders.

  “Someone should do something about that short selling stuff” he said. “All they’d have to do is ban it, ban hedge funds and ban all sorts of monkey business to do with shares you don’t actually own and that’d tidy it up. Meanwhile, make hay while the sun shines is our motto.”

  “I agree with you” said Jim, who had come for a rare visit.

  “How’s the new pad at Vaucluse mate?” said Peter. “I’ll get time now I think to come and visit. Did you get the pool Peg wanted and the garden?”

  “Yes, both” said Jim. “It’s very relaxing there. My blood pressure is pretty well back to normal, I’ve had a reprieve on the prostate front and Peg and I are back to thinking of getting a cabin cruiser. We enjoyed the trips out with you so much we think we’d like to do some on our own boat.”

  “Do you want me to help you find a boat?” said Peter.

  “That’d be great. I really need some guidance on what I should be looking for.”

  “Jim, I need your help with something as well” said Peter.

  “Well if I’d known I’d have come earlier” replied his brother.

  “No, I’ve only just decided that this is the way things will have to be. I’m being driven to distraction by this consortium commitment that if you recall I was more or less dragooned into.”

  “Yes, and damn glad I was that you got me out of it” replied Jim.

  At that exact moment there was a knock on the door and Harry was there. Invited in, he stepped inside and recognizing Jim said he was pleased to see him again and asked after his health. Jim said it was much improved, and thanked Harry for his concern.

  Seeing the company, Harry said he wouldn’t stay but he’d telephone Peter in a day or two. “George has got things on the way for the little fishing activity in Tasmania like the one you mentioned when we met that time at your home” said Harry, looking at Jim.

  “Glad we supplied you with inspiration” replied Jim.

  Then looking back to Peter he said: “Oh, and George said to tell you the commission is in the bank minus the usual.”

  Peter thanked him and led him to the front door.

  “That’s the problem I’ve got” he said to Jim when he came back into the room. “I’m going to have to do something about it.”

  “What, you mean get rid of Harry?” asked Jim.

  Peter merely shrugged and gave Jim a familiar confirmatory nod. Jim put his fingers to his lips and motioned with his eyes. They walked out and down onto the deck by the pool.

  “It just occurred to me that Harry is smart enough to have your apartment bugged. He may already know what you’ve got in mind” said Jim.

  “He always does seem to get his timing absolutely right” said Peter. “That could explain a lot of things.”

  “So what’s the real problem with Harry?” asked Jim.

  “Oh, it’s not just Harry. I’ve lost interest in making so much money Jim. I don’t have any time to enjoy what I’ve got.”

  “I noticed that a long time ago” said Jim. “For you, even a trip on your boat always seemed to mean business. I want a boat for pleasure. The fishing, the quiet little coves at night, the sun, not business.”

  “I’ve figured that getting rid of Harry would be the lesser of two evils. He’s already killed three people that I know of in pursuit of business. I’m having real trouble dealing with that. I just think if I got rid of Harry the rest of the consortium would give up on me. Of course they’d not know what happened to Harry.”

  “But they would probably work it out” said Jim.

  “That’s one of the risks I’ll have to take” replied Peter.