‘The old tractor is pretty slow so it’ll take me close on two hours to get back there—should be fun then though,’ said Mike with a wicked chuckle.
‘You might be better leaving it alone and I’ll try to get Water Resources out there,’ cautioned Jack.
‘Nah; too little too late, Jack. I’ve had it with these bastards and besides what would those spineless mongrels do? Take a few photos, tell me to calm down and then I’d never hear from them again.’
‘I understand your frustration, but things have happened in here that might change all that. ICAC’s found what Mary had discovered on the Water Resources computer system. McMahon’s been questioned and so has Robertson. Might be time to pull back and wait,’ said Jack.
‘Hmm, that’s all very good news. I’ll let Charlie and Sharon know but it changes nothing for me. It’s time to draw a line in the sand, mate. I’m heading out now so I’d suggest guys get your arses out here. If Pip follows, tell her it’s on the northern boundary of my place where it joins the main off-take channel—she’ll know where I mean.’
Chapter 94
‘Vinnie, Todd here. What the hell is going on out there? I’ve just been asked to attend an interview at ICAC, which is a serious worry. And we heard late last night that Drummond threw himself out his office window.’
‘It’s busy, I’d have to say that,’ replied Vinnie exuding a calm he didn’t feel. ‘I’ve been tracking them around so I know they’ve interviewed McMahon and Robertson. Not sure they’ll get much out of them though. Some new senior copper has arrived at the station so maybe McMahon is in the shit. I just heard in the pub that they’ve found Wellsmore’s body. And they’re spending a lot of time at the Water Resources building—there’s some new dude arrived as well—I suspect they’re checking emails, phone records and all that.’
‘Oh Christ, Wellsmore’s body. Shit, now we’re screwed,’ said Todd.
‘Yeah, the signs are not good—I’m thinking it’s time to disappear like Billy and Marcus. That way they can’t grab and question me; ’cause if they do, rest assured I’m not taking this all on my little lonesome, buddy. I have one piece of unfinished business and then I’m gone. See ya Todd. Good luck mate.’
Before leaving for his appointment at ICAC, Todd called Stannard. The reception was hostile. ‘You people are such amateurs,’ he blasted at Todd. ‘I see Drummond had no ticker and I just had a call from Robertson. ICAC is all over the place checking this, that and the other. That idiot Vinnie has overcooked things badly with his pathetic attempts at making this go away.’
‘I just spoke to him and he’s disappearing. He says they’ve found Wellsmore’s body and McMahon’s been put on ice, plus ICAC’s digging through the files at Water Resources. Sounds like we’re fucked, Paul,’ said Todd.
‘If Robertson keeps his cool there’s still nothing connecting us to this—so stay cool. I’ll speak to Sir Lawrence and see how he wants to play it.’ The phone went dead—as usual.
Todd arrived at the ICAC building by taxi, a few minutes late, and was quickly shown through to the assistant commissioner’s office. There waiting for him were Julie and Mark.
‘Thanks for coming, Todd,’ started Julie. ‘You will recall Mark visiting your Minister recently in relation to this alleged water theft matter out at Dawson.’
Todd nodded, and said, ‘Of course. Is that what this is about?’
Mark smiled across at him, ignoring the lame attempt at deflection. ‘I suppose you heard about the tragic suicide of Des Drummond last night?’ said Mark.
‘Yes, very sad indeed. He was a fine servant of the people.’
Mark responded. ‘We may have to let others make that judgement, Todd. Mr Drummond left a confession by way of his suicide note. In it he admitted to being aware that Peter Wellsmore was protecting people engaging in quite systematic theft of water over the past five years, and that he did nothing about it.’
Todd, previously unaware of the contents of the suicide note, was clearly unnerved by his information. ‘I’m speechless. I had no idea this was going on, which I’m sure the minister will confirm. We like to give our Departments a lot of latitude to get on with their difficult work and I suppose sometimes that trust is misplaced. I’m curious as to why you’ve asked me here, and not the minister—that would seem more appropriate.’
‘Yes, I’m sure,’ intervened Julie. ‘We’ve had one of our people out at the office of the Water Resources Department going through the email and phone records of Peter Wellsmore, whose body, incidentally, was found floating in the MacKinley River last night. The police are treating his death as suspicious.’ She paused to let this sink in.
Mark picked it up, ‘Among the phone records we found a lot between you and Peter Wellsmore—far more than we would have expected, given your respective positions, and especially given what you just said about taking a hands-off role with management.’
‘Peter Wellsmore—and I’m deeply saddened to hear of his death—was one of those bureaucrats who needed constant advice. He didn’t have confidence in Des Drummond, sadly, so would call me quite often—too much really—to make sure he was acting as the minister expected. I tried to discourage him, but to no avail,’ said Todd.
Julie resumed. ‘Thanks for that insight. It’s admirable on your part to have been a mentor for Peter, even if a reluctant one. However, what you say doesn’t seem to be backed up by the data. For example, it shows that over the last three years you called him a total of 47 times and he only called you on ten occasions. Odd, don’t you think?’
Todd took a deep breath. ‘There must be some mistake. I suggest you recheck that information.’
‘Oh, we will, be assured,’ said the assistant commissioner. ‘That brings us to the final thing we want to raise with you.’ She paused. ‘Vinnie Sutcliffe. Does that name mean anything to you?’
Todd managed to avoid gulping and squirming but he couldn’t hide the impact this had on his body language, which instantly became less confident. ‘No, I can’t say it does. Should it?’ he replied.
‘Possibly. You see, one of the other regular callers to Mr Wellsmore was Mr Sutcliffe. We’ve recently had it confirmed that he orchestrated the kidnapping of a child in Melbourne last week. That child belongs to Jack Miller, a journalist currently assisting us with this investigation. The kidnapping was an attempt to coerce Mr Miller into dropping his inquiries into this whole sorry case. The police are very keen to speak to Mr Sutcliffe, for obvious reasons, and so are we. Our suspicion is that he has been a key player in the water theft operations in the Dawson region.’
‘Again, I’m speechless. I can’t believe all this was going on—kidnapping, that’s dreadful,’ said Todd.
‘We’re glad you feel that way, Todd. Given the cosy relationship between you and Mr Wellsmore, and Mr Wellsmore and Mr Sutcliffe, we need to make certain that the third side of that triangle wasn’t in play—if you get my meaning,’ said Julie.
‘I can assure you that is the case. My dealings have only been with Wellsmore,’ responded Todd.
‘We’re delighted to hear that but we would like to confirm it,’ said Julie, producing the warrant from her top drawer, staring at Todd and handing him a copy.
‘This is a warrant for us to seize and hold for the purpose of this investigation any mobile phones, Blackberries or similar telecommunications devices you hold. If, as you say, you don’t know Mr Sutcliffe; your phone records will confirm that for us, now won’t they?’
‘This is outrageous. You can’t do this. I have rights. I work for a minister for God’s sake,’ Todd ranted.
Calmly, Mark said, ‘We can do it, as this warrant shows. You can call the minister or a lawyer if you wish. Irrespective, you will hand these over to us.’
Todd stood, knowing this was the truth. He produced his Blackberry from his suit pocket and hurled it on the desk, turned and stormed out.
They heard him ask the receptionist how he could call a taxi and then storm out of the
building, saying, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll find one myself.’
Mark picked up the Blackberry, thinking he might be able to quickly check the phone book. ‘Bugger, he’s got a password lock on it.’
‘Get it to the techos. They’ll be able to access it in minutes,’ said Julie.
Mark walked toward the door. ‘I’m on it. Then are we going to see Mr Stannard?’ he said, unable to disguise a boyish enthusiasm for what they were about to do.
‘You bet. I’ll get my car.’
Chapter 95
As Mike’s dozer lumbered toward the site of the concreting, Vinnie and Robbo arrived there to both admire the handiwork and reinforce with the men responsible the need for the water diversions to be discontinued for a while.
‘Thanks for meeting us here fellas and great work with the concrete,’ said Vinnie laughing. ‘That should really piss off that old whinger Thompson. Looks like a miniature of the Three Gorges dam on the fuckin’ Yangtze River in China.’
They enjoyed a collective laugh. When it went quiet again one of the group said, ‘What’s that noise?’
They all listened intently. ‘Sounds like a chopper,’ said one of the men.
‘No, sounds more like a big tractor, or dozer. You can feel the earth rumbling,’ suggested Robbo.
Vinnie’s sixth sense for trouble kicked in. ‘You boys get out of here. I’m not sure what it is—can’t be good though.’ They took him at his word and scattered to their utes and were gone in a flurry of dust.
Vinnie turned to Robbo. ‘I assume you know how to drive that thing?’ he said, pointing at the excavator.
‘Sure. What’ve you got in mind?’ said Robbo.
‘I’m not sure yet. Just trying to use what tools we’ve got. If that’s Thompson coming to remove this block of concrete, let’s make it hard for him. I’ve had it with these fuckers.’
‘Yeah, me too. I’ll go get in position. What are you going to do?’ asked Robbo.
‘I’m going to load the shotgun and wait to see who or what shows up. Way out here we can do what we fuckin’ well please, mate,’ said a very cocky Vinnie.
Before leaving with Mark and Luke by car, Jack tried to call Pip. There was no answer. He left a detailed message about what was going on out at Mike’s—hoping she would get it in time to fly out there as well.
It wasn’t until Pip landed back at Dawson just under an hour later that she turned on her phone and got Jack’s message. Jimmy was about to start cleaning his rifle—a ritual he went through straight after a shoot.
‘Hey Jimmy, how do you feel about another ride? Sounds like trouble brewing out at Mike’s so I’m going to fly out and see what happening.’
‘I’ve got nothing else on right now so I’m happy to tag along,’ he said, quickly reassembling his rifle.
As the sun began to sink through the heat haze in the western sky, Pip and Jimmy took off and she turned the chopper, yet again, toward Sunset Downs.
Chapter 96
Ushered into the huge entry area of Paul Stannard’s home; with its high ceilings, marble floors, gleaming mirrors and antique furniture; the assistant commissioner and Mark both thought the same thing—being a CEO must pay well.
‘Thank you for seeing us at such short notice, Mr Stannard, especially here at your beautiful home,’ said Julie.
‘Think nothing of it. I’m always keen to help ICAC—your organisation plays such an important role as a watchdog on our public sector. I am a little surprised that you think I could be of assistance to you,’ Stannard replied confidently, turning to look at Mark.
Julie and Mark expected a hint of misogyny may surface in this interview so the plan was for Julie to dominate the conversation to help unsettle Stannard.
‘May we sit down? Perhaps somewhere private would be best,’ continued Julie.
‘Why of course. If you think we will be that long. Perhaps out by the pool—it’s my favourite office,’ he replied smugly. He led them out to the poolside table with its breathtaking views of the harbour. ‘I can see why,’ said Julie.
Settled in and drinks poured, Julie began, ‘Mr Stannard…’
‘Please, call me Paul,’ he smiled.
‘Thank you, Paul. Would you please describe the relationship between Goodacres and GrowOz for us.’
‘A curious question, I must say. GrowOz is a subsidiary of Goodacres. It supplies most of our fresh produce.’
Julie continued, ‘And what about the relationship between Goodacres and Primus Investments?’
‘Even more curious. In simple terms, Primus is a company that operates on behalf of Goodacres in matters such as property sales. Goodacres has a controlling interest in the company. I wonder where this could be leading,’ Stannard smiled politely.
Julie ignored him again, ‘And would Primus also be the company through which Goodacres acquires water licences?’
‘Yes. Without boring you with the details, it was simpler for a variety of administrative and legal reasons to have an entity to own and operate water licences on our behalf.’
‘Thank you, Paul,’ said Julie quietly. ‘You may be aware that a few weeks ago a local farmer up in the Dawson area—where GrowOz has a regional office we understand—made certain accusations about water theft. He claimed to have evidence to support his assertion that the regional manager for the Water Resources Department was, to quote him, “turning a blind eye to these thefts”.’
‘Now I see where this is going, I think. Before you say any more, the advice we had from our GrowOz representative out there was that this was an aggrieved landholder with a long history of making scurrilous and ill-founded accusations,’ he replied.
‘Well, it seems not,’ said Julie, pausing momentarily and smiling across the table at him. ‘Our investigations have revealed these claims to have some basis. In fact, as we speak our people are assembling information on a number of instances where the former regional manager, a Mr Peter Wellsmore—sadly now dead—was in fact overlooking serious matters of water theft, or making sure reports relating to them never saw the light of day.’
Stannard’s face was creased in thought. ‘Oh dear,’ he said with apparent surprise. ‘I can now see why ICAC is so rightly involved. A public servant behaving badly, shall we say.’
‘Where this comes a little closer to home for you, Mr Stannard—sorry, Paul—is that our investigations have very clearly demonstrated that Mr Robertson, from your GrowOz operation in Dawson, was very closely associated with most of the water theft instances that have been covered up.’
Stannard’s confident smirk evaporated as he replied. ‘This is of course very troubling news for me, and for our company. When you say ‘associated’ what exactly do you mean?’ he asked.
‘That, we will know more about later today. Suffice it to say we expect to be able to refer several matters arising from this case to the police in the near future,’ said Julie, being deliberately obtuse.
‘That is very serious. I will speak to the Chairman of our Board and I expect this person will be suspended from duties immediately, pending a final outcome.’
‘Unfortunately, the matter doesn’t end there, Paul. It would appear Mr Robertson wasn’t acting for personal gain, but to benefit the company. We believe he’s been working to see additional water delivered to GrowOz’s operations over and above your licensed allocations.’
‘That’s an outrageous suggestion,’ Stannard said with measured control. ‘Our company would never act in such a way and I take offence at the suggestion. That behaviour is illegal and is not something this proud company would ever countenance.’
‘That’s so nice to hear,’ said Julie, again smiling falsely at him. Mark, sitting to one side, was enjoying every minute of this as Julie, the smiling assassin, went in for the kill.
‘There is something you might help us clear up, though. If Mr Robertson was not acing for personal gain, and, you say, he wasn’t acting on behalf of the company, then why would he do such things?’
&nb
sp; Having now regained his composure Stannard said, ‘You’ll have to ask Mr Robertson that, dear lady.’
Not enjoying the patronising tone or language, Julie decided it was time to up the ante.
‘Of course, we will be doing that. Now the other, even less palatable, aspects of all this are that the farmer who blew the whistle on this case, and some of the people helping him, have been subjected to a range of standover tactics—attempts to intimidate them into not pursuing this matter further. Fortunately they have had the courage to persist despite these tactics.’
‘I hope you are not for one second inferring that our company has had anything to do with such despicable goings on?’ Stannard fired back.
‘That will be revealed by the police’s ongoing investigations into those matters, which include kidnapping and attempted arson among others. The police are also treating the tragic death of Mr Wellsmore as suspicious.’
‘I repeat, I find any suggestion that our company has had any involvement in such things totally abhorrent. Now, if there is nothing else I think this has gone far enough without me having legal representation present. These are very serious assertions you’re making.’
‘Indeed they are, Paul, and I think you having legal representation present next time may be very wise. One final thing though. Our investigations have led us to focus on one particular person of interest, a Mr Vincent, or Vinnie Sutcliffe. Do you know of this man, or has he done any work for your company in the past?’
An accomplished liar, The Man stared into Julie’s eyes and said, ‘No, I don’t believe so.’
‘In that case you won’t mind if we impound your mobile phone while we’re here. Where’s that court order, Mark?’ asked Julie.
Stannard was caught completely off guard—he hadn’t seen this coming at all. He began to reach for his Blackberry and then stopped, examining the warrant. His anger was palpable and he took a few seconds while reading the warrant to calm himself down. ‘If you don’t mind I’d like to seek immediate legal advice on whether or not I am required to do this. I’ll be right back,’ he said, standing.
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