Unhappily Ever After Bk. 01 Ch. 06-07

"Heaven forbid, no," he answered. "far be it for me to suggest that the prosecution would stoop so low as to support such a thing. But I am suggesting that someone - someone who has it in for my client - is doing their best to ruin his good reputation by planting evidence. They failed in their attempt to do so at his workplace on Tuesday, so they arranged a repeat performance at his home.

"The big question is how they manage to get into his residence to plant the drugs? As the detective senior constable who was sitting in the galley will attest, Mr Bourke's property is probably more secure than the National Mint."

After giving the matter some thought, Magistrate Johnston decided against dismissing the charges. However, she did ignore the prosecution's request for a custodial remand and granted me bail on my own recognisance. She ordered that I surrender my passport within seventy-two hours, however, and that I report to my nearest police station weekly.

"I agree with Mr Marino's assessment that this case has a bad smell about it," she said, "and I'm not going to contribute to the destruction of an innocent man's reputation and business - not that that may not have already happened - on evidence that might be tainted.

"Having said that, I can't ignore the fact that evidence of a crime does exist.

"Mr Bourke," she said after checking her calendar, "You will be required to appear before me at ten o'clock on the morning of Monday the fourteenth of January for a committal hearing. At that time, you will be required to enter a plea. Please talk to your lawyer about your options."

"Thank you, Your Honour," Tony said on my behalf.

"Senior Constable Bishop," the magistrate said, turning her attention to the police prosecutor, "make sure you have all your ducks in a row. I'm not liking what I'm seeing here. I'm getting the distinct impression that you have not been fully briefed on this case. Despite that, you appear to have entered my courtroom today expecting a slam dunk.

"Please ensure that you've done your homework before this case comes before me in three weeks' time," she admonished him. "I will be asking questions."

The magistrate then ended the hearing, and my two escorts drove me back to the central watchhouse to collect my gear and be formally released. It felt good to not be carrying the shameful burden of a set of handcuffs.

"I'm sure the boss will want to talk with you," Moyston said. They were elated at my release. Kate Buchanan, in particular, couldn't wipe the smile off her face.

---oooBJSooo---

Tony met me out the front of the watchhouse and offered to buy me a decent cup of coffee. I jumped at the offer. The only coffee I'd had since my arrest had been the cheap instant crap they'd served to the prisoners and the equally crappy takeaway stuff he had bought for me before my hearing that morning.

As we settled into his Audi, he handed me an envelope containing everything I'd given him before my arrest. The drug squad people had been so excited about finding their evidence that they hadn't even queried the fact that I was carrying neither a set of keys nor a phone when taken into custody. The envelope also contained Charlie's magic wand.

About half an hour after leaving the watchhouse, Tony pulled into a parking space near a combined coffee shop-book store in a riverside suburb on the opposite side of town to the Bremmer Courthouse. After taking a seat at one of the outside tables, he suggested that I might like to have a look at some of the books while he ordered our coffee.

"Take your time," he said. "There's a reading lounge right at the back. If you're not back in a few minutes, I'll assume you've found something interesting and will arrange to have your coffee brought to you back there. I won't be offended. I rarely get the opportunity to simply sit and watch the world - and the pretty girls - go by."

I did as suggested and found Alan McGregor already seated in the small reading lounge. He stood as I entered, and we greeted each other like old friends.

"So, this is what you meant when you said we might be going backwards?" he said, tapping his index finger on a thick folder sitting on the coffee table in front of him.

"It all depends upon what you have in the folder," I answered. "If you're talking about the drug squad's manufacture of evidence, you're well short of the mark. On the other hand, if you've conducted some research into what we spoke about the other night, you might be getting a better idea of what is coming at you.

"The fact that none of the newspapers has reported on the arrest of Kingston and his deviant band of merry men and women tells me that his influence also encompasses elements of the fourth estate. When you go through my former wife's 'happy snaps', I suggest you add the media to the faces of the members of the other three powers you are trying to identify.

"I noticed that my arrest received good coverage on Saturday. But not a word was said about Kingston and his cohort. We'll have to wait and see if anything comes out on Focus when it goes to air."

Alan made a note on his pad as I was speaking.

"Have you had a chance to identify the source of the drugs found on the significant others of the firm's partners?" I asked.

"I have," he responded. "They came from a batch of drugs that were confiscated and impounded more than a year ago. They were being held pending the conviction of the cooks. I have no doubt that whatever remains in the evidence lockers is light by a few kilos. At least, I hope that's the case. The original bust brought in ten kilograms of the stuff. That's worth three million on today's market.

"And before you ask, yes, the drugs found on the partners came from the same batch. The drugs found on the members of both groups only came to about two hundred grams. That's bugger all in the scheme of things; leakage."

"And the drugs found in the raid on my place?" I asked.

"Both stashes - the one found in your house and the one found in your garage - are from the same batch," he responded.

"Knowing, as we do, that they were planted by members of the drug squad - and knowing they were stolen from the police drug impoundment facility - we now have a direct link between the drug squad and the stolen Meth.

"The big question is: 'How did those drugs get into the hands of Kingston and Co'? Mind you, it wasn't only Meth that was found during the searches of their homes, vehicle and offices. They also found large quantities of Cocaine, GHB, Ketamine and Ecstasy.

"What's nagging me about this whole business is that those substances - while proscribed drugs - fall into the recreational drugs category. The Meth - particularly in the quantities found - stands out as being out of character.

"Perhaps I'm just overthinking it," he concluded.

"Perhaps so," I agreed innocently.

"Okay," I said, steering our conversation onto the next subject. "What, if anything, have you discovered about the state police using lawyers as confidential informants?"

"While I'd like to be completely open and honest with you, Aaron," Alan said, "that's something I can't discuss."

A non-denial denial was good enough for me. As my late father would often say: 'A nod is as good as a wink to a blind man'.

"So," I continued, "that probably means you couldn't confirm that Kingston and a few of his fellow partners have been passing on information about their clients to the police to help them secure convictions?"

"You might think that, but I couldn't possibly comment," Alan said, quoting British Prime Minister (Or US President) Francis Urquhart's line from the television drama series, House of Cards.

We both smiled at the reference.

"And what about you?" Alan asked. "How do you intend to address your situation?"

"I could stop this farce at my next court appearance," I said. "And I could do it without destroying your drug squad. But that only gets me off on a technicality.

"I need to have my name cleared. And I can only do that by having my day in either the District or Supreme court; the latter would be my preference, but that might have to wait. My personal reputation has already been damaged beyond repair, and it looks like I'll probably have to shut my business down. But one way or another, I'll survive.

"I don't know that I can say the same for the people who work for me, though. "I've got forty-odd employees who depend on me for a livelihood. I'll have to think about how to remedy that situation during our shutdown period. Maybe I can sell it to a competitor. Maybe I can get away with something as simple as rebranding. I don't know.

"Any way you look at it, I can't pull out of the race until we cross the finish line. And that line is somewhere well over the horizon from where I'm standing at the moment.

"The thing is that I need to keep the drug squad people in play until the very end.

"You're in the same boat. If you spring your trap too early, you'll scatter them. If we heed the message in the story of the old bull and the young bull and take our time, however, we'll get them all. Patience is the key, Alan. Patience and keeping our sights on our targets."

Alan nodded his head in agreement.

"Where you and I differ is that the drug squad is my secondary target. My primary target is MCL. And if my plan has any chance of success. It has to be done by the numbers. I'm still setting out the dominos. What has happened so far is only a tease designed to draw the audience to the show; the moths to the flame, if you like.

"Of course, I haven't forgotten that we're playing a deadly game. Poor Mr Reacher - remember, we spoke about him the other night? - still has two contracts out on him.

"Whatever the outcome of that confrontation, it will throw the switch that will push the first domino. What happens after that is in the lap of the gods."

"Please tell me if I ever offend you, Stoney," the detective chief superintendent said. "I'd hate to have you coming after me. Your bio is right. You are the fourth horseman. It would frighten the hell out of me to see you riding towards me on a pale horse."

"Or driving a pearl-white Chrysler - as Brad Stokes pointed out on the night of our last meeting," I said, laughing at the image in my head as I stood to leave. I knew he was holding something back. But then, so was I.

On the way back into town, I shared what I had learned from Alan with Tony; as much as I could, anyway. When he turned his attention to the increasingly busy afternoon traffic, I sent a text to Brad.

Tony had told me he'd kept my brother-in-law up to date with what had been going on and had been able to prevent his return to the city when he'd heard I'd been arrested. I wanted to let him know I was out on bail and for Lisa and him to stay where they were.

I told him that their safety was more important than their attendance at any family functions they might have planned. "Just sit back, relax and enjoy a well-deserved holiday. I need to be able to focus my full attention on the job at hand. And I can't do that if I'm distracted."

"Okay," came back the answer. "Thanks for caring, Big Brother".

"It's my sister I care about," I responded, smiling as I typed. "You? Not so much".

Brad replied with a kissing lips emoji. We'd known each other for too long for him to misunderstand my meaning. Nor me, his.

My next text was to Prancer.

"Breakout achieved," I texted. "Released from hoosegow and heading over to pick up my car. Also need to pick up new keys. Will call in on way home."

"Leave car," came the immediate reply. "New keys here. Dump current ride and come straight here. Backdoor entry. DO NOT - I say again - DO NOT GO HOME. Need to talk."

After explaining the situation to Tony, I thanked him and asked him to drop me off at the next intersection. I used three cabs to get me within walking distance of Prancer's place. He must have been concerned about me because he, rather than Mother, met me at the tradesman's entrance. A few minutes later, I was sitting in one of the thinking chairs in his office.

"You'll be pleased to hear that the shitstorm has well and truly arrived, and Sam and her friends have all been arrested on drug-related charges. Of course, they and their significant others have all been bailed; most of them on their own recognisance. One or two of them - including Sam and Kingston - were caught with substantial quantities of drugs other than Meth in their possession, so they copped fairly hefty bail conditions. Each of them had to put up a ten-thousand-dollar surety.

"That's not much in the scheme of things, but they had a magistrate who - how should I put it? - was sympathetic to their predicament. You probably wouldn't be surprised to learn that that same magistrate appears a few times in some of Sam's 'Happy Snap' videos.

"Most of the additional drugs - coke, X, GHB, among others - were found in the firm's corporate condo, which has been Sam's home since you threw her out. Kingston has been a regular resident at that same address since she moved in."

Tommy then explained that while the state's two major newspapers had blocked all reporting of the arrests and subsequent court appearances, the same was not true of the television news. He told me that while the spouses and spousal equivalents' arrest and release were ignored, they gave the arrest of the senior and junior partners the full-court press.

With Brad's freelance journalist friend and the Focus program producers each receiving a heads-up, Tommy explained, they recognised some of the names of those caught up in the first round of arrests. They were prepared for the second round when it occurred.

From what he was telling me, it was clear that while the other media organisations were still getting their acts together, our two attack dogs were already sitting in ringside seats. They used all their contacts within the police service, the government and the judicial system to gather the information they needed to put their stories together.

"We shouldn't expect too much from the Focus program when it is eventually aired, though; maybe just a teaser, leaving a lot of questions to be answered in their full exposé. It will take a while for both parties to finalise their investigations, so we'll have to be patient. Apparently, they are negotiating a joint release date for their stories.

"The one good thing about the raids on the partners' homes, offices and vehicles was that, while they were performed under the drug squad's auspices, they were conducted by the CIB and Ethical Standards Command, with Special Branch looking over their shoulders. The drug squad might have been in attendance, but they were told to sit on their thumbs in the corner while the searches were carried out.

"The other thing was that the warrants were written by people who knew what they were doing. They were of a sufficiently broad scope that they covered the collection of evidence into matters other than drugs. Those warrants allowed them to access the firm's computer and manual filing systems, private and office safes and the partners' safety deposit boxes.

"The only things they couldn't access were their off-shore accounts. But they've got the Feds working on that.

"Among the seized items, they came across the original, unedited video camera data cards taken during the corporate gatherings and cruises. They were in the safe in Kingston's office. But that wasn't all they found in the safes of Kingston and a few other partners; both senior and junior.

"They also found evidence of their confidential informant activities. From what I have been able to find out, only four of the MCL partners are involved in the CI scheme, including Kingston, one other senior partner and two junior partners. It appears that the two junior partners are not as trusting as their bosses and have been building their own deadman switches. But all four of them -- being the good little lawyers they are - have kept meticulous notes about their snitching activities, dating back to the time each of them was first recruited.

"From what I've been able to piece together, it appears that the recently-retired commissioner set up the scheme back when he was a chief superintendent and in charge of the Criminal Investigation Branch about twelve years ago. The responsibility for administering the program was passed down to his replacement when he was promoted to a deputy assistant commissioner role.

"That successor progressed through the ranks to become the present commissioner. The person he passed the baton to is now one of his assistant commissioners. And so it goes. The present head of CIB - a chief superintendent - is currently administering the scheme, but the day-to-day liaison with the lawyers - and MCL isn't the only law firm involved - is done by a detective chief inspector and his bagman, a detective sergeant.

"While the files held at the police end are marked as Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information - and are therefore not easily accessed - the same isn't true at the dog end of the chain. The informants have relied on the sanctity of their lawyer/client privilege to protect themselves.

"What I know, but the investigators are yet to find out, is that only a few of the lawyers being used as CIs have been registered as such. Oh, they all think they are. They've signed all the paperwork to be registered. But somewhere along the way, that paperwork has disappeared.

"So, even the small measure of protection they thought they might have doesn't exist. When push comes to shove, the cops they thought they were helping will hang them out to dry. I can see a lot of gaps appearing in the legal ranks when this all comes out. And it won't just be due to imprisonment and disbarment. I think there will be quite a few funerals, too. The crims will not be happy to find out that their lawyers helped the police convict them.

"Sure, many of them will end up being released and will receive substantial compensation packages. But they'll want revenge."

I thought about what Tommy was saying. And he was right. The only chance some of the CIs would have would be to turn on their bosses - the police - and offer themselves up as witnesses for the prosecution. In other words, turn state's evidence.

That would only protect them from further prosecution, however. It wouldn't protect them from those who mean to do them harm. The only way that could be achieved would be for the state government to authorise putting them into witness protection programs.

The problem with that solution, however, is that while Australia is a big place, most of it is desert. It has a relatively small population, most of which lives in a dozen major coastal centres. If the 'six degrees of separation' rule were applied to Australia's twenty-five million people, it would probably be only four degrees. A family hiding away in one of those centres would be easily found. The only way to ensure their total anonymity would be to ship them off to another country; New Zealand, the UK or Canada, perhaps. That would be a very expensive exercise.

State and federal treasurers are, by nature, parsimonious, cold-blooded creatures, and I was in no doubt that our state treasurer would welcome a bit of 'natural attrition' should a few of the lawyers fall off their perches a little earlier than God intended. It would help her reduce the budgetary deficit during what was going to be a costly period in the life of the current government. I could see a very expensive and long-running Royal Commission steaming towards us.

"Those bugs you planted on her phone and in her handbags have been a godsend," Tommy said, breaking my train of thought. "We've been able to keep tabs on her interactions with Kingston and her other lovers.