The Bat(100)

‘This is beginning to get complicated, Yong, but – well, yes, I have considered that possibility. And rejected it. Don’t forget it was Andrew who enabled us to identify and find Evans White from the photo.’

‘Hm.’ Yong scratched the back of his head with a pencil. ‘We would have managed that without him, but it would have taken longer. Do you know the chances of a murder victim’s partner being the culprit in any given case? Fifty-eight per cent. Andrew knew we would invest substantial resources into finding Inger Holter’s secret lover after you’d translated that letter. So if he really wanted to protect White and keep him hidden at the same time he might just as well have helped. For appearances’ sake. You found it remarkable, for example, that he could immediately recognise a few walls in a place he had been just the once, drugged up and a hundred years ago, didn’t you.’

‘You might be right, Yong, I don’t know. Anyway, I don’t think there’s much point sowing too many seeds of doubt now that the guys know what to do. When it comes to the crunch, perhaps Evans White is our man after all. But if I really believed that, I would never have asked Birgitta to take part in this.’

‘So who do you think is our man?’

‘Who do I think it is this time, you mean?’

Yong smiled. ‘Something like that.’

Harry rubbed his chin. ‘I’ve already rung the alarm bells twice, Yong. Wasn’t it the third time the boy cried “Wolf” that they stopped reacting? That’s why I have to be a hundred per cent sure this time.’

‘Why have you come to me with this, Harry? Why not one of the bosses?’

‘Because you can do a couple of things for me, make discreet enquiries and find some data I need, without anyone else in the building getting wind of it.’

‘No one else should know?’

‘I know it sounds dodgy. And I know you have more to lose than most, but you’re the only person who can help me, Yong. What do you say?’

Yong sent Harry a long stare.

‘Will it help to find the murderer, Harry?’

‘I hope so.’





48


The Plan


‘BRAVO, COME IN.’

The radio crackled.

‘Radio works as it should,’ Lebie said. ‘How’s it going in there?’

‘Fine,’ Harry answered.

He was sitting on the made bed studying a photograph of Birgitta on the bedside table. It was a confirmation photo. She looked young, serious and strange, with curls in her hair and no freckles because the picture was overexposed. She didn’t look good. Birgitta had said she kept the photo there for encouragement on bad days, as proof that she had progressed despite everything.

‘What’s the timetable?’ Lebie called.

‘She finishes work in fifteen minutes. They’re at the Albury attaching the mike and transmitter now.’

‘Are they driving her to Darlinghurst Road?’

‘Nope. We don’t know where White is in the area. He might see her alighting from a car and get suspicious. She’s going to walk from the Albury.’

Watkins came in from the corridor.

‘Seems great. I can stand round the corner behind the gateway without them seeing me and follow them. We’ll have visual contact with her the whole way, Holy. Where are you, Holy?’

‘In here, sir. I heard you. Good to hear that, sir.’

‘Radio, Lebie?’

‘I’ve got contact, sir. Everyone’s in position. Just waiting.’

Harry had gone through it over and over again. From all sides. Argued with himself, tried every angle and in the end decided he didn’t care whether she might interpret it as an awful cliché, a childish form of expression or an easy way out. He unpacked the wild rose he had bought and put it in the glass of water beside the photo on the bedside table.

He hesitated. Perhaps it would distract her? Perhaps Evans White would start asking questions if he saw a rose beside her bed? He ran a forefinger over one of the thorns. No. Birgitta would appreciate the encouragement; the sight of the rose would make her feel stronger.

He checked his watch. It was eight o’clock.

‘Hey, let’s get this over with!’ he shouted to the sitting room.





49


A Walk in the Park


SOMETHING WAS WRONG. Harry couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he could hear the crackle of the radio from the sitting room. And there was too much of it. Everyone knew exactly what they had to do in advance, so if it was all going to plan it shouldn’t be necessary to talk so much on the radio.

‘Fuck, fuck, fuck,’ Watkins said. Lebie removed the headphones and turned to Harry.

‘She didn’t show up,’ he said.