‘It’s connected to that. We’ll see you as soon as you can get here.’
‘I’m on my way.’
‘You have to go again,’ Grace said.
‘I don’t know when I’ll be back but I’ll call you. I’ll let you know what’s going on. That’s a promise this time.’
‘I’ll wait,’ she said, wiping her eyes. ‘What else can I do but sit here and be useless?’
‘Just stay safe.’
It wasn’t yet five when Harrigan hit the road. The traffic was sparse in the early summer Saturday morning. There was a fragile sense of the dawn’s coolness soon to disappear in the heat of the day. When he reached the commissioner’s office, Chloe was waiting for him. She ushered him in immediately. Another man was there for the meeting. Harrigan didn’t recognise him.
‘Paul, let me introduce you,’ the commissioner said. ‘This is Stephen Grey; he’s a first assistant commissioner with ASIO. Stephen, this is Commander Paul Harrigan. With the special assistant commissioner’s demise, he’s the executive officer in charge of the Pittwater task force.’
They shook hands.
‘Thank you for coming in at this hour, Commander,’ Grey said. ‘I’ll get to the heart of the matter. I’m here to advise you that at about 3 a.m. today, we attempted to execute arrest warrants on two individuals who, the commissioner tells me, are persons of interest to your investigation: Dr Daniel Brinsmead and Sam Jonas.’
‘Do you have them in custody?’
‘We do not. They’d flown the coop. At present, their whereabouts are unknown. Let me give you the background. The photograph of the dead associated with your investigation showed a Jerome Beck. Shortly after that photograph was published on the net, he was recognised by a certain agency in Britain with the code name Falcon, a highly secret anti-terrorist organisation. They contacted us and asked us to place a watching brief on your investigation. They sent us photographs of two individuals they were interested in, the two I’ve just identified to you. Both are former agents of Falcon. Both were the primary operatives for the operation recorded in that dossier and also in the video that was posted on the net this morning. Their operation was shut down in December four years ago. It was ruled a failure that almost resulted in Brinsmead’s death. These two individuals have stolen and now illegally published secret information. Both have turned rogue, in other words. Jonas was at one time a highly respected career agent named Sophia Ricks. At present, she’s impersonating a dead woman.’
‘I should tell you, Paul, I was aware that this watching brief was in place,’ the commissioner said. ‘When you spoke to me yesterday, I rang ASIO to take advice on what information your squad should receive. It’s impressive that you found these two individuals out through your own investigations.’
‘It’s also the reason we’re having this meeting,’ Grey said. ‘Secrecy is of the utmost importance at the present. It was necessary for you to be made aware of the gravity of the situation before that information was passed on.’
Harrigan thought how much easier life would have been if he had been told sooner.
‘Do we know what made these people turn rogue?’ he asked. ‘Because that operation had gone bad and was shut down?’
‘I think that’s a question you should ask them,’ Grey said. ‘They may have felt it was an act of betrayal. From the information I have, my opinion is that Brinsmead was a poor choice for an operation of this nature. I’m advised he was a close, long-term friend of Ricks-not a good situation to begin with-and was chosen on her recommendation for his scientific skills and his previous experience in the army. By all accounts, he didn’t have the temperament for undercover work.’
‘You are aware that both individuals were in the employ of or were connected to a Dr Elena Calvo?’
‘We do know that. It’s clear she’s been imposed upon. We will be speaking to Dr Calvo in due course. At present, we don’t consider it the right time for an interview. We’re uncertain about her allegiances to Dr Brinsmead. She was previously involved with him, and since his return from the DRC she’s given him a great deal of support. We don’t want her warning him.’
‘I think it will be the other way around,’ Harrigan said. ‘I think you should warn her.’
‘I’m sorry but that can’t happen. It could jeopardise the operation. I understand she has very professional security of her own. We’ll rely on that.’
‘Did the parent agency in Britain know these two people were working for her?’
‘They were aware of Brinsmead. We found Ricks for them. As part of our watching brief, we sent an agent to Dr Calvo’s launch. She identified her as Calvo’s personal bodyguard.’
Harrigan decided there was no future in advising either Grey or the commissioner that he had known about Sam from the beginning and could have identified her from whatever picture they happened to have.
‘I’ve advised Stephen that both they and an individual who appeared in this morning’s video, Andreas du Plessis, are persons of interest to us,’ the commissioner said. ‘Could you tell us where we are with that?’
‘It’s very early days. The case we have against them is in its infancy,’ Harrigan replied. ‘It’s more a matter of circumstance than evidence, but in my judgement Brinsmead and Jonas are responsible for the killings at Pittwater and also the special assistant commissioner’s shooting. Again in my judgement, du Plessis was the agent responsible for the murder of Senator Edwards and his adviser. Obviously we’re still acquiring evidence.’
‘Do you have any idea who du Plessis was an agent for?’ Grey asked.
‘Elena Calvo,’ Harrigan said after a pause.
‘Are you sure?’ the commissioner asked.
‘She’s the one with the motive. She’s got a lot to protect.’
‘The senator was a friend of hers. Is she a danger to the community?’
Harrigan considered it was fair enough to say Elena Calvo had taken care of all eventualities and probably didn’t mean anyone else any harm. Why else might she be prepared to give him the opportunity to remove the one person who could incriminate her: du Plessis?
‘No,’ he said.
‘Do you have any proof?’ Grey asked.
‘We’re in the process of acquiring it. Circumstances indicate there is a connection between Elena Calvo and Beck and also between LPS and Beck’s activities with the International Agricultural Research Consortium. At this stage, I can’t afford to rule her out as a possibility.’
‘Whatever Beck was doing has been shut down, hasn’t it?’ Grey said. ‘In which case, Commissioner, we will leave that part of the investigation to you and your people. It’s not our responsibility. That’s a case you’ll have to prove yourself.’
‘The issue we have to deal with now is where this leaves our entire investigation,’ the commissioner said. ‘The Minister for Police spoke to me late last night, Paul. The federal government has requested we direct our manpower to support ASIO in their hunt for these two individuals. Obviously, we’ll comply with that.’
‘You should know that the British government intends to extradite both Brinsmead and Jonas for stealing and publishing top secret government information,’ Grey said. ‘Those extradition warrants will be ready to be executed very soon.’
‘Be that as it may, we still have a significant murder inquiry to pursue,’ the Commissioner said.
‘As I’ve said,’ Grey replied, ‘for the British government this is a matter of national security. Falcon is an extremely important agency. Its operations cannot be compromised. If there is a murder trial for these two individuals here in Australia, then there is certain evidence they cannot be allowed to present in an open court. If a prosecution is to proceed, it will need a narrow focus. Specifically, any information relating to the operation in which Brinsmead received his burns will need to be excluded.’
‘We can try to do that,’ Harrigan said, ‘but there’s so much information out on the net, it’s impossible that any kind of suppression orders will be effective. Everything on their website has been posted all over the world.’