Choices. Jeff Edwards

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СКАЧАТЬ looks as though there has been a sudden rush of customers,’ smiled Diane.

      ‘Business has certainly picked up since we arrived,’ nodded Pile.

      * * *

      Returning to Wallgrove at three thirty meant facing the early stages of the evening peak, a situation that the residents of Canberra rarely had to face, and certainly not to the degree that the agents were now subjected. If they hadn’t been cocooned in their air-conditioned car they would have been in a very evil mood by the time they finally arrived at their destination.

      Warned by two-way radio that the federal agents were due to return, the factory unit remained virtually deserted, and the female radio operator was now missing, her place taken by Clements himself.

      Ailsa looked up as the agents entered. ‘Dan’s here,’ she informed them. ‘He’s downstairs in the recreation room taking a shower. Do you want me to tell him you’re here?’

      ‘Stay where you are. We’ll wait till he comes up.’

      A few minutes later footsteps could be heard on the steel staircase, and Dan entered the room dressed in a pair of camouflage patterned cargo pants, a yellow t-shirt and sandals. His hair was still wet from the shower, and he looked very fit with his skin tanned to a dark brown.

      Dan’s face registered a momentary shock at finding a pair of suited strangers in the reception area, and then an even greater shock as he recognised Agent Hall from his visit to ASIO headquarters.

      ‘I see you recognise me,’ began Diane with a smile. ‘This is my associate Agent Pile, and we’d like to have a little talk with you Mr Travers.’

      ‘There’s not enough room up here for you to sit down,’ said Ailsa. ‘But the recreation room will be empty.’

      Dan was at a loss for words. He simply nodded and led the agents back down the staircase.

      Clements shot his wife a worried look. ‘Why did you do that? Now we won’t be able to hear what this is all about.’

      Ailsa held one finger to her lips and motioned for Clements to join her at the reception desk. When he was standing beside her, she flipped a switch on the intercom and they heard the sound of chairs being scraped on the hard floor below. ‘I turned on the intercom before they arrived,’ she whispered, as the agents began their interrogation.

      * * *

      ‘Well then Mr Travers, we meet again.’

      ‘Yeah,’ offered a seemingly very confused Dan. ‘What do you want?’

      ‘We need to speak to you. We need you to clarify some matters for us. Some very weighty matters.’

      ‘What matters?’

      ‘Coincidences, Mr Travers. We’re here to discuss coincidences.’

      ‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand.’

      ‘Of course you don’t,’ smiled Pile. ‘Let’s start with spear pistols, shall we?’

      ‘What?’

      ‘Spear pistols. You know. Smaller than a spear gun, powered by compressed air, and used by skindivers, that sort of spear pistol.’

      ‘Okay. I know what they are. What have they to do with me?’

      ‘Did you know that you can hire spear pistols at your friend Habib Bashir’s shop in Bali?’

      ‘You can rent a lot of diving equipment from Habib.’

      ‘Yes. But someone stole one of those pistols. Habib reported the theft to police.’

      ‘So what? Are you saying I took it?’

      ‘Are you saying you didn’t?’

      ‘Why would I want to steal anything, especially from a friend? I’ve never been a skindiver. Why would I want it?’

      ‘Ah well. That’s where coincidences seem to occur. You see the theft took place the day you arrived in Bali, and we believe that the pistol was used a day later, also while you were in Bali.’

      ‘Used? Used how? What has this got to do with me, and why are you involved?’

      ‘We’ll be coming to that in a minute Mr Travers. You’re here to answer our questions, not ask them. Now then, what did you do during the daylight hours when you were in Bali?’

      ‘We surfed of course!’

      ‘All day? Every day?’

      ‘Yeah … well … for most of the day.’

      ‘Oh? And what did you do when you weren’t surfing?’

      ‘Not much. We hung around the hotel or the beach, drunk a lot of beer. Chilled out. You know.’

      ‘Was there someone with you all the time, someone who can confirm where you were during the daylight hours?’

      ‘I was with my mates Rick and Sam.’

      ‘All the time?’

      ‘We had separate rooms. So I wasn’t with them every second of the day and night.’

      ‘Did you spend much time with your friend Habib Bashir on your latest visit to Bali?’

      ‘We were out on his boat the first and last day of our holiday. He was booked out with other charters the rest of the time. Most days we surfed from the beach when we couldn’t get out to the reef.’

      ‘So you would have had the opportunity to steal the spear pistol on the first day?’

      ‘I didn’t steal anything!’

      ‘But you had the opportunity?’

      ‘I suppose so, but I didn’t do it.’

      Pile now turned the questioning over to Diane, giving Dan no time to get orientated.

      ‘What do you know about a man named Arny Holland?’

      ‘Holland? I know about him. He’s bad news. Everyone in Bali knows about him, but the cops don’t do anything.’

      ‘Did you ever buy drugs from him?’

      ‘No. Never. I tell you he’s bad news. He’s letting those poor bastards die in prison over there. They were doing his dirty work when they were caught, but the cops can’t prove he was involved, so he goes free, the prick!’

      ‘So you’ve never bought drugs from him?’

      ‘Never. I don’t do drugs!’

      ‘You used to.’

      Dan tried to look indignant at the accusation but realised that these people probably had access to his past. ‘Yeah, well that was when СКАЧАТЬ