Golden Relic. Lindy Cameron

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ left, ‘the assistant curator, named Duncan Jones, found the body and informed the security boss, who came and had a look at it. He notified the Chief Librarian who also came and looked at it, and when she saw who it was she rang the Director of the Museum, who was in a whole other building in the city. After he too came and checked out the deceased, he called us. That was 11 am. We attended the scene and then called Homicide who arrived just before noon. The crime scene team only just got here because they were tied up on another job.’

      ‘And the forensic pathologist?’ Sam asked.

      ‘He was doing lunch with the Commissioner, the Police Minister, the Premier and members of a citizen’s group lobbying for – something,’ Rivers said, running out of details.

      ‘That’s a pretty sound alibi, if he needs one,’ Sam said dryly.

      Rivers laughed. ‘Yeah, but only for lunchtime. Where he was before that, is anyone’s guess.”

      They passed through a door on the next landing and entered another hallway at the end of which Sam could see the obvious signs of a crime scene investigation in progress: police tape, police officers, police cameras and a familiar voice booming at everyone to get the hell out of the way.

      ‘Am I allowed to know why you’re here, Detective Diamond?’ Rivers asked. ‘I mean, what interest does the ACB have in all this?’

      Sam grinned. ‘Somewhere amongst all those phone calls this morning, someone also rang my boss – in Canberra – who rang me, at lunch on my day off, and said, “Get down there and have a look at that body”. So here I am, at the end of a rather long queue of spectators by the sounds of it.’

      “Is that Sam?” It was those familiar bellowing tones again, fast approaching the doorway Sam and Rivers were about to enter. ‘It’s about bloody time she got here.’

      Detective-Sergeant Jack Rigby, all six-foot-five and three miles wide of him, came barrelling out of the room. Sam stepped aside; the Constable didn’t stand a chance.

      ‘Damn it Jack,’ Sam said, helping Rivers up from the floor, ‘this is not a football field.’

      ‘The boy is half my size and age Sam, he should have better reflexes.’ Rigby placed a hand on Rivers’ shoulder. ‘Isn’t that right mate?”

      ‘Yes sir. Whatever you say,’ Rivers smiled.

      ‘Good. Now step aside,’ Rigby commanded and then wrapped Sam in a bear hug that left her breathless. ‘Completely unprofessional, I know,’ he said, letting her go. ‘But it is so good to see you.’

      ‘And it’s reassuring to find you haven’t changed a bit, Jack,’ Sam said, giving him the once over. Jack Rigby’s clear blue and ever-watchful eyes were the most noticeable things about him, apart from his height and despite the almost comical distortion of his ex-boxer’s nose. His crew cut had turned quite grey since she’d last seen him but Sam felt sure that her mother, who’d met him briefly two years before, would still describe him as a fine and handsome man.

      Despite Rigby’s sheer bulk, which was all bone and muscle, not an ounce of fat, and his loud, irascible and at times downright stubborn personality, he was an agile and surprisingly gentle man. He’d probably seen the results of more terminally violent crime than anyone else in the city, yet away from work his relaxed demeanour and untroubled personality was more akin to someone who’d spent his life working in the Botanic Gardens.

      ‘Now that the pleasantries are over, what the hell are you doing here?’

      ‘It’s just a guess, Jack, but I’d say it’s probably the same thing you’re doing,’ Sam said.

      Rigby cocked his head on the side and squinted down at her. ‘Doc Baird says the guy probably had a stroke, so it looks like even we’re not needed here,’ he said. ‘And if it does turn out to be murder then you can’t get more local than a homicide in the heart of the city. This is barely State-related, let alone Federal. Therefore I’ll rephrase my question: why are you here? What interest does the Australian Crime Bureau have in the demise of Professor Marsden in there?’

      Sam shrugged. ‘Jim Pilger called me at Walter’s Wine Bar, where I was enjoying my day off, and told me to get down here and check things out.’

      ‘Pilger? The Minister of... Whatever. That Pilger?’ Rigby was baffled.

      ‘Yes, Pilger the Minister for Cultural Affairs,’ Sam agreed. ‘He’s my new boss, in that he is top of the tree when it comes to the Bureau’s Cultural Affairs Department.’

      Rigby looked blank, which was a rare occurrence.

      ‘I’ve been transferred from Major Crimes to the ACB’s CAD,’ Sam explained. “I was going to Canberra this evening, for six weeks, to be briefed on my new job but instead I find myself here, still standing in the hallway, still lacking any real information about this situation, in fact, still without having laid eyes on the actual body – homicide victim or not.’

      ‘Cultural Affairs? That explains the way you’re dressed,’ Rigby stated.

      Sam looked down at her leather jacket, cotton shirt, jeans and runners. ‘I did mention it was my day off, didn’t I?’

      ‘So, Pilger rang you. How did he find out about this? He’s in Canberra for goodness sake!’

      ‘Someone rang him, Jack,’ Sam said.

      ‘Who?’

      ‘That would have been me,’ came a soft-spoken voice from behind Sam.

      ‘Ah,’ Rigby said, as Sam turned around and found that after looking up at Rigby, she had to crick her neck to be able to look comfortably at someone slightly shorter than her own height of five-foot-six.

      ‘This is the Director of the Museum, Mr...ah,’ Rigby faltered.

      ‘Daley Prescott,’ the Director said. ‘Assistant Director,’ he amended.

      ‘Special Detective Sam Diamond,’ Sam said, shaking hands with the dapper bureaucrat. Prescott was neatness personified from his trim grey suit to his perfectly styled and perfectly white, collar- length hair.

      ‘Can you tell me anything yet, Detective Diamond? I am simply dreading the ramifications of this should it turn out to be a case of murder,’ Prescott said and then added, almost as an afterthought, ‘not to mention what poor Lloyd must have gone through.’

      Sam tried to keep her face expressionless as she glanced at Rigby and then back to Prescott. ‘We’ll discuss the possible ramifications after we ascertain the cause of death, Mr Prescott. I can’t give you any details until Detective Rigby brings me up to speed on the investigation.’

      ‘Well, we haven’t done much yet,’ Rigby admitted. ‘We were told to wait for you.’

      ‘Who told you that?’ Sam asked in surprise.

      ‘I’m afraid I did. Is that a problem?’ Prescott asked. On seeing Sam’s amusement and the annoyed look on Rigby’s face, he continued hurriedly. ‘Of course it is not official. I was simply advising you, Detective Rigby, of the imminent arrival of a representative from the ACB and mistakenly, so it seems, assumed her authority would supersede СКАЧАТЬ