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5.76% A Legal Affair / Chapter 6: Chapter 6: A redhead gets a compliment

章 6: Chapter 6: A redhead gets a compliment

She received a nod and a self-conscious 'Okay.' Shiny-faced, Judy asked, 'Do you have his number?' and took side steps to the door as Elisabeth said yes. He answered before the second ring. 'Gaudry.'

'It's Elisabeth Sharman. You have something?'

'No, I just wanted to let you know where I'm at.' His tone was polite but flat. 'As you know, there are three Stavros kids. Sons. Christopher's the oldest, 28. He's in the family business and helped his father run the place. Married with two children, a boy, 6, and a girl, 3. The second son, Antonio, is 25 and a constable on the local force, single. The youngest, Remo, is 20 and studying law and economics at the ANU. Mrs Stavros was pretty well always at the store and Remo helped out during breaks and weekends.'

'Who told you?'

'The chemist next door. The newsagent confirmed. I've also checked for records. They're all clean. Something that could be interesting is that the newsagent thinks they could be having cash flow problems. Says stock on the shelves is a bit thin. Anyway,' he dismissed it, 'I'm waiting on information about Waite and Moody.'

'Thank you.' Elisabeth hesitated. 'I'm seeing Dr Liu at eight tomorrow morning. I had Russell's records sent to him. I'm going to ask him to examine Russell and see if he'll agree to be called as an expert witness.'

'And if he doesn't?'

'I think he will.'

'You sound confident.'

Elisabeth said, 'I expect him to confirm what we know. The value comes in having him say it. And I'm hoping he'll agree to say it to a jury.'

'Best of luck.'

There was a clunk and the dial tone sounded in Elisabeth's ear. She replaced the receiver and looked at her watch. It was twelve thirty and it felt like she had been there all day. From her bottom drawer she took a tube of hand cream, squeezed a roll on to the back of her hand, replaced the lid and then the tube into the drawer. With her foot she closed the drawer while massaging the cream into her hands and wrists. Collecting her jacket, hat and bag, she walked out to see Judy was herself on the way out. 'Is there somewhere I can get a sandwich?'

They walked out together and as they stepped into the heat Elisabeth put on her hat and sunglasses.

'I should do the same,' Judy said, looking at the hat. 'But I feel silly.'

'With skin like mine,' Elisabeth said, 'it's wear a hat or suffer the consequences. My mother made me cover up and I used to hate it. I'm grateful now.'

'You can tell,' Judy said. 'Most redheads are covered in freckles. But your skin is ...' They stopped to wait for the pedestrian crossing signal to flash Walk. 'Yours is like ...' she lacked the confidence to compliment successfully. 'Sorry,' she said, 'I didn't mean to get personal.'

Elisabeth motioned that the lights had changed. 'If it was going to be a compliment, go ahead. Are you doing anything in particular? Would you like to join me?'

Judy was flattered. 'Are you sure? I was just going to look around the shops.'

They were walking through the paved open-air central shopping district. People were everywhere, walking, stationary in front of store windows, at ease on tree-shaded benches and voluble at outside cafŽ tables sheltered by a combination of striped and patterned umbrellas and the spreading branches of leafy trees. Many of the tables were occupied but there were some vacancies and they took possession of one under a tree. Birds flitted from branch to ground to branch again. Elisabeth glanced up. 'An umbrella might be safer.' They moved and sat down. Elisabeth relaxed back in the plastic chair, tucking her hat and bag on a spare seat and rumpling up her flattened hair until it looked like ruffled duck down. Judy studied the menu and, with peripheral vision, Elisabeth. A waiter appeared and took their orders. When he left Elisabeth looked at her watch, sighed and closed her eyes. 'Judy, Lister and Petrie, what are they like?' The question was inoffensively asked. She wanted no more than the girl was willing to give.

Judy shrugged. 'Colin Petrie can get up your nose. The Director's pretty nice; he's good at getting what he wants out of people. He isn't a snob like some who think that just because they have law degrees they're better than the rest.'

Elisabeth opened her eyes. 'Oh. Who are they?'

Judy looked at her hands. 'It's only my opinion.'

Elisabeth didn't press. 'What's Lister's background? Do you know?'

Judy hitched herself more comfortably into her seat. 'Not a lot. I'm fairly new myself. I know he's a widower. His wife died of breast cancer a few years ago. He has a daughter at college.'

'And Petrie?' Elisabeth encouraged after a short silence. 'Apart from getting up people's noses.'

Their sandwiches and drinks arrived. Elisabeth paid the bill and when Judy protested said, 'I invited you.' Judy thanked her and drew a long drink through her straw while Elisabeth started on her sandwich.

'Liz Fraser,' Judy began, peering under the top layer to examine exactly what was there, 'Stephen's secretary, says he wants to return to private practice once his appointment's up next March.'

'Lister?'

Judy nodded.

'And Petrie?' Elisabeth sipped her lime mineral water.

'He's all right really, I suppose.' She took a bite and chewed. After swallowing she said, 'We've all got faults.'

'Yes.' Elisabeth said and fell into her own thoughts, gazing away without focus behind dark lenses. Judy was loathe to speak, even though she thought that the reason for the invitation. This new solicitor had a power of concentration that fell like a shield to cut inward communication. And even though she had in effect told Judy to wade in regardless, it was something the still maturing girl could not do. With an extra ten years' insight she might have speculated whether Elisabeth herself knew how effective a deterrent the concentration was.

An experienced sparrow closed in with short hops to forage around their feet and Elisabeth spoke again. 'What about Robert? Why didn't he take the case? How old is he? What's his story?'

A smile lit Judy's face. 'Murph? He's 32. He's only been practising for a few years. He's been with the office for two. Before that he was with a private firm but they weren't letting him get into the things he wanted to do. It shows how much Stephen thought of him to take him on because we usually like people who don't need further training.'

'And has he proved himself?'


next chapter

章 7: Chapter 7: The pecking order of men's clothing

'Yes. But they didn't give him Russell Montgomery. He could have done it blindfolded. He went for your job too and Liz told me he would have got it if you hadn't applied.' Elisabeth made mental note of it. As well as the young girl's opinion and loyalties. Abruptly Judy changed tack. 'His family had money but while Murph was at uni they lost it all. His father was conned out of it, Liz says. He had a heart attack and died and his mother had a stroke from shock. She had to go into a nursing home. Robert's younger brother was still in high school, so Murph had to quit uni and get a job.'

Elisabeth was feeding the sparrow, dropping crumbs at its feet. 'And?'

'Well, his mother died and he went back to uni. He studied part time and kept working to support himself and his brother. He's a musician.'

Elisabeth looked up from the bird. 'Robert?'

Judy shook her head. 'His brother. Dean. He's got his own band and goes all over the country. Murph says he's still keeping him.' She laughed. 'He writes songs.'

'I guess it'd be handy, if you're in the industry.'

'Murph,' Judy said, hair swishing around her cheeks.

'How do you know?'

Judy had the grace to look abashed. 'He told me.'

'Robert?'

'Dean,' Judy said. 'He plays at the ANU bar when he's in town. Last time I got to talk to him and tell him I worked with his brother. He asked me how I liked the songs and said Murph had written them.'

'Did you like them?'

'Yes.'

Interested in spite of herself Elisabeth asked, 'What were they like?'

Judy cradled her soft drink bottle and turned her eyes up to the umbrella, recalling. 'Soft rock mostly. You know, about love, bad luck, life generally I guess.'

'Has Murph, Robert, said anything to you?'

'About what? Writing?'

'His brother must have told him he'd met you.'

'He hasn't said anything.'

Elisabeth checked her watch, a recently-acquired habit she hated. 'I've got to get back.' She stood. 'Thanks for the company.' Judy scrambled to get up. 'You haven't finished.' The girl stopped, half in, half out of her chair. 'I'll see you back at the office,' Elisabeth said spreading her hand wide on the top of her hat and swinging it to her head in one fluid movement. 'Bye.'

Judy watched Elisabeth's easy departing strides, feeling the lack of much that contributed to beauty.

She returned to find Elisabeth tidying the papers on her desk. 'Can I do anything,' she said, stopping to ask.

'Is Robert around?'

Judy leaned back and craned her neck. 'No. Shall I tell him you want to see him?'

'Please, if I don't see him first.' Elisabeth was pondering some notes she had made when Robert came to stand, hands in pockets, in her doorway.

'You wanted to see me.'

She stopped reading. 'Can we go over things now?'

He dipped his head sideways and his shoulder shrugged up. The gesture displayed indifference. 'Sure.' He remained framed by the wood.

'Have a seat.'

Robert took a spare and crossed a well-clad calf across one knee. Elisabeth, who knew the pecking order of men's clothing, recognised the cut: down the scale as far as cost went but quality nonetheless. He linked his fingers in his lap and waited. They were long, the nails well shaped and maintained. She wondered if he played any instruments as well as composing for them. She thought you probably couldn't do the latter without being able to do the former. She stopped looking at his hands and went to his face. He was watching with bland politeness. She got straight into it.

'We have a 19 year old jackaroo, Russell Montgomery, who in September last year was travelling east from a West Australian cattle station, Redland Downs, where he had spent three years working. He had decided three years were enough - or so we've been told by its manager who says Russell quit. His travelling companion was another jackaroo, Gregory Waite, 20, from the same property, who had also decided to chuck it in. They weren't close friends but had always got on together, according to Waite and others on the station. Sharing costs appealed to them both, says Waite.'

Robert was listening.

'They arrived in Adelaide where Russell had friends he wanted to visit. According to Waite he made three calls, but was unsuccessful in contacting them.' She paused. 'It was on this day, their first in Adelaide, that they met Lisa Moody at one of the suburban beaches. Again according to Waite she approached them. Lisa, 17, remained with them that night and the next day. She told them she had left home and didn't have anywhere of her own. When she asked if she could accompany them to Sydney they said yes. She showed a preference for Waite's company.' Elisabeth stopped briefly when Robert took a long deep breath and leaned back, shifting his hands to clasp them behind his neck.

'Russell again unsuccessfully tried to contact his friends after which they left Adelaide and took the scenic coast road to Melbourne where they spent another two days looking around. Then, instead of Sydney they decided to detour to the national capital because none of them had been here. Russell said his sister wasn't expecting him so it didn't make any difference when he got to Sydney. They arrived and booked into the Southside caravan park for the night. The next day they spent sightseeing.' She picked up a pencil and began to repeatedly upend it on her desk. 'Sometime before 9 pm on the night of 17 September, before heading off to Sydney, they stopped to buy food and drinks at a suburban supermarket in Narrabundah. Waite and Moody remained in the car.' She broke off. 'Why not go in and choose what they wanted for themselves?'

'They wanted to make out.'

'Russell's presence hadn't apparently stopped them before. And Russell was driving. They had the whole trip to spend in the back seat.'

Robert swapped ankles. 'Ask them.'

'I will.' She went back to her notes having avoided eye contact for all but one short moment. 'Russell went into the shop. He wasn't away long, five, ten minutes at most.'

'What?' Robert asked when she fell silent.


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