Read Online The Shadow Maker by Robert Sims - Free Book Online Page A

officer before you went barging in?’ he barked.
    The question was loaded. Nash was giving Rita the chance to pass the blame onto Strickland, knowing that whichever way she answered it would be held against her. Fuck it, she thought. It was too late to undo the damage, so she might as well stand her ground.
    Besides, she wasn’t prepared to grovel.
    After an apologetic glance at Loftus she looked Nash in the eye and said, ‘It seemed like a good lead. I made my own judgement call.’
    Nash threw his steel-rimmed glasses onto the desk in a gesture of disgust, but Rita continued, almost abrasive now. ‘If you’re worried about Kavella, you can relax. He has the same opinion of me as you.’
    ‘And what’s that?’ asked Nash.
    ‘That I deal in psycho-babble.’
    ‘So you don’t think he’s been alerted?’ he asked, his voice still harsh, but clearly more concerned with the continued viability of the operation.
    ‘Like you, he thinks I’m on a revenge mission.’
    Proctor leant forward in his chair. ‘This is very important, Van Hassel. We haven’t been able to bug his office or do long-range eavesdropping. He’s got electronic defences in there, so he assumes he’s being watched. But did he give any hint of suspecting a major operation’s being mounted against him?’
    ‘Just the opposite. He’s more confident than ever.’
    Proctor turned to Nash and said, ‘Maybe it’s not blown after all.’
    ‘I don’t like playing hunches,’ said Nash, then turned to Jack Loftus, who’d sat through the proceedings with a long-suffering look on his face. ‘What do you reckon, Jack?’
    Loftus took his time answering, scratching his ear and shrugging.
    ‘She ought to know,’ he said at last. ‘She’s got a degree in it.’
    Nash sat back, unconvinced. ‘I must say I’m in a quandary. Kavella will be seeking feedback on our reaction, possibly right now. If I discipline her, he’ll suspect we’re onto him. But if we let Sex Crimes focus on him, he’ll batten down the hatches and the surveillance operation will be a waste of time, money and resources.’
    Proctor folded his arms. ‘Maybe there’s an alternative way to deal with this.’ He was a different species of cop to the others in the room. He was tall and patrician, with a steady gaze and an air of being permanently at ease. His professional detachment was legendary - no one had ever seen him flustered - and he tended to view crimes as intellectual puzzles. ‘Maybe we can turn Van Hassel’s headstrong behaviour to our advantage.’
    Nash was doubtful. ‘What are you suggesting, Jim?’
    ‘That she’s not disciplined, and that her line of inquiry is officially ruled out, for all to hear, in Jack’s briefing this afternoon. That way Kavella gets the feedback we want.’
    ‘What feedback?’ Rita asked impatiently.
    ‘From the police detectives who are in Kavella’s pocket,’ Proctor explained.
    An abrupt silence followed, as if he’d let slip unmentionable information.
    Morale had already hit a new low with the disbanding of two squads at Melbourne police headquarters amid headlines such as rough justice and dirty rotten cops . The reputation for beatings and drug deals was thanks to overzealous interrogations and the jail sentences for detectives doing business with gangland figures.
    The murky image of cops operating on both sides of the law in the city’s underworld wars was something no one wanted to revisit.
    Nash sighed. ‘What are you doing, Jim? The more who know about your unit’s remit, the more it risks being compromised.’
    ‘Van Hassel’s now in the loop,’ Proctor replied. ‘So I’m suggesting we use her. Instead of spooking Kavella, she may be a way of forcing his hand.’
    ‘Wait just a minute,’ butted in Loftus. ‘I don’t want her used as a cat’s paw. Kavella’s far too dangerous.’
    ‘Calm down, Jack,’ said Proctor. ‘I’m talking disinformation, not provocation.’
    ‘But there’s history between