Read Online Wyatt - 05 - Port Vila Blues by Garry Disher - Free Book Online
Authors: Garry Disher
Tags: Fiction, General, Mystery & Detective, Hard-Boiled, australia, Jewel Thieves, Bank Robberies, Australian Fiction
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useful to De Lisle. In some
instances hed had to wait. He hadnt had a courier until Lou Crystals name
had cropped up during an investigation into Australian sex tours to Asia, for
example.
After the Asahi job he would quit.
He would retire from the bar and come here to Vila to live. Hed had retirement
in mind for the past year, but he was also prompted by the fact that he couldnt
count on Springett and Niekirk remaining patient forever about getting their
cut of the action. And they could see with their own eyes what each hit was
worth. They didnt have the resources De Lisle had for moving the stuff, but
they were men, theyd get greedy sooner or later, despite knowing that De Lisle
had dirt on them that could put them away for a very long time. How serious was
he about using that dirt, anyhow? Theyd name him for sure, if he did. That
option would be at the backs of their minds. So, time to quit while he was
ahead, finish liquidating the cash and jewels from the bank raids, pay them
off.
De Lisle locked the safe, secured
the yacht and started up the steps to his house. He took them slowly. Only 27
degrees but 90 per cent humidity and his breathing was ragged, his shirt and
underwear soaked, before hed reached the halfway point.
He paused to catch his breath. Work
tomorrow. Vanuatu lacked lawyers and judges, particularly in the north. The
Public Prosecutors Office and the Public Solicitors Office were there to get
cases ready for court, but they were understaffed and the day-to-day court
staff were overwhelmed with demands from jungle bunnies and expatriates wanting
help with forms and claims. So, several times a year, De Lisle sat on the
Supreme Court of Vanuatu to help ease the strain. He was funded by the
Australian Governments Staffing Assistance Scheme, and he loved it. He got to
hear evidence in open-air courts half the time, just bamboo and palm tree
fronds between him and the blue sky above. Mainly British law, with a bit of
French and a bit of jungle bunny thrown in. Last time he was in the little
republic hed been obliged to turn a blind eye to a spot of police brutality.
The police had been called in by a council of chiefs to warn off a man believed
to be practising witchcraft, but things got out of hand and the man had died of
injuries. Still, no loss to anyone.
And the trips to Vanuatu provided
the perfect cover for moving the stuff that Niekirk and his crew had liberated
from those Victorian bank jobs. The world was going to blow one daycorruption,
erosion of values, mobs in the streetand De Lisle wasnt about to be caught
without a hedge against that kind of collapse.
He put one foot after the other
again and continued up the steps. Deep breathing, that was the answer, deep
breathing to control the heart, deep breathing to concentrate and clarify the
mind. To centre himself, in the jargon of a fuckwit whod insisted on making a
statement to the court back in Sydney last week.
Deep breath. If he didnt watch it
hed die of a heart attack on the job. He snortedon the job was right. The
last time hed been in the cot with Cassandra Wintergreen shed leaned on one
elbow and grabbed the spare tyre around his waist, pinching tightly, grinning
cruelly: Heres a little fellow who loves his tucker. De Lisle had batted her
hand away: Quit that, Cass, hed said, wishing now that he hadnt given her
that tasty Tiffany brooch from the safety-deposit hit Niekirk had pulled for
him in February.
He put Wintergreen out of his mind.
Half a weeks work here in Vanuatu, then spend two or three days sailing the Pegasus to Suva. A spot of Supreme Court work in Fiji, then fly back to Sydney,
leaving the Pegasus moored in Suva. A quick turnaround in Sydney this
time. Hed arranged his workload so that he could be in Vila to collect the
Asahi stones.
Grace, De Lisles hi-Vanuatan
servant, was waiting for him on the verandah. White cloth on the cane table,
martini in a steel jug beaded with condensation, chilled glass, a plate
instances hed had to wait. He hadnt had a courier until Lou Crystals name
had cropped up during an investigation into Australian sex tours to Asia, for
example.
After the Asahi job he would quit.
He would retire from the bar and come here to Vila to live. Hed had retirement
in mind for the past year, but he was also prompted by the fact that he couldnt
count on Springett and Niekirk remaining patient forever about getting their
cut of the action. And they could see with their own eyes what each hit was
worth. They didnt have the resources De Lisle had for moving the stuff, but
they were men, theyd get greedy sooner or later, despite knowing that De Lisle
had dirt on them that could put them away for a very long time. How serious was
he about using that dirt, anyhow? Theyd name him for sure, if he did. That
option would be at the backs of their minds. So, time to quit while he was
ahead, finish liquidating the cash and jewels from the bank raids, pay them
off.
De Lisle locked the safe, secured
the yacht and started up the steps to his house. He took them slowly. Only 27
degrees but 90 per cent humidity and his breathing was ragged, his shirt and
underwear soaked, before hed reached the halfway point.
He paused to catch his breath. Work
tomorrow. Vanuatu lacked lawyers and judges, particularly in the north. The
Public Prosecutors Office and the Public Solicitors Office were there to get
cases ready for court, but they were understaffed and the day-to-day court
staff were overwhelmed with demands from jungle bunnies and expatriates wanting
help with forms and claims. So, several times a year, De Lisle sat on the
Supreme Court of Vanuatu to help ease the strain. He was funded by the
Australian Governments Staffing Assistance Scheme, and he loved it. He got to
hear evidence in open-air courts half the time, just bamboo and palm tree
fronds between him and the blue sky above. Mainly British law, with a bit of
French and a bit of jungle bunny thrown in. Last time he was in the little
republic hed been obliged to turn a blind eye to a spot of police brutality.
The police had been called in by a council of chiefs to warn off a man believed
to be practising witchcraft, but things got out of hand and the man had died of
injuries. Still, no loss to anyone.
And the trips to Vanuatu provided
the perfect cover for moving the stuff that Niekirk and his crew had liberated
from those Victorian bank jobs. The world was going to blow one daycorruption,
erosion of values, mobs in the streetand De Lisle wasnt about to be caught
without a hedge against that kind of collapse.
He put one foot after the other
again and continued up the steps. Deep breathing, that was the answer, deep
breathing to control the heart, deep breathing to concentrate and clarify the
mind. To centre himself, in the jargon of a fuckwit whod insisted on making a
statement to the court back in Sydney last week.
Deep breath. If he didnt watch it
hed die of a heart attack on the job. He snortedon the job was right. The
last time hed been in the cot with Cassandra Wintergreen shed leaned on one
elbow and grabbed the spare tyre around his waist, pinching tightly, grinning
cruelly: Heres a little fellow who loves his tucker. De Lisle had batted her
hand away: Quit that, Cass, hed said, wishing now that he hadnt given her
that tasty Tiffany brooch from the safety-deposit hit Niekirk had pulled for
him in February.
He put Wintergreen out of his mind.
Half a weeks work here in Vanuatu, then spend two or three days sailing the Pegasus to Suva. A spot of Supreme Court work in Fiji, then fly back to Sydney,
leaving the Pegasus moored in Suva. A quick turnaround in Sydney this
time. Hed arranged his workload so that he could be in Vila to collect the
Asahi stones.
Grace, De Lisles hi-Vanuatan
servant, was waiting for him on the verandah. White cloth on the cane table,
martini in a steel jug beaded with condensation, chilled glass, a plate
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