He walked through the room, suit faded and too big for his lean body. His red hair was slick and wet and combed back over a dome-shaped head. The haze of sunspots covering his face, responsible for his nickname, Freckles, had increased over summer.

'You don't need to remind me to show up for work,' I said.

He grunted as he unlocked his office, hit the light and dumped his briefcase on the desk. Following him in, I told him I needed a chat.

'Can it wait? I've just got here.'

'It's important.'

He tilted his long face, as if my simple explanation held all the answers. 'Just give me a few minutes.'

I walked into the mess room to check the TV for a weather update. Sure enough, thirty-seven degrees and no relief for the firemen. Even a brand-new fleet of water-bombers brought in from America wasn't helping much. I soaked a paper towel and was dabbing it against my eyes when Eckles walked in.

'What's the matter with your eyes?' he asked, a hint of sarcasm in his tone. 'Been out on the p.i.s.s again?'

'No. Hayfever.'

'Hayfever? That's what my seventeen-year-old son tells me when he's been smoking dope. He thinks I'm stupid. Thinks I don't know why his eyes are bloodshot.' He leant into my face. 'Are you a pothead as well, McCauley?'

I smiled at his lame attempt at humour. Prior to my shooting, Eckles had been the boss of the uniform section downstairs. Back then, he had a.s.sisted the Ethical Standards Department by enlisting one of his rookies, Ca.s.sie Withers, to spy on me. At the time they'd all believed I was responsible for, or at least involved in, the murder of an acquitted cop killer. But Ca.s.sie, to her credit, had gone in with open eyes and we were both eventually able to prove them all wrong and find the real killer. Most cops saw her efforts, and mine, particularly after the shooting, as heroic and staunch. We had taken on the underworld and the ESD, and lived to fight another day. Eckles, on the other hand, didn't fare so well. Despite being promoted to run the St Kilda CIU, a lot of coppers were suspicious of him and I knew he quietly blamed me for that.

'A lot of people think I'm stupid,' he said, pouring a cup of coffee from an urn on the wall. 'You don't think I'm stupid, do you?'

'I think your son does more than just smoke dope,' I joked, trying to lighten his mood. 'Saw him down on Fitzroy Street last night, tight hotpants, lace T-shirt, outside one of the gay clubs. I think some of the boys downstairs got pictures.'

Eckles frowned at me, unimpressed. 'Yeah, righto. What's the problem with the OD?'

'Ah, well, I'm not sure any more that it was accidental.'

'What?'

'There were anomalies with the scene.' I was about to elaborate when we heard voices from outside. Two detectives walked by, said h.e.l.lo and continued on to the squad room. 'I don't think we should discuss it here. Day shift's about to start. Maybe we could go '

'Speaking of which,' Eckles interrupted. 'Where's Ca.s.sie? Finetti said she bailed out early Thursday and left you with the OD. I'm not happy about that.'

Annoyance and frustration clouded my thoughts. Finetti and Ca.s.sie had worked together in the uniform section for almost five years, forming a strong friendship that had become intimate on at least one occasion. Now that he wasn't getting into her pants any more, things weren't as rosy between them.

'Seems Finetti said a lot, huh?' I said to Eckles.

Eckles checked his watch theatrically. 'Well, where is she, McCauley? I mean, I know her old man's sick, but she either works here or she doesn't. You basically sponsored her entry into the CI, and I can't run this joint properly if I don't even know who's going to show up.'

'Her father's not just sick, Ben. He has leukaemia leukaemia. Jesus, Ca.s.sie paid for him and her mother to fly here to get the treatment he needs.'

'I know that. I just think ...'

His words faded as Ca.s.sie walked into the mess room.

'Think what?' she said innocently.

Ca.s.sie was short and stocky, but incredibly athletic, with short blonde hair she'd recently had cut and styled into a spike. It was a rough and grungy look, and there'd been mumblings about d.y.k.es when she first had it cut, but I absolutely loved it about her. No bulls.h.i.t. s.e.xy without the make-up or fancy fingernails.

'Heard my name,' she said. 'What's the go, boss?'

'Sarge was just saying he wishes he could help you out a bit,' I said. 'I'm suggesting he put you on permanent day shift. What do ya say, boss?'

'Ah, yeah,' he said, giving me a curt smile and walking away. 'I'll have a look at the roster and see who I can juggle.'

I winked at Ca.s.sie and followed Eckles back to his office. He closed the door and nodded towards the chair facing his desk.

'Nice one,' he said. 'Now I've gotta come good on that or she'll b.i.t.c.h to the lezzos over in Equal Opportunity. That's all I b.l.o.o.d.y need, the hairy armpit brigade marching through here with their women's rights.' He slumped in his chair and shook his head. 'That's what's wrong with the job these days. We used to be a police police force, now we're just a force, now we're just a p.u.s.s.y p.u.s.s.y force.' force.'

I waited, silent, letting him rant.

'Don't tell me you agree with affirmative action?' He pointed out the window. 'Let me tell you something, McCauley. This isn't a f.u.c.king university; this is the real world. Having fancy p.u.s.s.y like Ca.s.sie fluffing around only makes it harder for blokes like you and me to get the job done. I don't care what anyone says, females just get in the way. I mean, can you really see her out there wrestling with drunks or brawling with some s.h.i.thead off his face on meth?'

I didn't bother replying. I could name numerous occasions when female cops even smaller than Ca.s.sie had dealt effectively with the mad, the bad and the sad.

'You wanna hear this or not?' I said.

'Sure, go.'

I explained the anomalies at the crime scene, starting with the missing syringe cap and moving through to the lack of teeth marks on the leather belt. I told him about the missing mobile phone and the CCR I was requesting, and ended by detailing the expensive clothes the victim had been wearing and how he hadn't had a single criminal conviction over the past year. I didn't mention anything about my visit to the morgue, the conversation with Will Novak or my search of Boyd's apartment.

When I'd finished, Eckles rubbed his jaw, swivelled away from the desk and looked out the window.

'So you're saying somebody else injected him?'

'I'm saying I think he was murdered.'

'Whoa, hold up a second.' He fished a report from a tray on his desk. 'That's your eighty-three from yesterday morning.'

Eighty-three was code for an official police report to the coroner.

'Now let's read from the summary,' he continued. ' "Nil signs of violence. Nil suspicious circ.u.mstances. Most likely cause of death is accidental overdose." '

I remained silent while he put the report back in his pile.

'Let me get this right,' he said. 'What you're telling me is that you think you might have green-carded a homicide, wrote it off as accidental?'

'I wouldn't put it that way.'

'Then how would you put it?'

'I'm telling you there are anomalies that need investigating; anomalies that weren't apparent at the initial crime scene.'

'What do you mean they weren't apparent apparent at the crime scene? Everything you've just described was at the crime scene? Everything you've just described was at at the crime scene.' the crime scene.'

I closed my eyes, knowing it was true.

'What I mean is, I didn't realise the significance of it all until I got home and thought about it.'

'So you wrote it off as accidental because you either ignored or missed the anomalies at first. Now you've had a change of mind.'

'Well, not exactly. I guess everyone on the scene concurred that it looked like a standard OD.'

'Everyone else? You mean Finetti?'

I nodded, the shame of it weighing on me.

'Since when do you let a cowboy like Finetti dictate a crime scene? This was your scene, McCauley. You You wrote it off, so don't go blaming anyone else. wrote it off, so don't go blaming anyone else. You You accept this f.u.c.k-up and own it ' accept this f.u.c.k-up and own it '

'All right,' I said, a little too forcefully, anger curling inside me like a fist. I needed solutions, not condemnation. 'What are we going to do?'

'We?'

'Well, you countersigned that report, boss. Like you said, it goes up the line.'

He stared at me a long moment. 'We wait and see what happens with the coroner. If they pick up suspicious circs then we don't look like d.i.c.kheads calling in Homicide after the horse has bolted.'

'And what if the coroner doesn't pick up any other anomalies and all we've got to go on is what we know about the crime scene?'

'Then it's not a homicide.'

'Excuse me?'

Eckles let out a sigh. 'Look, we can't afford to be chasing so-called anomalies for every single death we come across. That's what the coroner's for. Besides, this department has suffered enough embarra.s.sment over recent years, and so have you. I don't want you to pursue this any further and be thrown into the public laundry again. We've done our part.'

My gut churned. I saw right through him. It had nothing to do with saving the reputation of the Force or balancing resources or, indeed, my welfare.

'It's your job you're worried about, isn't it?' I said. 'You're the officer in charge here, the acting acting OIC, but you don't want a check against your name when it comes time to appoint a permanent. So you'd prefer to write this off as accidental rather than lose face by accepting we made a mistake.' OIC, but you don't want a check against your name when it comes time to appoint a permanent. So you'd prefer to write this off as accidental rather than lose face by accepting we made a mistake.'

Eckles pressed his hands down on the desk and took a breath, measuring his words. 'I wouldn't say we we made the mistake. I think the only mistake made the mistake. I think the only mistake I I made was letting you back on the team in the first place.' made was letting you back on the team in the first place.'

'Really?'

'Well, I can't afford to have detectives on my team who make these kinds of mistakes. This is St Kilda, the busiest CIU in the country. Surely you understand this sort of thing makes me question your judgement.'

My left shoulder tensed and I rubbed it with my hand.

'What I understand is that you're still p.i.s.sed off I proved my own innocence in the Varilla case. And if I was betting, I'd say that's why you put so much s.h.i.t on Ca.s.sie, because your plan to pit her against me backfired. You were wrong about me and you were wrong about her. What does that say about your judgement?'

'That's ridiculous. I wanted to believe you were clean on that. I knew knew you were clean. We just needed to prove it, so I used Ca.s.sie to do it.' you were clean. We just needed to prove it, so I used Ca.s.sie to do it.'

I scoffed at that. It was complete bulls.h.i.t and I was offended that he thought I was stupid enough to believe it.

'No, you see, setting Ca.s.sie against me and taking sides with ESD showed everyone what side you were on. Now you wonder why n.o.body trusts you. It's not that everyone thinks you're stupid, they just know you've got ambitions.'

'There's nothing wrong with that.'

'There is if you're prepared to sell out your own crew to climb the mountain.'

He breathed out long and low, as though attempting to calm an inner rage.

'You know what your problem is, McCauley? You don't respect your superiors. That's always been your problem you're recalcitrant and you have an ego the size of a Jamaican's d.i.c.k.'

I wanted to argue back on that one, but instead I got to the point.

'Look, let's move on. It's in the past and we need to be a team. I mean, we're all on the same side, right?'

He didn't answer that.

'Come on, boss. I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere. You might wish I wasn't here, but I am, and in the end you don't get to choose who stays on the CI. My rep goes higher up the line than this office, so let's just work together on this and find a solution.'

Eckles walked around his desk, leant over me. The smell of coffee wafted from his breath as he spoke, his voice a coa.r.s.e whisper.

'Maybe I agree with all that, but you're missing the point. You've just come in here and admitted to me that you made a mistake. A big mistake, so this is is my choice. You're on a return-to-work pa.s.s. All I have to do is dish you up an unsatisfactory performance report and you're back at home watching my choice. You're on a return-to-work pa.s.s. All I have to do is dish you up an unsatisfactory performance report and you're back at home watching Days of Our Lives Days of Our Lives.'

'Maybe you need your ears checked, Freckles. Your signature is on that inquest sheet too. So we're in this together. How do you think it'll look if a genuine homicide gets written off as accidental on your watch?'

He stepped back and pursed his lips, making his face look like a squashed tea bag.

'Fine, do what you want, McCauley, but I'm warning you, I won't go down for this. See, I have friends too. I didn't just bend over for ESD without getting something in return. They owe me, mate, and they've made it perfectly clear that careers in this organisation are built on the scalps of rogues like you. So don't screw me on this or I'll serve you up quicker than s.h.i.t off a shovel. You got that?'

Yeah, I got it, all right. The Police Force is like a huge carnivorous machine, completely unforgiving. Everybody knows you don't get even by trying to fight it, so what I did next probably wasn't the wisest of moves, but sometimes you can't help yourself.

'You know something, Ben,' I said from the doorway, loud enough for everyone in the squad room to hear, 'you talk about my lack of respect. The truth is, I used used to respect you, back when you were a cop.' to respect you, back when you were a cop.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'You're not a cop any more. You're a f.u.c.king bureaucrat.'

9.

AT MY DESK, I PACKED MY daybook and the LEAP reports I'd printed into my briefcase. All eyes in the squad room were on me. I'd disrupted their routine, and although many of them would be silently agreeing with me, any overt signs of support would almost certainly see the offending member on the boss's s.h.i.t list. daybook and the LEAP reports I'd printed into my briefcase. All eyes in the squad room were on me. I'd disrupted their routine, and although many of them would be silently agreeing with me, any overt signs of support would almost certainly see the offending member on the boss's s.h.i.t list.

In the end only Ca.s.sie had the front to approach me. 'Took a message for you, from Dr Julie Wong at the morgue,' she said, handing over a Post-it note. 'She'll be ready to see you in about an hour. Got women all over town, haven't we?'

I managed a smile as Ca.s.sie checked over her shoulder, concern and intrigue meshed across her face.

'So what's going on? You and Freckles sounded worse than the two Paddy and Zoff copped last night.'