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The police worked through the night sorting and documenting everything they found. Meanwhile, although the footage of the arrests had now appeared on television, Jubelin was refusing to talk to the media: he didn't want to warn anyone about the next phase of the operation.

The following day, 20 January, there was a briefing at 6 am for the eighty police who were to bring in the family and associates of the two men and interview them. An operations room was set up in the Tuno office at Parramatta to coordinate the day's activities. It would be necessary to monitor who had been brought in to police stations around the state, and determine if any useful information obtained in interviews with one person needed to be fed to officers interviewing someone else. Jubelin ran the room assisted by Kaan McGregor, selected because of his ability to think clearly and quickly under pressure. Jubelin told him at the start, ‘I'm going to be yelling at you. It's not going to be pretty, but nothing's going to be personal.' Whiteboards were used to keep track of the seizures and interviews. A few of the people they wanted weren't at the addresses they visited initially, and had to be tracked down throughout the day.

The operation began, spreading further alarm among those close to Anthony Perish and his network. No one was sure just how much the police knew—one of the men's solicitors asked how many more murders his client would be charged
with. Some of them started to think about rolling on their associates before they were rolled on themselves.

Anthony and Andrew Perish continued to decline to be interviewed. Brad Curtis was clearly rocked, and detectives John Edwards and Dave Chambers pushed him hard, knowing that the longer he was in jail, the less likely it was he'd do a deal as he toughened up. On the day of his arrest he said he'd be prepared to talk but wanted to consider his position first. This was promising, but the detectives knew from long experience of criminals that you don't celebrate until they've come through.

Curtis had told detectives he had some explosives stored at his mother's place in Lane Cove. They organised an operation to retrieve these, and Jubelin, who was exhausted and about to head home for his first decent sleep in days, told them to keep it low-key. But in the end the army's bomb disposal unit turned up, headed by a captain in uniform, which naturally attracted the interest of local residents. Jubelin had to do more media about the explosives, which gave the story another burst of life. Then he went to sleep for a long time.

On 21 January, Jubelin launched his media blitz, holding a press conference and announcing the magnitude of Tuno and the seriousness of the crimes they were investigating. It was a big story and received good coverage, sending a clear message to suspects that police were not mucking around. The creeping barrage was well under way, and the all-important interviews with the targets were proceeding. Now it all depended on whether any of them would roll.

Terry Falconer, killed 16 November 2001

Anthony Perish's remote property at Girvan on the New South Wales mid-north coast

The shed at Girvan, 2012

 

The house at Girvan

Cameras covered the entrances to the Girvan property and were monitored from the house on these screens

 

The search for the remains of the toolbox at Girvan

Pieces of the toolbox recovered at Girvan

Anthony Perish arrested by Tuno detectives at McMahons Point, 19 January 2009

A member of the State Protection Group at the arrest of Anthony Perish and Brad Curtis

 

Anthony Perish and Brad Curtis, after their arrests