Smoking Gun (Adam Cartwright Trilogy Book 1) (30 page)

It was ten days since the Opening Ceremony for the Red Rock Gold Mine. I lay in bed for a few minutes after I awoke contemplating the day ahead. Today was the first work day, in more than five years, that I was actually unemployed. In the past, ever since I was first engaged as a construction engineer by Gibson Construction, I had been fortunate enough to have a new contract in place when the current one was completed.

The previous week had been spent wrapping up Red Rock Project matters and checking the as-built plans at the head office of Gibson Construction in Brisbane. Curiously, many of the Gibson employees who had been less than friendly towards me previously, were now quite the opposite. It seems that once I had resigned that they saw me as no longer being a competitor for status in the organisation. Or perhaps in light of the rumour going around that I was off to a big job with CMA, they thought that I might be a good business contact to have. Especially Tom Barton who was almost fawning in his attempts to be friendly.

On my last day, Ewan Ryan took me out to a convivial lunch. At least with him I did not feel that he might be cultivating me as a future business contact as CMA’s CEO, John Segal was a close friend. 

Today was the day of the Coercive Hearing at which I would be interrogated. I was looking forward to telling my tale and hopefully putting it all behind me. Even though the persons responsible for the attacks on me were known, there was not the evidence available to convict them. I still felt like I was walking around with a target on my back. For the first time in my adult life, my work was not my top priority. There had been a moment when I was standing on Lookout Hill talking to Christine, after the Red Rock Opening Ceremony, that I had sensed the moment was right to talk about marriage. But, the thought of inviting her into the danger zone prevented me.

The upcoming Coercive Hearing had stimulated my thoughts about the attacks on me and how, on the balance of probabilities, they must be linked to the Mount Godwin robbery and murders.

Several times during the night I had woken to find myself thinking about the possible links between me and the robbery. Now that I was awake I made a decision. I would do what I should have done right at the outset. I would apply the rigorous logic of engineering problem solving to the matter at hand.

When faced with an engineering problem I usually managed to convince myself that if a solution existed then I could find it. The next step was to assume that a solution actually did exist which, of course, meant that I would find it. This process worked well for me. It was all based on confidence. A self-belief that I could do it.

Now that I had made the decision, time had become critical. Glancing at the clock, I saw that I had almost four hours before I was scheduled to attend the Commission’s Hearing at ten. I would forgo my usual early morning run along the Brisbane River and through the Botanical Gardens.

Fifteen minutes later I was showered and sitting at the desk with a coffee in hand. I was staying at the Hotel Jen, next door to the Roma Street train station and transport hub. I stayed here often. I liked its handy location and buffet breakfasts. Plus of course the Nespresso coffee maker and coffee capsules provided in each room.

Extracting a notebook from my briefcase I started jotting down notes. The key to solving an engineering problem, that had resisted initial attempts to find a solution, was to challenge all assumptions that had been made. This was not as easy as it seems because I needed to decide what was actually a fact and what had been deduced, or assumed, to be a fact.

It is human nature for humans to jump to conclusions and accept them as facts. It is in our DNA. Without this leap to judgement, mankind probably would not have survived and reacted to danger before it was too late. But in logical decision making it can lead to mistakes.

At the top of the page I wrote, ‘Previous Assumptions’ and underlined it. It was easy to start the list. When Peter Williams had been describing the known facts regarding the robbery, he had used the word assumed three times. So the first three items in the list of ‘Previous Assumptions’ were:

             
Stolen gold transported to air strip in supervisor’s vehicle.

              Stolen gold removed from mine site by plane.

              Harry Hawsall assumed to be in Townsville.

I then wrote another heading, ‘New Assumptions’, part way down the page, leaving space for more previous assumptions to be listed later, if needed. The first items included in the new list were:

              D I Hargreaves is corrupt and involved in robbery.

              D S Strong is corrupt and involved in robbery.

              Harry Hawsall is involved in robbery and attempt on my life.

              James Foster is involved in robbery and attempt on my life.

I now had to apply the same mindset to the ‘smoking gun’. What was it and why did Hargreaves and company believe that it made me a threat. Did it even exist? I considered the question for a moment before adding two more items to the list of ‘New Assumptions’.

             
There is a ‘smoking gun’.

I am believed to either have the ‘smoking gun’ or know of it.

As assumptions, they all had strong, but not conclusive, supporting evidence. The next step was to consider what would be the consequences if the previous assumptions were wrong and the new assumptions were correct. I began noting down my thoughts in the note book.

First if the stolen gold was not transferred in the 4WD to the airstrip then why was the vehicle taken there? The obvious answer was that it was a red herring. A ruse to make it look like the gold had been taken to the airstrip and flown out from there by plane. But if it were a ruse then it meant that the gold was not flown out from Mount Godwin.

The coincidence of the robbery occurring on the same day that so many planes used the airstrip could not be ignored. But, it could be explained not as an opportunity to hide the gold flight amongst the other planes but another ruse to help investigators accept it to be likely that an unknown plane had visited the airstrip.

I added another item to the ‘New Assumption’ list.

              Stolen Gold not transported from mine site by plane.

The next item was Harry Hawsall. If Hawsall was involved in the robbery then he was not in Townsville on the day of the robbery. But Peter Williams said that the only evidence that Hawsall was in Townsville at that time was that purchases had been made using his credit card. Well, clearly an accomplice in Townsville could have made those purchases in order to give Hawsall an alibi. Also the assumption that Hawsall had left the mine site, two days before the robbery, because he had been clocked out by the gatekeeper was certainly not water-tight. I knew that the clocking of workers in and out of the gate was far from rigorous. Someone else, probably James Foster, could have easily clocked him out.

That led immediately to the question. If Hawsall was not in Townsville and he hadn’t been clocked out from the mine site then where had he been? Since I had already assumed that Hawsall was involved in the robbery the answer was obvious; hiding in the Gold Room complex.

I included yet another item in the ‘New Assumption’ list.

              Hawsall was hiding in the Gold Room for 2 days before robbery.

My excitement was growing. I could sense that a solution was emerging. Returning to my notes I started another paragraph.

Since there was no record of the Gold Room Supervisor’s vehicle departing through the main gate to get to the airstrip, where it had been found, then it had to have exited the site via one of the padlocked boundary gates for which James Foster had a key.

I added a further item to the ‘New Assumption’ list.

              James Foster drove Supervisor’s vehicle to airstrip.

Since the Supervisor’s vehicle did not remove the stolen gold to the airstrip then another vehicle might have been involved. But all the other vehicles on site had been checked and cleared.

So since the stolen gold had not been driven from the mine site, nor flown out by plane, then the most likely answer is that the stolen gold had not left the mine site. And where would it most likely have been? Answer - the Gold Room. I added another item to the ‘New Assumption’ list.

              Stolen gold was still in Gold Room complex.

But, if the gold had been there why wasn’t it found? Because the Gold Room complex was searched by a corrupt police officer, D S Strong. Suspicion would then fall on D C Mortlock, who took part in the search. Perhaps he had also been involved in the robbery.

Three new items were added to the ‘New Assumption’ list.

              D S Strong ensured that stolen gold and Hawsall not discovered.

D I Hargreaves and D S Strong removed stolen gold from mine site.

              D C Mortlock possibly corrupt and perhaps involved in robbery.

Since someone had drilled the hole in the wall between the store room and the lunch room, it would have had to be done at night as the Gold Room only worked day shifts. So, logically, Harry Hawsall had drilled the holes. In addition, a bottle of nitrogen gas would have had to been moved from the workshops to the Gold Room before the robbery. Probably the night before. James Foster would have had the means and opportunity to carry out that task.

I sat back in the chair with my hands behind my neck and rotating my head to relax as much as I could. I could feel that I was almost there. That the solution was within my grasp. A credible story had emerged but proof was still eluding me. While Hawsall could not prove that he had left the mine site, I could not prove that he hadn’t. It was still a stalemate. I checked the clock, it was time for breakfast. I was hungry and I needed a break.

When I got back from breakfast I had less than two hours before I was due to appear at the Hearing. I could feel the pressure mounting. The Hearing was getting closer and the solution tantalisingly near but still not revealed.

I then started writing down notes about the ‘smoking gun’. Since I now assumed that it existed and that I was linked to it somehow. The only possible solution that I could conceive was the photographs that I had taken around the site on the day of the robbery. But they had all been checked, not just by me, but by the Commission’s people as well. They had been enlarged to the maximum and scrutinised with no result.

Logic was leading me towards the photographs but they were a dead end. I leaned back in my chair. Then with my eyes closed I said aloud. “There is a solution and I will find it.” I then slowly repeated the same words with increasing force and confidence for a whole minute at least.

When I opened my eyes I had known that I would succeed. It was like having to grope for a word during a conversation and having a momentary blank. Even if you don’t recall the word immediately you know that it will eventually reveal itself.

Suddenly, without further effort, I knew the answer. But I had to check. With trembling hands I picked up my laptop and turned it on. Agonizingly long moments later I was clicking through the photographs that I had taken at the Mount Godwin Gold Mine. I soon found the one that I was seeking and zoomed to an enlarged view.

I couldn’t help myself, for the first time in many years I gave way to my emotions. I threw my arms in the air and yelled at the top of my voice in excitement. “Eureka. Eur-bloody-reka!”

I had found it. I had found the smoking gun.

***

I had been told that the Hearing was to be held at the Commission’s Hearing Room on Level Two of the North Tower at Green Square on St Paul’s terrace. This was the usual venue for public enquiries but today it would be closed to the Media and the public.

I arrived about fifteen minutes early and was directed to a lobby adjacent to a pair of large doors adorned with a sign declaring it to be the Hearing Room. I had been waiting only a few minutes before Toni Swan arrived and escorted me inside. Although I had been told earlier she repeated the plan for the day. I would be the first to be called. Since I was not suspected of any wrongdoing, but appearing as a witness to provide evidence upon which the Commission would rely, I would be the first to be interviewed. There were five others to be interrogated. They would not hear my evidence. The Hearing might be concluded in one day, but there was the possibility that it could take several days as the others had all opted to have legal support in attendance.

Toni Swan explained the protocol that would be followed. “You will be seated at that table.” As she spoke she pointed at one of two tables facing each other in a cleared space in front of rows of seats. “If you had legal support they would have been seated beside you. I will be sitting at the other table with Peter Williams and Margaret Smith. I will run the interview. There will be a half dozen or so observers from the Commission also in attendance. You can give your statement seated. You do not have to stand. There are microphones provided. Everything will be recorded and videoed.”

As she was speaking I held up a thumb drive for her to see. She understood my meaning. “If you have something that you want to display on the wall-mounted screen then you can just plug it into the USB port in the computer on your table and use the keyboard beside it. But before you display anything you should ask my approval to do so. We have all your videos and statements. All we need to do today is to formally write it into evidence and confirm some points. If you have new evidence that you wish to submit today then you should give me a quick heads-up now.”

Holding the thumb drive between my thumb and forefinger I said, “I believe that I have found the ‘smoking gun’. It’s all on this thumb drive. I’d like to explain my reasoning and present what I believe is the key piece of evidence after you have taken my statements. It only occurred to me this morning otherwise I would have told you about it earlier.”

She smiled and nodded. “Good. I look forward to it.”

We then both turned and walked to our respective tables and sat down.

Almost immediately Peter Williams and Margaret Smith entered the room and sat down in the seats on either side of Toni Swan. They both smiled and gave me a friendly thumbs-up sign of encouragement. Following them were a further five observers who took seats in the body of the room.

As I waited, I glanced around. It was a large austere room that could accommodate over a hundred spectators. At the front of the room was a dais and bench which apparently was not going to be used today. Promptly at ten o’clock Toni Swan stood to declare the Coercive Hearing in session. As a procedural requirement she stated the date, time and location and named all those in attendance. After declaring that the interview would be conducted while we were seated, she sat down.

It was far from the formality of a Courtroom but it certainly couldn’t be described as informal. I was asked to read out the several statements that I had submitted to the Commission previously and then answer questions.

Before I started I was asked to restrict myself to the facts and refrain from speculation, but was told that I would have the opportunity to present conclusions or theories that I might want to bring to the Commission’s attention at the conclusion of the interview proper.

It took almost an hour for me to read my statements about the attempted drowning, the hit-and-run and the setting up of the security camera on ‘Irish Mist’. The questions had been quickly dealt with.

Eventually my interview was over and Toni Swan said, “Thank you, Mister Cartwright. A transcript of your interview will be typed up shortly. We would like you to sign it and we will have it witnessed for the Commission’s records. You are free to go now but I understand that you wish to present a theory in respect to the Mount Godwin Gold Mine robbery and killings.”

“Yes. I believe that I know how the Mount Godwin robbery was executed and where the investigation got misdirected. Plus I have a photograph that can be best described as the ‘smoking gun’.”

As I paused and looked around the room, it was clear that I had everyone’s complete attention. Glancing at Toni Swan I saw her nod for me to continue so I said, “First the Gold Room Supervisor’s vehicle at the airport and the coincidence of the robbery on the same day as a relatively large number of flights from the airfield was a deliberate misdirection. It invited investigators to assume that the stolen gold had been flown from the mine. And the investigators accepted the invitation. But the truth is that the stolen gold was not removed from the mine until days later.”

Toni Swan raised a hand indicating that she wanted to ask a question, but I shook my head, smiled and said, “Not yet. There was another misdirection that worked rather well too. Well up till now anyway. Harry Hawsall did not leave the mine site two days before the robbery. He stayed behind, hidden in a store room within the Gold Room complex until after the robbery. James Foster clocked Hawsall out through the main gate and another accomplice used his credit card in Townsville to make it seem that Hawsall was three hundred kilometres in Townsville at the time of the robbery.”

I stopped and looked around the room. Noticing that Toni Swan again looked like she wanted to say something, I said, “Senior Investigator Swan, I noticed that you were going to ask a question earlier. I’ve only got a few more aspects of the theory before I present what I think is the ‘smoking gun’ in this case. But do you want to ask me a question now?”

Toni Swan smiled and said, “I wasn’t going to ask a question, Adam. I was just going to check whether the microphone is still picking up what you say when you stood to present your case. But, I’ve since been told that the recording sound level is fine.”

I blinked in surprise then realised that I had been standing and pacing backwards and forwards as I had been talking. I had been so immersed in what I wanted to communicate that I hadn’t realised that I hadn’t remained seated. I grinned ruefully and said apologetically. “Sorry. I didn’t realise that I had stood up…”

Everyone in the room chuckled briefly at my momentary discomfort.

Toni Swan, still grinning, said, “Please continue. And stay standing, if you want to. But before you do. I have a question. You have decided that Hawsall remained hidden in the Gold Room storeroom. Is that merely conjecture, or do you have some supporting evidence?”

I shrugged. “Both conjecture and evidence. I will get to that in a few minutes. But there is something else as well. I think that I was given a hint by D I Hargreaves. When he was questioning me after the police received my statement about the attempt to drown me he tried to needle me by asking me if I realised that there was a similarity between the Mount Godwin robbery and the Great Bookie Robbery in Melbourne years ago. I thought that he was implying that the attack on me was possibly other criminals trying to get their hands on my share of the gold stolen from the Mount Godwin Gold Mine. Just as had happened to the perpetrators of the Great Bookie Robbery. It annoyed me so I suggested that the feature in common between the both robberies might have been the involvement of corrupt police officers. He was far from amused but I did get the feeling that he had been playing me when he asked me if I recognised any similarity between the two robberies. This morning when thinking back to that verbal exchange I realised that his arrogance might have led him to take more risks than he should have…”

I paused and looked around the room. “Does anyone remember what the ploy was that enabled the robbers in Melbourne to gain access to the meeting room when the bookies were gathered there with their money?”

One of the observers, a senior looking man, responded immediately. “They hid in a storage room overnight.”

“Exactly. And I think that ‘hiding in a storage room overnight’ was the similarity that D I Hargreaves was teasing me with. He was so confident in his mental superiority that he believed that I wouldn’t understand that it was a clue.”

I had been glancing around the room as I was speaking. I had everyone’s attention still apart from a flurry of brief mutterings when I concluded my comment about the possible clue provided by D I Hargreaves. No one looked like they were ready to ask a question just yet so I resumed my monologue. “The key to it all was the involvement of D I Hargreaves and D S Strong. Plus perhaps D C Mortlock also. D S Strong fielded the emergency call from the Gold Room and had got there before the door was broken down to gain access and reveal the three dead men plus the empty gold safe. He and D C Mortlock then cleared the Gold Room complex and sealed the crime scene. Together they later searched the complete area and allegedly found neither gold nor Harry Hawsall.”

Toni Swan held up a hand and when I stopped talking she asked, “You say that D C Mortlock might be involved. Is there any firm evidence against him?”

“Not to my knowledge. I believe that he is a suspect only because he was with D S Strong during the initial search of the Gold Room complex. When the two detectives arrived at the Gold Room, Harry Hawsall was out of sight in a hiding place somewhere. Probably in the store room and most likely with the stolen gold. D S Strong probably pretended to search the store room, in which case D C Mortlock may not be involved in the robbery. Later, when D I Hargreaves arrived to control the crime scene with D S Strong they were the only two persons known to be in the Gold Room for the next two days, apart from when the bodies of the three men were removed from the lunch room.” I paused for a moment to take a sip of water and let what I had said to sink in.

No one took the opportunity to say anything so I resumed speaking. “James Foster would later clock Hawsall back through the main gate and the two CIB officers would help Hawsall surface without being noticed. The stolen gold was probably later removed from the mine inside a police vehicle driven by either D I Hargreaves or D S Strong.” I paused and looked around. “I know that I have used the word probably quite a few times. But there is a solid piece of evidence that will support the explanation of the robbery that I have just presented. One of the sticking points was that we all believed that Hawsall was involved but we couldn’t prove it. But when we look at his alibi it is clear that he can not prove that he was in Townsville. However, until now we could not prove that he was actually at the Gold Room all the time. But that has changed. I have a photograph that clearly places him there.”

I paused and Toni Swan took the opportunity to say. “But we have had all your photographs checked thoroughly. None of them showed Hawsall.”

I smiled and responded, “That is correct. But it was only this morning that I realised that if Hawsall had been hidden in the store room ever since he was allegedly checked out through the main gate two days earlier then he might show up in photos taken before the day of the robbery. We had only been searching the photos taken on the day of the robbery. The photographs that I took at the Mount Godwin Gold Mine and handed in to the Commission include all photographs that I had taken there. Including some taken on the evening before the robbery.”

I stopped talking and walked over to the computer on my table and plugged in my thumb drive. Moments later a photograph was displayed. It showed the Gold Room complex. Three barred windows were visible. There were no vehicles or people to be seen. The room had been completely silent while I was setting up the computer.

After glancing around to confirm that I had everyone’s attention I said, “This photograph shows the Gold Room complex. It is one of many that I took around the mine site to record the processing plant and other elements of the construction work that I had been involved with. This was one of a number that I took at sunset, the night before the robbery. The two windows to the right show the reflected sunset. That was probably the reason that I took this shot. However, you should look at the window to the left. It is the window to the storage room. If you look closely at the smudge in the window I will gradually zoom in on it.”

Click by click I enlarged the image, all the time keeping the window centred in the screen. Gradually the smudge morphed into a man’s face looking out the window. As soon as a face became visible there was a gasp from around the room. A few clicks later, the face dominated the screen and I said, “For those of you that have not met him, that face belongs to Harry Hawsall. This photograph places him in the storage room at The Gold Room complex at the Mount Godwin Gold Mine. Not in Townsville” Looking directly at Toni Swan I added. “This is the...”

She beat me to it and finished my sentence. “Smoking gun.”

***

I spent the next few hours being hosted in an anteroom and plied with refreshments while the Coercive Hearing continued.

At around three o’clock Toni Swan burst into the room followed by Peter Williams and Margaret Smith. That they had been successful was obvious. Their faces said it all.

Toni Swan grinned. “It’s all over. D S Strong has confessed. When we related your theory about how the robbery went down he was worried. But the photo was the clincher. He has confirmed everything that you postulated and admitted to taking part in the attempts on your life as well as planting the packages on your boat. He said that Hawsall recognised you as you took the photo of him looking out the window. He’d been busy drilling a hole in the wall through to the lunch room and had just stood up to stretch and look at the sunset. His timing couldn’t have been worse.”