"He's the new boy, Janet." "He feels isolated." "He's an arrogant, patronising show pony." "You know that every time a barrister applies for the senior counsel position, well, the silk committee appoint a colleague to keep an eye on him." "They've got Janet King looking at me?" "Mr Moreno, I find you not guilty." "You're free to go." "Pull out Judge Renmark's decisions over the last two years." " Why?" " Something was dodgy in Moreno." "We're drowning in work and you're stalking Renmark?" "Someone leaned on him." "How else could he get Moreno so wrong?" "He's clever." "He chooses his opportunities very carefully, twists things just as much as he needs to." "So there's nearly 100% conviction rate for the last 18 months until Moreno." "He's convicting everyone that comes before him." "They're all connected - Blakely, Nelson, Moreno." "Renmark?" "Especially Renmark." "You needed something concrete before you could start a formal investigation." "And here it is." "You realise this could sink us both?" "I heard you've been reviewing some of my judgements." "Did you?" "I'd tread very carefully if I were you, Miss King." "My findings could be very damning, but I'm offering you one last chance." "Resign now." "Goodnight, Miss King." "Pleasant dreams." "We've compiled a list of people who might hold a grudge against you." "I don't need this." "I know who did it." "What have we got?" "Not sure." "What's up, babe?" "Hey, handsome." "I missed you at breakfast this morning." "Yeah sorry, they called me out early." "I didn't want to wake you." "Ah, will you have some time later today or...?" "What is it?" "Ah, well, it's just, um..." "Will you... will you be home for dinner?" "Shit." "I'll, ah..." "I'll call you back later." "I should have told him last night." "I'm such a chicken." "He'll call you back when he can." "He's so desperate to have children." "It's not a definite, is it?" "Kids'll happen when you're both ready." "Probably when you least expect them." "And if all else fails, do what the rest of us do in times of crisis - bury yourself in work." "Oh, how's Nelson looking, by the way?" "Maya ready to demolish him?" "Sorry." "Andy, is everything OK?" "In one judgement, Renmark even quotes a precedent from a case when the case itself doesn't even exist." "We already have lots of stuff on him already, and I've only fully checked about half of them so far, so..." "He's dead." "Who?" "Judge Renmark." "Well, we can't be certain about anything." "It might be suicide." "We haven't found a note." "There's nothing to suggest he was suicidal." "And it's not a known suicide spot." "An accident?" "Could be." "Leaning over the edge to look at something." "Maybe he dropped his parking ticket and was trying to grab it." "Or maybe some kids were trying to rob him and, you know, a bit of shoving got out of hand." "How's the scene?" "Anything on the body?" "Yeah, bits and pieces on and around." "Keys, monogrammed handkerchief, phone, pen, also monogrammed." "But no wallet." "So it all fits a robbery." "Apart from this, anything else unexpected?" "Not really." "Who was the last person to see him alive?" "Well, he didn't look like a man about to suicide." "Not when he was in here." "No talk of nothing left to live for since finishing the job?" "What, apart from beach, beer, test cricket, a very generous pension scheme?" "Oh, retirement's all I live for." "No, not Judge Renmark, no." "He was gloating yesterday." "He had all the rumour and innuendo he needed to dump on Janet from a great height, and he was relishing the prospect of doing so." "But he only told me that." "Not Janet?" "No, I don't think so." "Was she here?" "I'm not sure." "She might have been outside." "I can't remember." "But you didn't see them talk at all?" "Um..." "OK, thanks." "Yes, I did see him." "He stopped to talk to me on his way out." "And?" "He said unless I resigned, he was intending to get me fired." "Which you would have been pretty upset about, I imagine." "It's hardly unexpected, but if you're looking for people who'd gain by his death, I suppose I'm one of them." "Although you did have witness protection officers outside your door all night, which is pretty good as alibis go." "Any other ideas?" "The more we look at the crime scene, the more it looks like there was some sort of altercation." "One of his shirt buttons was missing, a few of his items were scattered around the body." "A random attack got out of hand." "Random?" "It's our best bet at the moment." "Random?" "!" "Are you serious?" "We know that Renmark let Moreno off in court, and Moreno rented Blakely's beach house." "We know that Blakely and Nelson are linked, and as soon as we started lifting the lid on them," "Blakely was killed and my whole family was nearly blown up, and now Renmark." "Of course I think it's something bigger." "We still can't prove Moreno and Blakely even knew each other, and your car was blown up by ammonium nitrate and coal dust." "That says to us someone big." "Someone with serious connections." "Yes." "And I doubt a guy like Moreno could even mix that stuff together." "You really don't think Renmark's death could have been a random attack?" "He was being influenced by someone to bend his judgements, then suddenly he finds out he's being investigated and oh, dear, there's a random attack?" "Come on, Andy!" "It is someone with serious connections." "That is exactly my point." "What, he knew he was being investigated?" "I think they're talking about me." "You're paranoid." "Why would they be talking about you?" "I can tell." "I've got a very acute sense of this." "Richard, a judge is dead." "We've got an unsolved murder of a police officer and a car bombing." "You really think they're talking about you?" "No, no, you're right." "Richard!" "When you were collating Renmark's judgements, did you talk to any counsel, mention what you were doing about Renmark to any other solicitors, admin staff?" "No." "I mean, most of it was on the online database." "Didn't talk to anyone?" "Well, I had to ask a couple of clerks for a few of the older judgements, but I always said I was checking for precedent." "I never mentioned Renmark personally." "OK." "Thanks, Richard." "Someone from the Courts Admin Authority may have noticed something or..." "One of the juniors from around..." "Owen knew." "I told him when I asked about the Crown against Gianopolous judgement." "When was this?" "Yesterday." "Mate, you got a sec?" "Yeah, what's up?" "Renmark's dead." "Fell off a car park four storeys up last night." "Fell?" "Fell, pushed, who knows?" "Did you tell anyone about Richard going back over his judgements?" "No." "Great." "He's dead?" "Really?" "Yeah." "How do you fall off a car park?" "Easy if you get pushed." "Who else was there?" "What are you thinking?" "Don't know." "Forensics give you anything?" "CCTV?" "Not much, no." "Wow, this is getting weirder and weirder." "Yeah, I know." "It all means another investigation, of course, trawling over the last few months of his life." "Yeah, I can imagine there's a few questions." "Yeah." "Why was he appointed to run this inquiry into Janet and Erin?" "And did he lobby for it?" "Who fed the story to the media?" "He sure wanted Janet out of this place, we know that much." "If you hear anything just let me know." "Yep." "Gotta run." "Tonight, I promise." "Before we go to sleep, we're going to get half an hour." "You can talk and I will listen." "Thank you." "OK?" "What's it about, anyway?" "My fertility results." "But it's not a ten second conversation." "But tonight, though, please." "I promise, OK?" "I really promise." "Where was it?" "Renmark's study, taped up underneath the desk." "Who found it?" "Me." "No-one else knows?" "No-one." "I took it out and texted you." "OK, thanks." " This had better be good." " Oh, it is." "Normally, I hate surprises." "We were searching through Renmark's house, looking for anything that might indicate why he went out." "Excuse us for a sec." "Or who he was planning to meet." "Anything, really." "And we found this USB." "That's the same one that was at Keith Nelson's house." "Correct, but Nelson's had nothing on it." "And Renmark's?" "Over 84,000 photos, over 30 videos of porn." "All clearly underage." "Any idea where these images come from?" "We're still checking." "The kids, they're from everywhere." "Fuckin' hell." "Owen, Maya just..." "Sorry." "What?" "Maya just sent an email to Janet and me confirming she won't be a witness on the Nelson trial." "Which means there's a record of it now." "You know, for the date?" "Right." "Well, what should I do about it?" "I don't know." "Let me think about it." "I'll get back to you." "Gotta make a call." "OK." " Where's he going?" " Out to make a call." "Did you see that email that Maya sent?" "Yes." "Well, what do I do?" "Well, we have to change her mind." "Can you please beg her to let us have one more conversation?" "Mm, I'll see what I can do." "Thanks." "Can't you make it lunchtime?" "That won't be nearly so obvious." "OK, well, what time does your flight leave?" "What about tonight?" "Got time tonight?" "Alright, yep, 9am." "No, not on the phone." "Thank you." "Yeah, tomorrow morning then." "Yeah, same place." "OK, yep, bye." "Uh, uh, uh, not so fast." "Can you come with me?" "Why, what is it?" "I have some good news, which is an unexpected turn of events given the last few weeks, but I have no intention of saying it twice, so in here." "I have something to impart." "Right, well, I've just come from a conference call with the President of the Law Society and her Holiness, the Attorney-General." "In the aftermath of Judge Renmark's tragic death, we were reviewing the inquiry he was heading and I was able to tell my learned colleagues that when Judge Renmark was summarising his findings to me last night, prior to writing his report," "he indicated that he could find no substance in the rumours and he was intending to clear you both of all accusations." "He was?" "That's my recollection of the conversation." "I don't think anyone else was there, were they?" "No." "So the upshot is, the inquiry is to be abandoned, which means you're straight, you're gay, you're a solicitor advocate and we're all just good friends." "No need for thanks." "Applause and alcohol at the appropriate time will be gratefully received." "Right, well, um..." "see you then." "Are we OK?" "Yes, Erin, we're OK." "Let's just not drink together, hmm?" "Deal." "OK, so this is how it's looking so far." "Someone who we don't know yet, possibly someone here, possibly not, finds out that Renmark is a paedophile and forces Renmark to convict all these shitkickers because it suits him to have them in jail." "Yeah, but Renmark acquits Moreno, and the Moreno family go on holidays to Steven Blakely's beach house and some of the photos taken there end up on an Eastern European website." "While Renmark's stash of porn is found on the same sort of USB Nelson has." "And Keith Nelson was a mate of Steve Blakely." "And in Janet's scenario, this someone killed Steve when he thought they were all about to be uncovered, then tried to kill Janet when she started guessing the truth and killed Renmark as soon as he knew we were onto him." "If this is one person, then we're dealing with a serious player here." "Any ideas?" "Ask Keith Nelson." "He's the one who can tell us." "I know, but why would he?" "Have you put it to him?" "Put what to him?" "I can hardly say, 'We'll go easy on you for assaulting Maya if you tell us who ran the child porn ring that we're not even sure you belonged to?" "'" "Nelson had the same USB as Renmark, and Renmark's was full of illegal kiddie photos." "That's got to be worth a polite question, doesn't it?" "Yes, but he's also a up-himself son of a bitch who's convinced he's going to get off." "Then convince him he's not." "It's 15 years old!" "Her word against his." "I'm not a bloody magician." "Now, I'll go in as hard as you like if or when Nelson starts to realise he's been cornered." "So if there's anything more you or Owen can do to get him to that point, it will be very, very helpful." "We won't hound you, Maya, I promise, but it's been some time since the committal and we thought... we thought if we could just have one last meeting..." "Do you think that I'll change my mind?" "Well, I want to be able to say we tried." "That's all." "If I agree to one more, that'd be it, right?" "No more follow-ups?" "No more, guaranteed." "With you and Owen?" "Probably." "Yeah, sure." "No, just... just you two." "OK." "I really don't want to see Janet." "No, you won't." "She's a witness in the case." "She can't be part of it." "It'll just be Owen and me." "Yeah, alright." "OK." "Just spoke to Maya." "She didn't hang up on you?" "She said she'll give us half an hour to say our bit, that's all." "Nine o'clock tomorrow." "That's great." "Maya's coming in at nine o'clock tomorrow." "Can we talk about how you should approach her?" "Obviously, this is very, very important." "I can't do nine." "What?" "I can't do nine o'clock." "Can you make it ten?" "No, I was lucky to get her here at all." "Well, I'm sorry, I can't do nine." "Why not?" "I've got another appointment." "Where?" "Excuse me?" "Where are you going that could possibly be more important than changing Maya's mind about this trial?" "Janet, take a Valium or have a massage or something." "Just relax." "Owen, if we have to tell the court Maya's withdrawn," "Nelson walks away and we lose our best chance of finding out who's behind all of this." "Anytime after lunch." "Evening, midnight, I don't care." "I can't make nine." "If I call her again, I really think she'll pull out completely." "Cancel it." "Whatever it is at nine, why don't you reschedule that?" "If you wanted me here at nine, you should have asked me." "Don't just set a meeting and then assume I can make it." "Where are you going?" "I don't have to tell you." "Lina." "Listen, I really do want to run this matter." "Can you please call Maya?" "See if she can reschedule." "Janet." "Don't contact Maya." "If we've only got one shot, do it tomorrow." "OK, should I tell Owen?" "No, not yet." "Maybe text him tonight or maybe tomorrow morning." "Just wait as long as you can and then say you tried but she wouldn't change." "OK." "Um, if he finds out..." "Look, I'll cop any fallout." "Don't worry about that." "Just leave it as it is though, yeah?" "OK." "Thanks." "And can you just come into my office?" "I want to play out a few angles, see how they sound." "And see if Erin's around too, yeah?" "Sure." "Thanks." "Hey." "Hey." "Have you got a second?" "Sure." "I've been thinking about Renmark, and how he knew what we found out about him." "And the rest of us, we were all on the team who were doing the finding out, so I'm just thinking, it had to be Owen, didn't it?" "Or at least come from him, indirectly somehow." "Sit." "When you asked Owen about that case he ran in front of Renmark..." "Crown against Gianopolous." "Yes." "Did you say enough for Owen to know that you'd found a matter in which Renmark had lied in his judgement?" "Yes." "Can you close the door?" "If anyone interrupts us, just say we're having a small informal gathering to celebrate the fact that, I don't know, the inquiry's been abandoned." "Mm, I'll drink to that." "Congratulations." "Now before we get on to Maya, didn't you say once, back on the Simpson matter, that Owen had got bank records without a subpoena?" "Yep." "How?" "I always thought he'd asked one of his copper friends." "Has he ever done anything that you thought was dodgy?" "Is this just for this room?" "Yes." "Well, I did ask him how I could prove one of the girls in those photos for the Clarke matter was underage, and he said," "'Why don't you slip a photo of a five-year-old in there?" "No-one would pick it.'" "Oh, my God, what if he paid Renmark to find Gianopolous guilty?" "Whoa, I think that might be going a bit far." "Is it?" "What if it was blackmail?" "What if he discovered Renmark's interest in child pornography and used that to force him to make convictions?" "That would mean that Owen was the one controlling everything." "Exactly." "No." "Why not?" "We already know he cheats if he thinks the end justifies the means." "We know he benefited from some of those convictions himself." "It all adds up." "Aren't we getting a bit carried away here?" "He knows that you were on the right track with Moreno, that explains the car bomb." "Then I mention that Renmark is being investigated and he couldn't take the risk that Renmark might talk to save his reputation." "Wait a second, just back it up." "Don't you also think Nelson's a part of all this gang?" "And yet isn't Owen trying hard to convict Nelson?" "How does that work?" "What do you think?" "Do you think he really wants to prosecute Nelson?" "I don't know." "What?" "We said that we wanted to talk to Maya tomorrow morning, and see if she could testify again, but Owen said he had to be somewhere else and wouldn't say where." "There you go." "What, she pulled out?" "Long story." "Owen also knows that if we can put some heat on Nelson, he might be able to tell us more about who tried to kill me." "But..." "Now you're saying that person could be Owen?" "Well, who is suddenly unavailable to talk a witness around so the case against Nelson falls apart." "I mean, how convenient." "That's mad." "Is it?" "Yes." "Right." "Thanks." "Yes?" "Hi, Tracey." "I just..." "it's no big deal." "In fact, you don't even have to tell me even if you do know." "I just wanted to know if you did." "Know what?" "Where Owen's going tomorrow morning." "He's here, as far as I know." "Ah, no, he told Janet and Lina he had an appointment and wouldn't be in till ten." "News to me." "But even if he is, why should it bother you?" "Oh, no, it doesn't." "But he wouldn't tell Janet or Lina either and, um, we don't need to know where he's going, we just want to know that you know so that if there's an emergency, you can contact him for us." "Oh, thank you, Richard." "Your concern for office efficiency is most welcome." "Right." "Great." "OK, then." "The respected District Court judge apparently died after falling from a multistorey car park in the early hours of this morning, but police are yet to release the details surrounding the incident." "We're appealing to the public for any information regarding this incident." "Are you treating it as an accident?" "We're pursuing several lines of inquiry at the moment, but we won't say anything more definite until we've completed further investigations." "Thank you." "I'm off." "Good-o." "Got something on tomorrow morning." "I'll be in about ten." "Oh, whereabouts?" "Be on the mobile." "I really should know where you are." "Tough." "Tell Janet I said that." "How'd you go with Maya?" "Tried." "She said she'd get back to me." "Text or email when you get an answer from her, please?" "Oh, I hate lying." "That is one of the many things I love about you." "So, what does 'idiopathic' mean, exactly?" "Well, according to Google, it means 'arising from an unknown cause'." "Ain't that the truth." "Basically, they don't know." "Nope." "So when they say idiopathic infertility, they're really saying it could be permanent, it could be temporary, we're in the dark, you might have kids, you might not, we can't tell." "Yep." "And then they charge you $180." "I want their job." "Hey, just don't think, you know, if it doesn't happen, that it's going to eat away at me or anything." "There'll be a reason." "We're still gonna be together." "And you know, if it does happen, it'll happen when it's meant to happen." "I really believe that." "Sorry, I've... it's..." "It's OK." "It's OK." "I cried too." "I love you." "Hi, darling." "No, no, it's good." "I'm well." "I'm well out of bed." "Yeah, I'm just up and getting some exercise." "What about you?" "How are the little ones treating you?" "Really?" "They are being good for you." "Yeah, I'm just..." "I'm just watching the dawn." "Isn't it beautiful?" "Can you see it from where you are?" "Yeah, it's beautiful." "You know, it feels like you're here with me." "All together again." "Yeah, I hope so." "Soon." "I miss you." "OK." "Bye." "Owen Mitchell?" "That's their latest theory." "I said it was bullshit." "You didn't know Owen when he was a cop, did you?" "Not really, and by the time I did the detective course he was already in police prosecution." "Yeah, he worked under a guy called Aarne Tees when he first started." "Oh, wow." "Now, there's a famous name from the bad old days." "Aarne used to type up a lot of his confessions." "Rumour has it that once or twice he actually stuck to the story the offender told him." "Courts accepted written confessions back then." "Should I take him more seriously?" "Not yet." "No, I'll ask a few more questions." "You just stick with Nelson and Moreno, OK?" "Good morning, Miss Solicitor Advocate." "Hi." "How's that Clarke matter travelling?" "Still waiting for Moreno's wife Eliza to land back in the country." "The defence won't accept birth certificates, apparently." "I suppose you knew that?" "Yes, they want to hear it from a live person, because we're so much more reliable." "I Googled myself last night." "Feel good?" "Sorry, couldn't help myself." "Tragic, I know, at my age." "Well, the inquiry might have been abandoned but I'm still all over the net as the lesbian lawyer who had an affair to get promoted." "Not much you can do about it." "I could call up some journos, maybe." "Go on the radio, get the truth out, clear my name..." "Don't." "I've got to do something." "No, no, I know from bitter experience, the more you deny an allegation, the more substance they give it." "The press are jackals." "They'll twist anything." "Tony, this stuff about me is all over the net." "Well, don't give it any oxygen." "I know it's hard and totally unfair, but they are bastards, every last one of them." "OK." "Well, it's no secret what we'd like to talk about." "Really?" "Could have fooled me." "We just want to make sure you're certain." "That's all." "Certain?" "Certain of what?" "Certain that I can live with myself knowing that I could have helped save a lot of other girls but I didn't?" "I could have been an inspiration to other people like me?" "I could have showed everyone why bastards like Nelson can't get away with it?" "No, I think we've already said that." "Yeah, you have." "We've all thought a lot about what you said after the committal." "Who is we?" "Owen and me." "Maya, hi." "Sorry." "Owen's just called in." "He's been caught up." "Something's happened at home, but he wanted me to sit in for him." "He knows you can't spare us much time, so where were you up to?" "Can we just..." "It's OK." "No." "Ah, sorry." "Sorry, Maya." "Ah, could we just...?" "Just a second." "Yeah." "What do you think you're doing?" "Me?" "You can't just ask me out for a private chat." "What do you think that's telling her?" "You don't want me there?" "She doesn't want you in there." "Of course she doesn't." "She knows I get inside her head which is why I need to be in there." "Janet, you're a witness." "If the defence finds out you're in there having a conference with the victim, they'll have a field day." "How's that gonna happen?" "Are you gonna post it on YouTube?" "No!" "Then let's ignore that objection." "Anything else?" "It is so inappropriate what..." "I'm sorry, you're saying I'm inappropriate?" "Aren't you facing an assault charge, for hitting a defendant in broad daylight in front of a dozen witnesses?" "You are days away from facing a criminal record, and you have the gall to stand there and tell me what's appropriate?" "Do you have any vague notion of how stupendously hypocritical that is?" "Sorry about that." "A small misunderstanding." "It's all sorted now." "Let me guess." "Don't tell me." "You got your way?" "Maya, I'm not here to trap you or outsmart you." "The fact is, at the committal you handled yourself brilliantly." "And you want me to get back up and say it all again while he watches me." "While he sits there and listens to me." "He actually gets to do it to me all over again just by hearing me say it." "Why would I do that to myself?" "You once told me that your dad helped you a lot." "Yeah." "Can you remember what he did or said?" "Well, he made me stronger and he gave me a lot of confidence, especially about making decisions for myself." "Why, do you think that Dad would say" "I've let Nelson beat me if he were around now?" "Well, you have at the moment." "Yeah, but that is my decision, right?" "This is my decision." "It's not yours!" "We don't want to talk you into anything into anything you don't want to do." "We're just saying if you want to change your mind, that's OK." "Oh, thank you." "Oh, that's different." "Um, no." "We want to make absolutely sure you won't regret a decision you made at a highly emotional moment when there's still time to change it." "Hello, Maya." "Ah, we've met before." "Tony Gillies." "Ah, Janet, could I see you in your office?" "I'll be along in a second." "We're almost done here." "It's urgent." "Sure." "You, ah... you really don't want to get up in court again, do you, Maya?" "No." "Oh, it's not much fun." "If you could stay out of court and still see Nelson get what's coming to him, well, that'd be sweet, wouldn't it?" "Yeah." "The irony is, if you do agree to give evidence, you'd probably get your wish." "Because if Nelson knows you're gonna be as strong as you were at that committal, well, he'd probably decide he's better off pleading guilty." "Really?" "Oh, that is a very likely outcome." "The more determined you are to stand up in court, the more likely it is you won't have to." "How's that for a win-win?" "Do you know what I was doing there?" "Bringing the integrity of the office into disrepute?" "Indulging in grossly unethical misconduct." "She'd pulled out of the trial!" "I heard, but you can't be the one to make her change her mind." "Tony, please, I can't just hope that Lina gets it done." "Well, you won't have to." "I've..." "I've spoken to Maya." "And?" "Well, she's thinking about it." "You can't bend the rules, not with David leading the defence." "If he gets wind of the slightest grounds for abandoning this trial, he won't hesitate." "Thanks." "How'd it go?" "She couldn't come in later?" "Ah, no, it had to be nine." "But she's agreed to go to trial." "Great." "Good work." "Mm." "Wouldn't have been easy." "Well, Tony helped." "Tony?" "Why the hell did he get involved?" "Lina?" "So Janet couldn't." "Right." "Let's get to work then, shall we?" "You know, you can call Owen a lot of things, but one thing he's not is stupid." "Yeah." "Now, he might have a secret plan to get Nelson off, but he can't be seen to be doing that." "At the same time, he's got to look like he's going for an all-out conviction." "But if he is going all-out, it'll look the same." "It's..." "This is doing my head in." "The closer I look at Owen, the more cracks I've found." "For example, as a young constable in the Drugs Squad he managed to own two investment properties before he turned 25." "How did he get the capital for that?" "Was he on-selling the drugs that he'd impounded?" "I don't know yet." "He was also part of a joint task force under Steven Blakely." "Managed to lock up a few bikies for dealing in, get this, rocket launchers and ammonium nitrate." "Has he kept up contact?" "I don't know." "Now, look, you've got protection 24/7." "Nothing's going to happen to you in the DPP." "You just keep doing what you're doing." "I'll take care of everything else." "OK, evidence in chief, areas we need more detail, order of the offences." "What have we forgotten?" "Did you get on to Drew?" "Yeah." "But he's pretty reluctant." "Can you explain it to him?" "How's it going?" "We're looking pretty good, I think." "What are we doing about a deal?" "That'll come from the cops, won't it?" "I mean, now we've got Maya back, won't they going to sit Nelson down and explain the facts of life?" "Or you could take the initiative." "Best time for me to say anything will be half an hour before we start." "No, I don't agree." "I know David." "Well, you can't talk to him." "We can agree on that at least." "Maybe." "But on the other hand, he's still a friend." "He's a silk and you're a witness for the prosecution." "If you tell him about how you got together with Maya and why Nelson better take a deal or else, he'll get the whole thing called off before lunchtime." "OK." "Just don't leave it to the last second." "David responds to negotiating time." "Who wants a negotiation?" "He will." "I don't." "He'll wanna talk Nelson around, make him see sense, feel like he's won something..." "The only time this'll be real for Keith Nelson is the last few minutes before it starts." "That's when he'll think, 'Shit." "This is real." "What if I lose?" "'" "At that point, when he's staring at the abyss, that's when a deal looks great." "When he hasn't got time to review his options?" "Who wants to give him options?" "When a guy's drowning, you don't start discussing the relative merits of a pool buoy compared to a life vest or driftwood." "You say, 'Hey, schmuck, you can drown or take what you're given.'" "That's our best chance." "Not with David." "With anybody!" "Owen, don't be so bloody-minded." "Please, just give him a day or two." "I know it'll work out better." "Janet, fuck off!" "I'm sick of you trying to run this case." "I bet 100 bucks you made sure Maya came in this morning." "Am I right?" "Thank you." "And then when she did come in," "Tony had to make sure you didn't fuck everything up." "And now you're trying to cut a deal with Nelson?" "And you know why!" "I'm not running this prosecution to find out who bombed your car." "If we do, that's great." "But this is about Maya, it's not about you." "It's my job." "Let me do it." "Make sure about Drew." "Fuck!" "Don't you think Maya'd be a lot happier if she just dropped the whole thing?" "No, not in the long run." "I do." "Well, she won't, so wouldn't you rather help her?" "How?" "The stronger the case is against Nelson, the more likely he'll settle." "That's why we need you." "I don't make it any stronger." "Yes, you do." "Why?" "How?" "What can I say?" "I didn't see or hear him do anything." "Wouldn't I just be a stronger witness for him?" "You validate the opportunity." "What?" "Keith Nelson is saying that the whole first weekend never happened, but according to Maya, they babysat you and her while your Mum and Dad had a weekend away." "But Keith Nelson says they were there the whole time." "And without you, we have no independent evidence to support what Maya's saying." "You don't?" "No." "She says one thing, they say another." "But you told the police that weekend alone with them did definitely happen." "Yeah." "And that's crucial." "That's why Maya needs you." "Right." "I see." "This is so..." "I'll do it." "For Maya's sake." "Thanks." "Thought I'd give you an update on how Owen got a deposit for those two apartments." "He's on the payroll of an international drug cartel?" "No, no, he was a youngster, put into a surveillance room and had to listen for hours on end to phone conversations." "Anyway, he overheard that someone had a horse and they were fixing a race so it could chalk up a win." "Put his life savings on it without telling anyone." "Cleaned up." "So, he's an opportunist?" "Oh, well, he was back then." "But not a real player?" "I don't really want to say." "I mean, when you look at the overall picture, there's still questions that have to be answered." "We still haven't proven Blakely and Moreno knew each other." "What about Renmark's USB?" "Were any of the photos taken at Blakely's beach house?" "No, they were all from overseas as far as I know." "I only saw a handful." "Pretty awful, really." "I know that whenever we do catch 'em, they just say," "'Oh, we just love children'." "In their eyes it's not about dominance or power." "They just love them." "But if it was up to me, fucking castration." "Very tempting." "Then you look at the internet now, there's nothing you can't get." "Yeah." "When I was a kid, my mother said to me," "'Giacomo, don't take lollies from strangers.'" "That was it." "There was nothing else I had to worry about." "I hope you listened to her." "She made sure I did." "And if I didn't, it was bed, no dinner." "Harsh." "Yeah." "She loved me." "I bet she's really proud of what her boy's achieved." "Yeah." "I don't envy you, you know, bringing up twins in this world." "It's..." "I'm not at the moment." "No, and that's why I'm here - just to reassure you that everything's going to be OK." "Yeah." "David, quick word?" "Please let me handle this." "Let me guess, you'd like to drop all the charges?" "No, I'm just wondering how your client's feeling about things?" "Anxious, but confident." "He doesn't want to change his plea?" "Not a chance." "He does know jail's a real possibility?" "Maya will be very convincing." "Is she?" "Come on, think about your client for a second." "Ten years, two years, there's a big difference." "My client maintains his innocence and he'll be vigorously defending..." "Bullshit." "He's into little girls and has been for decades." "His friends in high places can't get him out of this no matter what he thinks." "No jury's going to believe him over Maya and Drew together." "Well, that remains to be discovered." "David, if you were doing your job properly, you'd make him see what he's facing and make him understand his only faint hope of getting off lightly is to tell us what he knows about others like himself." "If you're talking about me, I'm right here." "Please, it's alright." "What's happening?" "Is this it?" "Yes." "If they walk in together, it's a plea deal, if not, the trial's on." "Is this about a deal?" "It's OK, I haven't agreed to anything." "I will never plead guilty to this evil piece of teenage fantasy, not for anything." "You cannot prove it, you cannot intimidate me into some sort of cowardly confession." "And for your information," "I'm well aware why you don't want to run this trial." "An acquittal would hurt you a lot this year, won't it, Mr Mitchell?" " Shit." " What does..." "No!" "You all said this..." "It's never guaranteed." "Thanks for the offer, but no thanks, Owen." "You ready?" "Let's nail this arrogant shit." "Can you talk to him?" "You used to work with him." "Please." "Please!" "I can't." "It'll spoil everything." "We have to go with it." "I'm so sorry." "No, I can't." "Maya..." "No, I can't do it!" "Good morning, Maya." "It's been a long time." "You hate him, don't you?" "Just keep hating him." "OK?" "Yeah." "Maya, how old were you the first time" "Mr Nelson first visited your bedroom?" "Seven." "Could you speak up for the court, please?" "I was seven." "And why was Mr Nelson in the house?" "He and his wife were taking care of us." "My parents were away for the whole weekend." "Was this a regular occurrence?" "What?" "Being looked after by Mr Nelson and his wife?" "Could you speak up for the court a little bit, please?" "Yes." "Can you describe for us what happened when he came into the room?" "He sat on the edge of my bed and he asked me why I still had the light on, and I told him that I was scared of the dark and that I always kept the light on." "And then he said that he would show me that there was nothing to be afraid of." "And then what happened?" "Well, then he turned off the light and it... it was so dark, and he took me by the hand and he squeezed it..." "..squeezed it really tight and he told me that I was brave." "But I didn't feel very brave." "Then he lifted up the doona and he rolled into the bed next to me, and he said that he would stay there for a while until I got used to the dark, stopped feeling scared." "And we stayed like that for quite a long time." "I didn't like it." "He was big and he smelled weird." "And he was breathing really heavily." "It's like all I could hear was this breathing." "And then he put his hand on my tummy." "He said that it would make me calm and that it would, um, stop the butterflies in there." "And he laughed when he said that, but I didn't think it was very funny." "And then slowly... ..really, really slowly, almost as if it wasn't even happening, he... he moved his hand down into the front of my pyjamas." "Right down." "His hand was hot and big." "It was like, um..." "It was like a giant paw." "And I couldn't move because on one side of me was the wall, and he was on the other side." "I was sure that if I stayed really still, he might just go away." "But he didn't." "He put his fingers inside me." "Too many of them." "And I got tears in my eyes." "I remember them rolling down the back of my throat, and I was scared I was going to..." "I was scared I was going to cough, or make a noise." "I was just so sure that if I stayed perfectly still and really quiet, it would..." "..it would be just like I wasn't there." "Did Mr Nelson ever do this to you again?" "Yep." "It wasn't always the same, though." "Sometimes it was, um..." "..it was worse." "OK." "Let's go through them one by one, as many as you can remember." "You right for tomorrow?" "Sure." "Did Maya finish?" "Yep." "Sinclair only asked three or four questions, so you're first up, then Drew." "Owen?" "I'm just trying to juggle some appointment times tomorrow." "How long do you think Janet's going to be giving evidence for?" "An hour or two." "She should be done by lunch unless Sinclair starts some lengthy cross-examination." "So, if we say 3pm, that should be safe?" "Should be." "And then how many days have been set aside for this matter?" "Three or four." "So, Lina should be free next week?" "I hope so." "Unless something unexpected occurs." "Yeah." "Good." "What?" "All those little backroom beavers finally found something." "Drew Blakely." "Yep." "It was in a frame in his old bedroom at Steve's house." "So?" "On the back." "Moreno Photography." "He's known Steve Blakely for at least five years." "Steve, what were you doing?" "Owen really gets under your skin, doesn't he, Tracey?" "We know where he went the other morning, that's all I'm saying." "We're not judging." "Where, a brothel?" "Worse." "A radio station?" "Ah, television, actually." "Television?" "Well, he met Karen Shaw, journo for News in Focus." "Right." "Well, thanks for this information." "You didn't get it illegally?" "We looked at his phone's call register." "Which is not a breach of the Digital Copyright Act." "We didn't forward to another phone." "So you called Karen Shaw and confirmed the meeting?" "Yes." "Owen's in his office." "The court just adjourned for lunch." "G'day." "Things still going well for us?" "Yeah, pretty good." "Janet was fine." "Drew on after lunch and then it's their turn." "Do you know Karen Shaw?" "I take it that's a yes." "Met her once or twice." "Why?" "Nothing important." "What'd you talk to her about?" "Protecting our sources." "Sources of what?" "Listen, Tony, let me just say that" "I've never given her any information about any matter" "I or anyone else here is prosecuting or has prosecuted." "Well, what information did you give her?" "How'd you find out I met her?" "Oh, don't you question me, Owen." "I'm bloody furious about this." "No-one in here goes to the press behind my back." "Absolutely no-one." "We are a huge target and the only way I can protect us all, collectively and individually, is by putting myself between those doors and all the press outside." "If you want to continue working here, in fact, if you want to even finish this trial, you'll tell me what went on in that meeting." "No fudging, no bullshit." "Why did you go to the press?" "Tell me now or you can fuck off!" "Drew, can you confirm that Mr and Mrs Nelson stayed with you and your sister on the June long weekend 15 years ago?" "Yes." "And they were looking after you because your parents were away?" "That was the situation, wasn't it?" "Ah, no." "They were there, actually." "They were in the house, with you and Mr and Mrs Nelson?" "Yes." "But that isn't what you told police." "No." "So that evidence is a lie?" "Yes." "But I couldn't say it till now." "I, um..." "I'd never want to do anything to hurt Maya, but I have to be fair to Mr Nelson too." "Fair in what way?" "Well..." "He wasn't the one creeping into Maya's bedroom." "It was Dad." "You liar!" "Order." "What are you doing?" "Sorry." "Order!" "Are you telling this court that your sister was in fact abused by your father?" "Yes." "Drew, that's..." "Your Honour, I ask that this witness be declared hostile and seek leave to cross-examine." "Yes, I believe that you have sufficient grounds for that request, Mr Crown." "You dictated a statement to Constable Caroline Martin on the 2nd of this month and signed it at 8:09pm." "Is that a fact?" "Yes." "Yet not once in this statement did you mention that your father abused your sister." "No." "Therefore you lied, yes?" "Yes, but only ever for Maya." "Nevertheless, why should we believe you now you're a self-confessed liar?" "Who knows when you're lying?" "Why would I lie about this?" "You and your dad didn't get on well, did you?" "No." "To put it bluntly, you didn't like him." "Would you, when you know what he was doing to his daughter?" "But was he?" "Or are you using this situation to put the boot in now he can't fight back?" "No, I'm stopping an innocent man from getting convicted." "Are there any other instances of abuse you haven't told anyone up until now?" "Plenty." "You'd have to say that, otherwise what you've just said wouldn't sound right, would it?" "He picked on me all the time." "How?" "What do you mean, how?" "Well, what constitutes abuse?" "How's Owen going?" "Did he get angry when you didn't put the dishes in the sink?" "For God's sake." "Well, we haven't heard anything yet." "You know he was the one who spread the rumour to the press about you and Erin?" "Prick!" "Yep." "And you've waited a lifetime to get him back, haven't you, Drew?" "Whatever it takes." "And I put it to you that's why you'd lie about him and Maya." "When I was five years old, my dad took us down to the beach after school." "But he said, 'Don't go on the rocks', because they had all these, um... ..like, oyster shells on them." "Jagged, sharp things." "But I was collecting pebbles and when the tide came in, the only way back was over the shells, so I called out for help." "He just stood there." "Five." "I was five years old." "And every step I cut myself more." "He didn't lift a finger." "He just stood there, watching me, and it was agony." "My feet covered in blood and he just stood there and fucking watched!" "Mr Blakely." "I'd call that abuse, wouldn't you?" "When I told him I couldn't ride my bike without training wheels, he pushed me down a hill." "The feet of Blakely's corpse." "What?" "Whoever killed him cut up his feet, remember?" "What more proof do you need?" "Renmark wasn't my mate." "Was he in on the scoop too?" "Both have a good laugh about the big lesbian scandal?" "You ever do anything like that again, I'll make sure you lose your job." "I called you on your mobile." "You could have been anywhere." "I wasn't anywhere." "I was here." "I do not like to be made to look like a liar!" " Danny Novak!" " Get away from the table..." " What are you doing?" "Let him go!" "Either give me something I can use or you're wasting my time!" "If they know that I told you this, they will kill me." "You head straight to the safe house." "Do not call anyone, no-one, stay there until you hear from me." "Oh, thank God." "Is this about..."