Read The Tattooed Man for Free Online Page A

backyard.’
    ‘Why would he come here?’
    ‘That’s another story,’ Harrigan replied. ‘When I saw him, I thought he was going to kill me. He laughed instead. Said he had cancer of the liver. He was going to die and he was taking me with him. Then he left that tape and walked away. Except he wasn’t dying. It was a misdiagnosis. He rang to tell me he hadn’t forgotten me or the tape and I could wait to find out what he was going to do with it. Meanwhile, it was in his safety deposit box. If you want to know why I did what I did tonight, you need to listen to this tape. But it’s dangerous to know. I don’t want to put you in danger. If you want to go there, you have to make that choice yourself. If you say no, it won’t matter.’
    ‘Who are we going to be listening to?’
    ‘The Ice Cream Man himself.’
    ‘Tell me why you have this connection to him first,’ she said carefully. ‘Everything I’ve heard about you, he’s always there somewhere. Why?’
    ‘You tell me what you’ve heard first.’
    She tapped ash gently into the ashtray.
    ‘Basically two stories. One says you took him on and he almost killed you for it. The other says you were in his pocket from the time you started. But you fell out over money and he went after you and put you in hospital. After that you went straight and you were slick. No one could prove anything against you. I’ve heard another story as well. The one about Eddie Lee where everyone’s careful not to mention any names too directly.’
    ‘You’ve heard about him?’
    ‘Oh, yes. It’s all old gossip.’
    Old gossip never seemed to die. Harrigan remembered the press conference where he’d announced they were upgrading Cassatt’s disappearance to a murder inquiry. A crime reporter from a national daily had got to her feet. ‘I’ve got three questions for you, Commander,’ she said. ‘Is it true you started your career in NSW Police under the auspices of the Ice Cream Man? Do you have any information that ties him to the still unsolved murder of Edward Lee? And instead of the unknown assailants you’ve always claimed were responsible, was Cassatt behind the incident twelve years ago that put you in hospital on life support?’
    ‘There’s a one-word answer to those three questions,’ Harrigan had replied. ‘No. Does anyone want to ask me a question about the case at hand?’
    The journalist had printed all three questions in the paper the next day. Grace must have read that story, heard all these things said, and still never talked to him about them.
    ‘I didn’t believe any of those stories.’ She spoke suddenly, breaking into his thoughts. ‘I don’t believe you’d ever take money from someone like Cassatt. And I don’t believe you could ever be involved in anyone’s murder.’
    ‘I’ve never taken money and I haven’t killed anyone,’ he said. ‘But Mike did almost kill me. One night in a back alley in Marrickville. There were three of them. You’ve met one, Jerry Freeman. Mike wanted me to eat my gun. He said, “You’re dead, mate.” Now you know who I was throwing that glass at.’
    ‘How come you’re still alive?’
    ‘Some brave person I never got to thank shone their headlights on us at high beam. Mike neverfired the shot, I’ll never know why. He smashed my jaw instead and ran.’
    Grace shook her head, her eyes glistening.
    ‘That’s too close. I don’t want to think about that. Did you take him on?’
    ‘Like a fool, yes. I kept baiting him. I’d sabotage his operations. I’d let journalists know what he was up to. I’d tip off crims who had it in for him. Once I arrested one of his couriers and flushed his stash of heroin down the toilet. I can’t believe what I used to do. I must have had a death wish.’
    ‘Why? Did you want to be a hero? A totally dead one.’
    ‘I was high on the adrenaline. I knew how dangerous it was and I was getting a kick out of it. Mad.’
    ‘That doesn’t explain why you took Cassatt on