Sensitive New Age Spy (27 page)

With Artemesia and Pergo both gone, the Reverend Priday would now be sitting pretty. What could he actually be charged with? Nobody from the American side would be allowed to testify about events that had officially never happened, and we had no evidence of the conspiracy. All we had was a benign LNG tanker cluttering up Sydney Harbour on a holiday Monday morning.

I looked at my watch. Ten past eight, and suddenly I was starving. There was a lush little herb garden near the cafeteria, I remembered, with some nice flat-leaf parsley. Scrambled eggs were looking good, or maybe a cheese omelette. Too bad there wouldn’t be any bacon, but I knew where to put my hands on some Spam if anyone was that desperate. I wondered if Ed and the commandos and SAS blokes would want breakfast, and then I realised it was a silly question.

Thanks to everyone at Penguin, especially publisher Ben Ball for his advice and encouragement, Meredith Rose for her finely honed editing skills, and Belinda Byrne for her continued support.

Thanks also to the people at Screensound Australia for a viewing of
The Siege of Pinchgut
, and to the staff in the Harbour Control Tower, who must have one of the best offices in the world: ninety metres above Sydney Harbour and 359 degree views – magic.

And as always, many, many thanks to my agent Selwa Anthony for her boundless energy, passion and commitment.