The Betrayal (12 page)

“Detective Superintendent, you’ve been a Federal Agent for many years and a team leader for more than a decade. Is that correct?”

Gary nodded. “That’s correct. I joined the AFP at the age of twenty-two. I’m now fifty-eight. Apart from holidays, I’ve spent all of that time fighting crime in an effort to keep our country safe.”

“So it’s fair to say you’ve had considerable experience working with other officers and getting to know them.”

“If you call thirty-six years considerable time, I’d have to agree with you.”

There was a murmur of laughter through the courtroom. Roger acknowledged it with a smile and continued.

“Detective Superintendent, who else has access to your employees’ login information?”

Gary’s expression sobered. “No one, as far as I know. They’re generated out of the Home Affairs Office when an agent is first employed and given directly to the agent.”

“Are there any hard copies of such information left in an employee’s file?”

Gary frowned in thought. “I’m not sure. When I first started at the AFP, there were no such thing as logins and passwords. From my recollection, when computers became part of our daily life, my login details were generated by the computer system. I have no knowledge how it works these days.”

“Thank you, Detective Superintendent. I have no further questions.”

Abbey jumped to his feet. “I’d like to re-examine, Your Honor?”

The magistrate nodded. “As you wish.”

“Detective Superintendent, you mentioned that Agent Munro was part of a first-class team and that you couldn’t imagine that he would be involved.”

“Yes,” Gary agreed warily.

“So thinking about the rest of your first-class team, which one of them do you think could have done this?”

A knot of dread tightened in Declan’s gut. He watched the color disappear from his boss’ cheeks.

Gary shook his head. “I-I can’t believe any of them would be capable of it.”

Abbey’s voice lowered. “And yet, one of them is.”

Gary’s head bowed.

Declan’s shoulders slumped.

* * *

Chloe saw the defeat in Declan’s eyes and wished she could go to him and offer words of comfort. She’d always prided herself on being a good judge of character and despite the fact she stood by the testimony she’d given, everything she’d seen this morning had reinforced her growing conviction that, notwithstanding the evidence before them, Declan Munro was exactly what he said he was: an innocent man.

The next witness was the IT technician employed by the AFP who had carried out the forensic testing on Declan’s laptop. Within a few moments, Terry Higgins had given testimony to the effect that more than a hundred images of child pornography had been found on a laptop located in Agent Munro’s apartment and believed to be one owned by Agent Munro.

White got to his feet. “Mr Higgins, the laptop you examined from Declan Munro’s apartment wasn’t protected by a password, was it?”

“No, it wasn’t,” the witness replied. Declan frowned and whispered to his lawyer.

Roger asked the technician, “Were the images downloaded at one time, or over a period of time?”

The technician looked confused by the question. “They were all downloaded and saved to a file on the hard drive on the same day. From memory, it was September eighth.”

“And that date was after the defendant was laid off work, isn’t that right?”

“I wouldn’t know the answer to that, sir.”

“For the record, you’re saying the pictures were put on the home computer in a single download operation. This means whoever did it wasn’t in the habit of downloading this kind of material to his home computer. With no password, anyone could have logged into the laptop, correct?”

“Yes, that’s correct. That’s the reason most of us use passwords.”

“In fact, someone else could have put those pictures there for forensics to find, isn’t that true?”

“Yes. That’s possible.”

White returned to his seat. Chloe sighed, knowing there was nothing more he could do to dispute the forensic evidence. Declan’s only hope was proving that someone else had accessed his laptop.

The clerk called out the name of the next witness and her attention was drawn to the door of the courtroom as it opened again. Charlie Stanford strode through the doorway, staring straight ahead. He wore a dark navy suit, white business shirt and a conservative blue tie. He looked like any other federal agent she might encounter over the course of her day.

Her gaze slid to Declan. He’d straightened in his seat. Even from across the aisle, she could see the tension in his body.

After taking the oath, Charlie took a seat in the witness box and proceeded to answer the prosecutor’s questions. Abbey established that Charlie was an officer with an enviable service history and an unblemished record. The court also heard how Charlie was Agent Munro’s friend.

“Can you tell us, Agent Stanford, about the events that occurred on or about the week commencing August thirteen?”

Chloe listened as Charlie relayed the story he’d given her. He seemed a little more nervous than before, but then, who wouldn’t be? It wasn’t every day you had to give testimony against your friend in a court of law.

She glanced across at Declan. His lips were compressed into a thin line, his hands clenched into fists. Chloe could almost feel the anger that radiated off him. Her gaze returned to Charlie.

“Agent Stanford, it couldn’t have been easy to do what you did and the law applauds your bravery. You’ve been friends with the defendant ever since he arrived in your unit.” Abbey took a piece of paper that was handed to him by his associate and glanced at it.

“Tell me, Agent Stanford,” he continued, “has the defendant ever expressed unhealthy interest in children in the past?”

Chloe knew the answer to that one. It was a question she’d already put to him.

Charlie stared straight ahead, toward the prosecutor.

“Yes,” he said.

CHAPTER 11

Chloe’s mouth gaped open in shock. A ripple of unsettled murmurs went through the courtroom. She didn’t dare look at Declan.

“I’m sorry?” Abbey said, frowning slightly.

“Yes. I said, yes.”

“Yes, the defendant has shown unhealthy interest in children in the past?”

“Yes.” Stanford looked away, appearing suddenly fascinated with the wall on the far side of the courtroom. “At the time, I didn’t know what to make of it.”

Roger White got to his feet, his expression livid. “Your Honor, this is the first time we’ve heard about this. Agent Stanford gave a record of interview about the events before you today and not once did he mention anything about this. In fact, his answers were quite to the contrary. I seek an immediate adjournment so that I can consult with my client about these fresh allegations.”

With a dubious expression on his face, the magistrate turned to look at the prosecutor.

“Is that correct, Mr Abbey? Is this the first notice the defense have had of this evidence?”

“Yes, Your Honor. I believe so.”

The magistrate frowned. “We have rules about this kind of thing, Mr Abbey. Those rules are there for a good reason.”

“Yes, Your Honor. I understand and I apologize for the lack of notice given to my learned friend. In my defense, I-I was unaware until now this evidence was available.”

The magistrate’s lips compressed. He stared down at the papers in front of him. Eventually, he raised his head and looked at Roger.

“I find myself in an unusual position, Mr White. How do you wish to proceed?”

Roger turned to Declan. An angry flush had spread across Declan’s cheeks. Chloe could understand how he felt. She was more than a little angry herself. She’d asked Stanford the very same question and he’d denied it. Either he was lying then, or he was lying now. Either option was unacceptable and said something about his character.

A frantic, whispered conversation ensued between Declan and his barrister. A few moments later, the barrister turned back toward the bench.

“Your Honor, I would like to reiterate my request for a short adjournment in order to seek further instructions from my client. Agent Stanford’s most recent evidence has taken both of us completely by surprise.”

The magistrate nodded. “Very well. We’ll resume in fifteen minutes. This court is adjourned.”

With a bang of the gavel, the court was dismissed.

Fifteen minutes later, the spectators and lawyers filed back inside. Chloe risked a glance in Declan’s direction. His face was as dark as a thundercloud. Roger White didn’t look any happier.

When the magistrate took his position at the bench, Charlie Stanford returned to the witness box. Neil Abbey jumped to his feet.

“Agent Stanford, before the break we were talking about how the defendant had previously given you cause for concern about his behaviour. Tell us what you remember.”

Charlie kept his gaze directed toward the prosecutor. “It happened about six months ago. We were heading toward Fyshwick to interview a witness. I can’t remember what the matter was about. Anyway, Agent Munro was driving and he pulled up near a park not far from our destination.”

“Did you ask him why he’d stopped?”

“Yeah, I said something like, ‘What are we doing here?’”

“And what did he say?”

“He didn’t say anything. He just sat there, looking at some little kids who were playing on the swings.”

Chloe saw Roger White scribbling furiously on his legal pad. She couldn’t even imagine how he was feeling. She felt like she’d been blindsided.

“When you say, “looking,” what do you mean?” Abbey asked.

“I don’t know. Just looking. Staring. I don’t know… It felt weird, that’s all.”

“Thank you Agent Stanford. No further questions.” Abbey took his seat.

Roger shot to his feet seconds later. “Agent Stanford, you were interviewed about this matter at length by Internal Affairs, were you not?”

Charlie nodded cautiously. “Yes.”

“And yet, you didn’t think to tell the investigator then anything about what you’ve just revealed, even when asked directly, isn’t that correct?”

Another cautious nod. “Yes.”

“It’s rather convenient, wouldn’t you say, that now, more than a month after your initial interview and smack bang before a crowded courtroom that you decide this little morsel of information best be shared.”

Stanford colored. “It’s not like that. I-I must have forgotten. With all the stress and pressure of coming forward to report something like this—something so…so
horrible
—I didn’t remember every detail.”

“Time had brought this forward in your memory, though you denied this in your original interview? Is that what you want us to believe? A rather convenient lapse of memory, Agent Stanford.”

Chloe stared at the witness, her heart thumping. If she hadn’t put the very question to him that was now the subject of the fresh evidence, she would have believed Charlie’s explanation. Everyone would believe coming forward to report a colleague for such heinous behavior would be stressful and could cause a lapse in memory, but she’d asked Charlie about whether Declan had exhibited any unhealthy interest in children before and he’d replied with an emphatic
no
.

Something was off. Rather, another piece didn’t fit. Charlie remained tight lipped on the witness stand. Roger White eyeballed him.

“I put it to you, Agent Stanford, that no such event happened. I put it to you that at no time did my client stop at a park and spy on children. I also put it to you that you are lying when you say you saw Declan Munro view child pornography on his computer from a previously finalized investigation of which he had no part.”

Stanford had begun to shake his head even before White had finished. “No, no, no. You’re wrong. He did it. I saw him. I
swear
.”

Chloe watched as fury ignited behind Declan’s eyes. He stared at Charlie without flinching. It was Charlie who averted his gaze.

White shuffled some papers and then chose another tack. “Agent Stanford, you’re a friend of Declan Munro’s, aren’t you? In fact, the two of you are good mates.”

“Yes,” Stanford answered cautiously.

“And that’s what makes this so hard for you, isn’t it?” White continued in an understanding tone.

“Yes. That’s what I tried to tell you earlier. This has been just
awful
for me.”

Chloe frowned, wondering where Declan’s barrister was going with this.

“You and Declan spend a lot of time together, don’t you? You work together; you socialize together; you hang out at each other’s apartments?”

“Yes.”

And then she knew.

“In fact, it wouldn’t be unusual for you to spend at least one of your days off every week in the company of Declan Munro, kicking back, chugging down a few beers in front of the television at Declan’s apartment, would it?”

Once again, Stanford nodded. “That’s right. We were mates. Good mates. We spent many a weekend together watching football from Dec’s TV. He has a big screen.”

“Of course,” White agreed amiably. “That’s what mates do. Tell me, did you ever spend the night at Agent Munro’s apartment?”

Stanford looked a little more cautious. “Sometimes. If I’d had a few too many to drive, Dec would let me stay in the spare room.”

White eyeballed the witness, his eyes hard. “He’s been a good mate to you, hasn’t he?”

Color exploded across Stanford’s cheeks. He lowered his gaze. “Yes,” he muttered.

“I put it to you, Agent Stanford, that while you were in Declan Munro’s apartment, you accessed his laptop and downloaded the evidence they found there, over a hundred pornographic images of children.”

Stanford went pale. “No, no, I had nothing to do with it. You’ve got it all wrong.”

White glared at the witness. “I don’t think so, Agent Stanford. I have nothing further, Your Honor.” With that, the barrister returned to his seat.

The magistrate looked across at Abbey. “Any re-examination from the Crown?”

“Yes, Your Honor.” Abbey got to his feet.

“Agent Stanford, it’s fair to say you’ve visited Agent Munro’s apartment, correct?”

“Yes, of course. He’s a mate.”