The Tattooed Man by Alex Palmer Read Free Book Online

what you said, mate. You’re not bringing me down.” Joe and me, we let him have it. Put the boot right in. Here’s your chance, Paulie. Prove yourself. No way. You ran for the fucking door. It took the two of us to drag you back. “You shoot him,” I told you. “You do it now.” I shoved that gun in your hand but you dropped it. You shouted at me: “No!” I smacked you in the face for that. You had blood coming out of your mouth, on your shirt, your tie. You were a mess. I did it myself. Twice in Eddie’s head. Finished. Then I rubbed some of Eddie’s blood on your tie. “Welcome to the club,” I said. “This is how it is. Get used to it.”’
    Harrigan hit the stop button. He sat there, caught in the memory in his head. Grace had forgotten to smoke; her cigarette was dead in the ashtray.
    ‘Unsolved Sydney mysteries,’ she said, her face pale in the light. ‘Who killed Eddie Lee? Is that really what happened?’
    ‘Word for word. They took the house apart after that looking for money. They found it. Mike knew where to look. Then he said I needed fortifying and we went somewhere else. I drove. My hands were shaking but I got there.’
    ‘Where?’
    ‘Some flea-bitten dump in South Sydney called the Sportsman Club. It’s not there any more. Mike had an arrangement with the owner. Free beer and free roots in exchange for not bothering him too much about his other activities.’
    Grace raised an elegant eyebrow ever so slightly. ‘Daggy décor. Saggy sex workers in G-strings pulling the beers,’ she said with a kind of wry gloominess.
    ‘I don’t remember much about it. I was twenty-three. I’d just seen someone shot dead. I wanted to get out of there. They were laughing themselves sick. They wanted to get pissed.’
    He pressed play again. ‘We always had the back room to ourselves. The girl turned up and I asked for a jug. I took out a little money and tucked it into your top pocket. You looked sick, I thought you needed cheering up. “What’s that for?” you said. I give you money and you say that to me. It sure as fuck wasn’t anything you’d earned. “Buy something for that spastic kid of yours,” I said. “In case you don’t know it, Joe, Paulie here has a kid. No, he’s got a vegetable.” I looked you right in the eyes. “Put him away. He’ll never know who you are. He’ll die soon.” The beer arrived. You got up, said you needed a piss. I told the girl, “Get us another jug. Then you can make yourself useful to my young friend here. He needs a fuck.”
    ‘When you came back, you weren’t wearing your tie. You threw it on the table with the money I gave you and the car keys. “I’m leaving,” you said. “I’ve got better things to do with my life than run after you.” Joe went dead quiet. I told you, “You say that to me. You cunt.” Then you walked away, right into the girl carrying the beer. You were soaked. I shouted, “You’ve pissed yourself, Paulie.” Me and Joe, we laughed. I thought, you’re finished.
    ‘We got to your place before you did. Old Jimbo was in hospital at the time, otherwise I would have done it somewhere else. That was the night we let you know what we could do to you if we wanted to. I told you, “Keep your mouth shut or you’re dead.” You knew I meant it. About three weeks later, Dave’s got you back on the job. Then I find out why you’re back. You start giving me grief. You think you can take me on. You paid for that, mate, big time.
    ‘This is the final payoff, Paulie. I’ve got your tie. It’s got your blood on it along with Eddie’s. I’ve got the gun that shot him, it’s got your prints on it. I’ve got this tape. They’re all in my safety deposit box. When the time comes, they’re all going to Marvin Tooth. Special assistant commissioner, the man who spends half his life up the commissioner’s arsehole. Good old Fang. The man who wants to be commissioner way ahead of you. When I’m gone, you go too. Look forward to