AC05 - Death Mask Read Online Free PDF Page B

opposite.
    ‘Your years of experience in homicide and sexual assault are exactly what we need. I heard from one of the committee that you played State level rugby league.’
    ‘Yeah, well, most of my old team mates are now crippled with knee damage and some are unemployable. A labourer isn’t much good if he can’t bend his knees.’ He waved to a waiter. ‘A turkey and cranberry sauce wrap with a plate of potato wedges, thanks. What about you, Anya?’
    She shook her head. ‘I’m fine for now.’
    Just then Hannah, Dakota and Mary returned from the bathroom. Hannah looked brighter, but Anya could see the strain around her eyes.
    ‘OK, I need an opinion,’ Hannah announced. ‘For curtains.’ She pulled out two swatches of fabric. One was pale pink with pastel checks, the other mauve with lilac and turquoise flowers.
    Just then her phone vibrated and she tentatively glanced at the screen. ‘I need to change my number again. It’s a text. From Brett.’ She put the phone down and Dakota picked it up and said, ‘If he’s making threats, the police need to know.’ After a few moments’ silence, Dakota read out the text.
    ‘He says he forgives you and wants you back.’
    Hayden wiped his mouth again. ‘I’ll be happy to help the cause, Anya, however I can.’
    Anya checked her watch. ‘I’ll let the health department people know. I’m sorry to leave you, but I have a plane to catch.’
    Hannah stood and hugged Anya tightly. ‘Thank you, Anya. Without you, I never would have found out and I’d still be with Brett and his friends.’
    Anya placed her hands on the back of the woman’s shoulders, unsure what to say. ‘I was only doing my job. Withoutyou, I wouldn’t have begun researching the culture of men’s sports and the government wouldn’t be taking steps to address it.’ Hannah broke away. ‘And for what it’s worth, I’d go with the floral material. It’s fresh and the flowers are perennials.’

4
    A nya wanted to be sick. This was even worse than testifying in court, more like oral exams at medical school. The equivalent of six examiners – the senate committee – were about to tear her down and humiliate her, only this would be far more public. The television crews confirmed that.
    The paper she and Professor Nigel Everett had co-authored was still receiving international attention. Thanks to publication in the
International Journal of Forensic Science
, psychology and sports magazines had run stories, along with newspapers all over the world. The US media had highlighted a number of alleged cases of gang-rape in elite sports teams, using sex, celebrities, money and scandal to sell stories and referring to the study for authority. It was not the response she had anticipated after questioning sports team culture since meeting Hannah.
    The investigation into a code of conduct in sport wanted Anya to present her study results. Professor Everett had flown to Australia from his retirement villa in Florida to appear, but only on the condition that he then go fly-fishing with his friend, forensic pathologist Doctor Peter Latham, who was also Anya’s mentor.
    ‘Beautiful morning,’ Nigel said, clapping his gloved hands together. He seemed pleased to be here, despite the cold – hardly Florida weather. The temperature was yet to hit twodegrees Celsius in Canberra, despite the cloudless sky. Anya shared neither the professor’s enthusiasm for the weather, nor his apparent delight at the attention of the television cameras set up to greet them outside Parliament House.
    She slipped inside the glass doors and left Nigel to conduct a doorstep interview; he was an old hand at media grabs. Profiling some of America’s most notorious killers had led to regular appearances in the news and interviews.
    Anya had first met Nigel when she was a pathology registrar, and immediately understood the friendship between her then boss, Peter, and the flamboyant professor. Where Peter was serious and