Web of Deceit Read Online Free PDF

Shakespeare and Marconi,’ Murray said.
    ‘Troy Casey,’ the driver said. His broad hands shookuntil he jammed them in his pockets, and he smelled of anxious sweat.
    Murray asked him for his address and phone numbers, and Ella wrote them down.
    ‘How old are you, Troy?’
    ‘Thirty-one.’
    ‘What did you see here today?’
    ‘I was pulling in, normal speed, and as I got to the platform here I could see something was happening.’ His eyes were red and his face strained. ‘Peoplewere running, rushing away. And there was smoke too. I braked and just crossed my fingers that nobody tripped and fell. Then right here near the stairs I saw this flash of movement and heard the thud and knew somebody had gone under.’ He shook his head. ‘It’s my third one this year.’
    Ella felt for the guy.
    ‘You couldn’t tell if he’d jumped or fallen or was pushed?’ Murray said.
    ‘It was all too fast.’ He wiped a trembling hand over his forehead and thinning hair. ‘Just this flash and then the sound.’ He shook his head again. ‘Is that all? I’d really like to go home.’
    ‘We might need to speak with you again later.’
    ‘No problem.’
    Ella shook his clammy hand and they let him go.
    ‘Poor guy,’ she said, when he’d gone up the stairs.
    But Murraywas already looking at the remaining witnesses. ‘Next up, blue suit?’ He beckoned him over before Ella could reply.
    The man’s name was Neil Furst. He was forty-three, worked in human resources, and lived in Bankstown.
    ‘What happened here today?’ Murray asked.
    Furst described what the officer had summarised: the men pushing through the crowd, the smoke, the panic, the train, thedeath. His forehead was shiny, the skin around his shirt collar red, and Ella watched him pull his tie from side to side as he spoke.
    ‘You sound like you think the second man was after the first,’ Murray said.
    ‘It did seem that way,’ Furst said.
    ‘In hindsight?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ Furst said. ‘It seemed strange from the outset. The way the second guy was coming through thecrowd – he wasn’t just meandering.’
    ‘What did these men look like?’
    ‘The first one was about my age, I think, brown hair, tanned. He was muttering, like I said. Looked a little wild-eyed.’
    ‘Clothes?’
    ‘Blue shirt’s all I remember. Business-type shirt. It seemed a little at odds with how crazy the muttering sounded.’
    ‘Did he have a briefcase or bag?’
    ‘I don’tremember seeing one.’
    ‘And the second man?’
    ‘Brownish cap pulled down low. Maybe greyish-brown. A nondescript colour, like it was badly faded.’ Furst tugged at his tie. ‘He had a shirt on, but I don’t know what kind. The colour didn’t jump out either.’
    ‘It’s okay if you don’t know,’ Ella said. ‘No need to guess.’
    Furst nodded.
    ‘What else?’ Murray said.
    ‘He wasa white guy. Couldn’t see his hair. No beard or moustache.’ He pulled on his tie again.
    Ella’s hand ached from writing so fast. ‘How tall was he?’
    ‘A little taller than me,’ Furst said. ‘Maybe five or ten centimetres. About a metre seventy. Or maybe eighty.’
    ‘Skinny? Fat?’ Murray asked.
    ‘Average, I think. I’m sorry. I wish I saw more.’
    ‘How long between the firstguy and the second?’
    Furst studied his watch. ‘About three seconds.’
    ‘And after that?’
    ‘Like I said, I heard someone shout about a fire, and I looked that way –’
    ‘Which way?’ Murray said. ‘Show us where you were standing.’
    Furst moved closer to the steps and stood two metres from the edge of the platform. ‘I was about here. The men were heading that way.’ He pointedtowards the narrow area of platform going past the stairs.
    ‘Can you be sure they weren’t going up the stairs?’
    Furst hesitated. ‘I guess not. That’s not how it seemed though.’
    ‘Then what?’ Murray said.
    ‘Someone yelled “Fire” down there.’ He pointed towards the other flight of stairs. ‘There