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Back Angels of Vengeance
Chapters (68)
  1. Blurb
  2. CONTENTS
  3. Dedication
  4. CHARACTER LIST
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. TWO MONTHS LATER
  60. ONE YEAR LATER
  61. TWO YEARS LATER
  62. FOUR YEARS LATER
  63. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  64. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  65. Also by John Birmingham
  66. ALSO BY JOHN BIRMINGHAM
  67. Copyright
  68. Cover

Julianne found herself hustled out of the office in Birendra’s wake. She wanted to object but was swept along by the two men. And in spite of her misgivings, she admitted it was possible that Shah was right. They had not had time to compare notes in the few hours since she’d first contacted him this morning. She was unknown to the authorities in Darwin. She might well pass unnoticed in the meeting, and if the police did wish to discuss either of the bomb attacks with Shah, she might well pick up on something that meant nothing to him.

‘And Birendra,’ said Shah, ‘find Mr Pappas if he is in the city. We may need to consult him as well.’

‘Yes sir.’

Jules tried to imagine herself in the role of Narayan Shah’s lawyer. She had considered studying law once. Her father had encouraged her with all his might and main. For a man who had never worked hard at anything but cards and calumny, Lord Balwyn’s enthusiasm for placing one of his own deep within the corpus of the justice system was unsettling. In fact, it was all the warning she needed. After a brief flirtation with the idea of donning lawyer’s robes, Jules had decided to study the classics instead. When she went up to Trinity, she took honours in drinking, with a double major in shopping and fucking.

*

The Bagot Road Police Station, like the suburb it serviced, was painfully new. That wasn’t just a metaphor. The lowering sun blazed down with restrained ferocity in the late afternoon, throwing intense sunbursts off the steel and glass façade of the building. Jules caught a flash in one eye and flinched. The after-image burned a streak across her retina and for a moment she feared a migraine might be coming on. She’d only ever had one, and that had been caused by an inopportune flash of light off a chrome benchtop.

She fumbled in the pockets of the military-cut green silk shirt she had borrowed from Shah’s daughter, before remembering that her sunglasses were perched on top of her head. With the imitation D&G shades in place – another item on loan from Ashmi – Jules no longer had to squint into the harsh glare.