I asked Bill if he knew immediately which of the houses in Bat Street was Delaney House and he looked at me like I might be simple.

‘Of course I did!’ he said. ‘I’ve lived here for forty-two years, haven’t I? Give me some credit for knowing what goes on. I knew straightaway it was the place across the road from mine, the old boarding house. I said to the cops, “What’s gone on there?” The cop said, “Look, we can’t say much.” And I said, “Well, how am I supposed to get home if I can’t get by you?” And they said I’d have to park and walk.’

I imagined old Bill, in stubbies like he had on the day I interviewed him, weighed down on both sides with bags of ice, trundling down Bat Street toward his house, eyes and ears at the ready.

‘Sure, I had a big stickybeak as I went by,’ he said. ‘There wasn’t much to see, though, not at that point.’

‘That’s because you missed it all,’ said Shirl. ‘The SWAT team had already broken the door down before you even got home.’

Bill let that go, saying, ‘I wouldn’t have been home two minutes when the blokes from Channel Nine turned up. They’d been smart. They’d parked in the street behind, and come down the dunny lane.

‘They said, “We got a tip there’s going to be a raid on a property in your street.” I said, “You’re too late, the cops are already in there.” They said, “Mind if we set up on your balcony?” I said, “Do what you like. Shirl will make you a cup of tea.”

‘The young bloke – what was his name, Shirl? – said he’d be happy to sling us fifty bucks for the privilege of the view, but I said, “You’re right. I can see you’ve got a job to do.” And Shirl brought them tea, didn’t you, Shirl?’

Shirl nodded.

‘It was that lovely Ben Kentor, he’s on the Today Show now, and he’s got that afternoon show on the radio,’ she said. ‘Lovely young man – so polite.’

‘I felt a bit sorry for him,’ Bill said, ‘in that nothing was actually happening. He and the camera guy – they were all set up but there was nothing to see – just the two cop cars, which weren’t that interesting.’

I’ve seen the Nine footage from the day of the raid and it seems to me that they were doing a live cross every half an hour or so, and Bill was right, Ben didn’t have that much to report. So it was mostly shots of him, earpiece in, holding the mike, saying, ‘Well, we’re coming to you live from a major police operation here at Bondi,’ and shots of the two cars outside Delaney House and the trees, shaped like kangaroos and emus.

I mentioned the trees to Bill Carson. They looked a bit shabby to my eye but then I’m no horticulturalist.