‘I don’t know,’ Khalil said.

Clarke turned on the hose.

‘No, please,’ he begged. ‘I’m speaking the truth. Bashir and Mahmud were fighting about it. Bashir wanted to go back to the nuclear reactor. He was adamant we had to finish what we’d started. He wanted to show everyone that we had not failed. But Mahmud wouldn’t let him. He said it had to be the same as the rest of the attacks or no one would believe it was us. He said we had to attack churches if we wanted to take credit for the rest. He said we would become the most famous mujahideen in the world.’

After that, they’d all broken one after another, like dominoes falling. To Sami’s surprise, even Hammad, the so-called mastermind of the group, had squealed as soon as he saw all the power tools, which had been splattered with red corn syrup – Mav’s special touch.

‘It was Mahmud’s plan,’ he’d said. ‘All I did was approve it. I was just going to take the credit.’

THE only one who put up a fight was Mahmud. The one Clarke was circling now, Bunnings pliers in hand.

‘We are responsible for all the church attacks,’ Mahmud continued. ‘We are not copycats. Tell the world, it was us.’

Jax’s email arrived just in time for Sami to save Mahmud’s fingernails.

‘We have to go,’ said Sami. ‘Now.’

Clarke reluctantly dropped the pliers.

CHAPTER 43

Goulburn Correctional Centre, Goulburn, NSW, Australia

JAX began writing as soon as Sami handed him the pen.

Stuart James

25 May

04:00:02 Deposit +$0.61

04:00:09 Deposit +$4.19

04:00:15 Deposit +$5.09

04:00:22 Deposit +$6.13

He printed as neatly as he could. Names first.

Timothy Jenkins

25 June

02:59:58 Deposit +$0.61

03:00:04 Deposit +$4.03

03:00:11 Deposit +$5.26

03:00:16 Deposit +$7.72

Followed by the date.

Adam Wright

25 July

04:00:00 Deposit +$0.61

04:00:05 Deposit +$4.05

04:00:11 Deposit +$5.28

04:00:16 Deposit +$1.45

Then the betting account transaction, beginning with the time.

Omar Amir

25 August

11:00:10 Deposit +$0.61

11:00:14 Deposit +$4.32

11:00:19 Deposit +$4.46

11:00:24 Deposit +$1.59

The nature of the transaction next, all deposits.

Jamal Ahmad

25 September

03:00:14 Deposit +$0.61

03:00:20 Deposit +$4.00

03:00:25 Deposit +$9.78

03:00:34 Deposit +$1.42

And finally, the amount – not a single transaction was over ten dollars.

Charlie Haddad

25 October

12:00:00 Deposit +$0.61

12:00:04 Deposit +$4.11

12:00:09 Deposit +$8.50

12:00:21 Deposit +$8.40

Four transactions for each name, all made in rapid succession.

Ben Wilson

25 November

06:00:18 Deposit +$0.61

06:00:25 Deposit +$4.04

06:00:31 Deposit +$5.55

06:00:36 Deposit +$9.82

Jax picked up the paper after making his final entry. He then stood, walked around the table and placed it in front of Clarke and Sami.

‘What do you see?’ Jax said, standing behind them and pointing at the page.

‘Names and betting account deposits,’ Clarke said. ‘All on the twenty-fifth. All on days of the attack.’

‘Well, the twenty-fifth in Australia anyway,’ Jax said. ‘It was still the twenty-fourth in most parts of the globe. What else?’

‘Charlie Haddad.’ Clarke said. ‘He received four deposits on what would have been the twenty-fourth in Mexico, at about’ – he counted some numbers on his fingers – ‘8 pm.’

‘It was exactly 8 pm in Mexico,’ Jax said. ‘What else do you see?’

Clarke ran his finger down the list.