hear from Deborah that she was becoming increasingly troubled by this. She had become more and more concerned about the volume of ex-sect members airing their grievances about The Union to Dr Wright.
Brett had initially drawn her attention to this, but it was highlighted as a concern for Deborah when a sect member Beverley went to see her dermatologist, Dr Lee, who did sessional work in the same building as Dr Andrew Wright. The patients of Dr Lee and Dr Wright shared the same waiting room. Deborah described how Beverley had recently reported back to her the details of a coincidence that occurred when she attended her dermatologist.
While waiting for her appointment, Beverley had noticed an ex-Union member, Tracy, sitting at the other end of the waiting room. (Deborah tended not to believe in coincidences and felt many events were predestined rather than occurring by chance.) Beverley told her excitedly that on the spur of the moment she decided to go and sit next to Tracy. There were no other patients in the waiting room at the time, so Beverley chatted, asking Tracy how things were going in her life. Beverley recalled that Tracy and her partner broke away from The Union 10 months earlier, and after the brief startled silence that followed Beverley’s greeting, Tracy began responding cautiously to Beverley’s chatter. As she started describing the recent breakup of her relationship after leaving The Union, Tracy’s eyes filled with tears and her controlled answers lost out to the rage inside, leaving her inconsolable even with Beverley’s arm around her.
Beverley reported to Deborah the bitter allegations that Tracy had made about the role of The Union in destroying her relationship with her partner. In a rage undiluted by her tears, Tracy expressed the wish that Deborah would be punished for the havoc and damage she had inflicted on other people’s lives. With a humourless laugh, Beverley told Deborah that for the first time in her life she gave silent thanks that her dermatologist was running late, as it gave her the freedom to listen to more of Tracy’s story. She described to Deborah that it was like the waters of a dam escaping the walls that had held them back, so that the torrent of Tracy’s words and emotions spilt out unfiltered.
Over the next 15 minutes, Tracy’s pressured voice described how she and a few other former sect members had poured out their stories to Dr Wright, describing their hurt and complaints about The Union. Fighting to regain control, in a whisper that was more like a hiss, Tracy told Beverley how Dr Wright reassured her that he understood and shared the concerns of people damaged by The Union. He promised that he would try and speak to the appropriate authorities about the issues the ex- sect members had related.
After Beverley said that, Tracy suddenly clammed up, probably realising she may have said too much. Minutes later, as if orchestrated, Beverley’s doctor called her in for her consultation.
After Beverley told Deborah about the chance encounter with Tracy and what was said, Deborah organised some of her members to monitor the building where Dr Wright worked, recording which ex-Union members were entering. She also arranged to have the rooms of Dr Wright broken into and was able to obtain a list of his current and recent patients, revealing the names of nine former sect members.
On the drive to Deborah’s compound, Brett had decided that he wouldn’t mention the death of the prostitute. He wasn't sure that he would ever discuss this with her, for even though she adopted a priest like a role in her group, where members opened up to her, she was not inclined to dispense forgiveness following their confessions. What he or The Union could do about Dr Wright wasn't clear to him at this stage.
Brett was fully alert after Deborah’s voice jarred him awake, so he dressed quickly and joined her in the kitchen, where she had already prepared a coffee for them both. The hot liquid warmed him and he inhaled the aroma of the coffee beans, whilst her mongrel dog jumped up and licked the back of his hand, though Brett was on guard, knowing the mutt could readily switch from lick to snarl.
Deborah looked at Brett in silence, before asking directly what he thought should be done about Wright and his threat of interfering with her group. She said that she was now very aware that more and more ex-Union members were attending Wright and voicing their bitter complaints about her group to him. She revealed that about a month ago she had arranged for one of her current female members to be referred to Dr Wright as a patient, pretending to be unwell and posing as an ex-sect member, so she could gauge what Wright knew and how negative his attitude had become towards the group.
That visit demonstrated to her that Wright had become increasingly furious about The Union activities and had a strong desire to expose and close them down. Her stooge confirmed that the situation was as bad as she had feared.
Haltingly, Brett attempted to reassure Deborah that he was working on the issue, but her dismissive questioning pinned him down and he had to acknowledge that he really had no clear plan that would guarantee success in stopping Wright.
A task force headed by Brett had been set up close to one and a half years previously, with the primary purpose of exposing The Union activities and their alleged criminal behaviour. The Victorian Police Force had for a number of years put aside complaints and rumours relating to the Union, but eventually felt that they needed to investigate possible criminality associated with the group.
Brett had successfully undermined the investigation without detection, but needed a scalp to divert attention from the task force’s apparent lack of success. Brett was also concerned that if the doctor managed to bring an increasingly hostile focus on the Union, then there was a danger that he, Brett, would be caught up in it. In addition, there was also the associated risk that if Wright involved higher authorities, then it would be a lot harder trying to stall their probing.
Slowly and deliberately, Deborah filled Brett in on a scheme she had devised and already set in motion, before telling Brett about it, though this action didn't surprise him as he had never seen her as a team player. He had to acknowledge that the scheme was brilliant.
Through her contacts, Deborah had learnt that there was a vacant position for a night-time cleaner/security person at the coroner's court. She directed Peter Robinson, a 38-year-old follower of hers, to apply for the position, which he succeeded in obtaining. The brief she gave him was to be on the lookout for any information that could be used against Dr Wright. As Robinson worked as a night-time cleaner, he was often on his own in the building and was able to snoop around the various offices, and hopefully access files and data at times, as the security was porous. Deborah was optimistic that something useful would be unearthed eventually that would destroy Wright’s credibility.
Brett had hoped to stay with Deborah until at least the next morning, but she abruptly terminated their meeting, saying something unexpected had sprung up, and he needed to leave. He had not made it clear to Jenny when he would be returning home, and these days she didn’t expect to receive that kind of information. There were times he might walk out the front door at home, calling back over his shoulder to no one in particular, that he was visiting a friend. Jenny would hear this and choose to say nothing, as it had become a ritual where the terms “friend” or “work” could represent going to a brothel or the local pub or whatever, in the language they now used.
For Brett, these pronouncements in a Catholic sense were akin to a confession and absolved him of guilt, if any existed. At times he wondered why he bothered, as he no longer cared and Jenny no longer believed him, nor took note of what he was saying. Her life had been set in concrete. He decided not to go straight home.
He pondered if it would bother him to have Jenny screwing another guy. Probably not, he thought, as their relationship had become meaningless. But the ego thing – wondering if the other guy had satisfied her – that would get to him. What if she got to love the other guy? He doubted that there was another guy. So what if she didn't love the other guy but liked his sex?
Sex and feelings had long ago divorced each other in his life. Brett drank from sex like he drank from beer. You bought it, you
