A Time of Secrets Read Online Free Page A

second or so later one of them brushed against my chair as they made their way out of the cafe, and I flinched nervously. When they reached the door, the staff sergeant glanced back at me. And then they disappeared into the crowd outside.

Three
    ‘Y ou seem pensive.’ Dolly had returned and was standing at my shoulder.
    I didn’t know what to tell her. That I’d heard some soldiers talking of murder in a laneway and it was possible that two of them had been sitting behind us? What if it was all nothing but bravado, just silly talk? But a little voice in my head kept repeating: what if there was going to be a murder attempt, here in Melbourne?
    ‘They were speaking Malay,’ I said.
    ‘Who were?’ She sat down beside me.
    ‘Those two soldiers sitting behind us. Um, this afternoon I heard something, when you were in the shop . . .’
    I tried briefly to explain what had happened. The problem was, when I said it, whispering to her across the small table, the story sounded so melodramatic and bizarre that I was embarrassed. I finished my tale, looked down at my hands and grimaced.
    ‘But I don’t understand how you could have heard the conversation so clearly.’ Dolly’s voice was uncertain.
    ‘I don’t know how I heard it, Dolly. I just did. I’ve got very good hearing.’ I shook my head and frowned. ‘I know it sounds completely insane, but it’s what I heard.’
    ‘Murder? You’re sure it was Malay they were speaking?’
    ‘I grew up in Malaya,’ I replied, irritated that she should doubt me. ‘They were speaking Malay.’
    ‘Well, it must have been horrible to hear such a thing, but I don’t see what you can do about it. Maybe it was a joke you misheard. Or a play they were rehearsing.’
    I stared at her. ‘A play?’
    ‘Oh, I don’t know, Stella.’ She frowned at me. ‘The whole story is so odd.’
    ‘You don’t think I should tell someone at work?’ I said slowly. ‘I was thinking that if they spoke Malay they might have been Special Forces operatives.’
    ‘Mmmm?’ she sounded uninterested, but her hands were moving in a restless wringing motion. ‘They shouldn’t be speaking in a foreign language in public; they’ll get reported if they’re not careful. I think you probably misheard them.’
    ‘I don’t think so.’ My voice was clipped with annoyance. ‘They spoke of Laleia; isn’t that a river in Portuguese Timor?’
    ‘We shouldn’t talk about such things here.’ Dolly’s voice was sharp. She glanced around, but no one was near enough to hear us.
    ‘I’m worried they meant it,’ I whispered.
    Dolly became thoughtful, then almost jittery. She picked up her empty cup and tried to drink, seemed surprised to find it empty, put it back in the saucer with a clatter. She raised her hand to examine her cuticles, glanced at me, looked out the window.
    I persisted. ‘Wasn’t there some scandal about a field operation Lieutenant Ross was involved with in Timor? Wasn’t it near the Laleia River?’
    She glanced at me again and sighed. When she spoke, her voice was low, almost inaudible. ‘It was called Operation Kestrel. Lieutenant Ross took five men into Timor last month – yes, it was near the Laleia River. It was a disaster. The radio operator was killed and we only just got the others out in time.’
    ‘Anything else?’ I asked.
    Dolly shrugged, pouted. She said with a touch of pique, ‘Lieutenant Cole organised Kestrel, and I doubt he’ll ever forgive Lieutenant Ross for its failure.’
    Lieutenant Lance Cole was Dolly’s superior officer in wireless intercept. I lowered my voice to match Dolly’s bare whisper. ‘Was it part of Destro?’
    Operation Destro was an intelligence network on Japanese-occupied Timor comprising a small group of Portuguese officers and an Australian liaison officer. They’d been inserted by sea in March, just after the last Australian commandos had been evacuated. Destro was the brainchild of Lieutenant Cole, and of Captain Molloy, who