Simone Vogel's Disappearance from a Brisbane Parlour

This is where Dorothy Edith Knight sat, 50 years ago, wearing a wire. It was her first time back at New Farm Park in 50 years when she recorded her story.

She was a young sex worker then, part of a police sting meant to catch a corrupt Queensland police detective. He was known for extreme violence. Undercover cops were everywhere, posing as gardeners, hiding in vans, watching her every move.

The city, Brisbane, was full of crooked cops back then. Dorothy put her life at risk right here to help take down one of the worst. The stress was so intense that she fainted when the undercover police took him away.

The fallout from that day changed the rest of her life. She told the *Dig: Sirens Are Coming* podcast that she'd been nervous in the days leading up to returning here.

After World War II, Queensland changed, and under Commissioner Frank Bischof, police corruption was widespread in the 1950s and 60s. Bischof, known as the Big Fella, became Commissioner in 1958 and was skilled at graft. He had a group of young officers, including Glendon Patrick Hallahan, Tony Murphy, and Terry Lewis, who were his bagmen. They called their system of kickbacks "The Joke." They investigated threats to this system, kept secret files on politicians, manipulated court cases, and silenced critics. These men were known as the Rat Pack.

One of their easiest sources of income was weekly bribes from sex workers, which protected them from prosecution when sex work was illegal. If a sex worker didn't go along with "The Joke," they faced consequences. Dorothy Knight worked at the National Hotel, a place favored by the police, sometimes seeing five clients a night. She'd drink scotch and take half a Purple Heart, a stimulant, before charming clients and going upstairs. She said, "Word got around… if you wanted a girl, well, go to the National." She was very particular about her appearance, wearing high heels and styling her long hair.

Shirley Brifman, another sex worker, became a favorite of the Rat Pack, working in brothels and hotels like the National. She gave large sums of money to Detective Tony Murphy for his car and his kid's tutoring, and also to Detective Hallahan, which paid for their fine clothes and expensive colognes. Shirley later recalled that Hallahan "would have got a terrific amount" and even stayed at her place, getting an allowance from his department for it.