Victim's grim warning heard as inquest considers Monis accomplice theory
MARTIN Place gunman Man Monis may have been working with an accomplice who drove him to the scene of the deadly Lindt Cafe siege, the inquest was told yesterday. 
Investigators have found no CCTV traces of his movements on trains or buses and there were no sightings of him using taxis to get from home in Wiley Park to the Lindt Cafe on   December 15, 2014.
"There is a real possibility he was dropped in the city in a car driven by persons or a person unknown," counsel assisting the inquest, Jeremy Gormly, SC, said.
He said police were still investigating who that may have been. As the inquest resumed yesterday in Sydney, it was also revealed that Monis had asked staff member Fiona Ma, 19, to keep an eye on his backpack which he left at his table while he went to the toilet.
Inside the backpack was his sawn-off shotgun which he pointed at cafe manager Tori Johnson as the cafe went into lockdown.
A chilling emergency call - played for the first time yesterday - recorded Mr Johnson, 34, trying to read out a handwritten message from Monis.
With a sawn-off shotgun pointed at him, Johnson tried to warn of a terrorist attack while the triple-0 operator quizzed him about the nearest cross street.
He was later executed at point black range by Monis before police stormed the cafe. Barrister Katrina Dawson was killed in the crossfire.
"It is quite significant to listen to the way Tori managed the call," Mr Gormly said.
"He did it with a calmness and command that was really impressive." Mr Gormly said Monis was last seen on Sunday,   December 14, at a friend's house and it is assumed he spent that night at home.
At 8.26am on Monday, he was picked up on CCTV footage striding "with resolve" through Martin Place towards the Lindt Cafe.
As some of the hostages listened in the back of the courtroom, Mr Gormly said there was evidence Monis may have been planning the siege for up to two months.
In   October 2014, he bought a Samsung mobile phone using someone else's name which he did not use until the siege began. On the afternoon of   December 13, Monis withdrew all his money ($850) and bought his backpack from a local accessories store.
Only $220 cash was found on him after he was shot dead by police who stormed the cafe. Mr Gormly said he may have spent the rest on the shotgun and ammunition.Monis tricked the terrified hostages into believing he had a bomb in the backpack and was also armed with a silver paring knife which he never used. The surviving hostages will be giving evidence from later this week.