Deciding against it, Chandler jumped in and pulled away. As he peered in the rear-view mirror, a set of headlights appeared from nowhere, tracking a hundred metres behind as he turned on to Harper’s, keeping a consistent speed and distance from him. A tail. Not a subtle one. He wouldn’t have time to lose it if he went the direct route to his parents’ house so instead of shooting down Tunney’s, he pulled sharply on to Mercado, the tyres screeching, his mum shrieking at him to slow down.

As he turned the corner, the headlights disappeared only to reappear moments later. Then they began to close in rapidly. Chandler’s sense of danger heightened. He wanted to speed up but any faster and they were liable to plough into something solid. So he decided to slow down, force the car to go past and identify who was behind the wheel.

It pulled up alongside him in seconds. Chandler glanced over expecting to see Gabriel and wondering what he would do.

But it wasn’t Gabriel. The driver was a man in his early fifties, brown hair washed back from his forehead, focusing solely on the road in front as he drove down the wrong side of it. Leaning over from the passenger’s side was someone he did recognize, Jill SanLuiso, Channel Nine reporter for the Pilbara, her jet black hair stylishly streaked with grey, distinguished and pretty for her advancing years.

‘Can you tell me what the latest situation is, Sergeant?’ she shouted across the face of her driver.

Chandler couldn’t believe it. They had followed him home, hunting for a scoop. Rage made him grip the steering wheel tight. ‘The latest situation, Miss SanLuiso,’ he said, his words curt, ‘is that you’re driving down the wrong side of a residential street, breaking the speed limit while hassling a policeman and his family.’

‘You know what I mean, Sergeant. What’s the latest with the serial killer out there?’

Chandler almost swerved into them in anger, glancing in the rear-view mirror to witness the look of concern on his kids’ faces.

‘No comment,’ he said, his eyes fixed on hers. ‘And I ask you not to mention anything more in front of my family.’

‘Just a few words.’

‘I have a few but you won’t be able to broadcast them.’ Turning sharply on to Prince’s he drove off. Miss SanLuiso didn’t follow.

A minute later they were safely ensconced in his parents’ house. Chandler’s interrogation had only just begun.

‘What did she mean by serial killer, Daddy?’ asked Jasper.

‘What it means is—’ started Sarah.

Chandler interrupted her. ‘What it means, Jasper, is that someone has done something bad and now the police are looking for him.’

‘And you dunno where he is, Daddy?’

‘Not yet, but Daddy’s friends have it under control. We’ll find him and put him in custody.’