Chandler let the statement float between them as they turned past the statue of Stuart MacAllen, the Scotsman who discovered the iron ore that had breathed life back into the town. For a few decades anyway. Now with the boreholes dry and abandoned, the youth were slowly being lost to more prosperous parts of the earth. He couldn’t blame them. People had to go where the jobs were. And there were few here.

Though he gave Gabriel time, he got no response. Maybe there was none, just a slip of the tongue in a time of stress, or a family argument, not to be discussed with a stranger. Like an upcoming custody battle, he supposed.

They drove past the bright orange veranda of the Red Inn, an establishment that proudly stated that it had been in business since the end of the 19th century, despite having moved premises twice, before finally settling into its present location in 1950; the year his mum was born.

Gabriel interrupted his thoughts. ‘So what’s going to happen next?’

‘Procedure.’

‘Like what? It’ll ease my mind to know that you know what you’re doing.’

‘You don’t trust us?’

Gabriel’s wavering smile offered no answer.

‘We know what we’re doing, Mr Johnson. I’ve been doing this for over ten years.’

‘But how many serial killers have you dealt with?’

It was a fair point.

‘After I put you up in the hotel, I’ll put together a KLO4—’

‘A what?’ interrupted Gabriel.

‘KLO4. Keep a look out for.’

‘Oh.’ Gabriel shrugged. ‘Makes sense.’

‘I’ll send it out around the state, Northern Territory and the South as well just to be sure. Then we’ll organize a search of the Hill, try and find the guy or his body then locate those graves. Though I have to admit that finding this guy, finding Heath, if he’s adept at surviving out there, won’t be easy given the size of the area.’

Chandler looked to Gabriel. He could see that his response had made his passenger a little uneasy.

‘We’ll send a chopper and plane up to look.’

‘Like you’re searching for a missing person?’

‘Kinda. We’ll start a ground search too.’

‘Seems like needle-in-a-haystack stuff.’

Chandler shrugged his shoulders. ‘It’s all we have, strength in numbers – one man against hundreds.’

‘Like Jesus versus the unbelievers.’

Chandler glanced across. ‘So you’re a religious man?’

Gabriel blew air out of his nose. ‘I believe, if that’s what you’re asking. You?’

‘I go along with it. Moral grounding for the kids, I suppose. They’ll make their own decisions when they’re older. It’s not as if God forced anyone to follow him.’

‘No . . . if only his followers abided by the same edict.’