‘Nothing apart from the bath.’

‘And he couldn’t have got past you?’

‘I’ve been here the whole time. Not a chance he could have left without me seeing. What is it you want him for anyway?’

Ollie might have been unscrupulous but he wasn’t stupid. The cops didn’t put in this amount of effort without grounds for suspicion. Chandler downplayed it.

‘He’s a witness to an assault.’

‘Really?’ said Ollie, clearly sceptical.

He hadn’t bought it but Chandler didn’t care. He wanted to check Gabriel’s room one more time.

The bed was untouched, nothing had been removed from the minibar, and the miniature bottles of shampoo and conditioner were unused. It gave Chandler the impression that Gabriel had left almost immediately. And if he hadn’t gone out the front past Ollie and Jim, then . . .

At the end of the corridor was the fire escape. Close inspection revealed that the safety tag was broken. It led to a set of metal stairs, the back alley, Anzac Street and freedom.

He sent Jim to stake out the town perimeter in case he happened to come across their suspect fleeing town. It was a long shot, but long shots were all he had right now.

Back at the station, Chandler explained the situation to his assembled team.

‘Do you think he’s the killer?’ asked Tanya without looking up from the mass of forms on her desk.

Chandler wanted to remain impartial but it was difficult. It didn’t look good for Gabriel but Chandler recalled that he had wanted to get out of town and away from the threat to his life. It was the kind of fear that would make the idea of escape hard to resist.

‘We’ll have to bring him in and see,’ said Chandler. ‘Jim’s out looking now. Me and Luka will go as well. Tanya and Nick, you’ll stay here.’

‘’Cause I’m a woman?’ scowled Tanya.

‘No, because I trust you to look after the one suspect we have.’

‘Don’t you think it’s time we called HQ?’ she asked.

His team stared at him.

‘The three of us can’t cover the whole town,’ added Luka.

Tanya nodded. ‘He’s right.’

Chandler knew they were right. He also knew what calling HQ would entail, and more specifically, who it would entail. Mitch.

They had once been best friends, growing up a rung above being dirt poor, joining the police force in the same class and under the same tragic circumstances. In 2001, near Newman, a plane crash had killed a number of police officers and opened up positions for new recruits. A tragic way to get an opportunity.