There was a lot of speculation over dinner as to what Luke’s discovery, if it panned out, could mean for Binboona. Native Mammals of the North was passed around, and Jane, for one, was willing to swear that the illustration was a perfect match for the creature she had photographed.

‘I’ll finish the roll and put it in for developing the moment I get to Darwin,’ she told Luke. Then her face fell. ‘Damn, it’ll be after office hours, won’t it? Well, first thing next morning then. I’ll give them your address so they can post the pics straight out once they’re developed. You’ll ring as soon as you have them, won’t you?’

‘Of course. Thank you, sweetie.’ Excitement gleamed in his blue eyes. ‘I’m not counting on it, mind. There may be a difference I didn’t notice . . .’ But it was clear, Tilly thought, that he didn’t believe it.

‘They might name it for you,’ Sophie said. ‘Aldyce-onia something. You never know. If you do the studies you’ve planned, it won’t harm your career prospects at all.’

‘Seems a lotta fuss over nothing,’ Matt said sourly. ‘Bats! There’s millions of the buggers and they all stink. Try livin’ with fruit bats and you wouldn’t be so keen on ’em.’

‘Well, I didn’t like the cave much,’ Jane confessed, ‘or the bats. But I’m glad we went. It was a fabulous day, Luke.’

‘And we even got some work done,’ Tilly said wryly. ‘Only another twenty-five kay of tangled fencing wire to go,’ she said, rising to clear the table.

Later that evening, Tilly sought out her cousin for a private word. Sophie looked up from a report sheet and pulled off her reading glasses. ‘Something up, Till?’

Tilly perched a hip on the edge of the desk, her eyes on the open door, and spoke softly. ‘I didn’t say anything at the time because Luke doesn’t know the traffickers were using the cave, but they’ve been back – or somebody has – since my visit with Connor. The box they’d left behind has gone. Do you still think Matt can’t be involved?’

Sophie sighed and screwed her eyes shut for a moment. ‘I don’t know what to think except that I wish your mate Connor would do something more than just sit in the camp like some horrible great spider. If he suspects Matt, why doesn’t he just question him? Sort it out somehow? The whole thing is intolerable! Suspecting workmates, having to consider every word you say . . . It’s not who we are, Tilly. The job’s hard enough – we need to be able to trust each other.’

‘I don’t like it either,’ Tilly said helplessly, ‘but we have to let Connor handle it his way. I promised that we would.’