‘I think I’ve just seen a particular plant. Stay there, I won’t be a sec.’ He got out, leaving the engine running, and headed for the thin scrubline that screened the beach.

After a moment Tilly pushed her own door open. ‘Think I’ll visit the ladies while he’s away. Just wait here, Mum. Once Connor gets into plants it can take him a while.’ She skipped behind the vehicle, made a detour beyond her mother’s sight and, jogging, caught him up where he squatted, examining a slew of bootprints in the sand.

‘Tide must’ve been in,’ he said, glancing up at her and then across the shallow bay. ‘They’d have motored in in the runabout, waded ashore. Two men, and that’—he pointed—‘the T-boot there, is what Matt wears. Question is why? A meet up with the boss, or something more?’

‘Like what?’

He shrugged, his brown eyes, netted in faint creases, intent upon an inner vision. ‘Could’ve delivered a pay-off, or a few kilos of drugs, I suppose. Maybe even slipped an illegal into the country, though that’s not very likely.’

‘No. Highly unlikely, I’d have thought,’ Tilly said. ‘What would he do with them?’

He grinned. ‘That’s my practical girl.’ Then abruptly he sighed and stood. ‘I shouldn’t have got you mixed up in this, Tilly. They’re just tracks in the sand now, but these men are dangerous. And if involving you isn’t bad enough, I brought your mother along as well.’

‘Speaking of which, you’d better grab a few samples off a bush and get back to her before she comes looking. After all, wasn’t this’—she waved at the empty beach with its betraying tracks—‘what you came for?’

‘Not entirely. There was this too.’ His arms swooped around her, drawing her in for a kiss. ‘Good morning, my dear. And then I wanted to please your mother too. Three birds with the one tank of petrol, you could say.’

‘Well, she is pleased. She thinks you’re charming and suspects an Irish background because of it. Or possibly because of your name. But she totally buys your cover, so let’s not make you into a liar, hmm?’

‘You’re right.’ He released her reluctantly and went to break off a section of a straggly shrub with yellow pea-shaped flowers.

‘What’s that?’

‘Broom bush. Jacksonia ramosissima. Or very similar. You usually find it further east. The flowers here are a bit different to the ones I’m familiar with,’ he said, examining them, ‘but they’ll do, anyway.’

Back at the vehicle, he snapped off a small piece holding the most blossoms and presented it to Elaine. ‘Sorry about the wait. This was what I spotted. I haven’t seen it growing in these parts before.’

‘It’s pretty. What is it?’