Connor grimaced. ‘Ideally, but with the heat in that cave, it’s probably a better idea to shift it now. Another day . . .’ He trailed off and Tilly shut her mind to what remained unsaid. ‘Besides,’ he continued then, ‘any evidence must’ve been tramped away with the number of bodies that’ve been in and out of the joint since.’

‘Yes, I see.’ Turning to the young policeman, she said, ‘How will you find the cave?’

‘Connor’s drawn me a pretty good mud map.’

‘And if you should run into Wilmot on the road out?’

‘Not gonna happen,’ Connor put in. ‘You can bet Wilmot will come the shortest way, so they’ll take the coastal track instead. Des knows it – he’ll be on it before Wilmot gets here.’ Headlights flashed through the timber as he spoke, and when the vehicle purred gently into the camp, he leant in to activate his own lights, switching them on and off again.

Tilly watched quietly as a chunkily built stranger alighted from the vehicle. He was wearing typical stationhand clothes of felt hat, jeans, boots and a sheepskin-lined jacket pulled over a checked flannel shirt. He nodded at Tilly and said, ‘G’day, Connor. What’s going on?’

‘Got a job for you. This’—he tipped his head at the young uniformed constable—‘is Keith. He’s clean, from Katherine. We’ve got a prisoner to transport and a body. Keith’s got the details, and he’ll fill you in because you need to get started. Wilmot’s dirty and he’s on his way here, we think, to rescue the prisoner who’s been injured. So you’ve got to get him away. Use the coast road, and I’ll have the flying doctor waiting for you at Alloway. There’s a good chance that David Burns is there, either dead or incapacitated. Mercer’s tied up with a bust leg. He’s responsible for the body. It’s Gerry Hillyer, by the way. Shot at point-blank range.’

Des appeared to absorb the information much like a sponge, Tilly thought. He asked only one question. ‘What’ll you be doing?’

‘Dealing with Wilmot,’ Connor said tersely. ‘He and Burns were at Alloway when I rang them. But the owner said Wilmot left alone because Burns had vanished. Seems to me to be the place to start inquiring after him.’

‘I’ll get onto it. Okay. Glad to meet you, Keith.’ He leant across to shake hands. ‘You got the location of the prisoner? Good. Let’s go then.’

Chapter Thirty-seven

Watching them leave, Tilly said, ‘He seems very capable.’

‘Yeah.’ Connor was fishing out Matt’s phone again. ‘A good man. He’s done a lot of undercover work. Suits him because he’s one of those blokes whose appearance doesn’t shriek “cop”.’

‘Who are you ringing?’