Now, placing her hands on the vanity top, she leant curiously towards the reflective glass, her gaze tracing the lines of her face with its high cheekbones and long chin. There were shadows under the blue-grey eyes and her cheeks were thin enough to look hollow. She pulled the scrunchy from her ponytail and saw that her hair needed a trim; the ends when she examined them were split and uneven. Sophie cut the men’s hair – maybe she could take a bit off hers, too? Tilly’d lost weight and she looked – what? Older, haggard, sad? All of the above, and dirty.

Abandoning the introspection, she reached for the soap, then paused, cocking her head to the sound of an arriving vehicle. It pulled up and there came the clunk of a car door closing, followed shortly by another. Luke and Matt were long gone and wouldn’t be back until late. It must be their visitor from the university, only it sounded like he had somebody with him.

‘Hell’s bells!’ Hastily she washed her face and brushed her hair, thankful to hear Sophie’s footsteps in the hallway on her way to meet them. She wondered where they could find another bed for the extra body. There might be a spare stretcher in the old men’s quarters that they could set up on the verandah. Otherwise whoever it was had better have a swag. Catching up the scrunchy to secure her hair, she heard her cousin calling her name.

‘Coming!’ Tilly almost bumped into Sophie as she exited the room. ‘What’s up? I know he’s earlier than we exp—’

‘It’s not the botanist. It’s a couple of detectives from Darwin. They want to talk to you.’

Tilly stared at her. ‘Me? Why?’

‘They didn’t say. Just asked if you were here and said they needed a word.’ Sophie frowned, concerned. ‘Do you want me to stay? I’ve no idea what it’s about.

‘Neither have I.’ Her heart suddenly leapt and she pressed a hand to her chest, face paling, made giddy by sudden hope. ‘It couldn’t be,’ she whispered. ‘They haven’t – oh, Sophie, they haven’t heard something about Francie? She . . . did some boat find her, save her?’

Sophie put an arm around her. ‘Don’t, Till. Don’t go there, you’ll only hurt yourself. Francie’s gone and it’s no good letting yourself hope. That’s a one in a million chance and you know it . . .’ She paused. ‘They didn’t look like they were bringing good news.’