They waited, an icy wind whipping through their hair and the dogs watching their every move.

Flowers pulled out his notepad and found the page where Heidi had written down her boyfriend’s details. ‘I’ll give him a call,’ he said, taking out his phone.

Flowers listened to the phone ringing at the other end. Eventually it went to voicemail, but Garrett’s manners didn’t stretch as far as him recording a greeting. ‘Mr Garrett, it’s Detective Flowers from Sydney Homicide,’ he said with forced politeness. ‘We’d like to talk to you in relation to our enquiry surrounding the death of Arthur Lorrimer. Please call me back on this number to arrange a time. Thank you.’

‘Those dogs didn’t look like the one Sterling described,’ Flowers said when they were safely back in the car.

‘Maybe it wasn’t Garrett who was home. Cooper said she didn’t know how many people live there,’ said Ryder.

‘I’m not surprised. She could have warned us about the dogs though.’ Flowers braked as he came to a T-intersection then made a left-hand turn onto the road that would take them to Berridale. From there, it was a three-hour drive to Batlow, where Ethan Lorrimer was working on the bushfire salvage operation.

‘If Garrett doesn’t call us, we’ll seek a warrant for his arrest and bring him into Jindabyne Station for questioning,’ said Ryder.

Flowers nodded. ‘Let’s hope he calls, because only a SWAT team is going to get past those dogs.’

They’d stopped for a sandwich and a milkshake at Berridale when Flowers’ phone rang.

‘Maybe this is him,’ he said, putting down his sandwich and hitting answer. ‘Detective Flowers.’

‘Hello, it’s Cate Buchanan here.’

‘Cate?’ Flowers blinked in surprise. ‘What can I do for you?’

‘Have I caught you at a bad time?’

‘Ah.’ Flowers looked at Ryder, who’d stopping eating. ‘Just having a bite to eat in Berridale before we head to Batlow.’

‘Oh, I actually need to talk to you about something. I was hoping you’d be able to come up to the hut this afternoon and see me.’

Flowers frowned. ‘Can you tell me what it’s about?’

‘Not over the phone. It’s to do with your investigation. It’s important.’

Flowers leaned across the table and mouthed the words it’s important.

‘All right, Cate,’ he said when Ryder nodded, ‘I’ll see you soon.’

‘Thank you. If you’re leaving now it should take you about an hour to get here.’

‘Do you have any idea what it’s about?’ Ryder asked, sliding the remains of his sandwich into its white paper bag.

Flowers shook his head. ‘I have no idea.’

‘Do you still have those snowshoes?’

‘Yeah, they’re in the boot.’