Ryder looked at the skis clamped to the trestle tables. Vanessa was dripping hot wax from a block onto the undersides of the skis. The process looked a lot more complicated than waxing a surfboard.

‘Will it help my skiing?’

‘It’ll make you go faster.’

‘No thanks.’

She laughed, and Ryder learned over and kissed her gently on the temple, happy she was enjoying working in the snow again. After meeting while Ryder was investigating a case in Charlotte Pass, Vanessa had given up her ski patrolling to move to Sydney with him, but she’d hated being stuck in a sales job demonstrating skis rather than using them. Eventually, she’d made the decision to return to Thredbo for what would be her final season, while Ryder stayed working in Sydney.

He watched as Vanessa continued waxing her skis. As it turned out, with him in Queanbeyan for court, they were seeing a lot more of each other than they’d anticipated. But their permanent move to the country once the season wrapped up was looming large in Ryder’s mind. With Vanessa’s parents retiring, the time had come for her to take over the running of the family property, as she’d promised them she would. And Ryder had promised Vanessa he’d be right there beside her.

He sighed and touched her lightly on the back. ‘As much as I’d love to stay and watch this fascinating process, I need to shower and change.’

She turned to look at him enquiringly, as though she were trying to read his thoughts.

‘Drive safely,’ she said quietly, ‘and say hello to Mitch for me.’

Three

Half an hour after leaving the airport, Flowers crossed the second bridge at Tooma then turned right into Possum Point Road. Two single-storey buildings sat side by side on the banks of Tumbarumba Creek. One was the local pub, the other a perfectly maintained heritage building with white columns and dormer windows. A sign out the front advertised boutique accommodation. After the horrific scene at the Khancoban airstrip, the setting was peaceful and inviting.

Ryder was waiting in his unmarked four-wheel drive outside the pub. Flowers pulled in beside him and lowered his window.

‘Morning, Sarge. The Lorrimers’ property’s a bit further on. Sergeant Collins said if we reach the Southern Cloud Lookout, we’ve gone too far.’

‘Righto.’ Ryder slid on his sunglasses. ‘I’ll follow you.’

Flowers shifted the car into reverse, pebbles from the unsealed surface crunching beneath his tyres. With a longing look at the counter-lunch sign on the wall of the pub, he pulled out onto Tooma Road.

Welcome rain had turned the rolling pastures green, the grass several shades lighter than the tree-covered hills in the distance. On both sides of the road, grazing sheep and cattle were up to their bellies in feed. Flowers smiled. The scenery was enough to warm the heart of any diehard city boy.