Sterling perched on the edge of an upright chair. It felt bizarre being on this side of the desk.

‘Did you manage to get any sleep?’ he asked, peering at her.

‘A little,’ she said.

‘I haven’t been up to the house to brush for prints yet. It’s been one thing after another this morning.’ Collins looked at his watch. ‘I’m going to head up there in about ten minutes; Orville Parish is coming around after I’ve finished to put a bit of plywood over the broken window until we can get it fixed.’

Sterling nodded. ‘Do you have any idea who broke in?’

‘No, not yet. As I said on the phone, this happens from time to time, especially if people think the property is empty. It could have been someone looking to squat there. We’ve had that happen. Now, what’s your full name?’

‘Ida Stevenson, with a “v”, not a “ph”.’

‘Okay. I’ve got your telephone number from when you called me and I know the address.’ Collins put down the pen and looked at her. ‘That’s all I need for now.’

Sterling frowned. ‘What about Rodney Garrett? Have you spoken to him about the complaint I made?’

Collins took a long, hard look at her, long enough to make Sterling nervous. ‘This is about you seeing him in your street?’ He gave her a dubious look. ‘Have you seen the size of this town? We’re always running into each other here.’

‘So, did you speak to him?’ she asked, again reminding herself not to sound too cop-like.

‘Yeah, I spoke to him.’ Sergeant Collins looked at her as if he was seeing her through fresh eyes and didn’t quite like what he saw. ‘He said he was nowhere near your place last night, and he also told me something else that I found interesting.’

Get to the point, Collins, Sterling thought. Whatever it was, it wasn’t going to be good.

‘He told me you’re a user, that you asked Heidi Lorrimer for drugs at the hotel. Is that right?’

Shit! Garrett had turned this around onto her. Sterling looked at Collins across the desk, at the light reflecting off his bald head and his bushy porn-star moustache. Should she come clean and reveal who she was? What if Collins was bent? He’d been stationed up here for decades, and yet when Ryder had been investigating Scruffy Freidman’s death, Collins had denied any knowledge of a crime syndicate operating in the area. Maybe he was on their payroll. Paid to look the other way.

‘Yes, I did ask,’ she said, trying her hardest to look contrite.