Chapters (58)
- COVER PAGE
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- DEDICATION
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Thirty-five
- Thirty-six
- Thirty-seven
- Thirty-eight
- Thirty-nine
- Forty
- Forty-one
- Forty-two
- Forty-three
- Forty-four
- Forty-five
- Forty-six
- Forty-seven
- Forty-eight
- Forty-nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-one
- Fifty-two
- Fifty-three
- Acknowledgements
‘Hmm. Well, I suggest you take a good, hard look at yourself before pointing the finger at other people.’ He stood up. ‘Now, I’ll type up a statement of what you’ve told me, and I’ll get you back in here so you can check it before you sign, okay?’ He turned around and grabbed his hat from the top of the filing cabinet. ‘And I’ll be watching you, Ida.’
Thirty-six
Ryder and Flowers decided to drive past Rodney Garrett’s place on their way back to Thredbo. They parked the unmarked four-wheel drive halfway down the dead-end road. From where they sat, they had a clear view of the house, but so far the only sign of movement had come from the dogs guarding the perimeter.
‘Every time I feel like we’re tightening the net around the Lorrimers, they give us answers that make sense,’ Flowers said, his elbow resting on the centre console. ‘We knew it would be Dan or Ethan who had forged Art’s signature, and after hearing their reasons, I can understand why.’
Ryder nodded. ‘They might not have acted ethically, but they didn’t try to embezzle him out of his money. The money’s still there. They haven’t committed a crime just because they want their share. The sale of the property hasn’t even settled.’
‘Yeah, it sounds to me like they’ve been doing their best to deal with a difficult brother who’s only ever thought of himself.’
‘Ethan gave me that impression the first time we met him. Dan was defending Art’s reasons for leaving, but Ethan sounded fed up.’
‘And they planned on talking to him again, and felt he’d be okay with it once he had all the facts. Sounds to me like he was the type to go off half-cocked.’ Flowers shook his head. ‘There’s one in every family, isn’t there?’
‘Yep. Your mother was saying that to me the other day.’
Flowers gave a short laugh. ‘Okay, I know I’m having a whinge. I just hate sitting around like this.’
‘For God’s sake, ring Garrett again, and if you can’t get on to him, call Heidi.’
Five minutes later, after Flowers had left a message asking for Garrett to present himself at Jindabyne police station, he started the car, drove to the end of the road, and swung slowly around in front of the house. The dogs stilled and stood looking at the car.
Flowers’ phone rang.
‘Here we go,’ he said, reaching for the phone and putting it on speaker. ‘Detective Flowers speaking.’ He held his breath, waiting.
‘It’s Orville Parish here.’
Flowers’ hopes plummeted. ‘Yes, Orville. How are you?’
‘Oh, I can’t complain. Listen, I’ve been thinking about that tractor key. I don’t know whether this is significant or not, but I thought I’d better tell you.’
‘Okay, go on.’