Dan nodded. He shook the envelope and the key fell into his palm. ‘That’s really strange. It’s not as though the glue has dried up and the seal has come unstuck.’ He held it out so they all could see. ‘Someone’s torn off the top of the envelope to get to it.’

Ryder held up his hands in a signal to stop. ‘Just hold on to it, Dan, while Detective Flowers gets an evidence bag ready.’ Ryder peered at the envelope Lorrimer was holding. Ben Tractor Key was written on the front in the same handwriting he’d noticed on the others.

‘That’s your handwriting, Dan?’ he asked, just to be sure, as Flowers snapped on gloves and took a plastic evidence bag from his pocket.

‘Yes, it’s my writing.’ Dan dropped the envelope and key into the bag then watched as Flowers sealed it.

Ryder looked at the Lorrimers. Dan’s face had gone pale, and Ethan’s was set in grim lines. Every so often the brothers exchanged a troubled glance.

‘Who has access to this room?’ Ryder asked.

Dan frowned. ‘We all do. You could see it was unlocked. Any of us can go in.’

‘Oh, just a minute,’ Kristin said softly, bringing her hand up to cover her mouth.

Dan eyes widened in alarm, and he turned to look at his wife. ‘Kristin, what’s wrong?’

Kristin slowly lowered her hand. She gazed at Dan and Ethan, then turned to Ryder and Flowers. ‘I was here with the children. There was no one else in the house at the time.’ The woman looked close to tears.

‘When was this, Kristin?’ Ryder asked gently.

‘The night Dan was out in the paddock.’

‘Dan’s always out in the paddock,’ said Ethan brusquely. ‘Which night?’

‘Cut it out,’ Dan snapped, rounding on his brother. ‘Watch how you speak to my wife.’

‘If you both wouldn’t mind, please?’ Flowers said, giving Ethan a hard look.

‘What night, Kristin?’ Ryder asked. ‘Take your time.’

‘The night he was delivering the calf. You came here the next morning and told us about Art.’

‘That’s right. What happened?’

‘It was around eight-thirty. I’m sure of that because it was the children’s bedtime. I was upstairs reading them a story.’ She turned to her husband and grasped his hand. ‘I heard someone come in. I thought it was you.’

Dan nodded and squeezed her hand.

She looked back at Ryder. ‘I told the kids to stay in bed, and I’d come right back and tell them if we had a new calf.’

‘It wasn’t Dan?’ Ryder asked, his heart a heavy beat in his chest. All eyes were on Kristin now, including Ethan’s.

Kristin shook her head. ‘No, it wasn’t Dan. I only remembered when you asked who had access to the study that . . . Heidi came home briefly that night.’

For a few moments no one spoke.