Ryder glanced at him. ‘Switch on the police lights.’

Flowers did as he asked then put his foot down. The car surged forward.

‘It’s a shame Benson’s in Queanbeyan,’ Ryder said. ‘I need to make sure we have the manpower if we’re going to arrest Heidi at work.’

Flowers tightened his grip on the wheel. ‘Especially if Garrett’s there too. We already have a warrant out for him.’

‘Oh, we’ll arrest them at the same time, but we need to give Sterling the heads up,’ said Ryder. ‘She’ll tell us if Heidi’s there.’

‘Try her phone, in case I’ve got her shifts wrong.’ Flowers accelerated past a truck that had pulled over to the left in response to his lights.

‘Sterling, it’s Ryder here,’ he heard the sergeant say. ‘Call me immediately when you get this message.’

Ryder hung up and dialled another number. ‘I’m calling the hotel’s landline to see if I can speak to her.’

Flowers kept his eyes on the road, anticipating the scene to come. Mid-afternoon patrons having a drink and maybe some bar food, Sterling and Heidi moving between the tables, Elijah serving drinks behind the bar. Garrett sitting at the table closest to the rest rooms, his legs stretched out into the passageway. Flowers accelerated around a car, thinking of the access points to the hotel. He hoped Garrett was there. He really hoped he was there.

‘Yes, may I speak to Ida Stevenson, please?’ Ryder was saying. ‘It’s Detective Sergeant Pierce Ryder. It’s urgent that I speak to her.’

Flowers braked. Up ahead, a large logging truck was turning onto the road, taking up both lanes of the single carriageway.

‘She doesn’t?’ he heard Ryder say. ‘Are you sure?’ A pause, then, ‘What about Heidi Lorrimer?’ Another pause as Ryder listened to what the person on the other end of the line was saying. ‘Okay, thank you.’

Flowers slowed to a crawl, glancing at Ryder as he hung up. ‘What?’

‘He said Ida Stevenson isn’t employed there anymore.’

‘What the hell?’

‘I know.’ Ryder glanced up at the truck. ‘The good news is, Heidi starts her shift in five minutes.’

‘Sterling must be at home,’ said Flowers. ‘Strange she hasn’t got her own phone turned on though.’

‘I’m going to call Sergeant Collins,’ Ryder said. ‘We could use his help at the hotel. He can go around to the house and stay with Sterling until we get there.’

Flowers switched on the siren, keeping to the right as the line of cars in front moved off the bitumen and onto the gravel shoulder.