Dan looked at his brother. ‘And that’s our fault. If we’d explained things to her, about how everything worked, that would have been one less reason for her to do what she did. She didn’t even know we were planning to talk Art around because we didn’t tell her.’

Ethan shook his head, looking unconvinced. ‘Everything’s clear in hindsight, Dan. She always gave us the impression she was happy to leave it up to us. We didn’t intentionally leave her in the dark.’

Flowers leaned forward. ‘I don’t know if this helps or not, but she told us she’d always been happy to go along with whatever you wanted to do.’

Dan closed his eyes and nodded. ‘Thank you. I’m sorry. I’m just sick in the guts thinking of her working at the hotel to help us keep the property ticking along. And all that time she was a slave to this drug organisation, at first to shield a brother who wasn’t even here, and then later to save her own skin, and potentially ours. It’s tragic.’

Ryder wasn’t often lost for words, but this time he was struggling to find any sentiment that would be of comfort to Heidi’s elder brothers. ‘I can understand this has come as a great shock to you both,’ he said.

Dan took a deep breath and appeared to pull himself together. ‘What happens now?’

‘Well,’ said Ryder, relieved he could finally be of help. ‘She’ll appear in court tomorrow morning. She won’t get bail. And then she’ll be taken to the prison. We’re assuming at this stage she’ll be pleading guilty to all charges.’

‘We’ll need to engage a good criminal lawyer,’ said Ethan, his voice turning husky.

‘I’ll be in court tomorrow for her first appearance,’ Ryder said. ‘That’s here.’

‘We’ll make sure we’re here, too,’ said Dan. ‘And please pass on our utmost regret and a speedy recovery to the officer she injured yesterday.’

Ryder inclined his head. ‘I will.’

They all stood up and the Lorrimer brothers left, looking as if they had the weight of the world on their shoulders. Ryder watched them go, wondering if they’d sleep tonight knowing their sister would be spending her second night in a police cell.

‘That was hard to watch,’ Sterling said, coming in from the viewing room. ‘They’re absolutely devastated.’

Ryder nodded. ‘There’s a lot of self-blame there, by Dan in particular. That type of guilt can last a lifetime.’

They were sitting in the tearoom when Flowers’ phone rang.

‘Detective Flowers,’ he said, picking up his coffee and carrying it out into the corridor.

‘Hello, it’s Mhanda Van Engelen here, from Tumbarumba Council.’

‘Hello, Mhanda,’ Flowers said, pleased to hear a cheerful voice. ‘How are you going?’

‘I’m well, thanks. I hope I haven’t called you at an inconvenient time.’