‘Oh yeah, there are over a hundred scattered across the Alps.’

‘Do people still use them?’

‘Absolutely they do, all the time.’

Flowers frowned. ‘It’s a shame so many have burned down.’

‘Some have been rebuilt.’

‘That’s good. Dan Lorrimer said his brother Ethan is working on the bushfire salvage operation.’

‘Doesn’t surprise me. A lot of people are.’

There was a brief silence, so Flowers nodded at the photograph again. ‘How much did that big whopper weigh?’

Collins smirked. ‘Over nineteen pounds.’

‘So, there’s more fishing on the horizon in retirement?’

‘Sure is, though not at Geehi, too many tourists down there now. I have a secret fishing spot up the river.’

Mention of the river brought a different image to Flowers’ mind: Scruffy Freidman’s bloated body snagged between two large river rocks. He blinked away the memory before smiling at Collins and taking out his notepad and pen, determined to prove to Ryder that his faith in him hadn’t been misplaced.

‘So, my partner, Detective Ryder, has looked at Art Lorrimer’s record. You must have known him fairly well; he spent a bit of time in the station here.’

‘Yeah, I got to know Ryder when he was up here investigating Freidman’s death,’ Collins said. ‘He didn’t crack the case, though, not that it matters. Freidman was no loss to anyone.’

‘I was actually referring to Art Lorrimer,’ Flowers pointed out. ‘You must have known him well.’

‘Oh.’ Collins huffed out a breath, moving from side to side in his swivel chair. ‘Well, you know kids, some go through wilder stages than others. But Art wasn’t a real bad egg, if that’s what you’re getting at. Now, I can only speak from back in the day, but he was different to his brothers and sisters.’

‘Different how?’ Flowers asked.

‘Well, for starters, Dan and Ethan went to boarding school in Sydney for their final two years, and so did Heidi if I remember rightly. Art had a different calling. He had a ton of energy, was outdoorsy, good at whatever sport he tried. I think his parents realised that school wasn’t for him. He was teaching skiing and snowboarding at sixteen.’ The sergeant chuckled. ‘I remember him getting into a few fights that ended with me reading him the riot act.’

Flowers nodded and scribbled in his notepad. ‘His record shows he was charged with two counts of possession, and one with intent to supply.’