‘Was the tractor that was left on the airstrip new?’ It had just occurred to Flowers that Parish might not have been familiar with it.

‘It was there when I got the job.’

Flowers raised his eyebrows. ‘So, it was old?’

‘Maybe twenty years. Some of the older models are better than the ones they make these days.’

‘Like a lot of things,’ Flowers said with a smile. ‘Mr Parish, could you run me through what happens on a typical day when you’re working at the airstrip?’

‘Well, Ben rings me when the lawn needs to be cut and gives me a suitable time to turn up. In the shed, Ben unlocks the drawer and hands me the key. When I’m finished, I park the tractor beside the shed and take the key back inside.’

‘And you give it back to Ben?’

‘Exactly right. And if Ben’s not there I hand it to one of the other pilots, but he’s there most of the time.’

Unable to help himself, Flowers pulled out his notepad. ‘Who was working when you finished the mowing two days ago?’

‘Ben.’

‘And you remember handing him the key?’

‘I do, but I don’t hang around and watch him lock it in the drawer. I give him the key and head off.’

Flowers leaned forward in the chair. ‘Mr Parish—’

‘Orville.’

‘Sorry, Orville. How do you think the tractor came to be in the middle of the runway?’

‘Buggered if I know,’ the old man said, taking off his glasses and putting them on a small table next to his chair. ‘Someone must’ve deliberately driven it onto the runway. You couldn’t push it out there.’

‘And it was done after dark,’ Flowers said. ‘It’s school holidays and the town is full of families with teenage kids. Could a few of them have mustered up enough bravado to take the tractor for a joyride?’ It was on Flowers’ list to talk to the tourists staying in Khancoban.

‘I don’t think it was kids,’ Parish said. ‘It’s too coincidental that a plane comes in after dark when the airport is closed, on the same night someone puts the tractor on the sealed bit.’

‘That’s where the Cessna would have landed?’

Parish nodded. ‘On the sealed section, not on the grassy areas on either side. That’s where the tiger moths and other little planes take off and land. This was a bigger plane and would have landed on the sealed runway.’

‘Hmm. The key was still in the drawer and the shed hadn’t been broken into,’ said Flowers. ‘The tractor must have been hot-wired.’

Parish pressed his lips together. ‘It’s possible. Anyone could do it, it’s all on the internet. You just take off the fascia and the wires are right there. But if it was someone who uses the same model tractor, they wouldn’t need to hot-wire it.’

‘Why not?’