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Back Dead Horse Gap Save as PDF
Chapters (58)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  3. DEDICATION
  4. Prologue
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-one
  26. Twenty-two
  27. Twenty-three
  28. Twenty-four
  29. Twenty-five
  30. Twenty-six
  31. Twenty-seven
  32. Twenty-eight
  33. Twenty-nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-one
  36. Thirty-two
  37. Thirty-three
  38. Thirty-four
  39. Thirty-five
  40. Thirty-six
  41. Thirty-seven
  42. Thirty-eight
  43. Thirty-nine
  44. Forty
  45. Forty-one
  46. Forty-two
  47. Forty-three
  48. Forty-four
  49. Forty-five
  50. Forty-six
  51. Forty-seven
  52. Forty-eight
  53. Forty-nine
  54. Fifty
  55. Fifty-one
  56. Fifty-two
  57. Fifty-three
  58. Acknowledgements

‘It could explain why the shed wasn’t broken into, and why the key was still locked away in the drawer. We’re searching for people who own, or have owned, similar tractors in the area.’

Hoff’s expression turned guarded, giving Flowers the impression he wasn’t going to say any more. But then he picked up the stack of books and said, ‘That sounds like a big job.’

‘It’ll take a while. But we’ll get around to everyone eventually. Oh, one more thing, how regularly did Art Lorrimer fly in?’

Hoff shook his head. ‘I can’t remember the last time I saw him.’

Deciding to leave things there, Flowers looked at Ryder then raised a hand in farewell. ‘Thanks for your time, Ben.’

section break

‘I don’t know what it is about that guy,’ Flowers said as they walked back to the cars, ‘but he strikes me as cagey.’

‘He’s defensive all right,’ said Ryder, ‘or maybe the word’s “reactionary”.’

When they drew level with the reporters, the same pair made a half-hearted effort to engage them, but a firm shake of Ryder’s head had them retreating to their vans.

‘Are there any other airstrips around here?’ Ryder asked.

‘Yeah, I thought of that too,’ said Flowers. ‘There’s an abandoned one down at Geehi but it’s riddled with rabbit warrens. There’s no way anything could land there.’

‘Hoff said he couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Art,’ said Ryder. ‘That could be true in a literal sense, but what if Art used to fly in during the dead of night and Hoff knew, but looked the other way?’

Nine

‘Ida, table eight needs clearing.’

Sterling looked up from the schooner she was filling to see a family donning their jackets and beanies. ‘Be there in a sec,’ she told Elijah as he passed by the bar on his way to delivering two meals from the kitchen.

Setting the glass down in front of the customer, she held the machine for the bloke to tap his card then grabbed a tray and hurried out into the packed dining area. Taking the opportunity to scan the room full of diners, she noticed a few familiar faces in the crowd. Sergeant Collins was having dinner with a man she didn’t recognise, and Gus, Spider and the crew had been forced inside by late afternoon rain. Apart from those few locals, the pub was packed with tourists, many of whom had stopped in for an early dinner on their way home from the ski resorts.

Sterling was grateful for the double shift despite her aching feet. Wiling away time in the rumpus room had grown so unappealing she’d taken to running twice a day when she couldn’t get up to the ski fields.