When he opened the door, he saw Collins sitting alone at a table in the middle of the room with mostly empty tables around him. Sterling had her back to him, though she was close by, setting up some chairs near the entrance. Dressed in head-to-toe black, the first thing that struck Flowers was how much weight she’d lost while undercover.

He closed the door behind him, and she turned, the recognition in her eyes so fleeting it would have gone unnoticed by anyone not looking directly at her, as he was. But then she walked confidently towards him, looking reassuringly familiar and different at the same time.

‘Hi.’ She smiled. ‘Here for lunch?’

Flowers forced himself to look past her to where Collins was devouring a hamburger. ‘Maybe just a drink. I’m meeting someone.’ He glanced at her, noting the winged eyeliner and red lipstick before pointing to Collins. ‘He’s right there.’

‘Okay,’ she said cheerily, ‘I’ll bring you over a menu in case you change your mind.’

Flowers headed towards Collins, reminding himself that Nerida was known as Ida here, having shortened her name to the last three letters.

‘Ahhh, g’day.’ Collins put his hamburger on the plate and wiped his hands with a paper napkin. ‘Are you eating?’

Flowers sighed and pulled out a chair. ‘I may as well.’

‘Can I get you a drink?’ Sterling was back before his butt had even hit the seat.

‘I’ll have a Coke, thanks,’ he said off the top of his head, ‘and I’ve changed my mind, do you make a chicken schnitzel?’

‘Does a bear shit in the woods?’ she said in a loud whisper to Collins, drawing raucous laughter from the sergeant.

Flowers blinked in amazement.

She cocked an eyebrow at him. ‘Chips or vegies?’

‘Vegies,’ he said, glancing at Collins. Sterling had settled into a role he was unfamiliar with, and it was both unsettling and amusing.

‘Gravy?’

‘Gravy would be good, thanks.’

‘Cool. I’ll be right back.’

Flowers breathed a mental sigh of relief and grinned at Collins, who was still chuckling to himself.

‘She’s a great one, that one—a real character,’ Collins said, watching as Sterling gave Flowers’ order to someone in the kitchen. ‘Runs rings around the others.’ He picked up two sheets of paper from the table.

‘The first guy is Kyle Worthington. Apparently, I arrested him along with Lorrimer but I confess I don’t remember him. My notes say they were workmates at Perisher before Worthington moved to Canada. Unfortunately, he died in an avalanche while skiing in the back country.’ Collins passed the sheet to Flowers.

Sterling returned with a huge glass of Coke and ice. Collins went back to his hamburger while Flowers sipped his drink and began reading through Worthington’s charge sheet.

‘Were there any charges laid against him in Canada, prior to his death?’

‘Nope. I checked.’

‘Thanks.’