Sterling shook her head. ‘I had to ring Elijah though, and I didn’t have his number in that phone.’ Sterling took two gulps of the hot chocolate. ‘I had to search his office to find it. I was pretty worked up, a bit trembly, I couldn’t help it.’ She gave him an apologetic look.

Ryder nodded. ‘Things go wrong, especially when you’re under pressure.’

‘Heidi came up just as I ended the call and asked me what was wrong. I must have gone white. I was definitely sweating.’

‘What did you say?’

Sterling fiddled with the remains of the marshmallow snowman. ‘That I was coming down and needed a hit. I know you didn’t want me doing that, Sarge, but it was the only thing I could think of.’

Disturbed as he was by Sterling’s news, Ryder was reassured by her quick thinking. ‘That’s high stress, and you acted on instinct. Maintaining your cover is difficult.’

Sterling nodded. ‘I’m starting to realise that now.’

‘What was Heidi’s reaction?’

‘She didn’t answer right away, then she said “not now”.’

‘Well, what do you know?’ Ryder mused quietly. ‘Do you think Heidi Lorrimer is a user?’

‘I’m not sure. She could know someone who is. Rodney Garrett?’

‘Maybe. When she said “not now” was it like “not now, maybe later”?’ Ryder asked.

She nodded. ‘That’s how I took it.’

‘Okay.’ Ryder paused. ‘Can you see anyone behind me?’

Sterling looked past his right shoulder. ‘Just a couple of skiers further on.’

‘Anyone at the kiosk?’

‘Only the girl behind the counter.’

‘Okay, we need to get moving soon. So how are you feeling about things now?’

Sterling was quiet, as though thinking back over her horror day yesterday. ‘Both dog incidents happened before the phone mix up, so that has more to do with me standing up to Garrett in the pub. He’s taken a dislike to me.’

‘Have you reported it to Collins?’

She shook her head. ‘Not yet. I wanted to talk to you first.’

‘Did Garrett cause a problem in the hotel yesterday? Flowers said he was in there.’

Sterling drained the hot chocolate. ‘I don’t think so. The guy’s a tool, but whether he’s a dangerous tool, I don’t know.’

‘Flowers wasn’t impressed by what he saw.’

Sterling nodded and dropped the used toothpick into the mug. ‘Yeah, I can’t see those two getting along.’

‘Okay, let’s go,’ said Ryder, pulling his goggles over his eyes and standing up. ‘We’ve been here long enough.’

Sterling knew her way around Perisher better than he did, and she suggested they ride the Pretty Valley chairlift. ‘Once we’re at the top, you’ll be able to take a green run all the way to the bottom.’

That sounded like an excellent idea to Ryder.