‘He must have known what I would do. After the things he said.’ His voice was calmer, but I could tell it was taking a lot of effort. Each word was like skidding a car in the wet, grappling with the wheel. ‘Dying men don’t lie, Ern, they air their souls. I wish I could show you—’ He cut himself off mid-sentence, reconsidered, and then picked up the set of keys he’d drawn from his pocket. ‘This is getting us nowhere. If you don’t believe my words, see for yourself. Then I’ll tell you the rest.’

He tossed me the keys. I caught them against my chest. Ask him what’s really in the damn truck. As I was thinking about her words, Sofia’s actual voice came through the door. She sounded desperate, though I couldn’t make out the words. The door shuddered: it was unnecessarily dramatic knocking for a door we couldn’t lock, but maybe she was trying to be polite. Whatever Sofia had to tell me could wait – I wasn’t through with Michael. I ignored the knocking.

‘Just tell me. Do you know anything about what’s going on out there? Do the names Mark and Janine Williams, or Alison Humphreys mean anything to you?’

‘Humphreys . . .’ He shook his head. ‘No. But Williams . . . depends if they’re from Brisbane.’ I leaned forward with such interest I almost fell off my chair. Michael relished my attention. ‘Early on in my sentence I got a letter from someone called M&J Williams, with the return address a PO box in Brisbane. By then I’d realised that what I had, like I said, was worth a bit more than I’d thought it was. A lot of people wanted it. And whoever wrote me that letter – well, they get credit for being the most creative. I guess they were trying to threaten me.’

‘How?’

‘They signed off with a clearly fake name.’ He said it as a half chuckle. ‘But, like I said, they were just trying to push my buttons – scare me. I never wrote back. Why?’

‘I think Mark and Janine Williams may have been killed by the same person who killed our frozen corpse. It looks like a similar method, but I need to check with Sofia. It’s too much of a coincidence for a man to die this weekend when we’re all here—’

‘—and when I’m coming up here with what I’ve brought. I agree. It has to be connected. Just look in the truck, you’ll see.’

I stood up. ‘Where were you last night?’ I couldn’t leave without asking.

‘Open the truck – it’ll answer that too.’

‘There better be something crazy like a spaceship in there,’ I said.

The knocking shook the door again. I glanced at it. Michael nodded, and I hated myself when I realised I’d paused, waiting for his permission to leave.