Hansen glanced at Roesch and said tightly, ‘Why would you think that?’

There was an odd dynamic between them. Maybe they didn’t work together, or hadn’t for long. Was it Hansen who’d called Sergeant Brandl requesting the welfare check?

Hirsch shrugged. ‘Mrs Rennie was very evasive. She lied about her address, her husband and how many kids she had, so I wondered if she was in hiding.’

‘There’s a big difference between hiding and being in witness protection,’ Hansen said. He put his head on one side, curled his lip. ‘But that YouTube clip didn’t do them any favours.’

Prick. Hirsch wanted to wipe the smirk off his face.

‘Robert…’ Roesch said.

Hansen shrugged.

With a last little frown, Roesch turned to Hirsch, her smile apologetic. ‘You were saying…?’

He said, ‘I’m wondering what Mrs Rennie’s phone records might tell us, particularly calls to or from Sydney numbers.’

‘Are you now,’ Hansen said.

‘We’re looking into it,’ Roesch said, cutting her colleague off. ‘Now, presuming Mrs Rennie was hiding from someone—did you wonder who?’

‘The usual: husband or boyfriend. And for her to end up out here, in the middle of nowhere, he must be pretty determined or well connected. But, you know, I’m guessing; you probably know exactly who she was hiding from. And why.’

Roesch gave him a tiny complicit grin. ‘Let’s keep guessing. Suppose this person found her—why didn’t he shoot them all?’

‘If he’s got the girls,’ Hirsch said, ‘they’re important to him in some way. Is he their father?’

Roesch smiled again. ‘A good question. Would they willingly get into a car with him?’

‘I have no idea. They might not have known he was the shooter, so when he appeared in his car, they hopped in. Or they were exhausted and gave up. Or they knew he was the shooter but got into the car anyway, because they knew not to cross him.’

‘Very Sherlock,’ Hansen said, apparently amused.

Hirsch had had enough. ‘I wouldn’t have to guess if you people weren’t so secretive and up yourselves. My sergeant gets a direct call to her mobile, from Sydney, asking for a welfare check—which suggests to me someone was a) keeping tabs on the Rennies and b) knew to contact the local police in an emergency.’

There was a silence, as if that information was new to them. Roesch shot Hansen a fraught glance. She smoothed her dress over one slender knee and said, ‘I can confirm that a person of interest left Sydney a few hours after that video clip was posted. We have him in a silver Passat on the Princes Highway, before he dropped out of sight. Have you seen this car at all?’

‘No. Who is he?’

Hansen said, ‘This conveniently missing shopgirl. Did she see what kind of car this stranger was driving?’