The hallways of the courthouse were quiet now, just the occasional person walking along the passage. Most of the other courts were still in session.

Zara spotted Sophie coming out of the toilets and made a beeline for her. ‘Hey,’ she said as she approached, ‘I’m Zara Ellison. You’re Sophie, right?’

‘I’m not talking to any journalists,’ Sophie answered. ‘I said what I had to say out there.’

Zara stopped and put her hand on Sophie’s arm. ‘I don’t want to interview you,’ she said. ‘I just want to tell you how strong I think you are, for speaking up the way you did.’

Sophie shrugged. ‘No choice. It’s what I believe.’

‘How’s your mum?’

‘We’re coping.’

‘Have you got family to help you?’ Zara knew the answers to the questions she was asking, but was trying to establish a rapport with the girl.

‘We’ll be fine,’ Sophie answered, and Zara noticed she avoided the question. ‘I’m not talking to journalists.’ She turned away.

‘Okay, well …’ Zara broke off. She really wanted to hand Sophie her card and ask her to call when she was ready to talk, but she didn’t want to scare her off. ‘Take care, okay? Look after yourself and your mum.’ She turned around and started to walk away.

‘Why do you care?’ Sophie’s question stopped her.

Zara turned around and held Sophie’s gaze. ‘My dad died when I was about your age. It’s a horrible time to go through.’

‘My dad didn’t need to die.’ The words shot from Sophie’s mouth.

‘I guess mine didn’t either. But he did.’

‘What happened?’

‘Car accident.’

‘So you didn’t get to say goodbye either?’

Zara shook her head, hoping the visions of finding the crumpled ute would stay at bay.

Sophie looked at the floor, not saying anything.

‘Look, Sophie, you don’t know me from Adam, but if I can do anything for you, let me know.’ Zara dug in her purse and brought out a card. ‘My contact details are here.’ Holding it out, she waited until Sophie took it, then gave her arm another squeeze and walked away.

‘I’ll tell you one thing,’ Sophie called out to her as she left.

Zara stopped and looked back. ‘What’s that?’

‘I think there was someone else involved.’

Taking an involuntary step towards Sophie, Zara sucked in her breath. ‘What makes you say that?’

Sophie shrugged. ‘Isn’t rocket science. Neither Dad nor Gerard had ever had anything to do with tractors before. How is it that someone who doesn’t know shit about machines can take the hydraulic pump off the back of a tractor?’

Chapter 2

‘Zara! What other news have you got?’ Lachy appeared at his office door, looking dishevelled. Maybe he’d slept at his desk again. There were a few coffee drips down his white shirt and what looked suspiciously like tomato seeds on his tie. ‘Got the front page to print before deadline. We’ll run the full story next week but start feeding out snippets on social media.’