‘Of course. Even if we run it next week, he still gets his side of the story across.’

‘Sounds like a plan.’

Lachy kept walking and she heard him talking to the other journalists in the office. He ran a tight ship, Lachy did, and everyone loved working for him. He was a team player but pulled rank when he needed to. A uniter of people.

Focusing on her computer, Zara put in her headphones and started to type up the interview. When she’d finished the text, she went through the photos and worked out which ones would be best to go with the story. The one of Cloudy Eye caught her attention and she stopped scrolling through the file to have another look.

‘Hey, Michael,’ she called. ‘Come and have a look at this bloke. Do you know who he is?’

‘Flick it through on an email, yeah? I’m not going to make deadline otherwise.’

Deciding to write a group email, she sent it to all the reporters in the office, and Lachy for good measure, even though she was sure he’d already told her during the trial that he didn’t recognise the face.

‘Right, that’s me for the day. I’ve got to go and do a few jobs,’ she said to no one in particular.

‘Hey, you up for a drink tonight?’ Liz called.

The thought of having to go out for a drink made Zara suddenly feel exhausted. ‘No, I don’t think I am, sorry, Liz. I need to go home and put my feet up.’

And ring my mum, she thought.

Even though her mind was buzzing with the excitement and revelations of the day, what Dave had said to her about dealing with grief had filtered through too. As much as Will’s death really wasn’t something she wanted to talk or think about, perhaps she should. A quiet night at home might be just what she needed.

Collecting her things, Zara drove home in a bit of a daze and pulled up in her parking spot to find her mum’s car parked next to it.

‘What are you doing here?’ she asked in surprise as she opened the car door. ‘I only talked to you a few hours ago and you were carting water!’

‘I know and I probably shouldn’t be here, but I needed to get away. I haven’t been off the farm or out of Barker since Will died. It felt like the walls were closing in on me.’

‘Well, I’m glad you’re here.’ She hugged her mum. ‘I’m feeling a bit out of sorts tonight too.’

Together they walked up the stairs and Zara fished out her key. Unlocking the door, they went inside, and after dumping her things on the couch, Zara poured them both a wine.