Jack knew he needed to keep his phone on for as long as he could, so Dave would get the GPS signal. He couldn’t risk sending a text, but he knew that the minute he’d come back live, the surveillance equipment would have kicked in and they’d have his location.

‘Getting there, it’s taking a while to load. I’ve only got one bar.’

Crumbs got up and came over, waiting like a schoolboy for a bar of chocolate.

‘Here we go: Pigs targeted in a deadly sabotage act by Zara Ellison.’

‘Interesting, they’ve got the sabotage thing already. Still, if it’s that Zara Ellison, I’m not surprised. She covered the case where my mate was killed. She’s an interfering little bitch, she is,’ Crumbs said in a savage tone. ‘I saw her trying to get my photo. That’s one thing I’m proud of. I don’t think there’s a photo of my face anywhere in the media. I’m the silent assassin. You won’t see me coming.’

Jack smelled the whiskey on his breath and realised he was drunk. He was surprised because he’d assumed Crumbs would have a high level of tolerance for alcohol. And he didn’t like the fact Zara was on his radar, let alone the comments he was making about her.

‘Why don’t you want your photo in the paper?’ Jack asked.

He shrugged. ‘Better not to be a media tart if you’re trying to stir up trouble.’ He nodded as if to highlight his point. Then he grinned and gave a whoop. ‘Hey, boys! Wake up and listen to news of our handiwork!’

Jack began to read as Blue and Tonka stirred, rubbed their faces and sat up.

‘A piggery an hour south of Adelaide is the latest target of animal activists.

‘Police are calling this a deliberate attempt to injure and kill the 500 pigs that were housed in this shed. Forensics have shown that the cooling system was disabled, rending the fans and air-conditioning useless.

‘Out of the 500 sows, 30 have died and an undisclosed number will have to be euthanised. The rest are suffering from heat stress but should make a full recovery. A vet is on site.

‘A spokeswoman for the animal rights group Voices for Animals, Sophie Grawd, said they didn’t condone this act of violence. “Whoever has done this horrific act deserves to be punished to the full extent of the law. They cannot claim to love animals. We deplore this act. Our organisation raises awareness of cruelty to animals but does not cause it to make a point.”

‘The detective investigating, Peter Walker, hasn’t made a comment yet, other than to say they will be investigating it thoroughly and hope to make an arrest soon.’

Crumbs snorted. ‘Good luck with that. They won’t find us here.’

‘Nope, they won’t, for sure,’ Tonka agreed.