‘Isn’t that the truth? If it’s not one thing it’s another. And I for one, even though I’ve got nothing to hide, believe that bastard shouldn’t be checking out my farm. For all I know they might be taking kiddie pictures of my daughter.’

‘Shit, what a thought,’ Mark said, shaking his head.

‘The activists have certainly been using drones to check out farms down south,’ Zara said. ‘One of the other journos in my office wrote an article on a drone that kept chasing cars down the road.’

‘What?’ Karl looked over at her.

‘Yeah, it scared the crap out of a few women driving home at night. It would appear over the top of a hill and so the driver would see the lights of the drone. Then it would follow the car for as long as it could. Turned out it was an older man causing “public mischief”,’ Zara made the quotation marks with her fingers. ‘That’s what he was charged with. He didn’t have any reason to do what he was doing other than he loved scaring people.’

‘There are some fuckwits around, aren’t there?’ Doyley sounded incredulous.

Zara fished around in her handbag and brought out three business cards. ‘If you’ve got any more information, can you let me know? I’d love to write something about this.’

‘Sure. If we get it out there to the public, then everyone can be aware of it,’ Mark said.

‘That’s one of the best parts of my job, being able to raise awareness. That’s why I love what I do.’

Chapter 10

‘Hi, Joan,’ Zara said as she walked into the police station. She shrugged out of the jacket she’d put on to walk over. The clouds had come in thick and fast during the night and held the promise of rain. After hearing the farmers talk last night, she hoped the promise would be fulfilled.

‘Zara, what brings you here so early this morning? Horrible day out there.’

‘It wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for the wind. It’s whipping up a lot of dust, but it’s also bringing the clouds in.’

‘I wouldn’t hold my breath for anything other than a dust storm,’ Joan said. ‘I’ve seen it time and time again. We get our hopes up and all that happens is we get our rainwater tanks filled with red dust. The water runs the colour of rust for weeks afterwards.’

‘Hope you’re wrong!’

‘Oh, me too.’

‘Is Jack in?’

‘He is. Can I tell him why you’re here?’

‘I like the element of surprise,’ Zara said and gave Joan an impish grin.

‘He doesn’t,’ said Joan, picking up the phone to call through.

‘What cop does?’

‘Zara Ellison is here to see you, Jack.’ She listened for a moment, then put down the phone. ‘He’ll be here in a sec.’

‘How long have you been working at the station, Joan?’

‘Longer than I care to remember. Seen out three senior sergeants. Dave’s been here … oh, three years, I suppose. Seems like longer. He’s the best one I’ve worked with. Jack’s not bad either. Dave has trained him very well.’