‘You must’ve seen a lot of cases come through.’

‘Always that, love. People seem to think that the country is quiet. From experience I know that some of the wildest things happen in the country.’

‘Wildest, huh?’

‘Yep. And the other thing I know is nothing is impossible in the country. City people seem to think they’re the only ones who have prowlers or drug dealers or murderers. We have all that too. In spades.’

‘Hmm. Not sure that’s something to be proud of,’ Zara said, wrinkling her brow.

Joan gave a little laugh. ‘Maybe not. I guess what I’m trying to say is it doesn’t matter where you live. When it comes to crime, the same things happen in the country as in the city.’

‘Maybe I should lock my doors at night.’

‘I think you’re silly if you don’t,’ Joan answered seriously.

‘Are you scaring the newest local, Joan?’ Jack asked.

Zara turned and saw the senior constable standing in the doorway. She wasn’t sure how long he’d been there or how much he’d heard.

‘Oh, I hope not!’ Joan resumed her typing. ‘Just telling it like it is.’

‘G’day, Zara. Come on through this way.’ Jack nodded at her.

Zara followed him to an interview room. It held two chairs either side of a steel table. At a quick glance she saw the table was bolted to the floor. She certainly wasn’t having the welcome mat rolled out for her this morning.

She waited until they were both seated before saying, ‘Thanks for seeing me.’

Jack spread his hands out as if to say, Why wouldn’t I?

‘Did you meet a few people at the pub last night?’ he asked.

‘Yeah, I did. I’m going to write a story about Brock Doyle’s saltbush and how it’s increased his carrying capacity, and I might do a profile of Ian Wood. I’m really just trying to find people who are interesting and do some profiles. I’ve found that people don’t have to be doing ground-breaking things to make a good story, they just have to be interesting.’

Jack nodded and glanced at his watch. ‘How can I help you today then, Zara? I don’t think I’m so “interesting” that you’ll need to interview me.’ He emphasised the word ‘interesting’.

Feeling annoyed, Zara frowned. ‘You know, Jack, I’m not the enemy here, although you seem to think I am.’

‘Look, Zara, I’ll be honest. We haven’t had a journo living in town and coming into the office regularly, ever. You’ve been in twice in two days. We’ve got work to do and nothing would be so exciting or attention-grabbing that you needed to come and see us every day. We’re just not sure what you want from us, especially since there’s really nothing going on around here that would warrant a story.’

‘See, that’s where I think you’re wrong, Jack. I heard last night there’s a drone being flown over people’s properties. I would’ve thought that warranted investigating.’

‘Who have you been talking to?’ Jack leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees.