He left it on the front seat, peered towards the back seat and noted there was a silver laptop in the middle, then went to the back and opened the boot. Sitting there in plain sight was a drone. Dave didn’t know much about drones, but it looked pretty flash. He took a photo of it with his phone and texted it to Jack. Jackpot! Can you get me info on this?

He slipped the phone back into his pocket and picked up the machine, before holding it up to show all three. ‘Anyone tell me why you’ve got a drone in the back of the car?’

They all looked at the ground.

A car coming from town flicked the blinker on and crossed to the other side of the road so it could pass safely. Dave glanced over and realised it was Zara. She must be heading home.

She looked over as she passed, but he didn’t acknowledge her. He figured if she didn’t have too much on her plate when she got home, he’d probably get a phone call. Curiosity would get the better of her.

‘Come on, guys. You can’t all be mute.’ He looked over at the girl. ‘What’s your name?’

‘Sophie. Sophie Grawd.’

‘Well, Sophie, can you tell me what’s going on here?’

‘We weren’t doing anything wrong.’

‘I’ll be the judge of that, if you don’t mind. And you,’ he turned to the other young lad, ‘who are you?’

‘Terry Wright.’

‘Well, since I’ve not only found a drone, Lee, Sophie and Terry, but I’ve also found some cannabis, I’m going to have to impound your car for an examination. It may take a couple of days. Looks like you’re going to be stuck here for a little while.

‘I’m going to secure your vehicle and get someone to come and pick it up while I take you back to the station for a formal interview.’

CHAPTER 18

Chapter 18

Dave ushered all three into separate interview rooms and left them sitting there while he went and found Jack.

‘What have you got for me?’ Dave asked.

‘The drone’s a DJI Mavic 2 Zoom,’ he answered, his pen hitting each point written on his notepad as he spoke. ‘It can fly up to eight kilometres away from the person controlling it and it has a flying time of thirty-one minutes.’

‘How fast does it fly?’

‘If the conditions are right—no wind and that sort of thing—it can go up to seventy-two kilometres per hour. It’s a zippy little machine. And it doesn’t make a lot of noise. They’ve worked hard on reducing the engine noise. Perfect for getting across farms without being heard. Being seen is a different matter.’