I was cleaning the kitchen floor when the locksmith arrived. He was young, fair and strangely nonchalant, tossing around a lot of she’ll-be-rights and not-to-worries. He exhibited no interest at all in what had happened, and I only worked out why after he’d finished.

‘You can keep the old locks, but it’ll cost you the same to put ’em all back in again,’ he said. When I asked him why I would want to do that, he explained that half his work was generated by feuding couples changing the locks on each other. Whenever they made up, they would want the locks changed back. ‘Jesus, they carry on,’ he said in a tone that conveyed quite clearly how bored he was with endless tales of domestic disputes.

My phone rang just as he was leaving. Hamish Staines was at the other end of the line; he had a light tenor voice and a soothing manner. I blurted out a lot of disjointed remarks about the police, a break-in, Joyce, Scott, the locksmith and Krystal’s disappearance, asking if I should get an AVO. He told me to sit down and start from the beginning.

It took me a long time to relate what had happened. When I finally finished, he thought for a moment. Then he said, ‘So what do you want me to do, Robyn?’

‘I don’t know.’ Couldn’t he work it out? That was why I’d called him. ‘I don’t want to talk to the police again without a lawyer.’

‘That’s wise.’

‘But I need to tell them about the break-in, don’t you think?’

‘Absolutely. Get it on the record.’

‘And after what the Rooneys did last night, I want to make sure they don’t come here again.’

‘Understood.’ Another pause. ‘You say you recorded their visit?’

‘Yes. That’ll help, won’t it?’

‘Possibly. It’s illegal to record conversations in New South Wales without the permission of all parties involved, though from what I gather it wasn’t strictly a conversation. I’ll have to check the Surveillance Devices Act.’ A brief silence followed, broken up by lots of squeaks and crackles. ‘What if I swing by tomorrow?’ he said at last. ‘We can approach the police together and try to sort this out. Shouldn’t be hard.’

‘Oh, yes! Thank you!’ A huge wave of relief flooded through me. I felt almost faint. ‘That would be wonderful!’

‘Ten o’clock?’

‘Ah—could we make it after school? Four?’

‘Four it is.’

I gave him my address and he said something about fees, but I wasn’t really paying attention.

‘What about the urine on the toilet?’ I asked. ‘Do you think the police will need that for DNA?’