Part of him had wanted it to be Butch, part of him hadn’t. It couldn’t be . . .

‘Commander Normandy? Why do you have Con’s phone? What’s happened to him?’ said Gabriella. She stepped out of the room.

Murphy’s own phone buzzed. It was Eliza calling.

‘Murphy, are you alone?’ she said.

‘Eliza —’ began Murphy.

‘I need you to promise me something,’ she interrupted. ‘Meet me at my house. Tell no one.’

‘What’s going on?’

‘Butch is here . . . Can you talk to him and —’

‘Eliza, listen to me.’ He looked up at the words on the wall. ‘Butch is not safe. You need to get out of the house, get away from him.’

‘Why? What’s happened?’

‘You need to leave right now.’

‘Should I call the cops? What’s going on?’

‘No,’ he said. He touched the gun in his belt. ‘Don’t tell a soul.’

‘Alright. I’ll just . . . go over to Monica’s?’

‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘I’ll see to Butch.’

He walked out to the kitchen. Gabriella was pacing the hallway, talking to the commander, demanding she send someone over.

Her car keys were on the bench. Murphy took them and walked out the door.

CHAPTER 45

CON

Con stood in his hotel room shower, eyes shut, letting the water roll over his back.

Breathe in . . . and out.

Madison was the one who had started all this, and she knew Bree was hanging there, somehow. The Hanging Tree . . .

He opened his eyes.

Marcus Wilkins, Bree’s father, had said that he’d seen mourners at the Hanging Tree. Had they missed Bree’s body, standing that close? It seemed unlikely.

He left the shower, drying himself. He wanted to call Marcus Wilkins, then remembered the commander had his phone.

He checked the drawer beneath the hotel room’s phone and found a phone directory. MN & IC WILKINS, ‘OAKDALE’.

He called them. A young voice answered.

‘Hi, this is Detective Badenhorst. I need to speak with Marcus.’

‘Give me a sec . . .’

A moment later, Marcus was on the other end. ‘Detective? Is everything okay?’

‘You said you saw mourners by the Hanging Tree,’ said Con without preamble. ‘Did you see who they were?’

‘Well, there was only one person, and I didn’t want to pry while they were paying their respects.’

‘But who was it?’

‘Well, I can’t be sure, I only saw the back of her head, but I think it was Eliza Ellis?’

CHAPTER 46

MURPHY

Murphy screeched to a halt outside Eliza’s house. He left Gabriella’s car running and ran towards the front door.

He could hear Eliza’s screams for help from deep in the house.

He threw the door open. ‘Eliza! Where are you?’

He followed her screams and burst into a bedroom, taking in everything at once.