‘So, you’re working with a team of investigators, I take it?’ said Ahab, leading her over to the far wall.

‘Yeah, a big team.’ She walked around a pile of fishing magazines. ‘And they know I’m here. Plus enough people in the pub saw me follow you up the stairs. So if you’re thinking of killing me off, you won’t get away with it.’

‘You watch too many movies, detective,’ said Ahab. ‘Do you know my favourite type? The ones where they have a corkboard up, with photos and strings connecting them, the little notes that have dates and times. Trying to piece it all together. Do you like those movies?’

‘You’d be surprised how often investigators use that exact same technique,’ said De Corrado. ‘Personally, I find it a bit naïve.’

Ahab walked up to the huge timber cupboard that covered a good portion of the wall and swung open the door.

Inside was a large corkboard, covered in photos, notes, maps. Strings of different colours connected the different elements. Photos of Jesse, Alexandra, Forest . . . Donny, his son Huck . . . the entire Dempsey family – Shelby included. There was a large map of Tasmania with coloured pins, a map of the local waters, a smaller map of mainland Australia . . .

‘Well, you did ask . . .’ murmured De Corrado, unabashed. She walked over to examine it. ‘Shoosh, Keegan,’ she said as the dog rumbled a warning. ‘Bad dog.’

‘There’s been unconfirmed sightings of Donny all over Tasmania,’ said Ahab. ‘Primarily in drug houses. There’s been a few in Queensland, but I don’t trust them.’ Ahab’s eyes were drawn to the string that connected Forest and Davey Dempsey.

‘What’s this?’ De Corrado leaned closer to an underwater photo of a sunken ship. A name was written across the prow: THE SIRENS CURSE.

‘Unrelated.’

‘You’re a terrible liar.’

Ahab stepped back. Every time he stood to look at the board, it seemed impossibly big.

‘I asked around about you, you know,’ said De Corrado innocently, still taking in the details of the board. ‘The Mermaid’s Darling. When you inherited the inn, you changed its name from the The Siren’s Curse to The Mermaid’s Darling.’

She clearly didn’t like it when he didn’t answer her questions.

‘What does any of that matter?’ said Ahab. ‘Forest has returned. Once he’s in the right state of mind, he can answer everyone’s questions.’

‘You’re right,’ said Detective De Corrado slowly. ‘Because that’s all he’s good for, right? To answer your questions? Who cares what he’s been through?’

Ahab had no response to that.

‘But because you’ve been so kind as to show me this very disconcerting but highly informative board, I’ll tell you this: there’s a chance he won’t,’ said De Corrado. ‘Answer your questions, I mean. Inconvenient, I know.’