Max Campbell must have heard his approach. He emerged from the side of the building, waving a garden fork. Jake was struck again by the man’s sheer physical presence. After years of struggling to come to terms with his own mediocre form, Jake had eventually decided his average height and spare frame were actually an advantage—when it came to climbing, at any rate. The dull ginger hair, nondescript hazel eyes and splotchy freckled skin he could have done without.

Max seemed anxious to see him. ‘It occurred to me last night,’ he said, sans greetings, ‘that my returning the same week a woman was found dead in the backyard might look suspicious.’

Jake responded with a non-committal nod.

‘So I want to help you eliminate me from your enquiries as quickly as possible.’

Someone had been watching their police dramas. ‘What exactly are you offering?’

‘Access. To anything you want.’

Jake decided to play with him a little. ‘Mr Campbell, is this an attempt to bribe me in some way?’

‘No! That’s not what I meant at all!’

‘Are you suggesting that I’ll find something suspicious in your background and you want the chance to explain it before I find it?’

‘No.’ Max Campbell suddenly looked like a man teetering on the edge.

That was unexpected. ‘Max?’

‘My wife is dying. I need to get back to her.’

Jake kicked himself for toying with the man. ‘I‘m very sorry to hear that. May I ask …?’

‘Pancreatic cancer. Incurable.’

Jake poured as much sympathy into his voice as he could. ‘I understand.’

‘Look. My father’s an arsehole. But I’m responsible for him and he’s pretty frail. I need to get him into care so I can leave here with a clear conscience and get back to my wife.’

Jake reminded himself to remain dispassionate. ‘That makes sense.’

‘The last thing I need is to get caught up in some police matter and be away even longer.’

‘So what are you suggesting?’

‘If I’m under suspicion in any way, investigate me now. Fingerprints, DNA, whatever you want … go through all my personal files, records, computer, I don’t care.’ He began to choke up. ‘I need to get home once I’ve gotten my father sorted out.’

‘I’ll speak to the senior sergeant about your situation, make sure he’s aware,’ Jake said. ‘Right now, it would be most helpful if you could tell me more about Ava O’Brien, the girls’ home and its former residents.’

Max shifted his weight to his back foot, squinting into the clouded sky. ‘It was just this place we didn’t go.’

Jake looked at the roofline of the weatherboard cottage rising above the hedge separating it from the manor. ‘It’s right there. It had kids in it. Are you telling me you never went inside, never played with the children?’

Max shook his head. ‘My father was big on corporal punishment. If he said I wasn’t allowed to go there, I didn’t.’

‘What about your mother? Did she ever visit Ava or the girls?’