Once back at the office, as the time for Liam O’Brien’s arrival approached, Kelly took Jake aside.

‘I might sit in on this one,’ he said. ‘Balance you out a bit, eh, Hunter?’

Jake thinned his lips.

‘I know you’re keen, but he has just lost his sister—his last surviving family member, I believe?’

‘Apparently so.’

‘Look, ask what you need to, but just go gently, all right?’

‘Sure.’

‘And I don’t think there’s any need to burden him with the details of her last few hours, okay?’

‘But …’

‘Is his alibi solid?’

‘Seems to be.’

‘Then he wasn’t responsible for what was done to her. There’s no need to distress him any further.’

‘It’ll be in the papers sooner or later.’

‘Let him get through the initial shock first.’

*

Dunton’s police station harkened from the 1950s. With its worn, resealed floorboards and faded beige paintwork damaged by regular blue-tac use, it seemed imbued with a mild sadness.

It suited the Liam O’Brien who arrived at the front counter today. Apparently the impact of his sister’s demise had not been wiped away by a single prayer.

‘I need to know what happened to Ava,’ he said as he, Jake and Kelly gathered in the interview room.

‘It’s all I’m working on, Mr O’Brien,’ Jake said.

‘Good.’

‘If you’re happy to answer some questions it might help us piece more together.’

‘All right.’

‘What can you tell us about Ava’s lifestyle? Not just in the last few years, but when she was younger?’

‘What are you asking?’

‘So far, everyone is painting a picture of a woman who spent decades looking after foster children, then retired to spend the majority of her time quilting. But what was Ava like when she was younger, before she moved to Dunton?’

‘Much the same.’

‘You mean she looked after children then too?’

‘She was a kindergarten teacher.’

‘In Melbourne?’

‘Yes.’

‘And did she have a more outgoing lifestyle when she lived there?’

Liam O’Brien frowned.

‘He’s asking if she went to parties, had boyfriends, that kind of thing,’ Kelly translated.

‘Oh no, nothing like that. Not Ava.’

Jake flicked his eyes to Kelly. ‘Okay. I need to ask you something more personal,’ he said.

‘If it helps.’

‘Was there any bad feeling between you and your sister?’

‘Why would there be?’

‘How about between Ava and the girls at the home? Did she get along with them?’

‘She dedicated her whole life to looking after them.’

‘Did you have much to do with the girls?’

O’Brien shook his head.

‘You didn’t look after them on your own each year when your sister took a holiday?’

O’Brien shrugged. ‘Not every year. Just a few days every now and then to give her a break.’

‘And how did you find that?’

‘I’m no natural when it comes to kids and they knew it. I let them eat what they wanted, do what they wanted. As long as they helped me clean up the day before Ava was due home, we all got along fine.’