Of the three ladies behind the counter Jake particularly liked the shortest one. She was tiny with a shock of pitch-black hair which didn’t move as she rocked her wok over a fierce gas burner surrounded by running water. The tap-tap-tap of her stainless-steel spatula as she tossed and scrapped ingredients over a fierce heat was hypnotic. She broke the spell by yelling as she finished each dish. This alerted the woman who sorted it into containers and then handed it to the third woman who served customers. Jake approved—it seemed an efficient arrangement.

Although the special fried rice and chicken chow-mein weren’t a scratch on anything to be found in Little Bourke Street, they did offer a warm nostalgia for treasured childhood outings to Jake’s hometown’s RSL with his mum.

In the tiny but now warm cottage kitchen, Jake vowed to indulge in a gluttonous rampage in Melbourne the following night.

*

‘Ah, Hunter,’ Kelly said brightly as Jake entered the front of the station the next morning. ‘All set for your trip today?’

Jake did not appreciate such pre-midday exuberance. ‘Packed and ready, sir.’

‘Excellent. I had to do some fast talking to get Hobart to approve flights and accommodation for the two of you. Are you certain you need Murphy?’

‘I think it’s important for his development,’ Jake said, as his constable opened the station’s front door, a large duffle bag over his right shoulder.

‘Fair enough.’ Kelly held out an expensively packaged bottle of spirits he had been holding behind his back. ‘Here’s something to look forward to on your return tomorrow night.’

Jake examined it—Isle of Islay whisky. ‘Thank you, sir. That’s generous of you.’

‘I realised we didn’t have a welcome present for you, not even’—Kelly glanced at Murphy—‘electricity.’

The constable reddened at Kelly’s rebuke.

‘Ready to go?’

Jake hadn’t noticed Evelyn Kelly sitting in the back corner of the waiting area. ‘You’re coming with us?’

‘I thought I’d give you a lift to the airport. It means I’ll be there if you need me when you interview Amelia MacDonald again.’

‘I was going to drive us, leave my vehicle in overnight parking,’ Jake countered.

‘No need,’ she said.

‘Amelia may not react well if she feels she’s outnumbered.’

‘The girl may be disturbed,’ Kelly interjected, ‘but I don’t want us to be seen to be neglecting her care, Hunter. We need a counsellor there.’

Kelly’s tone brooked no argument.

‘Of course,’ Jake demurred.

He would devise a way of keeping Evelyn out of the interview with Amelia by the time they arrived at the hospital. He was still uncertain about the criteria his superior officer applied regarding Evelyn’s counselling services. He had checked her contract, and the station had carte blanche to request her for anyone who came into contact with crime in the Dunton region.