Pip read on. ‘You accosted the mayor at the supermarket. You spoke out of turn at a council meeting in front of the mayor then arrested him for domestic violence at the town fair. And you were present when Noah Shepherd was assaulted outside the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court, although, again, I’m led to believe you did not do the actual assaulting … and if memory serves me correctly, you were quite upset about it when we had lunch afterwards. You were also upset when you rang me from the car after being assaulted by Jack Barratt.’

‘All correct,’ I said solemnly.

There was a sudden intake of breath from Wheels. He looked confused and a spreading blush of red—fury or embarrassment, I couldn’t tell—coloured his face.

‘Oh, and just to let you know, I’m going to charge the mayor with murder,’ I said, leaning forward.

‘Oh really?’ said Pip, taking off her glasses. ‘Do tell.’

‘Woz and I have been working the Millard case—’

‘Was the file I gave you helpful?’ Pip asked.

‘Invaluable,’ I said, noting Wozza’s look of surprise and Wheels’s look of horror. ‘The original investigation which he signed off on’—I nodded towards Wheels—‘was flawed. The gun used to shoot Brett and Shayna was found outside a latched wire door. Neither victim could have put it there and the child, who was four at the time, wouldn’t have been able to reach the latch.’

‘What did the first attending have to say?’ asked Pip.

‘The first attending officer said he never went near the back door. Checked for signs of life in the victims, checked for other occupants, then took the child out the front door and left the premises. Started a crime scene log as soon as he was outside. Wozza and I checked the log. The next to enter the premises was the police photographer and he took the photos in question, which suggest the male victim was shot by someone outside the house. There’s a bullet hole in the wire of the screen door.’

Wozza looked as starstruck as Randall. He managed to splutter: ‘Um. Yes. We found a hole.’ He blushed and his voice tapered off.

‘Thank you, Senior Detective Harvey—most helpful,’ said Pip.

‘The front door was unlocked. We believe the killer went around to the front door, entered, then shot Shayna in her bed.’

Pip nodded.

‘And more recently, we have been given an insurance certificate signed by Tippet found among the possessions of the deceased, Brett Millard.’

Wheels stood up and banged on the desk. ‘This is too much!’

Pip swept her cool gaze over to Wheels, who looked defiant for a couple of seconds then changed his mind. ‘No need for a mantrum,’ she said crisply.