They went room by room. His parents’ bedroom was the worst hit with clothes and items everywhere. Even the mattress was on the floor. The craft room was similarly a mess, but Darcy and Lara’s was a little less turned over, as if the thieves had given up by the time they reached them. What were they searching for?
“I don’t want Lara to see this,” Darcy said.
“How about I take her out with me?” Matt said. “I can tell her I need to check the water troughs or something.”
Darcy nodded.
“I’ll go with you,” Georgie said. “Maybe we can take the horses. It’ll take longer.”
Darcy picked up Lara’s jodhpurs and a jacket and handed them to Georgie.
Together they headed to the kitchen. Lara was laughing at something Sam said and she glanced over at Brandon with a grin. “Did he really do that?”
Sam winked at Brandon. “He sure did, but he’ll never admit to it.”
Brandon didn’t care what stories he told Lara, as long as she was happy.
“La La, I’m heading out to check the troughs. Want to come for a ride with me?” Matt asked.
Lara’s smile faded and she glanced at her dad.
“I’m going too,” Georgie said, handing over Lara’s clothes. “I’d love you to join us.”
“Hey, are you horse riding?” Sam asked. When Georgie nodded, he said, “I’ve never been on a horse. Is it hard?”
Lara turned to him. “It’s easy. I could teach you.”
“That would be great,” Sam said. “Can I come now, or will I slow you down?”
“We’ve got four horses, so you can go now,” Darcy said. “You’ll want to put long pants on though.”
“Yes, sir.” Sam saluted and headed for the door. “Give me five.” He glanced at Lara. “I bet I can get ready faster than you.”
She laughed. “You have to go all the way over to your room.”
“Yeah, but I’m army trained,” Sam said. “We’re fast.”
Lara grinned. “Go!” She dropped her towel and reached for her jodhpurs as Sam sprinted out the door.
Brandon would thank his friend later. He seemed to know exactly what to say.
While Lara changed with no concern about who was in the room, Georgie and Matt went to dress in appropriate riding gear. Darcy followed Lara out as she finished dressing and Brandon heard her yell, “Beat you!”
“Sam’s good value,” Ed commented.
“He is,” Brandon agreed. With Lara taken care of, they had to figure out who had ransacked the house and what they were looking for. But until Dot arrived to take prints, they couldn’t touch anything. “We locked the house, didn’t we?”
“I didn’t,” Ed said.
Darcy swore. “I know you said for us to, but we never do, and I forgot. This isn’t Perth.”
Which meant whoever it was didn’t need to be an expert locksmith. Amy entered the kitchen. “None of the guests are in,” she said. “They must have gone into town after the funeral. Probably wanted to give you a bit of space.”
So no one was around to see the intruder. It wouldn’t have been hard to watch the house and see them all leave. Brandon filled the teapot. At least everyone who went to the beach was off the suspect list. It was a relief to have confirmation even though he’d already taken Amy off the list, and Matt had never been on it.
“Think it might be Stonefish?” Ed asked, nibbling on a biscuit.
“Unless someone from town has a grudge against Mum and Dad.” But most of the town had turned out for the funeral.
