Falk wondered if her father and cousin still lived up there, and instinctively turned his head away. He wandered through the yard until he found Sergeant Greg Raco in the biggest of three barns.
The officer was on his hands and knees in the corner, rummaging through a pile of old boxes. A redback, nestled still and shiny in her web, was ignoring the activity two metres away from her. Falk rapped on the metal door and Raco twisted around, his face streaked with dust and sweat.
‘Jesus, you gave me a start. Didn’t hear anyone coming.’
‘Sorry. Aaron Falk. I’m a friend of the Hadlers’. Your receptionist said you were here.’ He pointed to the redback. ‘You seen that, by the way?’
‘Yeah. Thanks. There are a couple around.’
Raco stood and pulled off his work gloves. He attempted to brush the grime off his navy uniform trousers but gave up as it made things worse. His neatly pressed shirt had sweat rings under the arms. He was shorter than Falk and built like a boxer, with curls cut close to his scalp. His skin was Mediterranean olive, but his accent was pure country Australia. He had a lift to his eyes that made him look like he was smiling even when he wasn’t. Falk knew, because he wasn’t smiling now.
‘Gerry Hadler called and said something about you stopping by,’ Raco said. ‘Sorry to do this, mate, but you got some ID? Had a few nut jobs prowling around. Sightseeing or something, I don’t know.’
Up close he was older than Falk had first thought. Maybe thirty. Falk noticed the sergeant discreetly check him over. Open yet cautious. Fair enough. Falk handed over his driver’s licence. Raco took it like he’d been expecting something else.
‘I thought Gerry said you were a cop?’
‘Just here in a personal capacity,’ Falk said.
‘So not officially.’
‘Not at all.’ Something flashed across Raco’s face that Falk couldn’t read. He truly hoped this wasn’t going to descend into a pissing contest. ‘I’m an old mate of Luke’s. Back when we were teenagers.’
Raco looked at the licence carefully before handing it back.
‘Gerry said you needed access to the bank statements. Account books, stuff like that?’
‘Sounds about right.’
‘Something going on there I should know about?’
‘Barb asked me to have a look,’ Falk said. ‘As a favour.’
‘Right.’ Despite being several centimetres shorter, Raco almost managed to look Falk straight in the eye. ‘Look, if Gerry and Barb say you’re good, I’m not going to stuff you around for the sake of it. But they’re pretty vulnerable right now, so you come across anything I need to hear, you make sure I hear it. Yeah?’
‘No worries. Just here to help them out.’
Falk couldn’t help glancing over Raco’s shoulder. The cavernous barn was swelteringly hot, and plastic skylights gave everything a sickly yellow tinge. A tractor stood idle in the middle of the concrete floor and various bits of machinery Falk couldn’t identify lined the walls. A hose attachment snaked out of the nearest one near his feet. He thought it might be for milking, but wasn’t sure. He would have known once. Now it all looked vaguely like instruments of torture to his city eye. Falk nodded towards the boxes in the corner.
‘What are you looking for in there?’
‘Nice try, mate, but you said it yourself, you’re here in a personal capacity,’ Raco said. ‘Bank statements’ll be in the house. Come on. I’ll show you the study.’
‘It’s all right.’ Falk took a step back. ‘I know where it is. Thanks.’
As he turned to leave, he saw Raco’s eyebrows lift. If the guy had been expecting a fight over territory, Falk thought, he wasn’t going to find one here. Still, he had to admire the man’s dedication. It was early but it looked like Raco had been up to his elbows for hours.
Falk started towards the house. Stopped. Thought for a moment. Barb Hadler may have her doubts, but Raco seemed like a cop who took things seriously. Falk turned back.
‘Listen,’ he said. ‘I don’t know how much Gerry told you, but I know when I’m in charge, it’s a hell of a lot easier when I know what’s going on. Less margin for a stuff-up.’
Raco listened in silence as Falk told him Barb’s theory of money troubles and debts being called in.
‘You think there’s anything in it?’
‘I don’t know. I’m sure there’ll be money problems. You can tell that by looking around. Whether that means someone other than Luke pulled the trigger is another question.’
Raco nodded slowly.
