‘Why were you late?’ He spoke lightly, as though the thought had just occurred to him, but Nathan felt sure the question had been brewing for minutes. He looked at the cop, with his burned skin and wide eyes, and suddenly wondered if he’d misjudged him.
‘What?’ Bub blinked.
‘Why were you late to meet your brother as arranged at Lehmann’s Hill?’
‘Oh. I got two flats.’
‘Tyres?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Twoflat tyres?’
‘Yeah.’
‘That’s pretty unlucky.’ The sergeant was smiling, but there was something new in his tone.
‘It’s happens,’ Nathan said quickly, and he was relieved to see Steve nodding in agreement. ‘It’s not unusual, with the heat and the rocks. You wreck one tyre, quite often you wreck two. And it’ll take you forty-five minutes to change a flat this time of year, an hour even.’ He could feel himself rambling, and stopped.
Sergeant Ludlow was still looking at Bub. ‘That’s what happened?’
To Nathan’s relief, Bub kept his mouth shut and nodded. The sergeant regarded him over his notebook, then scratched a few words. His expression was open, but again Nathan had the sensation of something lurking beneath. Nathan flicked his eyes towards Bub’s car. The front two tyres did look newer. He caught Xander doing the same thing and they both immediately looked away.
The sergeant at last turned his attention from Bub to Steve. ‘Do you have any thoughts on time of death?’
‘Probably sometime yesterday morning, at a guess. Given the temperature and the lack of shade or water, I’d be very surprised if he lasted beyond twenty-four hours. The autopsy should tell us more.’
‘That doesn’t sound like long.’ Sergeant Ludlow frowned. ‘What was he, late thirties?’
‘Forty,’ Nathan said.
‘He did better than some would’ve,’ Steve said. ‘Twenty-four hours might even be a bit optimistic.’
‘How far are we from Cameron’s home?’ Ludlow looked at the brothers again.
‘On foot, it’s about fifteen kilometres in a straight line north-west,’ Nathan said. ‘Driving from here, you have to follow the dirt track west then north if you don’t want to get sand-bogged, so that route’s probably over thirty. Safest way is another ten kilometres on top of that – east from here to the rocks, then north along the road.’
The rocks and road where they had found Cam’s car. Nathan exchanged a glance with Bub and Ludlow caught it.
‘So even the shortest distance, you’re looking at a few hours’ walk home?’ Ludlow said.
‘You can’t walk it, not in this weather,’ Steve said, his voice muffled. He was looking under the tarp again. ‘That’s what went wrong with those three contractors sand-bogged out at Atherton a few years ago. You remember, Bub? You were on that search, weren’t you?’
Bub nodded.
‘They were, what? Mid-twenties?’ Steve said. ‘Tried to walk back. Got about seven kilometres, if that. Two were dead within six hours.’
‘What else is around here?’ Ludlow walked to the fence and rested his hands on the wire. ‘That’s your land on the other side?’ he said to Nathan.
‘Yeah.’
‘Could your brother have been hoping to find you?’
Nathan saw Bub and Steve both look over. ‘No.’
‘You sound sure.’
‘I am.’
