“Yeah.” Zara nodded quickly. “Something’s happened to her, that’s obvious. But the point is, it’s not what everyone thinks. Not Mum leaving her own baby and coming down here to—” She stopped, and pressed her mouth into a line.
“Look, Kim’s shoe was found in the water, so the reservoir’s involved somehow,” Joel said. “But there are other ways you can get down here. There’s a parking lot a few kilometers up, near the far end. Or you can come in through one of the hiking tracks. People with properties nearby cut through the bushland all the time to walk dogs and go running and things. You can’t drive in off the highway anymore, but the physical road still exists.”
They fell silent, waiting, and Falk tried to work out the best way to respond. He didn’t know what the answer was, but he knew enough to tell that there was at least one real connection there, and that was grief and uncertainty. He didn’t blame them. It was a lot for anyone to take on.
Zara sighed with the disappointment of someone realizing they may be wasting their time. “We’re just saying it’s not as straightforward as—”
She stopped. They had all sensed movement on the track below. Falk shifted, and together they peered down through the gap. He could see a shadow cast against the trail. Someone was down there, hidden onthe far side by the bushland. All three of them had felt the additional presence immediately, Falk noted with interest. Okay, it was daylight and there was no rowdy party going on behind him, but still. Maybe Zara had a point. He stood next to the two teenagers in silence, watching, and after a minute the figure came into view. Sergeant Dwyer.
“Oh.” Zara breathed out, her interest immediately evaporating. “It’s him again.”
The officer stood for a moment, his back to the bushland and his palms flat against the safety railing, staring out at the water. Whether he sensed the scrutiny or not, Falk wasn’t sure, but suddenly he straightened and turned, his focus directed up toward them. Like Joel, Dwyer seemed to know exactly where to find the break in the trees. He could see them, Falk could tell. No one moved for a second, then Dwyer raised his arm, pointed and beckoned. A request, but a clear one.
Come down here, please.
Zara frowned, and next to her, Joel lifted a hand and pointed at his own chest. Dwyer shook his head slowly. Adjusted his arm a fraction.
You.
Falk blinked, then lifted his own hand and pointed to himself. Dwyer nodded this time. He paused, long enough to check he’d been understood, then turned back to the water to wait.
“You’ve been summoned.” Zara’s voice had an odd note.
“Looks like it,” Falk said. “See you later, I guess.”
Zara nodded but didn’t move as he made to leave, her eyes still on the officer. Falk stepped back into the clearing, then stopped at the sound of footsteps following.
“Hey.” Joel paused to clip Luna back on her lead. When he stood again, he and Falk were almost eye to eye. “So, listen. Dwyer won’t help you with anything,” he said matter-of-factly. “Just so you know.”
“No?” Falk kept his tone neutral.
“No. He only comes across as okay at his job because there’s no real crime around here. But when something big happens—my dad, Kim—” Joel shrugged, like it was obvious. “Then he has no answers.”
Falk said nothing. Investigations, he knew from bitter experience,were often less straightforward than they appeared from the outside. Joel picked up on his hesitation.
“I mean, you ask me and Zara what we think happened to her mum, and yeah, of course we don’t know.” The boy nodded down to the reservoir where Sergeant Dwyer was waiting. “But he should know. He should definitely know. That’s his whole job, right? That’s a fact.” Joel’s voice was low and steady. “And here’s another fact for you. It took nearly six months to find my dad in that water, but in the end they still found him. Take a guess how many people in the past fifty years have drowned in the reservoir and never been seen again?”
“Go on.”
“Kim would be the first.”
16
Falk knew Zara and Joel couldn’t see him as he left the clearing and navigated his way down through the bushland, but he sensed their eyes following again as he approached the Drop.
“G’day.” Sergeant Dwyer was waiting by the safety railing. He introduced himself as Falk joined him. “Lucky to spot you up there. Can cross you off my catch-up list.”
“Right.” Falk squinted back up toward the trees. He couldn’t see any sign of the teenagers, but felt sure they were still there.
“A little higher.” Dwyer squinted himself, then pointed. He looked older in broad daylight than he had last night, his hair silver in the sun. “Find the fallen tree—you see it? There, looks darker from here—and straight up from there. Got them?”
Falk suddenly did. The blue of Joel’s jacket, the shadow of Zara’s hair by his shoulder. It wasn’t easy, though. The benefits of local knowledge, he supposed.
“Anyway, thanks for coming down,” Dwyer said. “I would’ve come up, but I try and show a bit of respect for the kids’ territory, when I can, at least. Not sure they’d agree, but there you go.”
Falk was tempted to believe him. Fit and wiry, Dwyer wouldn’thave had any trouble making his own way up that narrow path to the clearing in a matter of minutes if he’d wanted to.
“Like I said, just wanted a quick chat,” Dwyer said, in a tone very similar to one Falk often used himself when saying that exact phrase. “We didn’t get the chance to meet last night. Or last year, obviously.”
