‘I’m going to set up a public thing for tonight, a fishing expedition.’
‘What, like, a vigil?’
‘Nothing as formal as that. I’m just going to let it evolve naturally and see what it turns into. Maybe I’ll get lucky and they’ll drag out the local sicko, he’ll confess and the mob will stone him to death, and I’ll be home by lunchtime tomorrow.’
‘If only,’ Gail said. ‘What are you going to do? Open the pub?’
‘Yep.’
‘Will the pub owner go along with that?’
‘The pub owner will do what he’s told,’ Russell said. ‘And I’ll have divers set to go in the morning looking for the knife or the laptop and phone in the river. But without access to those accounts—’
‘Without that access, you’ll just have to hang tight.’ Gail’s voice was singsongy, like she was soothing a tantrumming child. ‘What ended up happening with Bridie? Is she at home?’
‘She’s here.’
I heard a laugh on the other end of the line. ‘Oh, wow. Someone likes to live dangerously.’
‘Yeah.’
‘Georgia finds out you took your kid on a murder, she’s going to wear your skin as a party dress.’
‘It’s a delightful weekend of family fun. Just what I always wished for.’ Again, I felt Russell’s eyes on me. ‘The accounts, Gail.’
Russell hung up and started dialling someone else. I reached over and pushed the phone down. ‘Don’t make another call.’
‘Touch me again and I’ll snap your fingers like bread sticks, Evan.’
‘We need to talk.’
‘No, we don’t.’
‘Russell,’ I said. ‘That day—’
‘Are you deaf? Isaid—’
‘What did you want me to do?’ I shouted over the top of him. We were rolling through fields of tall trees towards the ferry stop. Sunshine through the leaves. ‘Huh? What was the correct course of action that day, Rus? I got a call from you saying you’d just slugged our father so hard he was unconscious on your doorstep andbleeding everywhere. You told me I could go and find him at the local hospital.’
‘Right.’
‘That’sexactly what I did. And suddenlyI’mthe bad guy?’
‘You became the bad guy when you left the hospital, came to my home and admonished me for hitting him,’ Russell snapped. ‘You stood there looking down from your ridiculously high horse, taking the time to tell me thatIwas the one in the wrong for hitting him. After what he said to my child, Evan.’
‘Can I ask you something?’
‘What?’
‘Has smacking someone in the headeverworked out for you as a life strategy, Rus?’ I kept my tone cheerfully patronising. ‘You keep doing it. You look like you’ve done it just recently. Has itevermade your personal circumstances better than they were?’
‘I’m thinking about how it might improve my personal circumstances right now, actually.’
‘Just try.’
‘You’re doing it again. You realise that, don’t you? You’re up on that horse.’
‘Russell.’
