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Once it had been established that Tarni had been poisoned, the police arrived at the hospital and insisted Cy accompany them to the farm. They put him in the police car and took him back to the house, where two detectives were waiting to interview him.

He was interviewed at length, and he told them about Tarni’s arrival at the farm after him, about her research work and explained why he was looking after the farm. He told them about her cutting her hand and their trip to the hospital almost two weeks ago. The detectives had been distant; Cy worried he was being blamed for her condition.

‘Who else has been here?’ the older detective asked.

‘I hired a bloke to dig some trenches, and he pulled the dirty on us.’

‘Yes, we know that he was on the place. His name was Dean Drummond.’

Cy had shaken his head. ‘No, his name was Jerry White. He turned up here one day looking for work. Hang on; I’ve got his card somewhere. It’s down in the shed. Can I get it?’

The detective nodded, and Cy returned to the shed and found it on top of his camp fridge. He hurried back up to the house. He walked in, surprised to see they had removed the contents of the kitchen bin and were bagging it.

‘What is it?’ he asked, handing Jerry’s card over. ‘What have you found?’

‘Have you been using coolant in your vehicle?’ the younger detective asked.

‘Coolant?’ Cy frowned. ‘What sort of coolant? Coolant for a car?’

‘Yes.’

The other policeman held the bag up, and Cy saw a blue bottle with a label on it.

‘I’ve never used it. Why would anyone need it up here in the heat? No, I’ve never seen it before, and I don’t think Tarni would have used it either. Her Jeep’s been in the shed since she arrived.’

‘We’ll be fingerprinting the bottle and the kitchen, but we have our suspicions,’ the detective said.

Cy told them more about the suspected break-in when they’d been at the hospital.

‘Why didn’t you report it?’

‘We couldn’t see any need. To be honest, I wasn’t sure that Tarni had locked the doors like she said. There was no sign that anyone had been inside. Nothing was missing. The only thing that Tarni noticed, and again I thought she was confused because of the painkillers she took after cutting her hand, she was worried about the water purifier being refilled. She also said there had been different water and milk levels in the fridge the other day.’

‘Forensics are on their way.’

Cy shook his head. ‘What do you think happened? I mean, why would Jerry or whatever his name is, have done that?’ he asked.

‘There have been quite a few connections today. Have you ever heard of Russell Fairweather?’

‘No.’ Cy frowned. ‘The name sounds familiar, but I can’t say I have.

‘He was a prisoner in Darwin Correctional Centre and died last weekend. A heart attack.’

Cy stared. ‘So was my father, and so did he. Die, I mean.’

The detective quizzed him and took some notes as Cy explained the situation.

‘A coincidence, I think,’ he said. ‘A contact and a phone number were found in Fairweather’s belongings, and the when contacted the person told us one of the guards at the correctional centre was on Fairweather’s payroll.’

Cy interrupted. ‘How can a prisoner in jail be paying someone?’

‘You’d be surprised what happens. The guard denied everything at first. As soon as being an accessory to murder was mentioned, he told us everything. Fairweather was responsible for the truck accident out on the Arnhem Highway last week.’

Cy nodded. ‘On the weekend. We passed the crash site on our way back on Sunday.’

‘Did you see the cars?’

‘No, there was only police tape there. No cars or truck.’