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talk to me like an adult. I
remember the time when I knew he wasn't going to hit me
any more. I'd done something to piss him off, which wasn't
hard, and he'd lost his cool like he usually did. I could see his
feelings building to have a go at me. Suddenly he stopped
and stared at me like he was seeing me for the first time. Then
he yelled a bit more and that was it. It felt real weird, like I'd
grown up in just that second.
    ***
    MONTY DROPPED BY with his ute on Thursday.
    'Thought we'd see you before now,' I said.
    'Yeah, well. Something came up.'
    He opened the bonnet and the three of us stood and
listened to the motor.
    'It's turned gutless on me,' he said.
    'The diesels on these were always gutless,' I told him.
'Seriously, you should let me look out for you. A Hilux or
something.'
    'Seriously, I can't afford it. The bank's got me by the short
and curlies. Go talk to Frank. Which is what I gotta do right
now.' Frank MacKey was the local accountant.
    'How long will you be?'
    'Dunno. Sounds a bit bloody dire though. An hour
maybe?'
    'We'll see what we can do.'
    'Good on you, mate.'
    I had a thought. 'You want to leave Sam here?'
    'Is that okay?' He looked pleased.
    'Sure. No problem.'
    Gith went round to the back of the ute. Sam gave a whine
when he saw her and stuck his head over the side. She pulled
on his ears and put her face close to his. He licked her. She
wiped her cheek with the back of her wrist.
    'True love,' Monty said, and laughed. Gith joined in.
    I hopped into the ute and ran it into the workshop. Monty
waved and walked away. We left Sam tied in the back.
    Ten minutes later Faye Ingrest turned up wanting a
warrant for her Honda. Faye and Simon ran the local pub,
the Te Kohuna Arms. Faye is a friendly, bubbly sort of person
who likes to think well of everybody. She is in her fifties, with
perky blue eyes and a cap of silver-grey hair. She got straight
into talking about Anneke Hesse. I walked her away from
the workshop doorway so Gith wouldn't hear, and told her
what I knew.
    'That makes sense,' she said. 'They're looking at vehicles
from Katawai to Tapanahu. Basingstoke, too.'
    'Vans?' I asked.
    'Don't know. Stationwagons, for sure. They're interviewing
owners and drivers. The man in charge told me. Inspector
Ryan. Really nice guy. Really good advertisement for the
police, you know?'
    'When did you talk to him?'
    'This morning. They were here again about eight o'clock.
Must get up awfully early. Four cars and a van thing, like an
ambulance.'
    'A van?' I asked. 'They arresting somebody?'
    'Simon says it's forensics. But if it is, that means they've got
a suspect, wouldn't you say?'
    'Don't know. Could be.'
    'Somebody said that guy Cleat was top of their list. You
know anything about that?'
    'No,' I said, 'but it'd be logical, wouldn't it?'
    'You know him?'
    'Not really.'
    'He comes into the bar occasionally but Simon usually lets
him know he's not welcome. Weird. He gives me the creeps,
actually. I mean, he's such a wet -looking character.'
    'Wasn't he on drugs or something?' I said.
    'That's right.' She looked at me and then she gave a shrug.
'Ah, well. You know, it's a terrible thing to say but it's not all
bad. They're going to be around here for a while. They're talking
about setting up an operations centre in the community hall.
I mean, it has to be good for business. We're already doing
lunches.'
    'Well, I guess that's right.'
    'It's an ill wind and so on. Although I feel really bad saying
that. I keep thinking about that poor girl. And her poor
parents all the way over there in Europe. I mean, Alison's
sometimes said she'll hitch-hike up here from Massey for the
weekend.' She gave a shudder. 'And you've got your girl, too.
You must worry.'
    'Yes,' I said. She was saying that it was extra risky for Gith,
which was true, I guess. As Faye said, it was terrible to think
about.
    I took Faye's car through the warrant and it passed fine. I
have to say my mind wasn't on the job though. I kept thinking
about the