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the wound?’ she asked.
    Callum opened the door and called in a passing wardsman. They put on gloves, then rolled Fowler onto his side, facing them. Ella pulled on a glove of her own. The blood at the back of Fowler’s neck had dried and made a thick pad of matted hair over the wound. She couldn’t see a thing through the mess but felt a small round hole. She stepped back and drew off the glove while Murray took a look.
    Callum met her gaze. She waited for him to look away, but he didn’t.
    ‘Do you think it’s a gunshot wound?’ she asked.
    ‘Post-mortem will tell for sure.’
    ‘But in your opinion?’
    ‘Possibly.’
    She could tell nothing from his tone. ‘Did he have anything on him when he was brought in? Like a phone?’
    Callum shook his head. ‘Not a thing.’
    ‘I’m done.’ Murray stepped away.
    They let Fowler down onto his back and the wardsman left.
    Callum said to Murray, ‘I’m sorry about your father. How’s he doing?’
    The stabbing had been all over the news.
    ‘He’s got an infection,’ Murray said. ‘We thought he’d be back home by now, but they said it’ll be days yet. Even the doctors are worried. Mum’s going nuts, of course.’
    Callum nodded. ‘I know that feeling.’
    ‘Me too,’ Ella said.
    Callum glanced at her, then pulled the sheet over Fowler. ‘So someone from Glebe morgue is on their way to get him?’
    ‘Should be,’ Murray said.
    ‘Good. Then I guess we’re done.’ He nodded to them both – distinct separate nods, Ella noted – then walked out of the room.
    Murray said, ‘He really doesn’t like you.’
    ‘All I saw was professionalism.’
    ‘You need glasses then.’
    She looked at him. ‘You worked his cousin’s case as well. Whatever he feels about me he has to feel about you too.’
    ‘Not necessarily.’
    Ella walked out to find Holly waiting with her arms folded. ‘Seth okay?’
    Holly shrugged. ‘He’s in the bathroom.’
    Ella checked her watch. The afternoon was slipping away and they had so much to do.
    ‘Let’s get yours and Joe’s statements done then we can all get out of here,’ she said.

FOUR
    H olly kept herself calm as she described the call to the job, what they’d done on scene and how everyone had behaved, including the way that Seth had spoken to each of the friends in a voice so low she couldn’t hear. The male detective, whose name she’d forgotten, scribbled it all down in his notebook while the female one, Ella, listened.
    Then Ella said, ‘I asked you before why you said you thought Seth was involved, and you said it just seemed wrong.’
    Holly nodded, keeping her face blank. ‘That’s right.’
    ‘Has he ever been in trouble with the police?’
    ‘Not that I know of, but I haven’t seen him for twelve years.’ He was skilled at flying under the radar before that though, so who knows what he’s managed to get away with.
    ‘How did it seem wrong?’
    ‘Like I said, he was whispering to his friends. And acting a bit shifty.’
    ‘Shifty how?’
    ‘It’s hard to pinpoint,’ she said, her heart beating so loudly that they could surely hear it. ‘I just had a really strong impression that he was hiding something.’
    ‘How quickly did he recognise you?’
    ‘Straightaway,’ she said. ‘Same as I recognised him.’
    ‘Even after so long?’
    Holly shifted on her chair. ‘Some people you don’t forget.’ Prepare yourself. You know where they’re going next.
    Ella said, ‘We talked to him about why you don’t get on, but I’d like to hear your side of it too.’
    Seth had as much to keep from them as she did, so she knew he would’ve told them nothing. ‘We just never got along. You know how some kids fight all the time? That was us.’
    ‘Do you have other siblings?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Are you still in touch with your parents?’
    ‘They’re both dead.’
    ‘Sorry to hear that,’ Ella said. ‘Long ago?’
    ‘A little over twelve years.’
    ‘So the last time you saw Seth before