When Private Investigator Gemma Lincoln agrees to investigate a missing student from exclusive Netherleigh Park Ladies College, she finds herself drawn into a double murder case surrounded by a wall of silence. Gemma s best friend Detective Sergeant Angie McDonald helps, but Angie is overworked, ...
Where was I? I struggled to my feet, fearful and alarmed as the memories of the stun gun and the snarling woman flooded my mind. The whole thing had been a set-up! But who were they? What did they want? I looked around again. Dark walls were dimly lit by tiny pinpricks of ...
Set well back from the road, its several buildings were surrounded by both native eucalypts and acacias as well as ripening exotics, their leaves a mixture of reds and golds among the green. As I looked at the splendid foliage, I realised I’d never much liked Dallas Baxter. I distrusted his pink ...
While waiting for him, she had opened windows and patted up the cushions and pillows, focusing her mind on her client. Because she worked somatically there was no desk and chair in this office, which troubled many of her clients at the beginning of their work with her. They were used to being saf...
I cleared a space to sit down and turned my back on the poster of my face that had been freshly stuck up on the wall. I didn’t think it looked anything like me anymore, with my new black look, but it was best to keep my head down, just in case. I was also puzzled by the phone number underneath my...
I went straight to my blog. My shadowed profile pic appeared and I was reminded of the kid I’d seen at the courts yesterday. I was going crazy trying to work out why there was this guy running around the city who looked exactly the same as me. He must have been asking himself the exact same quest...
‘Brandon speaking. How may I help you?’ ‘I was actually after Darren,’ said Gemma. ‘Darren isn’t here,’ said Brandon. ‘Can I take a message?’ ‘Please,’ said Gemma, giving him her number. ‘Tell him I really need to talk to him.’ Back home, Gemma resisted the temptation to m...
I knew I couldn’t hold my breath much longer. My lungs were desperate for air, and already I could feel my mouth wanting to open, even though that would be a fatal move. The net tightened, crushing me against the trapped fish. Fins and prickly scales scored my face and hands like tiny razors. &nb...
When I got to Forensic Services, I gave the bagged anonymous letter to Sarah Witticombe, our in-house document examiner. Nothing misses Sarah’s clear eyes. ‘I’ll do a full report for you,’ she said, standing near the door of her bright examination room, her white coat spot...
winter. I saw Winter before she saw me. Her wild hair was blowing in the wind and although she didn’t seem to wear so many drifty, floaty things these days, her boots and her way of walking made her stand out. She saw me and ran over to me, the locket—the one I’d helped he...
I can hardly move and the air is running out, fast. Boges and Winter use my mobile signal to track my position, but when they reach the cemetery they’re confronted with a dozen fresh graves. Time’s running out and they have no idea where to start digging. I wake up in hosp...
The back door still had a sliding bolt that I used to lock it up. If necessary, I could make a quick getaway by crawling through the hole in the floorboards to under the house. I’d also found a piece of carpet to pull over the hole. My shoulder was still sore, but the gash...
‘Sharkey has a lead for me. He’s given me the name of a woman he thinks can help me out. I have to go speak to her now.’ ‘When will you be back?’ ‘Don’t know. I have my phone with me. Wish me luck.’ ‘I can do better than that,’ said Winter, climbing out of bed and pulling on a pair of jeans. In t...
Inside the shop a soft light was glowing, suggesting someone was still in there. The rest of the street was dark and empty apart from a few parked cars. Nothing stirred, not even a cat. ‘By the way,’ said Boges, quietly, ‘I visited Gabbi today and she convinced me to give ...
I’d told Eric I’d be coming with no expectations, but that wasn’t entirely true. I was totally counting on this guy giving me valuable information about my dad and maybe even the Ormond Singularity. I was a few hours early—we’d arranged to meet at six—but I wanted to scope...
Bodhan!’ ‘What? What is it, Mama?’ I asked, pulling my blanket over my head to block out the light. ‘I’m sleeping!’ ‘Winifred Ormond is here to see you,’ she said, shaking my shoulder firmly. ‘What?’ ‘Quick, Bodhan, get up!’ I launched myself out of bed and pulled on the g...