He barely looked up when Stevie approached. ‘Hi, I’m Stephanie Hooper; I called you. The Silver Chain nurse and I found the baby.’ The cop lifted his left hand in brief acknowledgement and continued to write. ‘Detective Sergeant Luke Fowler, Peppermint Grove.’ He put a full stop at the end of his sentence, straightened and inspected her through mirrored sunglasses. ‘You’re a painter?’ ‘No, I was painting my own house. Nurse Williams called and asked me to go with her to the Pavels’. The old lady next door told her there was something amiss over there.’ ‘Well she’s got that right in one, no sign of the Pavels at all—but why did the nurse call you?’ ‘The old lady was getting agitated. She has speech problems and had already asked her son and the nurse to call in her suspicions to the police, but apparently the matter wasn’t followed through.’ Stevie made sure to keep her tone neutral; she didn’t want to get off on the wrong foot. ‘Nurse Williams decided to call me because we’ve worked together before.
