Free 3 A Basis for Murder by Morgana Best Page A

cliffs, people think indigenous Australians were thrown off them. Bald Rock, Buff Rock, and Boggabri are just three of the contenders. Now there are several people over the years who fell off the cliffs, or even jumped off, but as for massacres, no, that's just an urban myth."
    I sighed deeply. "What about mining accidents? I haven't been able to find much on the net about those either."
    "Oh yes, there were lots of those. The old newspapers were full of them. People back then didn't wear safety equipment, and their mining practices were pretty ordinary."
    I sighed again, thanked him for all his help, and hung up. I opened my laptop and googled mining accidents at Hillgrove . Again it came up blank - or to be precise, produced very little. I found a web entry by a man trying to find information on an ancestor who died in the early 1900s in the Hillgrove mine, and he found that several other miners had died on the same day but he'd been unable to track down any information on a mining disaster.
    As I was in a nice secluded part of the café, I decided to call the Aboriginal Liaison Officer again. This time I was in luck; he picked up immediately. He too had not heard of any massacres, but said he wouldn't be at all surprised if it had happened. He did say however that he wasn't aware of any oral history which would support the fact. I jotted down the five referrals that he gave me, and said goodbye.
    That was quite a help, but I was not getting any further in my research. Bill and Ben had told me that there were massacres, but no one, not even the locals, had heard any such thing. But why would Bill and Ben - or the organization they worked for - invent such a story? It made no sense.
    A shadow loomed over me, and I, expecting my food, looked up while automatically saying, "Thank you."
    "Thanks for what?" It was Douglas.
    I jumped in fright. "What are you doing here?"
    Douglas sat down opposite me. "Couldn't you at least pretend you're pleased to see me?"
    I scowled at him. "You didn't answer my question."
    "Straight to the point, Misty, gee. I'm your only contact at The Orpheans , so I'd think you should actually be pleased to see me."
    He had a point, but before I could think it through, my meal arrived, along with my coffee. I was surprised when food was also placed in front of Douglas.
    "What's that?"
    "It's called food, Misty." His tone was sarcastic. "Beef and roast vegetables. This here is called a potato." He stabbed a potato with a fork and held it up for my inspection.
    "Very funny, Douglas. I was here for ages before my order came. Why did yours arrive so soon?"
    "Just lucky, I guess."
    I scowled at him. It seemed fairly obvious that Douglas had been here for ages. Had he been listening to my phone conversations? I couldn't see the counter where orders were taken from where I was sitting; I couldn't see much at all. How close had he been the whole time? But for that matter, surely I hadn't said anything important - surely it didn't matter if he'd overheard. I searched my memory banks.
    Douglas was still looking at me and hadn't yet touched his food. "Why are you so angry anyway? Is it because I'm telling you about The Orpheans and Jamie hasn't?"
    "Why would Jamie tell me about The Orpheans ?" I snapped, and then regretted my tone. I added, more evenly, "Jamie doesn't know anything about them."
    Douglas slowly cut up some roast vegetables and then just as slowly popped some in his mouth. After a bout of leisurely chewing, he put down his knife and fork and said, "You really don't know, do you?"
    "Know what?"
    Douglas held up both hands in a gesture of helplessness. "Jamie knows all about The Orpheans of course. SI7 and The Orpheans have worked closely for, well, decades if not longer."
    "SI7?" My stomach was churning; it was obvious to me that I was on the verge of receiving upsetting news.
    Douglas made no attempt to hide his surprise. "You're kidding me? You don't know? Jamie didn't tell you?"
    I shook my head, and