Free STRANGE BODIES (a gripping crime thriller) by Antonia Marlowe Page B

part,’ said Jacobsen. ‘Got a car for us?’
    ‘Yep, over here.’ He walked across to a massive all-terrain vehicle, all glossy black duco and gleaming chrome. He grinned and patted the roof with a proprietary air.
    ‘One of the new ATVs … not the orange and black. More your sports model. Eight seater SolarCAT, primed and ready to roll. Hover jets up to about three metres, they reckon, though I’ve never tried above two. Got its own built-in air compressor too, but you should be good for the trip there, even Melbourne and back if you fancied it. Cooler, with water and juice on board, satnav, full comm system, got the lot.’
    ‘Something tells me this is not a police vehicle but your own, sergeant.’
    He nodded and winked. ‘You could be right there, Commander.’
    ‘That’s service above and beyond. When we get back we’ll have a brief word with your boss, thank him and so on. Now I’ll just have a word with our pilot before we go. Can you find a spot in your break room for him till we get back?’
     
    They pulled up outside Jim Lawrence’s house, pleased to see no sign of the media. Adams noticed with some surprise that the property was quite large, around a hectare, he estimated. The house looked to be at least a hundred and fifty years old, in beautiful condition, with wide shady verandas and immaculate paintwork. After the introductions, and a paw shake from Rolf, they all trooped into the comfortable kitchen where a big pot of tea was waiting and the mouth-watering odour of freshly baked bread filled the air.
    While they all had cups of tea and slices of fresh bread slathered with thickly spread butter and jam, Jacobsen told Jim about the cross-country runner and what he’d said.
    ‘… so that’s the sum total of what we know about the old chap. The thing is, Jim, we can’t find the bloody place and we were hoping you …’
    ‘Of course, Mr Jacobsen,’ Jim broke in. ‘I can probably pin it down for you. Hang on.’ He walked through an arch into the adjacent family room and flicked the cloth off an old computer sitting on a desk to one side. He turned it on and at their surprised looks said, ‘Have to keep in touch with the family; my Julia’s up in Queensland. The old beast might be over ten years old but it still works fine. A mate updates it for me every now and then. Now, I had all the old forestry maps for the state on here; I never wiped them so let’s see. Hmmm, right.’
    He pinpointed the area he wanted and enlarged it. ‘Right, come and look at this. That’s the dirt road where it comes off the paved road. Now if we go about halfway along it you can see a very faint thin line. That’s it. Your newer sat images won’t show it, too overgrown by now.’
    ‘Can you get co-ordinates for our satnav for that, Jim?’ asked Jacobsen.
    ‘Easy-peasy. I’ll just print this out for you.’
    ‘That’s bloody fantastic, Mr Lawrence. Now can I link to you to shoot all that info down to central? I want it all on the record,’ said Adams.
    ‘Yes, of course, sir. Go right ahead,’ said Jim. ‘I’ll do anything to help catch the buggers who did that to those poor people.’ He closed his eyes for a seconds as a shudder went through him.
    ‘Mr Adams, do you think it’d be alright if I go up and visit my daughter, Julia. She’s been asking me to come for a long visit with them since Jen passed.’ He brightened at a thought. ‘Rolf gets to run around as much as he likes.’ He reached down and ruffled the dog’s shaggy coat.
    ‘Where’s your daughter live, Jim?’ asked Nick.
    ‘They’ve got a farm up on the Darling Downs, outside Toowoomba. Beautiful country up there—some veggie crops, run a few goats, chooks, emus, horses, well stocked dam. They’re pretty self sufficient, own creek and dam, solar power, wind generators, everything recycled, worm farms, even mushrooms growing in an old mine—all that sort of stuff.’
    ‘Sounds like they’ve got it made,’ said Donna