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‘That’s understandable.’ Because Craig’s wife had been kidnapped from their farmhouse a few months back. ‘How is Izzy doing?’

‘Brilliant.’ Craig even gave a goofy smile, like a man in love. ‘She’s got her morning routine down pat, with plenty of clients and bees to keep her busy. My bee-queen is making her first lot of beeswax candles this week. And she’s mastered that security system you put in for us. Thanks for that.’

‘Least I could do. It’s your home, brother.

‘How do you know that security system?’

‘I have a thing for security systems. I’m always updating them and have that same system at home.’

‘Really? Didn’t peg you as a security conscious guy.’

‘Just because I have backpackers there, I’m not an idiot. I’ve got pet crocodiles to watch.’ Stone may not have any social media accounts to kill time, but he did use his phone’s security app to check on his house pets regularly.

‘Izzy uses the security system app on her tablet to watch the quarantine animals from the couch when she’s having one of her brain fatigue days. She says it’s like watching a documentary. And she loves her documentaries.’

‘You don’t say.’ Remembering how Romy told him documentaries catered to a select audience. Again, it made him wonder if Romy would branch out and do her own documentary. She seemed hesitant, with her eyes flaring with fear whenever he mentioned it.

Just thinking about her, Stone couldn’t help but scroll open his satphone and peek at home, just to check everything was okay. And it was. Romy had taken over the dining table with her camera and laptop, while Finley cruised underneath her.

‘So, I’ll do the filming, and you get to do the unveiling part.’

‘Just call me Doctor Stone on this CSI gig.’ Wearing plastic gloves, Stone unzipped the soggy bag and removed a saturated security guard’s uniform and a lab coat with a swipe card in the pocket. ‘That explains how they got around the hatchery.’ He held up the swipe card.

‘How often do they give those cards out?’

‘Not often. I had to sign for the one I used and then give it back.’

‘Who gives them out?’

‘Doug. He is the head of security.’

‘Isn’t Doug the one who sent us down here to hassle The Vegan?’

‘But this shirt is three sizes smaller than Doug and his well-earned beer belly… At least we can tell what size these guys were.’

‘That’s true.’ Craig used his phone to videotape the clothing. ‘I bet the Duchess will find some DNA forensic stuff off this.’

‘You just said Duchess . And it’s on video—that we both know the Duchess will listen to eventually.’ Stone chuckled.

‘You’re a bad influence, Stone. Stop yakking and see what else is in that bag.’ Craig then softly mumbled into the phone, ‘I’m sorry, Amara, for calling you Duchess. I meant no disrespect.’

Stone chuckled as he rummaged through the gym bag’s side pockets and pulled out some waterlogged paperwork.

‘What is it?’ Still recording, Craig brought his phone closer.

‘It’s a map of the hatchery.’ It had been rolled up tight enough to keep some areas on the page dry, displaying sections on the map circled in ink.

‘It’s how they knew where to get the eggs from, and which juveniles to take.

This theft wasn’t your typical snatch and grab, these thieves knew exactly what to go for. ’

They frowned at the evidence, but their thoughts were loud.

‘You don’t think that this is…’

‘An inside job.’ Stone didn’t want to say it either because the Rowntrees were good people, who employed 20 staff.

‘Here’s a thought…’ Craig stood, readjusting his hat. ‘How come they didn’t notice the missing stock sooner? Lenora’s switched on enough to know the numbers in that hatchery either in person or just on camera. Or was she too worried about her father’s temper.’

Not that Stone could blame her, having witnessed Malcolm’s attitude towards Lenora earlier today. ‘Remember, crocs are cannibals. So pen numbers rarely stay the same for long. And you saw how quickly they moved around in the hatchery, making it difficult to count them.’

Craig shuddered. ‘Give me cattle any day over swamp puppies. I don’t know how you do it.’

‘It’s a calling, brother.’ Stone patted down his shirt, while putting on his best salesman smile.

‘Still, it seemed odd them not wanting to report the theft?’

‘You should know that crocodile thefts are more common than people realise. The farmers often don’t report them, just like some cattlemen won’t report their stock thefts.’

‘That’s because a lot of farmers don’t realise their stock is gone until they do a muster. By then it’s too late to claim it on their insurance, and most don’t bother due to the risk of raising the premiums.’

‘No insurance company will cover crocodile farming or wrangling without sky-high premiums—and even then, there’s no guarantee of a payout thanks to the danger factor. Or they’ll just blatantly refuse to cover you, which is common for this industry. Race car drivers are better protected.’

‘So that rules out this being an insurance scam then.’

‘Look at you playing detective.’

‘Izzy is rubbing off on me. Hey, how common is crocodile theft from the farms? Considering their intense security layouts. Or is Saltscale special with their security?’

‘Most crocodile farms have tight security to keep out protestors, and to protect the public from their stock of man-eating swamp puppies. I know the crocodile parks, closer to the city, have had kids jumping their fences to try and steal one.’

‘Like a prank without a plan?’

Stone nodded. ‘That stock ends up getting dropped off at some vets a few days later.’

Stone then sighed, rubbing at the tension across the back of his neck, as if feeling the pressure these farmers were under, especially in this field.

‘Thing is, most operators don’t report their cold stock thefts—for good reason.

Crocs on the loose attracts attention, which usually ends up being bad press, which hurts the business, especially with the finicky fashion houses.

And when they do report it, the insurance guys and all the other regulation compliance officers come sniffing around asking for paperwork no one wants to dig up.

So they keep it quiet. Patch the fence, add a new lock, and pretend it never happened. ’

‘But this…’ Craig nodded at the freshly found evidence. ‘As my wife would say, this was a professional heist. It’s well planned with a uniform, lab coat, maps, and a swipe card.’

‘Yeah, I know… We’d better hurry and follow those tracks while we still have daylight.’ Stone bundled up the evidence into one of Amara’s fancy plastic bags. ‘But first, I’ll go see Raven and find out what she thinks about moving camp.’

‘Why? When she said it’s free camping.’

‘We both agree those crooks were trying to set-up Raven. They just didn’t count on your tracking skills, or my relationship with Raven.

Can you imagine if Finn and the Duchess were to visit this place?

Not only would Raven be hostile towards them, with her hate for the police, she would’ve refused to answer their questions.

They would’ve classed her as a hostile witness, and we know Finn doesn’t have the patience for that. ’

‘Yeah, he’d drag out the cuffs and make her kneel in the dirt while he poked around. It wouldn’t take Finn long to find that van or this clothing in that bag.’

‘And the Duchess being lightning quick on the keyboard, she’d learn all about Raven’s criminal history quick smart. It’d be enough for Raven to earn a trip into town for questioning.’

‘So those thieves knew all about Raven…’

Stone paused to take another look at the scene. ‘It’s not safe for Raven to be here.’ And that knot in his guts twisted with worry.

Craig tilted his head at Stone. ‘What are you going to do with The Vegan?’

‘Got a mate who owns some land, it’ll be safe for her to camp there.’ That’s if Raven hadn’t started drinking her mushroom tea already.

‘You could make her your permanent backpacker out at Crocswell Downs.’

‘No thanks. Got one at home now, messing up the place.’ And Romy was a gazillion times prettier, and a good two decades younger than Raven.

Stone just didn’t like Raven being hassled like this. Whoever took those crocodiles knew exactly what they were doing, and how to keep the cops off their tail, dimming his hopes of saving those babies in time.