Page 57 of On the Edge

There was a steady stream of seedy messages waiting to be answered.There always was.It baffled her.Whowerethese people?Didn’t they work?She clicked on the first one and typed a response, then the second, and on and on.At twelve minutes past three, after typing two hundred and forty-two combinations ofhardandwetandI’m so turned on right now, she logged off.

As she shut the laptop, her chest swelled with pride.

Chapter 35

On Monday afternoon, while Nel was taking Mary Thompson’s blood pressure, her phone flashed with a message from Jimmy.She stole a quick glance.

Been through the case file.I’m knocking off at six, meet for a drink at the Grand?

She felt a flutter of curiosity and wound up the appointment before Mary could launch into another story about her grandson.

See you then, she messaged back.

The intercom buzzed.‘Carolyn Austin’s here with Finn,’ Viv said.‘Can I send them through?’

A couple of hours later, Nel mumbled an apology for her rushed departure and walked up the road to the Grand.Jimmy wasn’t there yet, so she ordered a beer and went to the same table by the window.There was no sign of Ryan among the early evening crowd.She took out her phone to check her emails while she waited.

‘Good evening, young lady.’She looked up to see the red face of Roy Warner, with a younger man by his side holding a card machine.‘Can I interest you in a ticket in the meat raffle?All proceeds go to the Carrinya Surf Life Saving Club.One ticket for three dollars or four for ten.’

‘Oh ah …’ She reached for her bag.‘I’ll take four.’

‘Name?’Roy asked, pen poised over the first ticket.

A pause.‘Nel Foley.’

His face shifted subtly as he registered the name.‘Nel …’ He squinted at her.‘I didn’t recognise you.’He cleared his throat and spoke in a more serious tone.‘I’m very sorry about your dad’s passing.’

‘Thank you,’ she said.

‘Just doesn’t seem right.’He shook his head.‘He was a good man, your father.’

He sighed sadly and turned his attention back to the tickets as the young guy held out the machine.She tapped her card.

‘Best of luck, love,’ Roy said, passing her the ticket stubs.

As he moved to the next table and gave his spiel again, Nel pictured him with his clipboard and megaphone down at the surf club, in those three days when Maddie was missing.How much did he know about what happened to Maddie, she wondered?If Maddie did tell Ryan she was pregnant the day before she disappeared, did Ryan tell his father?

‘Sorry, crazy afternoon,’ Jimmy said, pulling her out of her thoughts.He put his beer down on the table, gave her a kiss and pulled off his duffel coat.When he sat down, he clinked his glass against hers.

‘So, you got the file?’she said.

‘Yep.There’s a fair bit in there, so it’ll take me a few days to go through it all, but there’s one thing that’snotin there that definitely should be.’

‘What?’

‘The autopsy report.’

‘You’re kidding.’

He shook his head.‘I’ve put in a request for the digital file, but it’s not related to an active investigation so it could take months.’Hetook a sip of his beer and shook his head.‘There would have been a hard copy of the report though, so it’s weird that it’s not there.’

‘What are you thinking?’

He tilted his head to one side.‘Not sure.It could just be poor file management.’

‘What, like … it just got lost?’

‘It’s possible.’