“Is the man Blaze still cooking for the Answerth men?”

“Yes. Been there a very long time. Used to be head stockman. Turned to cooking when age fastened on to him.”

“You examined the van belonging to Edward Carlow?”

“Too right. There were several cut-open sacks in it and a light tarpaulin. Obviously last used to transport meat. Remembering the possum query, I examined the inside of the van pretty thoroughly. Not a single possum hair in it. I did find evidence that coke had been loaded, and subsequently established that Carlow had brought a load of coke from Manton for use at his home.”

“Did youmentioned the Forest Ranger’s suspicions concerning the possum-trapping to Inspector Stanley?”

“No… o.”

“Why not?”

“What we thought about that possum angle was just surmise,” replied Mawson before giving the correct reason. “Beside, the Inspector didn’t want co-operation.”

“Still, had you mentioned the matter, Stanley would have had experts sent down from Headquarters to examine the van with meticulous thoroughness. The possum point is important, and I thank you for drawing my attention to it. Where’s the van now?”

“With Mrs Carlow. She took over the butchering business. Alfred does most of the shop work and uses the van to transport carcases to the shop from the slaughter yard. As I said, they employ a man to slaughter for them. Ed Carlow used to do his own slaughtering.”

“The slaughter-man… character?”

“Local farmer. Good character. Has an alibi no one could bust.”

“What about the timber cutter… Foster?”

“Said he was in camp all that night. Couldn’t shake him. But… His camp is within three miles of the logging stage.”

Bony made another of his cigarettes. Years of practice had not brought skill to his fingers, and his fingers remained careless if tenacious in following one pattern. Every cigarette bulged in the middle and dwindled to a point at either end.