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Graysen had found it hard to tell Sandy what he’d seen. Christ almighty, he was having enough trouble dealing with it himself, and knowing the trauma she’d suffered in her life, he worried how Sandy would cope. He’d encountered some dangerous situations in his travels over the years, but that had been more after Marion had gone. He hadn’t cared much about his own safety; he’d witnessed accidents, and he’d seen death, but he’d never seen anyone murdered.

It was difficult to come to grips with what had happened. Zed and Miska had put on a front that everyone had fallen for. Newly married, saying they were medical doctors—he doubted that very much now—and Miska, so sweet and kind. Zed must have been carrying that rifle since they’d started out on the first day.

Sandy had gone a little way up the gorge for a toilet break, and Graysen sat with his back against the warm rock of the cliff, listening for any sounds. The wind had picked up and despite the sun it was chilly in the gorge. His senses were on full alert and his scalp prickled as the bush rustled to his left. He turned slowly, and encountered the steady gaze of a rock wallaby. His heartbeat slowed again as it watched him for a while and then turned and bounded up the gully.

A flash of white in the other direction pulled his attention that way, but it was Sandy’s blonde hair catching the sun as she made her way back to him. She’d left her cap on her pack beside him. He reached for his pack on the ground and took out one of his two water bottles. One was full, and the other half-full. He took a small sip, not knowing how long it would be before they could find a running creek to refill them.

Sandy sat beside him; the colour had come back into her cheeks and she seemed calmer, but Graysen intended keeping a close eye on her.

‘How much water do you have in your pack?’ he asked.

‘One empty and two full. I put an extra one in this morning because I knew we’d have a big climb.’ She reached into her bag. ‘Plus, I’ve got the two apples I took from Andrew’s pack, and I’ve also got a packet of jubes.’ She held up the bag of sweets. ‘I haven’t opened them. I was worried about how tired I’d get today.’

‘And that ended up being the least of your worries. I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out what to do.’

‘Should we try to get back to Standley Chasm so we can report what happened?’

‘Yes. I’ve been considering that. The problem is we won’t know what Zed and Miska are doing. Where they’re going, or what their motivation is.’

‘We also don’t know for sure that Zed didn’t see you up on the rocks. If he did, he’d know that you saw what . . . what happened.’ Sandra’s voice shook and she reached out for his hand. ‘I’m okay. I’m not going to lose it on you. I just can’t stop thinking about Maggie.’

‘They could still be up on the track or they could be heading away.’ Graysen moved closer and put his arm around her shoulders. The sun had warmed her T-shirt and skin, and he closed his eyes as she leaned into him.

‘But if they did head off, where would they go? Jenny and Clive were ahead of them. Maybe they saw what happened too?’

‘That worries me, because there was no sign of them either when I was up there looking. I wonder if they heard or saw something and headed bush too.’

‘And you couldn’t see Andrew either and he should have still been in full view on the trail. He’d only been gone about ten minutes and he wouldn’t have gone out of sight in that time. It took us an hour to climb up there.’

‘I know.’ Graysen spoke slowly. ‘What really worries me—as well as the other three disappearing—is that Zed headed off that way with Andrew’s pack after he left. He said it was only a couple of hundred metres but he was gone a while. Also, he said he’d seen a cave. Did you see any caves on the way up today?’

‘No. I did yesterday, but not today. We were on that ridge most of the way, and there were sheer drops on both sides.’

‘Yes, there was. There were no caves. There was no reason why Zed couldn’t leave the pack under that overhang where Andrew left it. It was tucked away okay where it was. I think he was after Andrew to stop him getting back to Standley Chasm to raise the alarm.’

‘And I noticed that Miska sat beside his big pack while he was gone. I didn’t think anything of it then, but I noticed it beside her because I was thinking how good those walking poles would have been today.’

‘I didn’t notice that, but yes, it’s significant. He wouldn’t leave a pack with a rifle in it unattended.’

‘But I still don’t understand. Maggie was still okay then. Why would he try to stop Andrew? Andrew didn’t know anything.’

‘The other three were already missing. When I spoke to Andrew, he told me he was suspicious about something. He told me he trusted me because he knew I was who I said. Because he was familiar with my work and he’d seen my photos, he said he could trust me.’

‘That implies that he was doubting that someone else wasn’t who they said they were. Maybe they’d given him a reason to wonder? Maybe he’d overheard something or seen something?’

‘Exactly, and Andrew’s the only person who can tell us that. I’m concerned about him, and I’m pretty sure he’s not on his way back to the Chasm. We can work out about how far he would have got before Zed reached him.’

‘He took off at a jog. If Zed was after him, that would explain why he took a while to come back.’

‘And if Zed did catch him, what happened?’

‘Zed didn’t take his rifle with him. What could he have done? Andrew was already suspicious.’ Sandra sat up straight. ‘Don’t answer that. There’s lots of ways, aren’t there?’

‘Maybe Andrew saw him coming after him and got off the track?’ Graysen shrugged. ‘We can hope. Maybe we’ll hear a helicopter shortly.’

‘A helicopter?’

Andrew said if he didn’t find the others, he’d get the company helicopter to come out here.’ Graysen rubbed his hand over his face. ‘My gut tells me we won’t be seeing it.’