We clambered out and made our way to a small building to claim our bags. There were drivers standing there holding up signs, and while we waited I idly read their messages, all displaying names of hotels, except one. I blinked with surprise at that one, which said JOSH amp; ANNA. The man who was holding the sign across his chest was staring directly at me, and I was immediately sure that he knew exactly who I was. I touched Anna’s arm and said, ‘We’re expected,’ and nodded at the man. Anna looked, and he stared back at her, unsmiling. He was in his early thirties, perhaps, weathered and tough.
He came towards us as the trolley with our bags arrived, and held out his hand. ‘Bob Kelso.’ He didn’t seem to need confirmation of who we were.
We loaded the bags into the back of his truck, and climbed into the front beside him. I said, ‘You seem to know who we are, Bob.’
‘Recognised your name on our guest list, Josh. Luce spoke about you. She had your picture in her wallet.’ He spoke with a soft, deliberate slowness, eyes slightly narrowed as if more used to focusing on distant waves than people. ‘We were friends.’
I felt a small jag of jealousy. Luce, not Lucy; they’d been friends. He’d seen inside her wallet. And he’d shared her last month on earth.
‘So what brings you over here?’
‘I was away in England when it happened, and I just got back. I bumped into Anna, and we thought it would be good to visit the place where Luce died. Closure, you know.’
He didn’t say anything. Perhaps he disliked that word as much as I did. I thought it best not to start asking him questions at this point, and Anna seemed to feel the same. As we drove off Bob pointed out landmarks. On our left we could see the wide sweep of the beach and lagoon, with a rim of white breakers along the line of the distant reef. To our right the road was lined by thick groves of trees among which we caught glimpses of white timber houses, and after a kilometre or so we turned into a driveway which led through the trees-kentia palms, I noticed, but full-size, much larger than the indoor plants I’d seen before-to a clearing surrounded by verandaed cottages. He pulled to a stop and led us inside one of them. It was a pleasant, self-contained cabin, two bedrooms with a lounge and kitchen bar, simple timber furniture, polished floorboards and shutters on the windows.
‘Perfect,’ I said.
‘There’s information leaflets on the desk over there,’ Bob pointed. ‘Where you can eat, things you can do, nature trails, beaches, stuff like that. But seeing as you’re friends of Luce, I’d like to show you around.’
‘That would be great, if you can spare the time, Bob. You must have been one of the last people to see Luce. We’d appreciate the chance to talk to you about it, if you don’t mind.’
He gave his slow nod. ‘I have a boat. We could go out tomorrow, see the place where it happened, if you like.’
‘Yes, we’d like that.’
‘Fine. Why don’t you have a look around yourselves, and I’ll come back at six. We can have a beer before dinner. Mum’s invited you to the house to eat with us.’
‘Sounds great.’
As he drove away I turned to Anna. ‘So much for stealth.’
The place had a relaxed holiday feel about it, and I would have been happy to stroll around for an hour or two, buy a bottle of wine and put my feet up, but Anna thought we should act quickly before everyone on the island had been told to watch out for us. I thought they probably already had, but I went along with her plan anyway, which was to catch the ranger unprepared, if she was still there.
We walked down the road to the end of Lagoon Beach, where there was a store and visitors’ centre at the heart of what passed for the town. There we got directions to the ranger’s office, which we found in an old cottage further along the street. There was a light on inside, and a young woman with sandy hair, dressed in khaki shorts and shirt, was bent over a desk. She lifted her head with a smile. ‘Hello. Can I help you?’
I looked at the nametag on her shirt. ‘Carmel? I’m Josh and this is Anna. We were friends of Lucy Corcoran at university.’
‘Oh, really? I’m very pleased to meet you.’ She shook hands vigorously, and there was a warmth to her smile that suggested she’d be fun to have around. But then the smile faded. ‘Were you friends of Curtis and Owen, too? We heard about the accident, of course.’
‘Yes, we were. We all used to go climbing together.’
‘That’s terrible. Three of you …’
‘We’re just here on a short holiday, and we wanted to say hello to the people Luce met. You got to know her quite well during that month she was here, didn’t you?’
‘I did, yes, but … I’d love to have a good long chat to you, but you’ve caught me at the worst time. A friend’s offered to shout me a trip back to the mainland for some leave, and I’m about to dash to catch the plane. In fact I was just about to close the office.’ She checked her watch.
‘Maybe just a couple of minutes, Carmel? We’ve come all this way.’
‘Of course. Sorry, I feel so rude. Do you want to sit down?’
We sat around the office table and accepted the cups of water she offered us.
‘How did you two come to meet?’ I asked.
‘Oh, it was part of the protocol. Dr Fenn had to have approval for his research program from the Island Board, which consulted with us here at National Parks and Wildlife. Part of the agreement was that his team would log each day’s activities with my office. Luce was the person who liaised with me, so we soon got to know each other. She was brilliant …’ Carmel paused, looking wistfully at her knees. ‘We got on well. We shared the same values.’
‘Maybe you could take us through that month they were here. It would really help us come to terms with Luce’s death to hear it from you.’
‘I met with them here the day they arrived, and we confirmed their program. They were going to start on Roach Island …’ She got up and pointed it out on a big wall map. ‘It’s part of the Admiralty group just off the coast to the north, up here. There’s a grey ternlet colony on the cliffs of Roach Island, and they were planning to spend the first two weeks there, until the fourth climber, Damien, arrived, when they would move down to the much bigger cliffs below Mount Gower, right down at the southern tip. When you leave here you could take the trail up to Malabar Hill, where you can get a good view of the Admiralty Islands. You’d really have to see the Mount Gower cliffs from the ocean side. Maybe Bob Kelso could take you.’
‘Yes, he’s already said he will.’
‘You’ve seen him, have you?’
‘He met us at the airport.’
‘Oh good.’
‘How did Luce seem when they first arrived?’
‘Seem? Well, excited I suppose, about being here and getting started on the project. They all were.’
‘And later, when Damien arrived?’
She frowned, thinking. ‘They’d got into a routine by then, but they seemed pretty happy with things. They’d kept to their program, and finished the first phase as planned.’
‘You got to meet the others, Owen and Curtis?’
‘Oh yes. They were really nice boys, good fun, and Damien too.’
‘How about Dr Fenn?’
‘Yes, we got on all right. He could be a bit intimidating, but I’d got to know him on his previous visits.’
‘So there were no quarrels, fights, that you were aware of?’
‘No. Why do you ask that?’