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“I’ve seen enough,” Aria said. “I knew this was going to be bad, but four hidden graves in ten minutes . . .” Shaking her head, she peered through a gap between two giant gum trees. “God knows how many are buried out here.”
“They didn’t even try to spread the bodies out,” I said, following her gaze.
“That’s what worries me. This whole area could be riddled with victims.”
“How many coroners do you have under your control?” I asked.
She rolled her eyes. “I only have Whitney at the moment.”
She nodded at the man standing beside the hole created by the digger.
I’d met Whitney a few weeks ago during my investigation into the bodies that were removed from a shipping container that had been salvaged from the ocean. He looked like he’d aged ten years since I’d last seen him. The poor bastard had probably been pulling double shifts for weeks to identify those young victims.
“Do you know if Cole has uncovered any more information about Alice Turnur?” I asked.
“Which one?” She shook her head. “Actually, it doesn’t matter. We don’t have any more information on Alice, who lived in this orphanage, and then escaped from the hospital after we caught her. And unfortunately, we don’t even have the real name of the young victim in the shipping container who used Alice’s name on her passport.”
“Have you had any luck tracking down who made the false passport?”
Aria shook her head, then frowned at me. “You know it’s all connected to that bastard Ziháo Chui, don’t you?”
“So I’ve heard. I also heard you were the one who cracked open his crime syndicate.”
“Fat lot of good that did. He’s still yanking our strings.” She clicked her fingers. “Actually, has Ryder had a chance to chat with you?”
“Ryder from Border Force?”
She nodded.
“Not lately. Why?”
She glanced over at Captain Watts who was beside the technician with the sonar. The pair of them were studying the screen.
“What about Watts? Has he mentioned Chui’s yacht to you?”
“I know Chui died when the yacht sank with him trapped inside.”
“Hmmm.”
“What, Aria? Just tell me.”
“I’d rather the instruction came from Watts. He’s your captain.”
“Doesn’t matter who gives it to me. If it helps find the bastards who’ve taken over Chui’s drug empire, then I want to know.”
She scooped her long, dark ponytail over her shoulder. “Yeah, but you probably won’t be happy with this one.”
“Now I really want to know.”
“Found another one.” The female technician raised her hand.
Watts peered at us, and the scowl on his face was deadly. I had only been posted at Rosebud Police Station for four months, but I’d seen Watts in action enough to know he was a good cop. He’d demonstrated that when he’d arrested two corrupt officers who had been working with Chui, right under the captain’s nose.
“Listen, I don’t want to get Watts on the wrong side. He’s dealing with some serious crimes at the moment, so he’ll give you the job when the time is right.” Her eyes seemed to pierce my brain. “But I will stress, we need to keep absolute secrecy about the plan.”
“Seems like you’re nervous about it. I heard you were fearless.”
She shoved her hands in her pockets and peered across the crime scene. “I learned the hard way that you can’t trust everyone you work with. I trust Watts, and I do not want to piss him off.”
