Private Sydney (Private 12)

Darlene recapped. ‘I think Louise was slapped multiple times, not punched, and the killer may have left behind DNA in scratch marks on that left cheek.’

Collette volunteered, ‘The woman this morning had long manicured nails. She kept clicking them as she waited.’

‘I didn’t find any broken nails at the scene,’ Darlene said. ‘That could explain the slapping. It’s something a woman with nails might do.’

‘Or a man who wanted to inflict pain without leaving obvious bruising,’ Mary added. ‘Typical in domestic violence.’

We needed to concentrate our efforts to be most efficient. I listed tasks in order of importance. ‘We can’t rule out two people at the scene. Mary, can you talk to Louise’s brother and track down her close friends? See if she had any previous surrogate pregnancies, and if she told anyone about using that site.’

‘On it,’ Mary said. ‘And if there was a man on the scene, requited or otherwise. Young widows are pretty vulnerable.’

‘You read my mind,’ I said. ‘Johnny, can you go through Louise’s phone and bank records? Emails too. Check whether she contacted our couple, visited outside her area. Anything to help us narrow the part of Sydney we’re looking at.’

Johnny raised another issue. ‘If Zoe Ruffalo had been at the Simpson house on three consecutive Tuesdays, it’s possible the baby was the target and Louise was collateral damage.’

I agreed. ‘We can’t afford to narrow our thinking too early.’

‘While I’m at it, I’ll look into the Ruffalos and their finances,’ he said. ‘Miners make good money. It’s possible there’ll be a ransom demand.’

The police, I knew, were preparing for that possibility. Mary raised an index finger. ‘What about Eric Moss? Can we risk losing time on that one?’

I gestured towards Collette. ‘We’ve got it covered.’

Our receptionist stared at her notebook. No one batted an eyelid.

‘How far are we on identifying the origin of the email sent to Louise Simpson? If the surrogacy site is protected by a firewall, can we trace the email?’

Darlene was the one to speak. ‘Johnny and I tried that a few minutes ago. Our suspects used a VPN address, so the IP turned up as coming from America.’

‘So they’re au fait with hiding?’ Mary commented.

‘Not necessarily,’ Collette offered. ‘Heaps of people use VPNs. It’s how you download shows from American Netflix and Hulu.’

All I wanted to know was whether they could work backwards from the VPN to pin down the local address. Darlene knew that was what I wanted to hear.

‘There’s a guy I know who can try it for a grand.’

Darlene had some ‘interesting’ contacts who often challenged technical boundaries of the law.

‘Let’s get him on it.’

Unless someone identified the Finches from the digifit images soon, the mysterious computer expert was our best hope of finding baby Zoe.

Chapter 31

TWO HOURS LATER, there’d been no word about Zoe and no ransom call. The police had set up at the Ruffalo home, around the corner from the Simpson scene.

Our friendly deputy commissioner had given us the information gleaned from Zoe’s mother. We took that and collected more. Nothing stood out as particularly useful.

Geoff and Courtney Ruffalo appeared happy to their neighbours, owed six hundred thousand on a mortgage but paid their credit cards off on time. There were no withdrawals from bank accounts apart from small, consistent amounts of cash each week and direct deposits to pay the regular bills. The husband wasn’t in debt. There was always the possibility of an affair with a colleague at the mine.

They’d been together eight years and married for three.

Courtney Ruffalo and Louise Simpson met at the local park and struck up a friendship. When Zoe was born, Louise offered to babysit while Geoff was away. The new mother used that time to attend a postnatal yoga class.

The instructor confirmed Courtney was in class at the time Louise’s body was found.

I remembered how challenging Cal’s first few months were, especially for Becky. When days and nights all blurred into one.