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Kate hadn’t had a chance to call her brother earlier so after she put Jo to bed she went for a walk. The evening had turned cool and the moon was waning, but it was still pleasant outside. Kate found a payphone and inserted her coins. She dialled Josh & Colin’s number and Colin answered. “Hi Colin, it’s Kate,” she greeted him. “Oh, hi Sis, how’s Adelaide treating you? Is the new job going well?” Kate made some generalised comments about Adelaide and work and asked after Colin and Deborah. Their wedding preparations were going well. Kate asked for Josh, he was about to go out, but came to the phone. “Hey Sis, I guess you got the package?” Kate told him that she had and thanked him, but warned him not to do it again. She gave him her PO Box details and asked that he address mail to Ms J Barnes. She congratulated him on his engagement to Sarah, “when are you going to do the deed?” she asked. Josh wasn’t sure. They were thinking early next spring, but hadn’t confirmed a date yet. It depended on venue availability. They would think about it after exams. He excused himself; they were catching up with friends tonight at the pub and were going to announce their engagement. Sarah had just arrived and Kate briefly congratulated her when she came on the phone. Kate hung up the phone. It had been so nice to hear familiar voices again. Kate stoped by a newsagent and bought a phone card. The shop was about to close, as it was almost nine o’clock. Kate headed home and went straight to her room. She booted up her laptop and wrote a quick e-mail to her friends. She thanked them for the package and letters and reiterated her warning to Josh. She shut down the computer and went to the kitchen to make a herb tea. Lydia was in the lounge working on some embroidery. Kate went over to have a look and saw that it was a Russian design. Lydia explained that it was the Morova motif and directed Kate to a heavy bound book on the bookshelf. Kate pulled out the hardbound book of Russian genealogy and looked up the Morovas. They had been an important family, but with close ties to the Tsar, had fallen from grace during the revolution. Still, they had a rich history and hadn’t been wiped out, like many bourgeoisie families. Kate asked if she could have a look at the book in her room and Lydia waved her off, absorbed in her work.

Kate settled back on the bed with her herbal tea and the heavy, old book. She opened it at R and searched for the Romanovs. They had been a middle-class family, though with and honourable history and had benefited from the revolution. As the Morovas had fallen, the Romanovs had risen to prominence. At least one member of the Romanov family was a member of the Politburo at any one time, and they had also managed to stere clear of both the fickle leaders, such as Stalin, and the KGB. ‘They must have had friends in high places,’ mused Kate as she copied down the pertinent information and drew a rough reproduction of the family crest. Next, she found the Kryukovs. They had been humble peasants prior to the revolution, but like the Romanovs, had shrewdly transformed their luck with the changing times. Several members of the family had distinguished themselves in the army, but their involvement in the halls of power was classified, ‘must have been KGB,’ figured Kate. She searched for any clue to their involvement in the mafia and finally located a possible link in a short sentence in their recent history. Kate shuddered as she read about a member of the family who had been disgraced and exiled to Siberia. Consequently, the family had been ostracized and fallen into disrepute. Kate wrote down the important information and copied their crest. She turned to P and found Petrov, but there wasn’t much of interest there, and nothing that seemed to link them to the underworld. Kate looked at the alarm clock beside her bed, 10.30, she should turn in, as she had work in the morning. She put the things she had copied from the book with Jo’s pictures and put the folder in her handbag. She returned the heavy, old book to the bookshelf in the lounge, and turned off the lights. Lydia had already gone to bed. She could see that Peter’s bedroom light was still on, but crept past his room so as not to disturb him. She still didn’t want to speak to him yet. She looked in on Jo after brushing her teeth. He was sleeping soundly, clutching his monkey toy. Kate smiled and turned to her room. She slept well that night and didn’t remember dreaming.

Thursday at work was uneventful for Julie. She met one of the other secretaries, Phoebe, during lunch. Phoebe had been with the company for six years, since leaving high school, but was now working part-time and studying business at university. Phoebe seemed to have a good sense of fun. Her mother was Russian, though now deceased, but her father was Australian. Phoebe explained that her mother had been a distant cousin of the Morovas. “We’re really all related, you know!” she joked. Kate smiled; she could feel herself immediately warming to Phoebe. Phoebe invited Kate out for coffee after work but Kate requested a raincheck, “I promised I’d take my son to the beach this evening. It’s our fish and chips night.” Phoebe looked a little surprised, “you have a son? You don’t look old enough!” Kate laughed; Phoebe hadn’t been at work on Monday, when she had given Julie’s spiel. “I was a teenager,” explained Kate, “then I married a man who turned out to be a right bastard, ‘scuse my language. I divorced him last year, so now it’s just me and Jo again.” Kate finished and handed Phoebe a picture of her and Jo, taken at the farm. The photo of her and Ben slipped out of her wallet as well and Kate hurriedly bent to pick it up, but was beaten to it by Phoebe. “And who might this handsome man be, Julie? Have you been holding out on me?” Kate blushed, “Um, that’s David, he’s back in Melbourne. We broke up just before I moved here, but we’re still friends, it was his family’s farm where the photos were taken.” Phoebe handed the photos back to her, “that’s a shame, he looked cute. Gorgeous kid though, how old is he?” Kate tucked the photos back in her wallet, “seven, I’m home schooling him till next year. Mrs Morova is helping me.” Phoebe was impressed, both with the fact that Julie was home schooling and because of her friendship with the Morovas. They were considered to be a little aloof by the staff. No one was a member of their inner-circle, “except perhaps for you, Julie,” Phoebe explained, “Mr Morova generally keeps his distance.” “Really?” replied Kate, “they’ve been nothing if not kind and generous to Jo and I.” Phoebe shrugged, “Who would have known it? Oh, they’re friendly enough, I suppose…” They were walking back to their desks now and Kate suggested coffee next week. “It’s a date,” Phoebe smiled and returned to her workstation. It was on the opposite side of the office to Kate’s and was festooned with figurines and soft toys. The rest of the working day passed slowly as Kate waited for the clock to reach five pm.

Kate went directly to the Police Headquarters on Wakefield Street and asked for P.C. Robertson. Kate felt a little nervous and told herself to calm down. P.C. Robertson collected Kate from the waiting area and escorted her to an interview room at the rear of the building, “no one will disturb us here,” he explained, “would you like a tea or coffee?” Kate requested a tea and sat down, pulling the folder from her handbag as she did. P.C. Robertson returned with the hot drinks and a female officer, “I thought it was best to ask P.C. Prescott to join us,” he said delicately. Kate thanked him for the tea and took a sip while the officers sat down. “Now, what was it that you wanted to show us?” asked P.C. Robertson. Kate pulled out Jo’s pictures, “Jo drew these for me last week. We had been swimming at the local pool and he had a terrible nightmare that night. He wasn’t himself the next day and this is what her drew when I asked him what was wrong.” Kate explained as she passed the pictures to the officers. She could feel her composure slipping as she glimpsed the pictures for the first time since Jo had drawn them last Wednesday afternoon. Kate explained that Jo had experienced nightmares every night when he was first with her, and how he had been afraid of the bath, and large, dark haired men. The officers nodded sagely, Kate could see that the female officer was particularly moved. She noted the wedding band on her finger and wondered if she also had children. “My God,” P.C. Prescott breathed when she saw the bath picture. “These certainly validate all the behaviours you have described to us,” P.C. Robertson concluded, “May we make copies?” Kate nodded, “of course,” and P.C. Prescott took the pictures away.

Kate pulled out the notes she had taken from the Russian genealogy book, “I also thought you should see these. I thought that it might help.” P.C. Robertson studied the notes, nodding and making occasional short comments. “Where did you get all this?” he asked when he had finished. Kate explained that she was staying with a Russian family and it was all from a book of theirs. She gave him the publication details of the book. He asked if they could copy the notes also, and Kate agreed. When P.C. Prescott returned, P.C. Robertson showed Kate out, “well, thank you for bringing all that in. We’ll ensure that they get copies in Melbourne. I thought that you might also be interested to hear that there’s an alert out on the Kryukovs for other criminal activity. You may not have to worry about them for too long.” Kate hoped so, but didn’t place too high expectations on the officer’s words. She was aware how slippery these kinds of people could be. She thanked the officers for their time and left. It had been a very profitable half hour.