Rob looked totally fazed by Owen's office. "Jesus. Look at the size of this place," he said and wandered around touching things. "Nice woodwork. Oh, real craftsmanship." He stood before Owen's wall of photographs.
"Oh, so that's Owen Huntly," Toni said.
Kylie blushed.
"The man himself," Rob said. "Funny, isn't it? Having so many pictures of himself around, you'd think he'd have no self confidence."
"Maybe he hasn't," Toni said.
"Get real."
Rob seemed so rude as he dismissed Toni, but Kylie thinks maybe she was right. Her mum, who'd gone to school with him, said Owen Huntly was 'all shit and no shovel'? Kylie had never understood before, but maybe that's what she'd meant.
Kylie found the Washburn file, but Rob seemed to have lost interest in playing the big noise from head office. He was examining the photos one by one and making comments he probably thought were funny. "So, Owen Huntly is a Mason. Well, well, well, now there's a surprise – My god, look at those sideboards! – Ralph Gisborne is wearing flared trousers! – Jesus, is Owen having carnal relations with that pig?"
Kylie handed the file to Toni, who methodically checked it, and gave it back. As they waited for Rob to finish his commentary on the photos, Toni said, "I really love your necklace, Kylie. Is it paua?"
Kylie nodded. Her face was now burning. Toni seemed to have seen right through her. She might as well have asked, "Is that what you got for screwing your boss?"
Rob turned to them at last. "I bet the old dog has gone pig hunting. Kylie, tell me straight, has your boss gone hunting?"
Kylie couldn’t answer that.
"Has he?"
She wouldn't answer.
"He has, hasn't he?" Rob sounded like her old college principal cross-questioning her about smoking in the woods.
Kylie nodded and added, "Owen told me not to tell you."
She wished the earth would open up and swallow her until she felt Toni's hand on her shoulder and heard her say, "You didn't tell us, Kylie. We guessed."
"Rob," Toni said, "let's face it, we're not going to see Owen today. Kylie, please try to get hold of him somehow and tell him we really do need to meet with him, and it's urgent." Toni wrote Rob's cell number on a post-it, and handed it to Kylie, who clutched it like a life saving prescription. "He can get hold of us at this number." She turned to Rob. "We need to talk to the police about the deceased, and we also need to speak to her partner. We can do at least one of those this morning."
Kylie found Dr Washburn's details before she was asked. Toni phoned, but he could only see them the morning after next. "Right, that leaves the police," Toni said. "Let's see if they can help us."
Kylie would have given anything to go with them, to get out of this place she now hated. Sure, Rob may have been a bit of a dickhead, but she could see in Toni everything she would like to be – so smart and decisive. Toni would never have stuffed things up and been done by a man more than twice her age who was obviously thinking about killing pigs as he did it. Well, that's OK because she'd been imagining Owen was Dylan. They didn't offer to take her, and Kylie was left to dream.