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found this new plant that showed exciting promise for the skincare industry, and how he’d done experiments with it, and he asked me then if he’d kept it all in his head, said how terrible it would be if it had died with him, and I think I said something about all Dad’s work being safe here with me.’
    â€˜But you didn’t show it to him, or tell him where it was?’
    Elly shook her head. ‘No. Definitely not.’
    â€˜It seems to me,’ Gai said slowly, ‘that the first thing you have to do is find out if Jackson has been lying to you. If he has, then you can probably assume he’s been here and taken the book.’
    Gai’s words did nothing to ease the worry gnawing inside Elly. Whether Jackson had taken it or not, the journal was missing. And the implications of that were alarming. But the first thing must be to check out Jackson.
    â€˜It’s Sunday night, not much use trying now, but first thing in the morning I’m going to ring Qantas head office.’
    â€˜And you’d better get a locksmith to come around and change your locks,’ Tim added. ‘Someone else must have a key.’
    â€˜Will you be all right here by yourself tonight?’ Gai asked with a worried frown.
    â€˜Yes, I’ll bolt the doors as well as locking them.’
    When Tim and Gai left Elly made herself a cup of tea and sat on the couch. As she switched on the television to watch the news she still half expected to hear of an aircraft accident, but there was no such report, and at the end of the news she switched it off and took her bag into the bedroom and unpacked.
    As she methodically sorted her things and put them away she thought back over her meetings and outings with Jackson.
    What had they talked about?
    Their conversations had been wide ranging. He was a good listener and encouraged her to talk about her family and what they did on the mango farm. Certainly when she had told him they grew herbs and plants for cosmetic use as well as mangoes he had been interested, but he’d said it was because of his mother’s experiments in a similar field.
    When she went to bed it was to toss and turn as she went over the times she had spent with Jackson, and analysed any conversations that included discussions of her father’s work. It was with a shock that she realised it had been after she’d made reference to Rob’s work being safe here with her that Jackson had been anxious to stay and spend the night with her. Had it been because he wanted to find that work, rather than because he wanted to sleep with her? She squirmed at the thought, but it made her even more determined to find the truth.

Chapter 4
    When morning came Elly rose early and made a phone call to Qantas. This time there was no doubt. There was no Jackson Lee employed by Qantas, either as a pilot or in any other capacity.
    Her next phone call was to the local police, who promised to send someone around when they could. They seemed more interested in the fact Jackson had been posing as a Qantas pilot than in the matter of a robbery that had taken place sometime in the last two weeks. Her next call was to a locksmith, who made a time to come and replace the locks later that day, and finally she rang her mother.
    Beth was shocked at her news, and told Elly she was coming down right away.
    â€˜So who is this Jackson Lee?’ she asked as soon as she had greeted her daughter an hour later. ‘How did you meet him?’
    â€˜We met in the library,’ Elly explained, and went on to tell her mother the whole story.
    As she finished the locksmith arrived and changed the locks, followed almost immediately after by a police constable.
    He took down the details of the missing journal but, as Elly was unable to say for sure when it had been taken, he told her that, while they would make enquiries concerning Jackson Lee, there was no evidence that he had been the one to steal the book.
    â€˜Are