The Dry

In the car, Raco and Falk discuss the possibility of Jamie lying, but Raco thinks the “batty” grandmother is not credible. Falk suggests that Jamie could have killed Luke, given his access to Luke's gun and expansive property. Falk started going through Karen's meticulous accounts of the Hadlers' financials the night before, and could see they were struggling, but found nothing out of the ordinary. The officers time that it would have taken 14 minutes for Luke to get home from Jamie's, even though based on the security footage, the truck appears at the farm half an hour later after Luke left. The officers go to the clearing where Luke's body was found, and Falk cannot imagine why that spot would have been significant to Luke. They hypothesize who else might have been driving Luke's truck, and the likelihood of someone overpowering him.

Falk returns to his old primary school to interview the school principal, Whitlam. Falk notices the dilapidated school grounds, and that “the signs of a community in poverty were everywhere” (82). Whitlam gives the officers the remainder of Karen and Billy's belongings. He worked closely with Karen because she helped with the school accounts. Whitlam expresses worry that the continued investigation implies more danger, but Raco reassures him that the school is safe.

Whitlam recounts the day before the Hadlers were killed, aided by interspersed flashbacks. Karen had been worried and uncharacteristically distracted and had come to Whitlam with a stack of papers. She told him there was a problem she could not ignore, and, according to Whitlam, shares that her family's farm is in debt. Whitlam reassured her that her job was safe and stresses to the officers that if he had “suspected for a minute they were in danger, [he'd] obviously never have let her and Billy go home” (84-85).

The Clyde police called Whitlam at the school at around 7 o’clock the evening they were killed. Whitlam tells the officers that Billy was supposed to be at his house for a playdate with his daughter, but Karen had cancelled because Billy had been feeling unwell. Whitlam believes “it was just one of those sad coincidences […] [which] leaves you with a lot of what-ifs” (86).

Falk reminds Raco that they should be collaborating with the Clyde police department, but Raco insists it is not yet time. As they leave the school, Gretchen spots Falk and he explains that he is extending his stay to look into the Hadlers' financials. She advises him to “tread lightly” to avoid upsetting too many people now that the whole town knows he is back. Back at the station, Falk notices that hardly any surrounding businesses in town are still running. The box of Karen and Billy's belongings proves to be unhelpful, and the officers feel uneasy about the fact that Karen kept Billy at home the afternoon he was killed.

In a fragmented flashback throughout the chapter, Falk remembers his father, Erik, being interrogated for five hours about Ellie. Erik had an alibi but could not explain why Falk might have killed her. Falk stuck to Luke's story, but Deacon relentlessly fortified the rumors about him. Someone left a dead calf on the Falk's doorstep, which prompted Erik to pack up their truck and leave Kiewarra with Falk.

Falk leaves the station and wanders around the main street remembering the former businesses. He stops by the hardware store to buy a new shirt, and the owner recognizes him. The owner briefly considers turning Falk away, but Falk determines he cannot afford to lose business (97). Falk drives to Luke's farm, where he notices how easy it would be to miss the security camera and considers if the person driving Luke's truck was just lucky to be outside of the camera frame. He goes to the fields “where he used to be at home,” but this time he cannot clear his head (98). He gets an uneasy feeling as he approaches the boundary of the Kiewarra river and has the startling realization that the river had dried up, becoming “nothing more than a dusty scar in the land” (99).

Falk follows the river trail looking for “the rock tree,” where a eucalyptus had grown around a boulder. When he finally finds it, “for the first time since he had arrived in Kiewarra he felt the stirrings of homecoming” (101). He reaches into the tree's hidden crevasse, finding his old lighter. He knows how dangerous it would be to light it in “these conditions,” and puts it back (105).

Falk has a flashback to discovering the rock tree with Ellie. After helping her find her house keys, she kissed him. When he reached for her head, she jolted back, saying “it took her by surprise.” She looked like she wanted to say more, but instead asked him to keep their shared moment a secret. Three weeks later her body would be found, 20 meters away from the rock tree. 

Presently, Falk reflects on the formation of their teenage friend group, and the nights they would spend together in Centenary Park.

Falk heads from the river to his old home, thinking about his childhood and feeling “a sharp pain of longing for what might have been” (112). He is about to leave when the owner steps out, asking him why he has come. He tries to reassure her, saying he knew the family that lived here previously. She threatens Falk, telling him she and her husband have nothing to do with the “freaks” that used to live there (114), and he leaves without a word.