Tessa arrived home at five minutes to four, having stopped off at the supermarket in Balhannah to buy bread and milk. By the time she’d unloaded Mia and her shopping from the car, the introductory music announcing the four o’clock news on ABC Radio Adelaide was blaring out of the radio sitting on the mantle above the stove in the kitchen. ‘You go in and watch TV,’ said Tessa, guiding Mia down the passageway from the kitchen to the lounge room.
She joined Robbie and Jordan at the kitchen table, where they were nursing the dregs of their afternoon tea and waiting to hear the Commissioner’s response to their demands.
After reading the weather details at the end of the news bulletin, the newsreader said, ‘Please standby for a special announcement from the Police Commissioner.’
‘This is a me
