Penelope had stayed in Melbourne to visit other relatives and check on her mother again. She invited Markus to come along but he could think of nothing worse. He said he needed to examine a file which could be connected to the ‘tooth killer’ case, one which a Melbourne detective had emailed him. And he couldn’t do this at an Internet Café.

Markus had returned to Sydney on a noon Jetstar flight. During the flight he tried to get some sleep but he couldn’t get his mind to switch off. He kept thinking what an emotional coward he was. He rejected Penelope’s proposal to visit her relatives out of hand, without due consideration. Why had he done this? He was crazy about the woman but didn’t want the appendages. He had been the same with his ex-wife’s family and extended...

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