The Dry

Later that morning, Falk and Raco park near the school, waiting for backup from Clyde to arrive. Barnes appears with two Remington cartridges which he found in the caretaker's shed. While Whitlam watches the children play during recess, he reflects on how close he is to getting away with his plan. Soon he would be able to move north, which he promised Sandra the night before would be the last time. He remembers the night two men from Melbourne came to his home to threaten his family's lives with a nail gun if he did not come up with the money to pay their boss. Stealing the Crossley Trust money had been an easy choice for Whitlam to make. Back in the present moment at school, Whitlam imagines Billy on the playground. Despite feeling some guilt, he blames Karen for ruining his plan that would have kept Billy safe.

A flashback reveals that after his confrontation with Karen, Whitlam went to play the slots while he thought of a way to keep his secret safe. He overheard Luke and Jamie making plans to shoot rabbits the next day, which inspired his plan. The following day, he was prepared to kill Karen, knowing from the experience in the alley that he was capable of murder.

Back in the police car, Falk shows Raco and Barnes the photo he took of the inside of his trunk Whitlam's bicycle tires had left identical markings to those found on Luke's truck. The rest of the chapter is a flashback to the day of the murders. Whitlam left school without being seen, grabbing the shotgun and some ammunition meant for shooting rabbits from the utility shed. Having parked his car in view of the school's cameras, he rode to the Hadlers' farm on his bicycle.

He waited on the road a kilometer from the farm for 30 minutes, and “just as Whitlam was sliding his eyes sideways toward the end of the shotgun and wondering if there wasn't in fact another way out for him” he heard Luke's truck approach (291). He waved Luke down, knocked him unconscious with a sock packed with stones, then threw his body into the truck bed. After cracking his skull several more times, he covered his body with a tarp. He put his bicycle in the back with Luke, then loaded Luke's shotgun with the Remington bullets from school.

Back in the police car, Falk is informed that someone from the Crossley Trust just accidently called Whitlam to inquire about the grant he received. The officers race to the school, not knowing how Whitlam will react to being caught.

The rest of the chapter is a flashback to the murders. Whitlam arrived at the Hadler farm, where he rang the doorbell and shot Karen. He was horrified to realize Billy was home, instead of at the playdate, but killed him because he could not have any witnesses. He momentarily considered shooting the crying baby, but when he realized that she was too young to talk, he let her live. He drove the truck to the clearing, by which point Luke had already stopped breathing. He propped his body and gun in a way that would suggest suicide, then shot Luke. He packed up all the evidence and biked away, not noticing that his tires had left the marks on the truck bed.

The officers arrive at Whitlam's empty office. The secretary shows them that his daughter is still in class, which they take to mean he must still be nearby. They gather a search and rescue team to meticulously comb the bushland behind the school, which “sprawled dense and heavy,” and “gave nothing away” (299). Raco and Falk finally find Whitlam hiding in a hollow log. Raco aims his gun at him, but Whitlam threatens them to stay back, holding a lighter, which is “a thousand times worse than a gun” (302).

Whitlam holds the flame out, then pours some whiskey around him. Falk realizes “they [are] standing on a matchbox,” and that a wildfire would consume all Kiewarra (304). They remind Whitlam he will die if he drops the lighter. Raco reluctantly puts his gun down on the ground, hoping Whitlam will put the lighter away. Holding the open lighter, Whitlam stresses that Sandra had nothing to do with his actions and apologizes for killing Billy. Falk and Raco try to convince Whitlam to turn himself in for the sake of his family, and Whitlam reiterates that everything he had done was to ensure their safety. They remind him that Kiewarra will burn to the ground, including the school where his daughter is, but he cannot be convinced or calmed.

As Whitlam screams about Kiewarra being a “rotten, ruined place,” Falk and Raco charge at him, trying to stamp out the fire after the lighter hits the ground. An indiscernible amount of time passes, and Raco, Falk and Whitlam are all being tended to. Falk cannot tell if the others are alive.

Falk wakes up in the Clyde burn unit with serious burns. He has many visitors but spends most of his time in the hospital sitting with Raco, who is sedated until his burns are treated. When he finally wakes up, he asks Falk, “Weren't you a tiny bit tempted to let Kiewarra burn to the ground after everything it's done to you?” (311). Avoiding an honest answer, Falk jokes about needing his keys from the pub. Whitlam gets transferred to a hospital in Melbourne, under police custody. Gerry and Barb take care of Falk while he recuperates, telling Charlotte that he had restored her father's good name.

Falk visits Gretchen to apologize for their argument, and she finally tells him Luke was with her the day Ellie died, and that they had seen her by the river. Gretchen still believes it was suicide but feels guilty that she decided to follow Luke instead of addressing Ellie. Falk begins to pry about Lachie's father again, and she insists it is not Luke. They hug goodbye, knowing they probably will not see each other again any time soon (318).

Through fragmented flashbacks it is revealed that Gretchen and Luke had sex by the river the day Ellie died. They saw Ellie approaching, but Luke insisted that they leave without being seen. She followed Luke and they argued, Gretchen not understanding why he wanted to keep their relationship a secret. He rode away on his bike, and she followed him for a while in her father's white truck. Later that evening, when Gretchen heard Ellie had not gone home, she went back to the river to see if she was hiding from her father. Gretchen made Luke promise not to tell anyone they had seen Ellie by the river, which is why Luke came up with the rabbit shooting alibi.

It is almost April when Falk goes to the rock tree to carve Ellie's name into it. He reaches into the hole to retrieve his lighter, fearing the risk of a future fire, and feels something else. He recovers Ellie's 20-year-old backpack. When he opens it, he finds some clothes, a fake ID, and some saved money, and her diary, indicating she was planning on running away.

The rest of the chapter is told as a flashback. Ellie recounts numerous times her father abused her, including the night he shoved her head into her bedpost, which prompts her to plan an escape. The following afternoon she kissed Falk by the rock tree. When he grabbed her head, she jerked away in pain, and almost told him about the abuse, but was too afraid of her father. She decided the day she would run away from home, booking a motel room under the name Falk, “the only one that made her feel safe” (324). She made a note of the name and the date, as a reminder to follow through with her plan. The last words she wrote in her diary were: “If my dad finds out, he will kill me” (324).

A previous flashback is expanded upon: Deacon returned home from the farm, and after going through Ellie's room, suspected she wanted to run away like her mother did. He was certain she would be at the Falks', because that was where her mother used to find consolation. He made Grant drive them there and caught up to Ellie in the woods. He hit her over the head, then held her head underwater until she drowned. Grant helped Deacon weigh her body down with stones, and suggested they plant the note they found in Ellie's room, in exchange for inheriting the farm.