"That's more or less what I heard."
"Anyway, she rang to ask if I'd help her fight the DUI charge. She won't deny the rest of it, but she's arguing there was extreme provocation. Because she can't drink."
"Can't? Or, supposedly doesn't?"
"Can't. Now, anyway. It's a medical condition. Used to, but there's a genuine danger that if she downs a beer or a glass of wine, she'll keel over. Quite possibly fatal. Same as Eric Clapton. Reached a point where one more drink could kill. And I should know. I was her doctor when they were here in Katherine. So, on that basis, the reading has to be erroneous."
"My mail suggests she might have been set up," Moran remarked. "And on that basis, you or one of the other nominations would have to be a likely suspect."
"When you look at it," Ballantyne responded, "that would be an obvious conclusion. Particularly when the cop car had a journo in it. You know, just checking out what really goes on in Alice Springs under cover of darkness. Peg probably wouldn't have lost it if someone hadn't climbed out of the back seat of the cop car and started taking photos."
"Paranoia?"