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Philip Zinsli left Greg's pick-up truck by the cabbage trees and drove back to the farm house with Ashleigh and Greg tied up in the back of the refrigerated truck and with Sally beside him in the cab. Zinsli had made Greg tie up Ashleigh and Sally's hands, then Zinsli had tied up Greg's. It had been a busy night. Zinsli needed to set the house up so that the scene looked like Greg and Ashleigh had drunk too much on her last night at the farm, and then had resorted to using drugs. He had some gear from Cyril the Squirrel to help dress the scene. Not being a user, Zinsli was a little uncertain as to what drug to use. John Hopgood had supplied him with ketamine, a drug he had often used in his work in the hospitals and on the farm.
Because her hands were bound, Zinsli helped Sally out of the cab, following her into the house with the rifle pointing at her back. Greg and Ashleigh were left in the back of the refrigerated truck. Richard, Alex and Jo heard the truck. Tied to chairs, they could do nothing. The lantern on the table gave a dim light as Zinsli and Sally walked into the room. Zinsli made Sally sit on a chair, to which he tied her. He went back to the truck and brought in Ashleigh and Greg. He made them sit in two chairs that he brought in from the kitchen.
Everyone was tied up. Zinsli wanted to wait for dawn in order to see his way around the swamp to the drainpipe. With time to spare, he made a cup of instant coffee and some toast, which he cooked over the embers in the coal range. Later, he would rake some coals from the coal range and set fire to the wooden floor. It was all playing into his hands. He really was having a lucky night.
"What do you intend doing with us?" asked Richard.
"Nothing, my friend. I am going to set you and your family free," Zinsli replied.
"I don't believe you." Said Richard.
"I have done nothing wrong," said Zinsli. "My previous wife disappeared. She has never drawn on her bank account, so I believe she is dead. No doubt the police will track down her murderer. I know it wasn't me. She was seen leaving Grantville with a man in a car. My guess is she ran away with him, maybe for sex? And he killed her."
"What about us?" asked Greg.
"You and Ashley will remain here," said Zinsli, truthfully. "I have tied you and some trespassers up while I checked the property."
He looked at Alex, Jo and Richard. They were not buying his story. "I will take you back to the road in the morning. My wife, Sally, and I will go home to Gresham Downs and try to resolve our differences, or split up. It could go either way."
Zinsli sounded very convincing. Alex felt that Zinsli was trying to relax them, to ease their fears. No matter what he said, he still had them tied up so his intentions were obvious. More so if Zinsli found out that they had discovered Georgina's body.