Unbeknown to the writer, Rowles put the plan into action, killing three men, possibly more. But Rowles didn’t know about the single flaw, which Upfield eventually found to bring his fictional murderer to justice.

3 Acts of Murder, ABC1 at 8.30pm on Sunday, June 14, is a palpable recreation of these events in the dusty, dirty, bloody, fly-blown outback of Western Australia.

Robert Menzies stars as the difficult, complex Upfield, who went on to international success with more than 30 novels, after the publication of The Sands of Windee, the book based on the idea he shared with Rowles.

This 90-minute tele-movie centres more on the moody Upfield than on the young, handsome, ostensibly carefree Rowles (Luke Ford), who’s real name was actually John Smith. Behind the smiling façade, Smith was a cold-blooded killer, who took what he wanted – a car and a rifle – and killed to get them.

3 Acts of Murder is chilling because, even confronted by overwhelming evidence that his plot-line was responsible for three deaths, Upfield could not bring himself to believe his ‘mate’ Snowy was a killer. Smith was hanged in 1932, aged 26. This is an extraordinary story told extraordinarily well.

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