‘But we haven’t interviewed everyone. If I can find out who was sitting where, I can target witnesses. I’m not expecting one person to have the whole picture, otherwise they would have come forward by now, but even the tiniest fragment might lead to something bigger. I’m not giving up.’

‘And how do you propose to identify who was sitting where?’

‘The investigator’s report had a seating plan.’

‘An incomplete one. They were only interested in the movements of the victims. How are you going to fill in the gaps?’

Leanne drained her glass. ‘Ready for another one?’

Frankie scowled. ‘What?’

‘If the investigators were able to obtain the information, maybe I could use the same source.’

‘The theatre company?’ asked Frankie. She didn’t like the way Leanne kept her poker face. ‘Please don’t say you’re going to approach Phillipa Montgomery.’

‘Now that’s an idea,’ replied Leanne, as if the thought had never struck her before. ‘I’m sure she’ll be more than happy to help now that she knows we’re not gunning for her.’

‘Need I remind you that last time you spoke to her, you accused her of having an affair with Declan? She won’t talk to anyone from the Courier. I’ve already tried. I was surprised we managed to get any kind of statement from her at all.’

Leanne had been surprised too. Phillipa’s official response to the findings had been surprisingly meek. It was as if she were intent on self-flagellation now that the press and the prosecutors had no appetite to punish her.

‘She might talk to me,’ Leanne said.

‘Because?’

‘Because I’m bloody-minded,’ Leanne said, playfully. ‘Now do you want another drink? I don’t know about you, but I’m here for the duration.’

By the time Frankie left to catch the last train, the low table in front of the chesterfield had acquired an impressive collection of empty glasses and crisp packets, the latter bought to soak up the alcohol because Leanne had been trained well. Lois always made sure they didn’t drink on empty stomachs.

Lois Granger had been the kind of person who insisted her fellow students couldn’t party until their essays had been handed in. She was the one who kept a ten-pound note in her shoe for a taxi at the end of the night, and she was the one who made sure Leanne drank a glass of water before she went to bed. Even Leanne’s ex, whom she had lived with for three years, hadn’t looked after her the way Lois had.