Claudia’s heart skipped a beat and she pressed a hand to her chest. ‘You went to see Phillipa Montgomery?’

‘I thought she would know what made Declan go up to the circle. He can’t have been looking for me. It had to be her. And wasn’t the VIP area up there? Did you know he fell?’

Claudia swallowed hard. She didn’t care about Declan. ‘What happened with Phillipa?’

‘I told her she was the reason he got trapped, that she killed him. I was so angry,’ Karin said, her last words tangled with a sob. ‘She says she wasn’t there that night, and she laughed at the idea of an affair. I screamed at her, told her she was a liar, said that even her friends knew about it.’

‘What exactly did you say to her, Karin?’ When Karin didn’t reply immediately, Claudia’s stomach somersaulted. ‘Did you mention me?’

‘I, well, yes, I suppose I did.’ She glanced up. ‘Sorry.’

Claudia struggled for breath. ‘No, it’s fine,’ she managed. ‘When was this?’

‘Last week, the day after the report came out.’

Squeezing her eyes shut, Claudia found she could see more clearly. Phillipa knew what she had been saying about her. She was the reason Claudia was back to being persona non grata. That was why Bryony was so difficult to pin down. And if they had been together when Claudia had phoned earlier, it would have caused no end of amusement. Claudia told herself that Bryony didn’t deserve her friendship, but the rejection hurt more than she would like.

‘I won’t stop until I find out what happened,’ Karin was saying. ‘I was thinking I’d speak to the press, see if they can find out more. I’ve started reading the papers again. The Courier is listing Declan as one of the victims at long last, so maybe they do have a conscience.’

When Claudia looked at Karin, she wanted to drag her by the scarf to the lake so she could dunk the stupid bitch in the water. She exhaled slowly, and the next breath was easier. She was firefighting, and not for the first time.

‘You can’t trust the press, Karin. They’re not looking to help the likes of us, I can promise you that much. I know it sounds churlish given how the Courier has written such nice things about me, but when Leanne Pitman told the world about my miscarriage, I felt violated afterwards. And as for that reunion with Amelia, I’ll be honest, I faked it.’

‘How do you mean?’