‘Shit, it looks like this proves Claudia could have seen—’ Leanne stopped. She had been distracted by another of Joe’s annotations scribbled across the solitary aisle seat next to Claudia’s. ‘What does that say?’

‘C Brody,’ he said, squinting at his own handwriting.

‘Oh, my God, it’s Carole Brody,’ Leanne said. ‘I’ve interviewed her. She went alone because her daughter was heavily pregnant. But, she told me she was in the middle of the auditorium, not on the left.’

Joe shrugged. ‘I suppose she was in one of the middle rows.’

‘She talked about helping a woman who had become hysterical,’ Leanne said. Her eyes widened. ‘It was someone she had been sitting next to.’

‘You think the woman was Claudia?’

Oh, please, God, let it be Claudia, Leanne thought, but her nose wrinkled. ‘Carole said she hadn’t seen Claudia. I suppose it’s possible she was too traumatised to connect the woman she helped to the slick photos of Claudia in the press.’ She rubbed her temples with the tips of her fingers. ‘Damn, even if it was her, I have another witness who saw Claudia go back inside anyway. It doesn’t prove she didn’t save Amelia. This is the problem. There was so much confusion that it’s given Claudia the opportunity to make up what she likes. I practically gifted her the story that set her up as the town’s hero.’

‘There was chaos everywhere,’ Joe agreed. ‘It wasn’t as bad around the side of the theatre, but there was a crowd milling around the fire doors.’

‘You were there? Could you have seen Claudia, or Carole maybe?’ asked Leanne. She grabbed her phone and found an image of Carole on the Courier’s website.

Joe shook his head. ‘It was like sensory overload. My mind registered only what I needed to see to reach my goal, and that was getting back to Lois.’ He closed his eyes as if that would help. ‘I ran around to the side hoping I could get back in. It was possible. Declan Gallagher obviously managed it, but a policeman stopped me. I did try, Leanne, but I couldn’t get to her. I often wonder if it would have made a difference …’

For a brief time, they had been able to concentrate on something other than the loss they shared, but it would always come back to Lois. Losing her had almost broken them, but they were holding on. Leanne could forgive Joe because he had done nothing wrong. One day she hoped to forgive herself too, but that didn’t mean she was ready to stop fighting. Not every injustice had to be accepted.

23