‘Bits,’ Leanne said vaguely. ‘But there was nothing to it.’

‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ asked Frankie.

‘Look, I know I’ve spent a year using Phillipa as target practice, but it turns out she’s not all bad. I’d go as far as to say the events of the past year have left her ever so slightly humbled.’

Frankie tutted. ‘Not enough to stop her pulling strings and grabbing some self-promotion.’

‘She likes power,’ Leanne said. ‘Would we be so critical if she were a man?’

‘Yes,’ Frankie said quickly.

‘I don’t think she’s doing this simply for her own benefit. She’s accepted that her position in Sedgefield is untenable,’ explained Leanne, as shocked as her colleagues that she should be defending Phillipa.

‘So why bother?’ asked Frankie.

‘She wants to put one particular person in her place, and I don’t see why that can’t work to our advantage too.’

‘Have we come full circle back to Claudia?’ Mal guessed. ‘Do you want to fill us in?’

‘I’ve been putting together a detailed plan of who was sitting where at the theatre, all in my own time,’ she said, for her editor’s benefit. ‘And guess what? Two, as yet unidentified, women were in the seats allocated to Claudia.’

‘Then where was she?’ asked Mal.

‘That is a very good question, and one I put to her this morning,’ Leanne said, enjoying the change in atmosphere she was creating. The tension had left the room, replaced by growing anticipation. ‘She claims there was a mix-up with the tickets.’

‘And was there?’

‘Not that she’s ever mentioned before. Her latest story is that she managed to find an empty seat nearby, but she was very evasive about where, and I’m not surprised. The stalls were packed that night.’

Mal had his cup halfway to his mouth. ‘Are we saying Claudia was never at the theatre?’

‘I don’t think anyone can argue that she wasn’t there. She suffered the effects of smoke inhalation, and Beth McCulloch saw her turn around at the exit, which implies she was there to begin with,’ Leanne said, but she didn’t feel as comfortable with this assertion as once she had.

Frankie sensed it too. ‘Did she actually see Claudia turn around? That suggests one quick movement, but if you look at the comments online since the anniversary, quite a few people mention seeing Claudia standing for a while by the fire doors.’

‘Let me check.’

Leanne’s cheeks burnt with a mixture of humiliation and fury as she realised her mistake. She had seen the comments too, but had dismissed them because they appeared to support the argument that Claudia had been helping people. She searched her phone for the recording of Beth’s interview.

‘Here it is,’ she said, after a few false starts to find the right place. She pressed play.