‘But the circle overhangs the stalls. Even if he thought there would be enough light to see what was going on, most of the people trapped downstairs were taking cover beneath the circle, waiting to get out through the foyer.’

Mal raised an eyebrow. ‘And how reliable is your witness?’

‘It was after the first ceiling collapse, and she admits she couldn’t see clearly, but she recognised Declan from his accent.’

‘She spoke to him?’

‘No, she was in the stalls when she heard him calling out.’

‘Calling out to his sister by any chance?’ Mal smiled when Leanne winced. ‘So he was looking for her?’

Leanne gritted her teeth. She must not lose her temper. She most certainly shouldn’t swear. She wasn’t sure she could manage both. ‘My point is, he was upstairs when he had no reason to be.’

The door behind them creaked open, and Frankie poked her head through. ‘Sorry I’m late,’ she said, before realising her two colleagues were in the midst of a staring contest. ‘What have I missed?’

As she took a seat next to Leanne, Mal gave a brief summation. ‘Despite orders to the contrary, Leanne has been pursuing a story on Declan. She claims to have a witness who saw him up in the circle after the first ceiling collapse. Is that about it?’ he asked Leanne.

‘I don’t claim to have a witness, she very much exists. And I didn’t go digging, Carole Brody offered the information without any prompting from me.’

Mal laughed. ‘You’re telling me your star witness is a decrepit old lady who could allegedly see through dust and smoke?’

‘You wouldn’t dare call her decrepit if you met her.’ Realising from Mal’s blank stare that she was getting nowhere, Leanne turned to Frankie, shifting her body until she had her back to her editor. ‘I accept visibility wasn’t great, but the dust would have been settling by then, and the smoke was thickest up near the roof. We have lots of accounts from people who saw more than they would like and, as I explained to Mal, Carole heard him calling out to Karin. I might be speculating here, but I don’t suppose there were many men in the theatre that night who had a Northern Irish accent and were looking for someone called Karin.’

Frankie glanced at Mal and arched an eyebrow. ‘She has a point.’

Emboldened, Leanne added, ‘I don’t dispute that at some point he was looking for his sister, but it’s not unreasonable to ask why he would extend his search to the VIP area upstairs when he knew there was no way she would be up there. I’ve been thinking.’

Mal made a grumbling noise, but didn’t interrupt.