‘I wasn’t prying, if that’s what you think. It came up in relation to something else. I was looking into Metamuse.’ She wanted to tell him about Rose Devriendt, but she didn’t know how he’d react. What if he didn’t believe her? What if he didn’t care? Petra felt oddly protective of Rose and her tragedy.

‘Oh yeah, it’s the final show tonight,’ Vincent said.

‘You’re not planning to go, are you?’

‘I don’t know. Probably not.’

‘Good. I don’t think you should. Did Ellis Brown tell you how they’ve been manipulating us?’

‘I haven’t heard from him since that night you saw him.’

That was a surprise. Why would he suddenly switch his attention from Vincent to her? Maybe because he recognised that she was more receptive to the story he was selling. ‘Well, he told me to look into the show. That’s why I asked Suki in the first place. It’s scary—’

‘Yeah, of course. That’s why it’s cool, right?’

‘They used Beccie to draw you in. That’s not “cool”. That’s evil and devious. Just like putting drugs in the drinks and the aircon.’

‘Free hallucinogens for all? I don’t think so.’

What more could she say to convince him? The shows are a front for serial murders, Vincent. They target members of the audience and brainwash them to kill deliberately selected people in apparently random accidents. It’s happened in Paris and Tokyo and Oslo and Boston – and now it’s happening here. And this time we’re the perpetrators they’ve chosen.

She didn’t say it because, after all the corroboration and proof she’d seen, she still couldn’t bring herself to believe it.

‘Okay,’ Petra said, ‘believe what you want. But please trust me on this: I’ve learned some things lately and it’s clear that Metamuse is a front for dangerous stuff, real-world stuff, even criminal stuff. You need to keep away.’

‘That sounds a bit paranoid, right? It’s a theatre group.’

‘It’s true, Vincent. I should show you what I’ve read. It involves you as much as me, after all. But I can’t do it today. My mother’s in the hospital.’

‘Oh, sorry. Is she alright?’

‘She’ll be fine. Thanks. But listen – promise me, please, that you won’t go tonight.’

He hesitated.

‘You think you’re going to find Beccie there, don’t you?’ she said. Another affirmative silence. ‘But you won’t find her. That’s what they want you to believe to get you there. But it’s not true.’