‘I’m sorry.’ Caroline touches her arm and, for once, Fran doesn’t recoil. ‘I know this will come as a shock and I’m genuinely sorry I’m having to break it to you like this. It’s why I kept hassling you, I—’

‘Who killed her? Why?’

‘That’s what I’m trying to work out.’

‘But … the police, the Gozoian and the British police, they both agreed it was suicide.’

‘Hmmm.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

‘Have you heard of Daphne Caruana Galizia?’

‘Of course. She was an investigative journalist. She died when a bomb went off under her car.’

Caroline’s hand falls away from Fran’s arm and she glances around, checking they aren’t being overheard. ‘She didn’t just die. She was assassinated. Galizia had been exposing corruption at the highest level of government.’

‘What’s this got to do with Jenna?’

‘Corruption isn’t solely centred on Malta. No one wants there to be a murder on Gozo, not when so many tourists flood there every year. It’s crime free, or so they claim.’

Fran waves a hand through the air, wafting Caroline’s cigarette smoke away. It all sounds so preposterous, like some kind of spy thriller or one of her mother’s outlandish theories.

‘Blood was found on the ground where Jenna was last seen.’ Caroline reads the shock on her face. ‘I’m so sorry. Maybe I should have put that more sensitively.’

‘It’s fine. I’d rather know the facts.’

‘Okay, well, blood was found, enough to suggest a violent altercation, but the evidence was misplaced.’

‘Misplaced!’

‘Along with most of the witness statements. The statements that were used as evidence were the ones suggesting Jenna took her own life. There’s been a massive cover up, Fran, and I’m pretty sure Tom’s part of it.’

‘What did his statement say? “I don’t know what happened because I ran away.”’

Caroline laughs dryly. ‘A fine leader he was, hiding in a church in the next town when people were dying.’

‘You’re sure it was murder?’ Fran asks.

Caroline sucks on her cigarette then tips back her head and blows grey smoke upwards. ‘More than sure. The blood … it’s definitely your sister’s. I saw the lab reports.’

Fran looks back at the house and remembers Tom at dinner, knocking back the wine and chatting like he didn’t have a care in the world. ‘Do you think he killed her?’

‘That’s what I’m trying to find out. I need to talk to the others.’

‘What others?’

‘Three of the guests who were at the retreat in Gozo are here. You just had dinner with them. In fact—’ She stops speaking and looks to her left.

‘What is it?’ Fran asks.

‘I thought I heard something. A branch snapping or—’