‘No. No!’ I elbowed Paola aside, took both Rhonda’s hands in mine, the rules be damned. ‘Listen, there must be something we can do, talk to these lawyers I have, even, or . . .’

Gently, she took her hands away.

‘But honey,’ she said, ‘I did it. I’m not innocent. I killed my babies. And now the state’s going to kill me. We’re on Death Row, Casey. Where did you think this was?’

Rachel

Rachel

Think, come on. Think. I was back in a holding cell, on a short break between the endless rounds of questioning. Over and over. When did I last see Anna. Could anyone prove I hadn’t left the house the night she was murdered. When did I last see my knife. Rachel, we know what happened. You were jealous of Anna, and wanted her gone so you could be with her husband unopposed. You lured her into the woods, where you stabbed her and left her to die. Now isn’t that the truth?

‘No,’ was all I could say. ‘No, I didn’t.’

It was just like before. How could you prove you hadn’t done a thing, with no witnesses except for a dog? I was sure they would charge me any minute – this knife, that was powerful evidence. A literal smoking gun.

How could this be happening? I didn’t kill Anna. Of course I didn’t. I hadn’t even seen her since that Co-op incident.

Is that true?

Of course it was true. I didn’t need to start doubting my own mind, on top of everything else. Back then, they had done their best to make me think I was crazy. But did you touch the knife that day? Are you sure? Fingerprints don’t last that long, you know (that was a lie, but how was I to know?). Exactly what was your relationship with the deceased, David Safran? We have proof of your affair, you know. You may as well confess. Did you do it and block it out, maybe? That would sure be understandable.

I was older now, and I knew it was rare to have total blackouts, the kind where you could kill someone and not remember. It did happen, but it was unlikely.

Think.

Occam’s razor: the simplest explanation is most likely the right one. That was a thing Jeremy used to say a lot, until it began to irritate me and, eventually, I had to leave him – for that and a million other reasons.

So, I hadn’t killed Anna, but she had probably been stabbed using a knife from my kitchen – at least, she had been stabbed and my knife had been found by her body. Therefore, someone else had taken the knife and put it there. But why had the police only just found it? I knew they had searched the woods thoroughly after the body was found.