‘Todd was a super-cute Olympic diver. I watched all his fitness tips on YouTube. Spent hours online trying to buy gold sneakers like the ones he wore on Good Morning America. I’d stare at his picture and lie on my bed imagining that I could reach across and touch him. When I thought about how Todd didn’t even know my name, my body ached so bad I wanted to die.’

Charlie shuddered with contempt and broke silence. ‘Why are you telling me this?’

O’Banyon cracked a motherly smile, at odds with the black eye make-up. ‘We know about the messages you sent to Deion Powell,’ she purred. ‘We found his practice shirts under your bed. We found hundreds of photos and newspaper clippings on your laptop and a steak knife with pieces of rubber on close to Deion’s home.’

‘I don’t have his shirts,’ Charlie said incredulously. ‘I’ve never messaged Deion. I’ve never even been to a stupid Rockets football game.’

O’Banyon let Charlie’s words float as she kept talking. ‘We haven’t run the DNA test yet, but the steak knife has a white plastic handle with a feather design. It’s an exact match for the cutlery in your trailer. Your den at the back of Tire Maxx sent the explosive-sniffing dogs into a frenzy. The forensic report will take a couple of days, but I’d bet a year’s salary that the explosive residues at Rock Spring High will match the ones we detected on your clothes when you were arrested.’

Charlie had been expecting questions about JJ, the explosives and how JJ got hold of them.

‘This Deion stuff is all lies,’ Charlie said, as tense fingers dug into her knee. ‘Is this some cop trick? Trying to knock me off balance?’

‘Who are you trying to fool, Charlie?’ O’Banyon said. ‘You had a mad crush on Deion and when you realised you couldn’t have him, you made sure nobody else could either.’

‘I don’t … Just …’ Charlie shouted, then shook her head and tried to compose herself. ‘JJ already handed himself in to confess. Maybe it was at another precinct. How can you not know what’s going on?’

‘You can’t pin this on JJ,’ O’Banyon said, confidently shaking her head. ‘JJ was an obvious suspect. Very sensibly, he came here shortly after the attack with a lawyer who works for his father. He was open and honest about everything.’

‘Was it him that pointed the finger at me?’

‘JJ was able to comprehensively explain his movements from the last time Deion accessed his locker on Wednesday night until the explosion this morning. He was at a party all night, and he stayed at his father’s house, sharing a bed with your sister, Fawn. The Janssen property has extensive CCTV, and all recorded footage has been handed across.’