‘Forget I said that. That’s unsubstantiated. Listen – this I can tell you for sure. Those newspaper stories. The ones that accuse me of God knows what. They were your mother trying to ruin me. But she didn’t ruin me. All she ended up doing was tearing Cat’s heart out. Annalise might still be alive, for all anyone knows. Lucky for me, Cat saw through it all in the end. But it was touch and go. She hated me for a long time.’

‘So you’re still friends with Cat Cannon?’

‘Oh, yeah. She’ll be here any minute.’

‘But … it wasn’t just my mother throwing around accusations. Cat accused you of kidnapping her daughter too. I read the articles.’

‘She wasn’t in her right mind,’ says Michael. ‘And forgiveness is the mark of a strong person. It was a long time ago. Water under the bridge. Lorna was in Cat’s ear at her lowest moment, telling her all kinds of crazy shit. God, your mother caused some pain, I can tell you. And I’ll tell you something else. If anyone knows what happened to Annalise, it’s Lorna. Your mother saw that young girl as a rival. She wanted to be rid of her like she wanted rid of Diane. It wouldn’t surprise me if … Oh, forget it. Let’s not go down that road.’

I swallow. ‘You think my mother knows what happened to Annalise?’

‘I don’t know.’ Michael rubs at his forehead and eyes. ‘But I do believe Lorna knows a lot more than she’s letting on. Now isn’t the right time for all of this. We’re getting this party together and it’s a celebration, you coming home. Hey – you’re into music, aren’t you? You said you were in a band. You know, there’ll be a lot of industry bigwigs here today—’

‘My mother does that,’ I say. ‘Changes the subject.’

‘Well, look, it’s some pretty dark and heavy stuff we’re getting into,’ says Michael, standing. ‘I’m just saying … let’s park it for now and enjoy this magical moment. Father and daughter reunited. The party’s starting and there are a lot of people I want you to meet.’

‘But I want to talk about it now,’ I say. ‘That’s what I’m here for.’

Michael’s eyes turn serious. ‘We will talk, Liberty. When the time is right. But you’ve only just got here. I tell you the truth now, and you’re likely to think I’m as crazy as Lorna. You need to get to know me first, at least a little bit. Meet my friends. See who I really am. Now, listen. About this band of yours. What’s it called?’

‘Skywalker.’ The word is reluctantly said as I take a kitchen stool. ‘After my dog. We’re sort of punk, new age meets rock and roll. A bit of everything.’