Fiona said she’d gone for a run on the moors as she regularly did and had tripped and hurt herself. Sara and Hailey had found her. Nothing more sinister than that. She denied having anything to do with a Sleeping Princess or voyeurism website, appalled that anyone could think such a thing. She pointed out that she was Sara’s boss and had simply been trying to help her through a sticky patch. Matt was clearly lying to save his marriage.

Sara knew this was what had been said, because the police reflected everything back to her, suggesting alternative interpretations of what had happened through their questions. She became quite flustered, wishing she’d thought to record the conversation with Fiona on the moors. Fiona had told the police that Sara was under a lot of stress because her home life was rocky. She’d been worried about Sara and told her to take time off work. That was true, of course, but it implied a certain amount of emotional instability that made Sara a less than credible witness. Without the incriminating video evidence, all Hailey knew of the alleged crimes was what she’d heard second-hand from Sara. Even the pictures she’d seen on the screen in Matt’s office could be quite innocent; just a man looking at a bit of porn.

Fiona could be so convincing, and she was a person of authority, an influential character in the area. As the questioning wore on, it became clear that the police believed her version of events. The item wrapped in plastic in her car was indeed the sort of external drive used for backups, but Fiona claimed to know nothing about it. Her car had been in for a valet the day before – maybe someone had put it in there? The data was all encrypted, so the police technicians were having a struggle to find out exactly what was on it, and Sara doubted they ever would.

Without any concrete evidence, Fiona and Matt had been free to go – though the allegations were still being investigated – and all Sara could see was trouble coming back to her door. Matt was denying everything; said the conversation Sara had recorded had been taken out of context, and had explanations lined up to justify his comments. Sara had been under a lot of stress working full-time, he’d said. She could be a little fanciful at times. He’d been taking Ezra and the girls away for a few days to give her a break and had no idea why she was saying she didn’t know anything about it.

She was well aware she was losing the battle. Matt and Fiona would be free to carry on with their venture and she was being painted as a neurotic woman who was having a bit of a breakdown.