The woman officer shot me a cutting look. Homewrecker, it said. Just like the rest of them.

‘What are you saying?’ McKnight asked, hands to knees. ‘That someone broke in?’

‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘Maybe.’

‘Okay, so someone stole your underwear. How? There are no signs of forced entry. Do you not lock your doors?’

I pictured the unlocked door the morning I’d woken to find John in my bed. We had been so drunk the night he’d stayed over, so stupid. It wasn’t beyond reason to imagine Davis coming in, seeing us, grabbing my key, finding a place to make a copy – Walmart was open twenty-four hours, and it was only a few miles away in Kingston – then slipping my key back onto its hook.

‘I do, but I might have forgotten once or twice. If those are mine, and if they weren’t taken by John, someone else took them.’

McKnight cut me off. ‘So you’re reaffirming you’ve never been in that cabin?’

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Like I said earlier, I swear.’

He made a show of checking his notes. ‘Yes, you did. The thing is, we have witnesses in the area who say they saw a woman of your description around the cabin at night.’

I wrapped my arms around my body, digging my hands into my sides as my blood ran hot and my pulse sped up. ‘What do you mean of my description?’

‘Dark hair,’ he said. ‘Medium height. Slim build. Black coat.’ He nodded to my wool winter coat, hanging on a peg near the door.

I released my grasp on myself, and for a second, the hatch had opened, and all I could do was burst through. ‘That’s me, all right. And half the women in this fucking town. And if it was dark, light hair might look brown. So might as well be Vera, too. Or Claire. Or Rachel. Jesus.’

McKnight’s eyebrows shot up. Then his head twisted, slowly, toward the camera, reminding me.

I didn’t need his admonishment. I knew. We women weren’t supposed to let our anger slip, lest we seem hysterical, unhinged. It was half of why I loved Vera. She wore her anger like a designer cardigan – right there on the outside for anyone to see.

I took a deep breath, closing the hatch again.

McKnight shrugged. ‘So maybe it is a common description. But we have to pursue all leads, I’m sure you understand.’

He paused, and then a smile crept to the corners of his mouth, the smile he always got when he had another card up his sleeve.

I grabbed at coils of hair, pushing them out of my face and then tugging, just enough so it hurt. ‘I swear to god, I never even got out of the car.’