I called out. ‘Zac.’ He turned, looked in the wrong direction. ‘Zac, we’re over here.’

He nodded, stood, approached, saw Sarah, smiled. ‘I didn’t expect both of you.’ He sat. Something was up, he could sense it, but that didn’t matter now. ‘Is Biddy with the kids?’

‘They’re with Kyle,’ Sarah said.

My heartrate was –

‘We both wanted to talk to you,’ I said. ‘I’ll launch right into it, if you like.’

He took out a cigarette, offered us one, we declined, lit up. ‘Sure. Go ahead.’

‘OK, so there are some things I’m going to ask you about, and I want you to think very carefully before answering.’

He smiled, eyes flitting between Sarah’s and mine. ‘Sure.’

‘I’ll go backwards chronologically, and –’

‘Chris, what is all this?’

‘Why are you lying about doing a masters degree?’

J’accuse!

‘Um, well, I’m not,’ he said. ‘I was in class today, my summer intensive. The masters starts at the end of the month.’

My hands were shaking. Zac’s weren’t. Sarah seemed OK. I reached down, pulled the dossier from my bag, placed it on the table. He looked at the cover sheet, glanced at Sarah, at me, laughed.

‘The Confirmation of Enrolment you sent me was a fake.’

‘You didn’t even go to the rental viewing,’ he said. ‘I was there, Chris. You didn’t turn up. And the agent said he hadn’t spoken to you.’

Calm, calm. ‘Can we stick to the point – the letter was a forgery.’

He seemed relieved, relaxed, drew on his cigarette. ‘OK, well, I’m not sure how to tell you this, but it wasn’t a forged document.’

‘So the university was wrong when they told me it was fake?’

‘Sounds like it.’ He took a sip of his beer, looked at Sarah. I looked at her too, she looked at me.

‘So that’s your answer?’ I said. ‘Take as much time as you need. I’ve got plenty more questions.’

‘Why were you looking into this in the first place?’

‘That’s not the question.’

‘Well, it is actually, because it’s my privacy we’re talking about, and –’

‘Your privacy?’ Don’t get emotional, Chris. Stay calm. The weight of evidence. Sophie and Oliver. ‘OK, so … Why did you lie about being in prison?’

‘Uh, I didn’t.’ He adjusted his glasses. ‘I have plenty of documentation to prove it.’

‘Zac,’ Sarah said, ‘I took the photocopy you gave me to the court. They said it was a fake and you didn’t serve any time.’ There was compassion in her voice. Fuck compassion.

He sighed, smiled. ‘Look, Sarah, I don’t consider myself a stupid person or whatever. Courts can’t divulge that kind of information because of confidentiality. Where was I if I wasn’t in prison? Why would I lie about that?’