‘How dare you say something like that to me!’ she exploded at him. ‘I don’t need you to lecture me about what I owe to those people. I know what happened. I know who was responsible for it.’

‘Last chance. Did you and Lyle know what Birch did?’

‘Yes, of course we knew!’ Caprice hissed at him. ‘Do you think we’re idiots? Do you think we could spend all that time with a candidate and not realize he’s a self-absorbed, cheating, abusive son of a bitch? News flash for you, Cab. So are half the politicians in Washington and Tallahassee. Birch would have fit right in.’

‘Maybe so, but he never would have been elected if the truth had come out back then. He would have been crucified for what he did to Diane. It would have been the end of the Common Way Party before it even started.’

‘You’re right. That’s true. It’s true today, too. Why the hell do you think we kept it a secret? Why do you think it’s still a secret? People like heroes and martyrs, Cab. They want the image, they don’t want reality. Do you think anyone would thank you if you exposed what Birch did? That’s not what they want to hear. The person you’d be hurting is Diane, because victims don’t get elected governor.’

‘But sometimes victims kill their abusers,’ Cab said.

Caprice was silent. Then she said: ‘What on earth are you talking about?’

‘Diane paid money to Frank Macy two days before the murders. What was that money for?’

The silence dragged out again, even longer this time. ‘I can’t believe you’d even suggest something like that.’

‘Diane was seen with Macy.’

‘I don’t care who saw what. Diane did not have Birch killed.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Cab, do you think we could have kept what Birch did out of the press without Diane being involved? I talked to her personally. Just her and me, woman to woman. It was her choice to keep it a secret. It was her choice to go on with the campaign. You may find this hard to imagine, but she believes in Common Way, and she believed in it back then. She chose to stay silent about Birch, because she wanted him to win despite everything else. Do you think she would turn around and have him murdered?’

‘Do you have another explanation?’

‘I don’t,’ Caprice said, ‘but I know Diane. She wouldn’t do that. Besides, we’re not just talking about Birch. Can you honestly tell me that you think Diane would let innocent people die?’

‘Not if she knew what was going to happen. Maybe she didn’t know.’

‘You think she paid Frank Macy, but she didn’t know what he was going to do?’ Caprice asked.