Dale wasn’t keen, but Saskia bribed him—said she’d buy his drinks for the rest of the winter—and she was probably only smiling because she’d learned how to do Cripplers.

“Anyway, Dale went to get changed,” Heather says. “And I asked her what she was smirking about. She . . . not exactly said but . . . insinuated she had had sex with him right there in the gym.”

Did they really, or was Saskia just messing with her? Saskia always did love to mess with people. I’m inclined to think she didn’t sleep with him, but I don’t want to tell Heather why I think that.

“When I confronted Dale, he denied it and stormed off. But . . .” Heather looks at me like she wants reassurance.

“If they slept together, I never heard about it.”

She checks over her shoulder again and lowers her voice. “Anyway, that was the night I slept with Brent.”

“Right.” So Brent didn’t cheat on me, because I split up with him the day before.

“I went round to Dale’s place to try to talk to him, but Dale wasn’t there, only Brent.” Heather struggles for control and continues in a strained voice. “He gave me a hug and I poured it all out. Somehow I started kissing him. He asked if I was sure I wanted to do this, then he took me upstairs.”

A tear rolls down her cheek.

Good old Brent. The perfect shoulder to cry on. Followed by the perfect revenge shag. It was bloody risky—presumably Dale could have turned up at any moment—but Brent always was a risk-taker and I knew he had a soft spot for her. Still, I’m surprised at him. He and Dale were mates. I guess he was upset about our breakup and Heather caught him at a weak moment.

“Who else knows about that?” I say.

“Saskia. Nobody else.”

A jolt passes through me. Curtis seems to think his sister’s behind all this, and what Heather’s just told me fits in with that idea.

“It was really bad timing,” Heather says. “Saskia was in the street when Brent showed me out. She saw Brent hug me on the doorstep and put two and two together. Asked me outright.”

Yeah, somehow that doesn’t surprise me. Saskia was astute like that.

“I denied it, but I guess I was too flustered to be convincing. She laughed her head off.”

I can just picture Saskia doing that. Poor Heather.

“I nearly slapped her right then.” Heather’s hand clenches at her side. “Leave it, I told myself. Walk away. I had to work that night, so I went back to my place to get changed.”

“So what happened at Glow Bar?” I say. “Why did you two start fighting again?”