‘Ah, but don’t try to tell me you wouldn’t jump at a story if there was some scandal to be revealed.’ Pru yanked on the oars harder.

‘Is there a scandal, then?’

‘Not if I have anything to do with it.’

Steph looked beyond Pru’s shoulder; they were only a few metres away from the other boats now, but Pru seemed to be heading around them. ‘Don’t we need to get closer to the boats?’

Pru didn’t answer but just eyed Steph, a small smile turning the corners of her mouth upwards. ‘Change of plan,’ she said.

‘What do you mean?’

‘You’re not really very good at lying,’ said Pru, adopting a carefree tone. ‘And don’t say you don’t know what I mean.’ Pru brought the boat to a halt. She was barely out of breath despite the exertion. She pulled the oars into the boat and then began undressing.

‘What are you doing?’ asked Steph in alarm as Pru took off her coat, followed by her shoes and then socks. Pru lifted the holdall and began putting her clothes into the bag.

To Steph’s surprise, Pru was wearing a wetsuit underneath her clothing.

‘I thought I’d take a swim,’ said Pru. ‘But not until you have first.’

Pru began rocking the boat.

‘Stop!’ Steph gripped both sides of the boat with her hands. There was no need to second-guess Pru now, whose plan was quite clear, but there was no way she was going to end up the same way as Elizabeth. ‘You drowned Elizabeth!’ she shouted.

Pru laughed out loud. ‘Of course I didn’t drown her. She drowned all by herself. You know, she was a terrible swimmer. Hated the water. I didn’t have to drown her, just get her in the water.’

‘You pushed her in,’ said Steph. ‘You’re responsible for her death. And I was stupid enough to think it was one of your sons.’

Pru stopped rocking the boat and her eyes hardened. ‘My sons are many things but they are not murderers. They haven’t got the stomach for it, they haven’t got the balls. They left me no choice. I did it for them.’

Steph felt stunned. She had underestimated Pru Sinclair by a long way. The woman was insane. She’d killed Elizabeth to protect her boys and now she wanted to do the same to Steph.

She needed to think of a plan, but out here in the middle of the lake her options were limited. She had to keep Pru talking while she tried to think of something. She had her phone with her but it was in her pocket, underneath the coat Pru had given her. She pulled it out and looked at the screen. No signal.

Pru laughed again. ‘You might as well throw that in the water. No use whatsoever out here.’