‘Mr Santino, would you describe your relationship as volatile?’ he asked.

‘Yes. I would have to say yes to that.’ Santino straightened his shoulders, like a schoolboy bravely owning up to some minor transgression. ‘Because of the passion of the connection me and Kendra had, we had arguments sometimes. I’m not proud about that. But Kendra, she would get mad and shout at me just as loud.’

‘Did you ever hit Kendra?’

‘Oh no. Never.’ Santino made a show of being sickened by the suggestion. ‘I would never hurt her in any way.’

‘But you could feel quite jealous over your girlfriend—is that so?’

‘Yes, that’s true. I mean, if other men thought she was hot, it made me feel good—she was hot and she was mine. But I didn’t like it if guys came on to her too obviously, panting over her. But then Kendra could be possessive too—she hated other women coming on to me. The jealousy was only because we loved each other so strongly.’

Woodburn sighed sternly, playing it with an edge of disapproval. He eyeballed the jury, so they could take a good look at how rigorous he was being with his client. But eventually he nodded slowly, letting the jury know that he, Gilbert Woodburn, was finally satisfied with Santino’s answers to these tough questions.

Surely no one would be taken in by this farce. But when Anita scanned the jurors, some of them seemed to be going with it.

Next, Woodburn took John Santino through the last months of Kendra’s life. The answers were prepared, well calibrated to present Santino as the imperfect but devoted boyfriend, answers that folded the foul-tasting evidence into a more palatable mixture.

‘It was her idea to drop out of acting classes. I kept telling her she was talented but she had too much self-doubt.’

‘I loved the way Kendra looked. But she begged me to help her lose weight. “Be my body coach, Johnny,” she said. So we came up with the plan, together, to have rewards like the Hamilton Island trip as incentives. I regret that now. I blame myself for maybe making her anorexia worse.’

‘Kendra started withdrawing from her friends when she got depressed. I kept saying ‘Ring your friend Damien.” I liked the guy. But Kendra said Damien always pressured her about going back to acting and he made her feel bad about herself.’

Anita turned her head enough that she could see Damien Ross in her peripheral vision. She felt agonised for him. He must have wanted to pound down the aisle and smash Santino’s shiny fucking forehead against the wooden edge of the witness box. But Damien stayed very still, just staring at the man who had killed his friend and was now telling lies about her.