Anita’s thought process was frying to a burnt mess. Paula had been thinking about this. She had her wording prepared. But Anita—she’d been caught off guard. She wasn’t ready.

‘Fucking hell, Paula, I know you don’t believe in capital punishment, so how can you possibly—’

‘This wasn’t about punishment. Or revenge. I don’t want revenge. If Santino had gone to jail, he couldn’t have done Brooke any harm. Good. Leave him safe in jail—I don’t care. I’m not interested in making him suffer. But he didn’t go to jail. He was out and I felt I had to stop him doing any more damage.’

‘I see,’ said Anita sarcastically. ‘You see yourself committing “preventative murders” for the good of the community.’

Paula didn’t say anything. Anita then tried provoking her into some response other than the weirdly calm prepared-speech thing she was doing.

‘Listen to yourself,’ Anita snapped at her. ‘You think you’re so fucking wise. The wise doctor who knows what’s best for everyone, better than they know themselves. You’re so convinced your judgement is right, even if—’

‘I’m not convinced,’ Paula countered. ‘What happened to Stacey and the kids—Jesus, that shattered any sense I ever had about being convinced of anything or being wise. But I believe that if the stakes are this high—if a woman is going to die—then me not being a hundred per cent sure is not a good enough excuse. It’s not an excuse to do nothing.’

‘Morally arrogant. Do you get how self-righteous this is?’

‘I guess I can. It didn’t feel self-righteous when I did it. It felt urgent and necessary.’

‘You reckon killing people is the solution? There are other ways to—’

‘Are there? They’re not working, not fast enough.’

‘So you’re slaying monsters, are you? You’re the good doctor, curing this disease. But what you’re actually doing is violating every—I mean, aren’t doctors supposed to uphold the sanctity of life?’

‘Yes. Yes. And that’s what this is about: the preciousness of life—the lives of women and children that anyone could see were at grave risk.’

‘Why did you tell me?’ Anita bellowed at her. ‘Why the fuck did you tell me now?’

‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have. I feel the pressure of it inside me and you’re the only person I could tell.’

‘Great. Thanks. One of the cosy benefits of friendship. Are you planning to kill any more men?’

‘No.’

‘Well, I guess I should say “good on you”. It’ll just be the two murders then.’

Paula said nothing.

‘Are you going to go to the police, confess?’ Anita demanded.

‘No. I’m not. I mean, in lots of ways that would be a relief. But I can’t.’