‘What happened?’ Marina repeats. ‘How did she die?

Slowly he shakes his head. ‘There was so much blood.’

Marina breathes slowly. ‘Because you hurt her.’

He shakes his head. ‘No. There was so much blood because . . .’ He stops, starts again. ‘I didn’t see the baby at first. I was angry with Connie because she had my money. She was leaving, taking it away. She had no right to do that. Nobody did.’

‘What did you do?’

He ignores her question. ‘I knew if the police found her dead, they would accuse me and I didn’t want to go back to prison. I couldn’t risk that.’

‘Why?’

‘He had friends.’

‘Who?’

‘Frank Dennis.’

Frank Dennis. The dead man in the lake. ‘Did you kill him?’ she says, her mouth dry.

He stares back at her and she can see that he did. His guilt is palpable now, his expression unflinching.

‘You killed him,’ she says loudly. ‘You killed Frank Dennis and then you murdered my mother.’

‘No!’ he snaps.

‘Then tell me what happened.’

‘She was dying. It was too late to do anything. She was bleeding so much. I tried to stop it, but I couldn’t.’ He looks at his hands, then at the ground as if he can see it still.

‘Why would you be afraid of the police if you didn’t kill her?’

‘I didn’t understand what was happening.’

‘Yet you pushed her. Did you hurt her that way?’

He shakes his head. ‘No. I told you. She was dying anyway.’

‘Dying anyway?’ she hisses. ‘What do you mean, dying anyway? What was wrong with her? You could have called a doctor, they might have saved her. Instead you left my mother alone to die.’

Her voice breaks. The tragedy and injustice is too awful to bear.

‘I had no choice. I took the baby and I put her in the hall. I would have taken her to a hospital, but there was no time. The baby was crying. And when I got back . . .’

Marina clenches her fists. ‘What?’

‘It was too late. I told you. Connie was . . . dying.’

Marina looks across at Eva. She is sitting now, head in her hands. ‘She died alone,’ Marina repeats.

‘No.’

‘Why did nobody find her?’

‘They didn’t search the house. They thought the mother had come in from outside.’

‘You mean you led them to believe that. You said you had found the front door open.’