As Oli watches the lady get it back on track, she fishes in her bag for a muesli bar. She chews on it, thinking about the conversation with Cara, her mention of the argument over a computer. What could it have been about? Maybe one of the girls discovered an incriminating email—Miles cheating on Alex with Evelyn? Nicole might have found out and told Alex, who retaliated in the worst possible way. Nicole felt guilty enough to panic and go into hiding. Or what if one of the girls stumbled across evidence of McCrae being in a relationship with a student, and they were blackmailing him? But they weren’t in high school—would it really have been that scandalous?

Oli needs to speak to Miles. And the neighbours, Matt and Ren. And Professor McCrae. The other guests.

She starts with Tanya and Roy. Their Facebook profiles reveal they are no longer together, although both now live overseas. Their accounts are set to private. She shoots them each a quick generic message asking for a quick chat. Amber doesn’t come up in the search and she’s not on LinkedIn either.

Next Oli calls the mobile numbers she has for Matt and Ren, but neither connects. She searches on Facebook, and Matt’s page loads, an out-of-date profile with dozens of condolence messages on its wall. He died in an accident a few years ago; the unexpected news is sobering as Oli scrolls through his friends list. She finds Ren, but he hasn’t used Facebook in years; his profile photo is a shot of a border collie. She sends him a quick message, then realises she has a landline number scribbled in her old notebook below his mobile number. She calls. It goes straight to voicemail with no recorded message, so she identifies herself and asks that he call her back.

She plugs Miles’s name into Facebook, but gets too many results to sort through easily. She switches to Google and adds ‘Melbourne’ to the search. Hundreds of news articles come up, as well as a LinkedIn profile with his picture. She recognises him easily: serious face, short black hair. Assuming his profile is up to date, he’s currently an accountant at a firm called Stawell & Finch. She googles the company and finds a number for reception.

When Oli and Jo spoke to Miles back in 2005, he was awkward and a little standoffish. But in fairness, not many people are prepared to be thrust viciously into the spotlight, to suddenly see their own face splashed across the front pages of the paper. To have their girlfriend of two years accused of murder.

Oli calls the number and speaks to a pleasant woman called Bridie with a strong British accent. ‘Miles is very popular today!’ she trills. ‘But he’s not in. Can I get him to call you back?’

‘Do you think he’ll be in tomorrow?’ Oli asks casually.