‘She was upset. I told her things were still bad for me, and she said that she wished she could help me out again but that things had changed and she was running low on cash. She wanted me to pay her back, and I said I would as soon as I could. I asked her if everything was okay, and she started crying. I asked her if it was something to do with a bloke, but she said it wasn’t that.’

‘Did she give you any idea what she was upset about?’

‘She said things were bad at the house. I got the feeling she was fighting with the girls.’

Oli’s impatience bubbles to the surface. ‘I need to be clear, Mr Stanley. At any point did your daughter say anything about Alex Riboni threatening her or being paid to harm her?’

‘Not in so many words,’ he admits. ‘But I’m telling you, she was on edge. She was scared of those girls, and I’m not just saying that ’cause of what happened.’

‘But she didn’t say why?’

‘You sound like the cops,’ he mutters. ‘Look, she didn’t spell it out, but I knew my daughter, and something was up with her.’

‘Did she say anything about the party they were having the following night?’

‘She mentioned it. She told me Nicole invited that professor. Someone should be looking at him—I’ve heard he’s not short of a bob. Maybe he was giving her money.’

Oli presses her fingers to her temples. ‘So, in your opinion, why did they have people over when they were arguing?’

‘I don’t know, do I.’ Mitchell is clearly losing his patience too. ‘I guess they were trying to patch things up.’

‘Okay, okay.’ She tries to think. ‘There have been some reports of Evelyn earning money at a brothel. I know she told you she was short of money, but did she mention anything about what she was doing for work?’

‘My daughter wasn’t a slut. She barely even had boyfriends. That Calamity Jane story was a load of shit.’

‘Of course,’ Oli murmurs, thinking that a father is never going to react well to the possibility his daughter was getting paid for sex.

‘She was going to focus on her acting. She got a role in Sydney she was considering, and I had the feeling she planned to drop out of uni. I told Gerry, and she went ballistic. She always wanted Evelyn to get a degree above anything else.’

‘You told your wife about your conversation with Evelyn?’

‘Uh-huh. Called her the next day, the Friday. Like I said, I was worried. She wasn’t herself.’

‘Was Geraldine worried too?’

‘I think she thought I was exaggerating. We were going through a rough patch.’

Oli recalls Geraldine’s anguished cries, Mitchell grabbing her as she lurched along Paradise Street toward her dead daughter.