He reels back, his weight against the chair. ‘I guess I did. It’s like you said before, the evidence was so damning. I couldn’t see another explanation, and all the girls were acting so oddly that I thought anything was possible. My parents definitely thought she did it—they were beside themselves. The shame almost killed my grandma.’ He chews his lip. ‘I think in the end it did.’

‘But now?’ Oli presses. ‘What do you think now?’

Miles straightens. Speaks with a new urgency. ‘I’m not sure, but something was going on with the girls. Something wasn’t right.’

‘Explain what you mean.’

‘They were always close, but in those last few months it was like they joined a cult or something. They would stop talking when I came over. Alex had never been moody, but all of a sudden she started lashing out at me. She also got really needy, wanting constant reassurance that I cared about her. She had all these grand plans, things she had never mentioned before. They all did.’ Miles’s dark eyes flick to Oli’s. ‘And they started buying really nice things. One time, maybe two or three weeks before Evelyn died, Alex and I were going out for dinner when I saw her take money from the drawer in her bedside table. I checked the next morning when she was in the shower, and at least two thousand dollars were in there—a big pile of fifty-dollar notes.’

Momentarily forgetting their feud, Oli and Cooper exchange a glance. This echoes what Mitchell Stanley said about his daughter.

‘Her savings?’ suggests Oli.

Miles shrugs. ‘Maybe, but I don’t think so. She was on Centrelink and babysat on weekends. It didn’t really add up. Plus, all three of them were suddenly throwing money around. They bought new clothes and talked about going overseas. When I asked Alex about it, she got angry and brushed me off.’

Oli thinks quickly. This is good stuff, the kind of detail that will keep the story in orbit for a few more days. ‘Are you willing to go on the record?’

‘I just want this to be done.’ Looking stricken, he grabs his phone and shoves it in his pocket without glancing at it, his dark eyes wild. ‘It’s been ten bloody years of wondering. My wife thinks I need closure, and I was hoping Alex would provide it. I’m happy to talk if you think it will help.’

Oli gives him her business card and explains the likely next steps. It goes into his pocket with his phone.

‘You’ve already got my details,’ says Cooper.

Oli ignores him. ‘Miles, one last thing. Did Alex have a laptop?’

He nods. ‘And a shared computer at the house that they all used for uni. I think it was Nicole’s, brought with her from home. That was another weird thing, actually.’

‘What was?’ Oli asks.