‘I checked the files after we spoke the other day. There was a shared computer we seized from the house, but nothing turned up on it.’

‘And Alex never said anything about a camera?’

‘Did you know that having a beer with a reporter kind of takes the fun out of the beer?’ Bowman says wryly, stifling a yawn. ‘I wasn’t in all of the interviews, but it doesn’t ring a bell.’ He pushes his lips together. ‘Although admittedly, getting anything out of Alex Riboni was like squeezing blood from a stone. She wasn’t exactly forthcoming.’

Oli doesn’t reply. Bowman’s dogged rebuttal has been like a millstone to her flighty theories, and she’s starting to feel both stupid and frustrated.

‘Listen.’ He glances over at Henno and shakes his head, declining another drink. ‘Like I said, I think they were naive girls who got caught up in the freedom of having a bit of money and being out of home for the first time. We see it a lot. Middle-class kids who have a bit of a wobble, maybe one of them comes from a troubled background and leads the others astray. That was Alex’s story. Perhaps it wasn’t her fault she didn’t know which way was up, but she dragged her mates down a nasty path in a pretty spectacular way. And that parting stunt she pulled off at the house this week could have been a lot worse.’

‘The fire in Crystalbrook? You’re sure that was her?’

‘Forensics thinks it was a bomb she rigged up. We’re not sure if she was trying to harm Nicole or just thought the cops would set it off. We’re lucky it didn’t go off when someone was in the joint.’

Oli thinks of Rusty. Thank god he wasn’t injured.

Sensing the conversation is running out of steam, she blurts, ‘We spoke to her last week.’

Bowman’s furry eyebrows shoot up. ‘You spoke to Alex Riboni?’

‘Yes,’ Oli says, her heart thrumming. ‘Well, my colleague Cooper did. We’re working on a podcast. She was going to be a guest.’

‘I know all about your podcast,’ Bowman says, looking unimpressed. ‘Well? Don’t keep me in suspense. Was there a deathbed confession? A dramatic accusation?’

‘Not exactly. But she definitely didn’t seem suicidal.’

He polishes off his beer and rests his hands on his slightly round belly. ‘They often don’t.’

‘I think it’s possible the girls were selling explicit photos of themselves online,’ she says, revealing her trump card.

Bowman pushes his empty glass back and forth. ‘Yardley had a hunch about that too, but she could never make it fly. She got lost down some deep rabbit hole.’

‘What do you mean?’