‘I already asked her,’ Cooper trills. ‘She thinks it’s possible, says the girl she met definitely looked similar, but it was only a brief meeting. She wasn’t using the name Evelyn, though.’

‘Does April’s mum remember the name she gave?’

‘She thinks it might have been Jacqui.’

Oli thoughts rattle painfully. ‘Alright. What are you thinking?’ She indicates to switch lanes, dropping her arm to the right before pulling back when an elfin blonde in a white ute beeps her horn and gives Oli a filthy look as she sails past.

‘Me?’

‘Yes. What are your next steps?’

‘I was going to see if I can find anything else about the girls’ babysitting jobs. There must be people out there who know something. Pia’s going to help me.’ He pauses. ‘Unless you think I should be doing something else?’

‘No, that sounds good,’ Oli says absently. Should she confront Dean? Maybe Mary doesn’t know what she’s talking about or is trying to cause trouble. But Oli recalls her conversation with Dean at Liane’s, and her stomach twists uncomfortably. She’s pretty sure Mary isn’t lying.

‘Episode two is sounding great,’ Cooper adds. ‘It was a bit hard to wrangle, but it’s almost there. And we’ve received a whole bunch of emails to the podcast address. Most are rubbish, but one or two might be worth following up. I’ll forward them to you.’

‘Okay, sure,’ Oli murmurs.

‘You have another guy who wants to take you out for dinner. Shame you’re taken, or this could be quite the dating strategy.’

Oli’s face crumples. Her future with Dean is uncertain, something she hasn’t wanted to admit until now.

‘Oli? Are you still there?’

‘I’m here,’ she says, her voice shaking.

‘Are you okay?’

‘Yes, I’m fine. I’m just tired.’

‘Oh my god, same. I guess it’s just all the thinking.’

Oli can tell he’s talking quickly to cover up the awkwardness of her crying. ‘Great work, Cooper,’ she says firmly. ‘Something obviously made Isabelle draw a link between Evelyn and Louise, so hopefully we can find out what it is.’

‘That’s the plan,’ he says cheerfully. ‘Leave it with me—I’m not going to let this lead die, Oli. I’ll see you back at base later on. How does a six o’clock wrap-up sound? I’ll aim to have the edit ready by then.’

‘Sounds like a plan,’ she says, defeated. She realises she’s happy for him to call the shots. Plus, he’s doing a good job.

‘Take care of yourself, okay?’ He hangs up, and the road blurs in front of her.