As she wanders along George Street, tears stream down her face. All around her are signs of spring: flowers budding on the branches, bulbs pushing through the ground, birds collecting moss and lichen. But to Oli it feels like everything is falling apart. Cooper is dead, and TJ is waging some kind of war to ensure he’s the last man standing at the paper.

And Dean—what is she going to do about Dean? The horrible doubt won’t leave her alone: could he have told Theo Bouris where Isabelle was the morning she died? Oli bites her lip. Surely not. No. She’s losing her mind. The attack on Cooper has made her paranoid, questioning everything she knows. Dean might have lied to her about his fertility, and about Isabelle’s plans, but that doesn’t make him a killer. He lied to Isabelle too, she reminds herself. For almost two years he snuck around with you.

She reaches the corner of Clarendon Street and Wellington Parade. Trams roll past, and the Fitzroy Gardens stretch out in front of her, pretty in the sunshine. She looks around and shivers. Every car that drives past is making her feel nervous. When her phone rings, she jumps. An unfamiliar mobile.

She answers tentatively, trying not to let her voice shake. ‘Hello.’

‘It’s Diana. Diana McCrae.’

Oli’s eyebrows shoot skyward. ‘Diana, hi.’

‘Yes. I’m sorry about before. Julian doesn’t like to talk about what happened. That’s why I was rude the other day when you called.’

‘I understand.’ Oli feels slightly hysterical.

‘Yes, well. Oh, god, I’m not sure if I should be talking to you, but I think there’s something very wrong. I’m not sure what to do.’

‘Diana, do you want me to come back to the house? I can come right now.’

‘No, no,’ she says hastily. ‘I’m walking the dog. Do you want to … ?’

‘Where are you?’

‘Let’s meet at Yarra Park.’ Diana sounds relieved. ‘Near the playground.’

Oli is already jogging. ‘I’ll be there in five.’

Perched on a park bench next to a huge German shepherd, Diana is watching two small children play on the slide. Oli takes a seat next to her, and the dog swallows and sticks its neck out to give her a cursory sniff before resuming its position, huge tongue flapping in the breeze. The MCG towers behind them like a castle set against the mottled grey sky. Tall trees line the crisscrossing paths, their fresh new leaves stirring gently. The grass carpet is emerald green. An elderly man zaps by on a motorised scooter, and the children giggle, racing each other to the top of the slide. Oli notices their mother nearby on a picnic rug, arranging little containers of food as she talks on the phone.