Guilt bubbles up as she remembers lying to Jo about being sick that evening so she could sneak off with Dean. Poor Jo, dead from cancer in 2010. She was a horrible boss, but she didn’t deserve to waste away like that.

Despite the conviction and sentencing, Alex’s legal team refused to give up, relentlessly appealing her case. Evelyn’s toxicology was scrutinised, comparable cases unpacked, experts wheeled in to claim she had likely struck out in a violent episode—her emotional outbursts were well documented. Alex’s powerhouse of a lawyer presented a compelling appeal that Alex was the victim and Evelyn the out-of-control monster. Alex had been dragged from her bed in the middle of the night by crazy, naked Evelyn, who threatened and attacked her; she was left with no option but to fight back. The evidence that had put Alex away was flipped and twisted. It was self-defence, her lawyer cried, and after three years she was out of gaol and in a rehabilitation centre.

Nicole’s disappearance was reframed too: Evelyn must have driven her to suicide, or potentially even killed her.

Chief Inspector Bowman’s carefully worded statement delivered outside court, moments after Alex’s release, was deemed unsatisfying by the media, and Evelyn’s alcoholic father made a spectacle of himself when the salivating journos requested a comment. Mitchell Stanley called Bowman a useless cunt and Isabelle Yardley a stupid slut, before tripping over. His pixelated bum crack appeared in every news bulletin, accompanied by an edited version of his rant.

Despite the sunshine, cool sweat beads in Oli’s armpits, and she shifts uncomfortably in the leather seat. This morning feels like too much too soon. She wants to reacquaint herself with each piece of the story, to feel her way back into the narrative, word by word.

‘How did you arrange the interview with Alex Riboni?’ Oli asks Cooper, interrupting his monologue about computer software he’s recently purchased.

He attempts a low whistle, but it comes out more like a squeak. ‘We’ve been avoiding the big chat this whole time, haven’t we? You know, the reason we were brought together today.’ He rubs his hands and tips his neck from side to side. ‘I have to say, it was all pretty cool, you know, tracking her down like that. And I’ve been working with one of the guys at the office who is a musician on the side, and he’s developed this cool sting for the podcast intro, it’s so ominous, like, super moody, and—’

‘Cooper!’

He shifts gears easily. ‘Right, back to Alex, sure. Well, someone in one of the Facebook groups said she worked with her cousin at an environmental consultancy. You know, one of those places that encourages businesses and schools to put more sustainable practices in place—recycle more, stuff like that.’

‘What does she do there?’