Oli shrugs. ‘No idea. But when she turned up and saw the cops, she lost it.’

‘The poor woman.’

‘Yeah.’ Geraldine’s screams echo through Oli’s mind, making her skin crawl.

‘I’ve got an idea,’ Cooper exclaims.

‘What?’ She’s following the GPS on her phone, which starts to glitch, reloading their route.

‘You should come on the podcast! For starters, your voice is incredible, but mainly because you were there at the scene. You can give the journo perspective.’

‘I don’t think so.’ She tries to soften her deep timbre.

‘Come on, it would be great!’ Cooper is palpably working himself into a frenzy. ‘It’s perfect, actually. I bet there are heaps of other crimes you’ve covered over the years, and we can work our way through all of them.’

‘I …’ Oli is saved by the phone ringing, and she answers via Bluetooth. ‘Lily, hi. You’re on speaker,’ she adds quickly, although knowing Lily, it won’t bother her either way.

A lead? Cooper mouths at her eagerly.

‘My sister,’ she hisses.

He cups his ears knowingly to indicate he won’t eavesdrop.

‘Jesus,’ she mutters.

‘What, Ol?’ Lily sounds annoyed. ‘You’re driving, aren’t you? I hate talking to you while you’re driving.’

‘Sorry.’ Oli tries to tell whether Lily’s words carry the slur that suggests she’s been drinking.

Lately it has become apparent to Oli that she enjoys the thought of talking to Lily a lot more than she enjoys actually talking to her. The closeness they shared as little girls and young women has shifted, but Oli’s muscle memory still responds with a feeling of intimacy in anticipation of every conversation with her sister, only to be disappointed as she reorients herself to the reality of their polite chatter. They teeter on the edges of each other’s worlds, trying to make sense of them.

‘Did you see the news?’ Lily says. ‘Sorry, stupid question, of course you did. Is it true, Ol? God, I remember that story. It was bloody everywhere, huh. I even remember the name of the brothel everyone was saying she worked at. Calamity Jane’s, wasn’t it? And remember how you wore my shirt to work that morning, and I found out because I saw you on the news later that night. Remember, Ol? I went ballistic.’

Oli rakes her fingers through her hair. ‘I remember.’

Cooper smothers a smirk, then makes a show of looking out the window.

Oli turns down the volume as Lily’s voice tinkles through the car. ‘How was that ten years ago? Fuck we’re getting old.’

‘Yep.’ Oli’s knuckles are white.

‘Are you at work? What are you doing?’

‘I am, and I need to get going soon—I’m on a deadline.’

‘You’re always on a deadline,’ Lily says scornfully. ‘Mum and I thought you might slow down now you have the girls. And Dean.’