Dean had called her as she was leaving the office after working late one night. It was eighteen months since Isabelle died, eighteen months of her daring to hope that a future with Dean might one day be possible. She was in the middle of texting Rusty, asking if he wanted her to pick up some takeaway, when her phone rang, a private number. Thinking it was a tip-off, she answered. ‘Hello.’

A male voice. Him. ‘God, your voice still drives me mad.’

She couldn’t speak.

‘I saw you today. You were walking down Flinders Lane, and now I can’t stop thinking about you. I called your front desk and tracked down your phone number. Meet me.’

The years slid away. She ended things with Rusty less than three weeks later, claiming a lack of compatibility, an absence of connection, something that suddenly seemed critically important.

Rusty moves next to her, shifting his weight. The soft musk of his aftershave stirs dormant memories. But then he’s gone, marching off to stand on his own on the other side of the crowd. The wind shakes the trees, and the minty tang of eucalyptus replaces the artificial scent. A minute later, her phone buzzes. You didn’t hear this from me, but apparently one of the guys found a note near her body. Not a suicide note, a death threat.

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER SEVEN

A WATTLE BIRD SHITS ON MANNY CHO’S BALD HEAD, AND EVERYONE loses their minds. But Oli barely notices the ribbing that breaks out as the esteemed reporter cleans the mess off with a tissue. She’s too busy rereading Rusty’s text message over and over.

A death threat changes everything. A death threat suggests someone knew Nicole was here. Was being found enough to push her over the edge? Or was she so scared for her life that she wanted to beat someone to it? The possibilities writhe like snakes through Oli’s brain.

Bowman is heading back up the driveway, and Oli steps away from the crowd and walks along the dirt road. She’d meant what she said to Cooper earlier: she’d always assumed that for whatever reason, Alex killed Evelyn. Her thoughts on the fate of Nicole were less clear. She believed it was most likely that Alex killed her too—on their late-night walk, when Alex could have disposed of the body—but Oli also thought there was a chance Alex had threatened her, caused her to flee or die by suicide. Of course, there was a theory that Nicole and Alex had killed Evelyn together, but why would Alex take the blame? Whatever really happened, Nicole being alive presented a risk to anyone who didn’t want the truth to come out.

Oli grimaces, knowing the most likely person to threaten Nicole is Alex Riboni. And if she’s a suspect in Nicole’s death, the podcast interview is going to be at risk.