‘Right.’ Nerves creep into Cooper’s recorded voice. ‘So I’ll just walk you through the kinds of questions I’ll ask when we do the real thing. Please let me know if there’s anything you don’t feel comfortable answering.’ The rasp of a page turning. ‘So, Alex, to start with, I’ll be asking you why you’ve decided to share your story now.’ There’s a sharp intake of breath, then Alex Riboni’s voice fills the room.

Oli badly needs the bathroom, but she doesn’t move, transfixed by Alex’s tentative account of the night her life was ruined and she became a pariah. Her voice is calm, confident. She sounds completely different to the terrified young woman thrust into the spotlight and metaphorically strung up to be stoned almost ten years ago.

‘I’m tired of not having a voice.’ A short silence. ‘Things are different now.’

‘How?’

‘I’m older. And I’m not scared anymore, I have nothing to lose.’ Another pause. ‘I’ve started to remember things about the night my friend died.’

‘And you’re ready to tell people what you remember?’

‘Yes, I am.’

Cooper’s interview style is surprisingly polished. He’s polite and respectful, gently coaxing. There’s nothing of the unbridled child in his careful questions. ‘Despite your acquittal, a lot of Australians still think you killed Evelyn Stanley. There are Facebook groups full of people convinced that you got away with murder. If you tell your story now, are you worried about reviving the speculation?’

‘I can’t help what people think, but I do know I didn’t want my friend to die.’

Oli’s mind drifts to Alex at the trial. The image of the woman hanging from the tree yesterday slices unpleasantly into her thoughts.

‘Alex, what do you think happened to Nicole Horrowitz?’

‘I think she ran away.’

‘In the middle of night, leaving all of her things?’

Alex seems to hesitate. ‘Yes.’

‘What do you think she ran away from?’

‘From everything.’

Oli looks at Cooper. ‘What does that mean?’

‘Don’t know, she didn’t elaborate. It’s something I would have pushed in the real interview.’

His recorded voice says, ‘The three of you were obviously very close, but a lot of people who knew you back then said things had started to go wrong before the party that night. Can you tell me about that?’

Alex’s breathing becomes more audible, tiny wheezing noises that fill the room. ‘We just … Things were complicated. We were very young, and I was scared of losing them. And then,’ she swallows past a sob, ‘and then I lost them anyway.’

‘Have you seen Nicole since that night at the house? Do you know where she is?’

There’s a pause, a silence so long that Oli thinks something is wrong with the tape.

‘No, I haven’t seen Nicole since that night.’

Oli and Cooper lock eyes.