‘Yes, and charming—she could always see a way. She knew what made people tick, and she drew them in, made them feel good. She listened to them, and they appreciated that. People felt indebted to her.’ Cara pushes her fingers into her eye sockets; her nostrils pinch, then flare. ‘We weren’t well-off, not at all, but you wouldn’t have known it to look at her. I don’t know what she was doing to get her hands on some of her clothes after she moved out. Maybe her friends gave her things, I don’t know. She certainly didn’t pay for them with her babysitting money.’

‘Do you think she was involved in something illegal?’

Cara’s left eyebrow jerks skyward. ‘Maybe. I really don’t know what she got up to after she left home.’ She sighs. ‘After school finished, she relied on me less and found new people to do things for her. She told us uni was a fresh start, then seemed to kind of forget about us. Her attitude really hurt my parents even though they wouldn’t admit it. She treated them like shit and left me to pick up the pieces.’

Cara reminds Oli of a scorned ex, one who can see her partner’s flaws but would still rather be in a toxic relationship than have them be with someone else.

‘You remember that show Family Ties?’ Cara says abruptly. Oli nods. ‘She was like that Michael J Fox character. She had moneymaking schemes for days. Even when she was a little kid, she always had a plan. She would negotiate deals with our parents. Friends. Even teachers.’

‘She wanted to be rich?’ Oli probes.

‘She didn’t like having to wait for anything, so I think she wanted the freedom of wealth.’

‘And you? Did she try to negotiate with you?’

Cara meets her gaze and makes a noncommittal sound. ‘I wasn’t immune to her. Plus, she was my sister. It was just the two of us.’

‘Tell me about Alex Riboni and Evelyn Stanley.’

Cara shrugs. ‘They were nice. I met them a bunch of times, and they were all really friendly—or they were to begin with.’ Her brows pull together. ‘I remember being surprised that Nicole seemed to have made such genuine friends. But after a while, something went down between them. The last time I saw them, Evelyn was a flat-out cow, moody and rude.’

‘But you have no idea what the issue was?’

‘Nope. I went over to the house just before lunchtime to drop off Mum’s fondue set that Nicole wanted to borrow. The three of them were arguing when I got there—I could hear shouting when I knocked on the door.’

‘So it was just Evelyn who was angry?’