I wasn’t really sure what I was waiting for. I was biding my time, I suppose, to convince Rose to cry rape on Joshua. I had the whole story worked out but when I saw Joshua coming down the stairs laughing, I knew that was the night. There was a party, there were drugs, Rose was there, Joshua was there, they’d argued, and it wasn’t difficult to convince Rose that she didn’t need to regret having sex the night before. Had she actually consented? She couldn’t remember. Had she perhaps said no? She wasn’t sure, she told me, she was drunk and high but perhaps she had tried to say no when the guy was on top off her and pulling her skirt off.

Actually, thinking about it now, she had said stop and not just because the guy had accidentally caught her earring and it had pulled painfully. And when I asked her about Joshua and suggested he had been there as well, she replied perhaps he was, especially when I told her that I’d heard Joshua had been accused of sexual assault but had got off because there wasn’t enough evidence.

Completely untrue of course, but necessary.

Perhaps someone should pay and if Rose had the opportunity to punish someone who had escaped the system why not? When her case fell through with the CPS, it was easy to give her a recommendation to Stephens & Carmichael – a nice touch, even if I do say so myself.

And when I offered to pay for it, Rose didn’t hesitate. I knew that the money I’d saved selling drugs would come in useful.

The fact that I also offered to introduce her to one of my clients who just happened to be a show biz agent helped sweeten the deal.

It was the perfect lie. But then you would know all about that, Claire. And now you have a choice to make: come forward and confess your own lie to clear Joshua’s name or watch your son go to jail. And I know exactly which one you’re going to choose because it’s different when it’s your own son, isn’t it? Oh, I’m sure I’ll suffer a few legal consequences too – abuse of process or perjury or whatever bullshit they come up with but that doesn’t matter. Because finally, finally my name will be cleared.

Acknowledgements

As always, my gratitude goes to Luigi and Alison Bonomi for their support, encouragement and ideas and to my editors Sarah Ritherdon and Hannah Smith. Their feedback and direction were invaluable. The copyediting, sales, and marketing teams at Head of Zeus and Aria, including Helena Newton, Sue Lamprell, Victoria Joss, Nikky Ward, and Dan Groenewald, always do a fantastic job and I’m so grateful for their expertise.