She got on top of that one faster than I expected. With another sigh: ‘Well. Chris got frightened of his feelings. I mean, like I already told you, what we had was totally special? Like really intense?’ Wide earnest eyes, parted lips, voice pitched high. She was being someone off the telly; I hadn’t a clue who, don’t watch the right stuff. ‘And a lot of guys can’t cope with that. I think Chris was just kind of immature. If he was alive, then probably by now we’d be . . .’ Another sigh. Gaze drifting off, at a picturesque angle, into the might-have-beens.

‘You must’ve been well annoyed with him,’ I said.

Joanne flicked hair. With an edge to her voice: ‘Um, I so didn’t care?’

I went puzzled. ‘Seriously? I wouldn’t’ve thought you were used to being dumped. You are, yeah?’

More edge. The wide-eyed thing was wearing off fast. ‘No, I’m not. Nobody’s ever dumped me.’

‘Except Chris.’

‘Well, I was about to dump him anyway. That’s why I said—’

‘How come? I thought the relationship was great, he just got overloaded ’cause he was immature. But you’re not immature, are you?’

‘No. I just—’ Joanne was thinking fast. Hand going to her heart: ‘I knew it was more than he could handle. I was going to set him free. “If you love something—”’

‘Then why’d you keep texting him after he stopped texting you?’

‘I was just telling him. That I understood, you know, how it was too intense? That, I mean, I wasn’t going to wait for him or anything, but I hoped we could be friends. Stuff like that. I can’t remember.’

‘Not giving out to him, no? Because we’ve got someone pulling the actual texts. We’ll be able to read them any minute.’

‘I don’t remember. I guess I could’ve been a teeny bit startled, but I wasn’t angry or anything.’

Conway shifted her back against the wall. Warning me: if I pushed this any harder, we were over that line and into inadmissible.

‘I understand,’ I said. Leaned in, hands clasped. ‘Joanne. Listen to me.’ I put that epic ring back into my voice: a speech to inspire the brave young heroine. ‘You had the key. You believed your relationship with Chris wasn’t over. You kept an eye on Chris when he came into the grounds at night. Do you see where I’m going with this?’

That flat stare turned wary. Joanne shrugged.

‘I think you were out there the night he died, and I think you saw something. No’ – I raised a hand, masterful – ‘let me finish. Maybe you’re protecting someone. Maybe you’re afraid. Maybe you don’t want to believe what you saw. I’m sure you’ve got a good reason for saying you weren’t there.’