Evelyn made a scoffing noise. She carefully painted another fingernail. “Well, he would say that, wouldn’t he? He has to say something.”

“Sure. But the thing is, Evelyn, his friends all back him up. They’d already paid a deposit for the holiday. And between you and me”—Carrie lowered her voice—“they say that Laura was very jealous. Very . . . possessive.”

Evelyn blinked. “Well, I suppose he might have booked a holiday. That doesn’t mean that was what they were fighting about. And he’d hardly tell his friends if he was hitting his girlfriend, would he?”

Carrie shook her head. “No, that’s true. But it’s enough to have my boss asking questions. He’s interviewed Laura’s other friends. You know, checking to see if she had told anyone else about her problems with Robert. About wanting to break up with him.”

“Oh, well, you know, Laura really didn’t trust anyone but me with that kind of stuff. I think with everyone else, she felt she had to keep up a brave front. She could be very proud.” Evelyn blew gently on her painted nails.

Carrie nodded. “I’m getting that about her. Proud, jealous . . . very competitive. She was the kind of person who liked to win.”

Evelyn’s eyes flicked up and to the left. “That’s . . . true, I suppose. Though I don’t like to speak ill of the dead.”

Carrie let silence fall between them. Evelyn moved on to the next finger. Her hand was still perfectly steady.

“It’s odd, though. Robert said he’d never heard Laura mention you, even though you were her best friend. And Laura’s other friends, they don’t really know you either. And according to them, Laura was mad about Robert.”

Evelyn shrugged. “I think everyone has home and work friends. Maybe Laura didn’t talk about me because she liked to keep everything separate.”

Carrie nodded as if that made sense. “But why do you think she didn’t tell them the truth about Robert?”

“I couldn’t tell you. Except maybe that was down to her pride thing, like you said. She didn’t want to let them know her relationship was a mess.”

“Yeah, I can see that.” Carrie waited, gave Evelyn a moment to feel like her ship had steadied, then waited a moment more. Just long enough for her to wonder what was coming next.

“There’s one big problem, though, Evelyn.”

“Oh, what’s that?”

“Robert’s defense team has been out there, searching for evidence to back up his claims. Which is fair enough, of course—that’s their job. But they’ve found CCTV footage from the fish-and-chip shop downstairs from his flat. We missed it, because the camera is one of those hidden ones, and no one thought to ask the shop owner. Anyway, it seems the camera footage shows Robert coming home at ten-thirty p.m., just like he said he did, and leaving the next morning to go off to soccer.”

“So?” Evelyn said. “I mean, he could have climbed out the window at the back or something. He probably knew about the camera. Maybe he set it up as an alibi, if he knew he was going to kill Laura.” She turned limpid eyes in Carrie’s direction. “That’s good for you, right? That would show he planned it, and that’s worse than just doing it spontaneously.”