In fairy tales, the good are rewarded and the evil get their just deserts. But in real life, that doesn’t happen. The justice system—or ‘just a system’, as Wozza calls it—puts the burden of proof on the prosecution. This means the police as well.

We had chloral hydrate in Meg’s system and in Merv’s, and we had found more old prescription bottles at the garage. The bottles had both Lachie’s and Jimbo’s fingerprints on them. Both of them were at the pub the night Meg and Merv were drugged. Meg’s photograph had been found among the box of polaroids at the garage, so we had that link.

But that doesn’t always count. Once the preliminary legal scuffles were over, only about half the evidence was admissible in court. Wily lawyers had separated out the defendants and the victims so that each case was judged on its own. The other guys we’d arrested at the garage that day were charged with accessory before the fact. Even though we suspected they would have assaulted Mandy Buckley, there was no evidence that they had.

Frank Forester, now referred to in headlines as the ‘disgraced lawyer’, was tried separately for the rape of Mandy Buckley. We’d heard on the grapevine that a guy he’d defended had told Frank what they did with women they drugged in pubs. Frank had wanted in. Because he was caught in the act, even his expensive lawyers couldn’t argue consent when the witnesses were a bunch of cops and paramedics who had seen Mandy unconscious and incapable of consent.

As the courtroom cleared, I saw Nathan Forester leaving, flanked on one side by an older woman who looked enough like him to be his mother. On the other side was Meg.

‘Hi, Antigone!’ said Meg. She looked fit and strong and was doing really well in my self-defence classes. She had told me that she and Nathan were back together.

Wozza and I approached the three of them.

I caught Nathan’s eye. He looked much better than the last time I’d seen him. Cleaner. Standing tall. ‘How are you doing? This can’t have been easy.’

‘I’m okay,’ he said, then introduced the woman by his side as his mother, Noni.

‘We’re just glad this is all over,’ Noni said. ‘I’ve moved back into the house.’ Her smile faded. ‘We’ve both given it a good clean out …’

‘Mum.’ Nathan used that tone kids use when their parent says something embarrassing.

Noni wasn’t to be stopped though. ‘Honestly, when Frank wouldn’t let me take Nathan when I left, he promised to take good care of him. That is not what happened.’

‘Weren’t you in Queensland?’ Wozza asked.