Noni made a harrumph sound. ‘That’s what he told Nathan when we split last year. Truth is, I moved down the coast to Bellanook so I could get a job and earn enough to fight him for custody. Have you ever tried to fight a lawyer for anything? He had me over a barrel. He tried to poison Nathan against me until my own son wouldn’t even take my calls.’ Her voice cracked and Nathan put an arm around her.

‘Sorry, Mum.’

Mother and son turned and moved towards the door. Meg walked by my side.

‘Did Frank Forester ever behave inappropriately to you?’ I asked in a quiet voice so no one else could hear.

Meg stared ahead. ‘It’s why I broke up with Nathan,’ she said. ‘I went round to his house one afternoon and his dad started talking about sex and all this other stuff and made me feel really uncomfortable. Then he sat beside me on the couch and put his hand on my leg, and then I ran. It was so gross. I just couldn’t face Nathan and I didn’t know how to tell him.’ Then she let out a soft laugh. ‘But if Brittany Higgins and Grace Tame have taught us anything, it’s that we all have a voice. I told Mum and Nathan what happened. This should be something we talk about. I did nothing wrong.’ She looked towards the door through which Frank Forester had disappeared. ‘He was the one who did something wrong.’

I smiled at her, so proud of her strength. Then watched her hurry away to catch up to Nathan and his mum.

As Wozza and I walked out of the courthouse, we pulled up short when a kid went whizzing past us on a skateboard.

‘Whoa!’ cried Wozza, skipping nimbly backwards as the kid came to a halt.

‘Sorry about that,’ said the kid. Then he looked up at the courthouse. ‘Did they find that man guilty?’

The boy looked familiar, and I realised he was the one who had sprayed the wall behind Frank Forester’s law office. Dawn’s brother.

Wozza remembered him too. ‘Hey, it’s Rap Boy!’ he said cheerfully.

The boy looked confused. And suddenly, I realised why.

‘You didn’t mean to write Rapper, did you? You meant he was a Raper.’

The boy nodded. ‘My sister …’ His lip trembled, then he stopped. ‘I found her journal when I went to borrow her phone charger from under her bed.’

‘Oh jeez,’ said Wozza.

‘He was found guilty,’ I told the boy. ‘He hasn’t been sentenced yet, but I reckon he’s going to get a good one. Your sister is Dawn?’

The boy’s eyes darted from me to Wozza. Then he dropped his skateboard to the ground and jumped on it. In seconds, he’d disappeared from view.