‘Faith said he talked about it but she wouldn’t entertain the idea. People imagine doing all kinds of things, but they don’t follow through with it, normally. I’m hoping someone out there knows more about Nick’s dark side so everything doesn’t have to rest on Faith’s account,’ she said, staring at the pattern of paint splodges. ‘It’s all so messy. Don’t you think?’

The roller continued to be rolled.

‘It’s a telling sign that no one has come out publicly to defend Nick, not even Olivia. Did you see the torrent of abuse she received online once people realised who she was?’ April asked. ‘I was wondering if we should get in touch.’

‘We’ve interfered too much,’ Tara said. Her exertions were making her breathless. ‘And how bad will she feel when she realises it was her conversation with us that led directly to the events on Valentine’s Day?’

‘My guess is she’s worked that out already,’ April said. ‘That photo of us all at Christmas has been splashed across every newspaper.’

‘Maybe, but Olivia gave her statement saying she was sorry and if that’s all she wants to say, we should leave her be.’

‘A statement? Do you mean the tweet?’

‘Is that what it was? I read it in the paper.’

April held her brush in mid-air. ‘It was a reply to a tweet from the support group.’

‘Justine’s been taking care of that side of things. I saw the draft tweet asking the press to respect our privacy, but that’s about it.’

‘You should look at what’s been said since, Tara. Justine’s been fielding a lot of criticism directed at the group, including a suggestion we incited our members to react the way they did. The strongest accusations have come from someone with the twitter handle Peters J. It looks like the account was set up recently and there’s no profile, but I think it’s Josh Peters. Which begs the question, why would he want to wade in and defend Nick? I don’t understand it. Should we be worried?’

No sound came from the next room. No sound at all.

‘Tara?’ April asked as the silence stretched between them. She put down her brush and returned to the living room. Three walls had been painted although there were gaps everywhere. ‘Why don’t you want to talk about this?’

Tara kept her back to April, her head bowed. ‘We’ve all been through so much and I’m sick of this feeling of dread, right here,’ she said, rubbing her palm against her chest. ‘I keep telling myself the worst has happened and it’s over, but I wake up every morning and the pressure’s worse than ever.’

‘Do you think there’s a chance Faith will have to face a trial?’