‘Rubbish.’

April brought the shot glass to her lips and was surprised to find it empty. ‘Faith,’ she said, ‘I know from experience how hard it is to admit your husband wasn’t the man you thought you’d married – or thought you’d lost – but at least I can keep Jason’s secrets to myself. You don’t have that luxury. If the police can’t believe what you tell them about Derek, how are they meant to believe what you say about Nick?’

‘There was no proof that Derek was intending to leave me.’

‘But you must have known how he tricked his first wife. Ella said he was quite proud of it. And when you checked his business accounts after he died, it would have been obvious what he had planned.’

Faith tutted. ‘You and Ella did have a cosy chat, didn’t you?’

‘She’s not the only one worried about you,’ April said. ‘Your judgement last week must have been affected by past experiences. Derek tried to take everything from you, and Nick was doing the same.’

‘Nick assaulted me, remember,’ she said, lifting her chin to expose her scar again.

‘You’d survived one manipulative man only to be taken in by another. That must have hurt,’ April said. ‘Please, Faith. Talk to me.’

Faith stared into the fire. ‘Derek never cheated on me,’ she said as flickering flames cast shadows across her face. ‘But he could be cruel. I didn’t like how he boasted about the divorce, or how he made Ella squirm whenever she was forced to beg for handouts. But more fool her for coming to him if she hated him so much.’

‘Maybe she was checking that you were OK.’

‘Well, if Ella says that, it must be true,’ Faith said. ‘Everyone seems to have an opinion on my life these days. Have you seen the rubbish online?’

‘The public’s coming out in support, Faith.’

‘And in the process they’re grabbing their fifteen minutes of fame by claiming they knew me,’ she snapped. ‘It doesn’t matter what I say or don’t say to the police. They’ll be reading that load of nonsense.’

‘Are you upset by what some of your colleagues have said?’ April asked, guessing that Faith wasn’t too happy about being caught overstating her job and her qualifications.

‘Why would work bother me?’ Faith asked, either genuinely confused or not willing to acknowledge the specifics of her deceit. ‘It’s the principle of the matter, April. I have a right to my privacy.’ Draining her glass, she added, ‘Do you want another brandy?’

‘I’ll stick with water.’

‘Any idea how long Tara will be?’ Faith asked, rising to her feet.

‘It’s hard to tell.’