‘It will be,’ she said as she logged into her bank account.

As Faith listened to April and Tara’s whisperings from the living room, she placed her empty glass carefully on the counter. Remaining calm and being consistent had seen her through endless interviews with the police, and it was how she must remain.

She opened the fridge and took out a bottle of Indian tonic water, the second of the evening. She was tempted to add a splash of gin this time, but it was enough for her friends to think she was drinking away her pain.

‘How can you not be freaked out being in here?’ asked April.

Faith turned to find her staring at the spot where she would have found Nick slumped on the floor. Tara was standing next to her. ‘Just because I’m better at hiding my feelings doesn’t mean they’re not there,’ Faith said, her voice catching perfectly. ‘Do you think I don’t replay what happened over and over and over again? It’s there in my head now. It won’t go away.’

Faith had been loath to transfer a single penny into Nick’s account, but her plan would succeed or fail on the trail of evidence she left behind. Anger swelled in her chest and she used it to eviscerate any remaining doubt. Men like Nick were the cancers that blighted women’s lives and they had to be removed. She began to cry.

Nick turned at the sound, holding a wooden spoon that dripped globs of soup onto the floor. ‘My God, Faith. What’s wrong?’

As Faith placed her iPad on the chopping board strewn with vegetable peelings, Nick discarded his spoon and moved towards her. ‘Don’t come near me,’ she warned.

‘What is it? What’s happened?’

‘April’s spoken to your sister. She told her everything,’ Faith said. Tears trickled down her cheeks but when she saw Nick’s shoulders slump, she wiped them away. ‘So it’s true?’

‘If this is about my relationship with Erin, I can explain.’

‘Just like you can explain why your sister isn’t in Canada?’

‘OK, I made that up,’ he said. ‘I didn’t want you two to meet. I didn’t want you to think badly of me.’

‘So you admit you’re a liar?’