‘Shut up, April. You don’t know what you’re talking about.’

To Faith’s indignation, April ignored her. ‘Nick was still telling you he loved you, right up to the last.’

‘You mean just before he held a knife to my throat?’ Faith said, jabbing a finger at her scar. ‘It wasn’t Nick who screamed for me to get away from him, now was it?’

April frowned. The stupid girl was trying to dismantle the story that had been carefully crafted, and Faith couldn’t let that happen.

‘Whatever Nick did or didn’t do in the past,’ Faith continued, ‘it’s beyond doubt that he was after my money. How was I meant to protect myself, and not only me, but other women too? How would you have fared if Nick had come after you instead of me? Think about that, April!’

It was supposed to end there with the knife on the counter and Nick’s fingerprints on the handle. From outside, Faith could hear Dexter yapping and if April had any sense, she would have phoned the police by now. When they arrived, Faith would explain how Nick had threatened her at knife-point, they would see the money taken from her account and they would lock him up. That was all she wanted, but when April hammered on the door, Faith was touched by her friend’s selflessness. Shame and anger quickly followed and blazed in her cheeks as she recalled how she had tried to push Nick into April’s path. If Jason had been a better husband and left his wife properly provided for, Nick might have chosen her as his victim.

As April pressed the doorbell, refusing to give up on her friend, Faith allowed her anger to overwhelm her and she grabbed the knife. She would protect April and women like her from this ever happening again. Before Nick could react, she plunged the knife into his neck. He clutched his throat as blood spurted far enough to splatter the walls, then dropped to his knees. It was going to be some cleaning job.

She waited as long as she could to ensure no one else would see Nick alive, but she took no pleasure in watching him as his convulsions slowed. He couldn’t take his eyes from her as the blood pumped out from between his fingers, but Faith’s attention drifted. Above the guttural sounds coming from his mouth and the persistent ringing of the doorbell, the pan of soup bubbled away. She stepped around Nick to turn off the hob and the oven. She didn’t want the place burning down.

The more Faith thought about it, the more convinced she was that it was April’s fault Nick was dead. Faith had done it for her, and she was annoyed that April couldn’t see it.