‘Well, one firey asked, What the fuck’s happening now?’ Jack said. ‘Fire was spreading, following the dry creek bed. We were wetting down hotspots. I looked out for Caleb. The red flag came through. It means things are real bad. Heavy winds on the way. The whole afternoon was on fire.’ Jack was pale. Reliving this was difficult.

In the courtroom, Caleb occupied himself pulling at the cuffs of his jacket until they covered his wrists.

Don’t do that! Mum glared at him.

‘Thank you,’ Charles Scott said.

Another break was called. Like halfway through a family shopping trip, Dad said, ‘We should get coffee. Across the road?’

Mum shook her head, murmuring about the protesters outside.

‘Untie your hair,’ Grandma suggested. ‘Borrow my sunglasses. They might not recognise you. Caleb, take off your jacket. Not that anyone would recognise you with all that blubber.’

Crowds from earlier in the day had cleared. People, perhaps tired, had gone home. Mum and Grandma took Caleb’s arms and walked him outside and across the road to order lattes and hope for the best.

‘Well,’ Dad said. ‘We’re getting through things.’

‘I’ve never understood this list of witnesses,’ Mum said again, opening her file. ‘What did they witness? No one saw Caleb light anything. We would have heard.’

Dad’s phone rang. He checked the screen. ‘Ivy,’ he mouthed. He didn’t mention sharing a meal with Mum as he stepped outside to speak to his new wife. Mum was the other woman now. From the sour expression on her face, Caleb knew she realised that too.

The prosecutor got straight back into his attack. ‘Because of Jack Laskin’s relationship with the defendant’s mother, we’d like the court’s permission to treat him as a hostile witness.’

Caleb wasn’t surprised. It was a hostile world. Nina nodded, slowly. Charles turned back to Jack.

‘As captain, it was your responsibility to keep an exact record of the time. Phone records show you also made contact with the Brunton Retirement Home. Your colleague, Bernie Lippard, reported that afterwards you seemed disturbed. What was that about?’

‘My mother lives there. I wanted to make sure she was all right.’

‘What time do you believe this phone call took place?’

‘Around 3 pm… I wanted to hear she was okay. I knew the home might need to be evacuated. They said she was fine.’

‘Records show your mother was there, yet you didn’t speak with her?’

‘It’s not always possible to do that.’ Jack moved uncomfortably. ‘She’s suffering from dementia. Sometimes she can use the phone. Sometimes not.’

The prosecution continued. ‘Around 3 pm… Yet, when you say you saw the defendant riding his bicycle at 4.50, you’re sure?’

‘Reasonably sure.’

‘It’s not true that in the day’s confusion, it could have been five minutes earlier or later that you saw him?’

‘I suppose it could have been.’