Page 204 of Murder in the Family

Yes, I did have a brother, and yes, he was called Mohammed. He did go to uni in Sydney, and he did die as a result of a hit-and-run in 1995—

JJ NORTON

Holy shit—

LAILA FURNESS

—but it was not, repeatnot, Luke Ryder who was responsible. Consequently I had no reason to bear a grudge against him, far less track him down and bludgeon him to death.

ALAN CANNING

(quietly)

How do you know it wasn’t Ryder? No one else was ever prosecuted.

LAILA FURNESS

No, nobody was charged, but we ended up being fairly sure who the driver was.

ALAN CANNING

‘Ended up’? What does that mean?

LAILA FURNESS

(a little stiffly)

The man concerned made a deathbed confession, apparently. Wanted to get it off his chest. His widow got in touch with my father to let him know.

ALAN CANNING

The Sydney police don’t seem to be aware of that.

LAILA FURNESS

(reddening a little)

I didn’t know that until Mitch started looking at what happened. I thought my father had told the police years ago, but when I checked with my mother she said he never did. He tried calling them a few times but they never rang back and it just fell through the cracks.

ALAN CANNING

So when exactly was this ‘confession’?

LAILA FURNESS

(hesitates a moment)

I think it was 2006.

They all realize at once what this means.

ALAN CANNING

Ten yearsafteryour brother died? And all that time, you could well have thought it reallywasRyder. Including inOctober 2003—

JJ NORTON

How many times have I sat here and heard you insist that a woman couldn’t commit an attack like that? Was that the objective psych talking, or averyinterested party?

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