Page 75 of A Game of Lies

‘So … you’re okay?’

‘Don’t get me wrong, the past week’s been pretty horrific, but now that it’s out there it’s kind of a relief. It’s always been there, you know, lurking in the background. I was always terrified a new dad would drop his kid to nursery and it would be someone I …’ She swallows. ‘That it would be a former client, you know?’ Aliyah lets out a long breath. ‘But it doesn’t matter now. Everyone knows. The worst has happened.’

‘When you were in camp,’ Leo says, ‘you talked with the other contestants, right?’

‘There wasn’t much else to do.’

‘Did you get a sense that any of them were …’ Leo searches for the right words ‘… harbouring violent thoughts towards Miles?’

‘No.’ Aliyah shakes her head. ‘I know where you’re going with this, and okay, Miles wasn’t exactly popular, but no one would have actually—’ She breaks off, shaking her head again.

‘You trusted them all, then?’ Ffion says pointedly.

Aliyah flushes. ‘Well, I mean obviously it was difficult to trust people when they were literally there to betray you, so—’

‘Did you trust Jason?’ Leo takes over.

‘Hundred per cent.’

‘Pam?’

‘I love that woman so much.’

‘Lucas?’

‘Of course,’ Aliyah says, with less conviction.

‘What is it?’ Ffion notices it too.

‘Nothing. It’s just that …’ Aliyah sighs, ‘I overheard Roxy say something about a #MeToo contestant and it kind of triggered me, I guess. The idea of being locked in that camp with a sexual predator.’ She closes her arms around herself and shudders.

‘What made you think Roxy was talking about Lucas?’ Leo says.

‘Process of elimination. Jason’s a genuine guy, and I only got good vibes from Henry. Ryan was – well, bless him, there was nothing predatory about him. That only leaves Lucas.’ She glances out into the courtyard and lowers her voice. ‘You know he has a criminal record?’

‘Is that right?’ says Leo, who is now fully up to speed on the Reverend Lucas Taylor’s prison sentence – and his exemplary behaviour ever since.

‘He told me himself.’

‘That was very honest of him,’ Ffion says.

‘I suppose it was.’ Aliyah sighs. ‘It’s hard to know who you can trust, isn’t it?’

‘She’s not wrong,’ Ffion says, once Aliyah has closed the door. ‘I wouldn’t trust this lot as far as I could throw them. Lucas’s conviction didn’t have a sexual element, did it?’

‘No, and half of me wonders if she’s trying to distract us with this #MeToo stuff.’

‘Stop us looking at her for the murder, you mean? She’s tiny. There’s no way she could have strangled Miles unless he just sat there and took it.’

‘I’m inclined to agree,’ Leo says. ‘But I’d feel happier if she had an alibi.’ His phone rings, but when he sees it’s Gayle again, he drops it back into his pocket.

‘Your girlfriend calls a lot,’ Ffion says, as they make their way to Pam’s stable.

‘She’s not my girlfriend.’

Leo has tried several times now to end things with Gayle, who seemingly has the skin of a rhino, interpreting hisI don’t have time to see anyone right nowasplease call me several times a day to suggest different ways we could hang out.

‘Friend with benefits?’ Ffion’s voice is teasing. ‘Booty call? Stalker?’

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