She told me that the prosecution had a couple of notes she’d written to her husband that were reproachful, even hostile. They accused him of being autocratic and unsympathetic to her needs. There was a witness, Judith Daniels, Fleischman’s daughter from his first marriage, who allegedly saw her at a motel with Van Kep. She also said that not long before he died, Fleischman had said he was afraid of his wife.

‘Cyrus says he isn’t too worried about the notes and whatever Judith might say. She’s vindictive and neurotic’

‘What does Van Kep say about it?’

She shook her head and the frizzy hair seemed to spring out and settle back. ‘We don’t know. They’re not obliged to tell us more than the general outline of his evidence. We have to assume that he’ll confirm it. He’s lying about everything else, why not this?’

A fat pigeon waddled over, took a peck at one of the cigarette butts and retreated in disgust. I watched it join the other birds and throw its weight around, shoving forward to get a grip on a crust.

‘Tell me about Van Kep.’

‘I know almost nothing about him. He’s tall and blond. I assume he’s of Dutch extraction, although he speaks standard Australian. I suppose he’s about thirty. I don’t know what he did for Julius. I wouldn’t have exchanged more than a few remarks with him.’

‘That’s all?’