She walked into the living room and Dorothy followed. There was a laptop open on a sofa, a recruitment agency website, and Rebecca closed it as she sat down. Dorothy went to the other sofa and sat, hands in her lap.

‘Is Natalie at school?’ she said.

‘What do you want?’

Dorothy had thought about this moment every day since she discovered Simon’s body. Since they dug him up then put him back. She thought about what Archie said, if he could be trusted, and about the repercussions, the waves spreading from their discovery. Jim, Archie, Simon and his family, the family of Ailsa 325Montgomery. The family of Simon’s victim. If Dorothy told the truth all of them would be affected and it would be painful. Rebecca was still missing a husband, or at least his body. And what if Archie wasn’t telling the truth? He’d lied to her since Jim died, and Jim lied to her for a lot longer, so who could she trust?

She’d looked inside herself, tried to find the strength to make a decision. She’d gone back to yoga despite her injuries. She tried to meditate but the chaos was too much to block out. She played the drums for long sessions, trying to lose herself in the rhythms, but no use. She would always end up back in Piershill Cemetery, standing with mud on her hands, the smell of earth in her nostrils, staring at two skulls in the ground.

‘I never heard from your lawyer,’ she said.

Rebecca sighed and looked at her lap. ‘I can’t afford a lawyer.’

Dorothy nodded. ‘Some information has come to light.’

‘What kind of information?’

Dorothy looked at all the pictures of Natalie on the mantelpiece, a happy daughter without a dad. Maybe she would want to track down her father when she was older. What if she knew the truth? What about Archie’s accusations about Simon? No evidence now and there never would be, but the accusation would be out there.

‘I found some paperwork,’ Dorothy said. ‘Going through Jim’s things.’

‘And?’

Dorothy gulped, felt her stomach knot up. ‘It seems I was mistaken. About your husband and the life assurance.’

Rebecca sat up, put her fingers against the arm of the sofa. ‘Really?’

Dorothy nodded. ‘It wasn’t a conventional insurance policy but there was an agreement between Simon and Jim. You were right.’

‘OK.’ Rebecca was clearly wary of saying anything in case this vanished the way her husband did.

Dorothy spread her hands out. ‘So I’m willing to reinstate the payments to your account.’326

Rebecca swallowed, her body tight. ‘That’s very kind.’

‘Our paperwork is quite specific though,’ Dorothy said. She looked again at the framed pictures of Natalie on the mantel, a homemade Mother’s Day card with a sparkly unicorn on the front. ‘The payments are only to be made until your daughter turns eighteen.’

Rebecca pressed her lips together.