‘If you were so convinced Claudia was lying, why go ahead with the reunion?’ Mal challenged. ‘I’ll tell you why. There was a little voice inside your head telling you that you might be wrong. Victims of trauma make unreliable witnesses. One of yours had seen hundreds of people that night, and I doubt very much that she could recall the detail of Claudia’s injuries as well as she claimed. And as for the other, Rex has said all along that he can remember very little. Did you try speaking to him again?’

‘Yes.’

‘And?’

Rex had apologised for feeding Leanne the wrong information, having been there at the service to hear the paramedic’s speech. ‘He doesn’t want to go against the swell of public opinion. The blood could have been Amelia’s. The torn fingernails could have been false.’

‘Then why are we still having this debate?’

‘Have you looked at Frankie’s video yet?’

‘Yes.’

‘And?’

‘Amelia suffered head injuries. Her recollection was never going to match Claudia’s, and especially twelve months on.’

‘Except it was Amelia who remembered the torch quite clearly,’ said Leanne. ‘And it wasn’t a detail that had simply slipped Claudia’s mind. She didn’t have a clue what Amelia was talking about. You don’t confuse an usher’s full-size torch with one you can fit on a key ring, especially when it’s something you supposedly own.’

‘Claudia thought she was pulling a dying child out of the rubble and she went on to suffer a miscarriage. Memories can be repressed, and besides, the two of them seemed quite clear about what Claudia had said to her that night.’

‘You’ve just said we can’t rely on the memory of someone with a head injury. Amelia is open to suggestion, and Claudia quoted things that I’d expect anyone would say in that situation.’

‘Sorry, Leanne, but I’m not convinced. You never wanted Claudia to be our hero. You’ve been against her from the start,’ Mal said. He drained his glass. ‘You’ve been blinded by your personal feelings and, to be blunt, I don’t trust your judgement.’

‘What about mine?’ asked Frankie, finally able to get a word in between the warring factions. ‘I’ve spent the last month or so speaking to genuine victims. You say the town found a hero, well read your own paper, Mal. There were plenty of heroes that night. People who were caught up in circumstances they hadn’t been prepared for and who lost their lives while saving others. The seventy-one-year-old who pushed a child away from certain death, the man who lifted children over his head before the crush squeezed the last drop of life from him, not to mention the firefighters who went in and saved more lives. I’m sorry, but it doesn’t feel right including Claudia in that list.’

‘Why not?’