When he straightened up, there was a sheen of sweat on his brow. He wiped it away with a shaking hand.

Sudden concern for Joe took Leanne by surprise. ‘Are you ill?’

‘No, it’s nothing. I don’t do crowds very well these days, that’s all,’ he said. His breathing had slowed and, as he looked at Leanne, the world around them stilled. He smiled. ‘I wouldn’t have gone in there for anyone else. And I wouldn’t have needed to if you’d answered your bloody phone.’ When Leanne didn’t reply, uncertainty got the better of him. ‘I presume the fact you invited me over is because you want to talk.’

‘I don’t know what I want,’ she said. Now that he was there, she wasn’t sure what to say. ‘This was a bad idea. I should go home.’

‘Do you want a lift?’

They didn’t speak again until they were in his car and on their way to the marina. Even then, the silence was easier than the words that must come.

‘I’ve been so angry,’ Leanne said at last.

Joe rubbed his chin. ‘I noticed.’

‘Sorry about that. I’m sure my knuckles hurt more than your face.’

‘I wouldn’t bet on it.’ Joe took a couple of breaths, then added, ‘I just want you to understand what happened … Why I let her down. Will you let me try?’

Leanne stared at the road ahead. It wasn’t only Joe who needed to explain, but if he was willing to go first, she wouldn’t stop him. ‘Go on.’

‘I was supposed to save her.’

Leanne had told him as much at Lois’s funeral, or to be precise, she had screamed it at him. Since then, she had heard enough accounts from survivors to know that Joe had been powerless to help, but she couldn’t stop wishing that he had been able to make a difference. ‘So what did happen?’

‘I had my arm around Lois as we were queuing to get out, and then all hell broke loose,’ he replied. ‘We were in the worst possible place, right in the centre of the corridor. The people pushing from behind went left or right, while we were trapped in the middle. At one point I was aware that my arms were digging into Lois’s back and I pulled away to free up space. It didn’t help, and the next thing I knew, she was on one side of our logjam, and I was on the other. I tripped over something, I think it was a body.’

The pause Joe left was wide enough for Leanne to plunge headfirst into the image he was conjuring of her best friend’s last moments.