Leanne had visited the Empress a week before it had opened. She had been invited to a prelaunch press day, and the stage had been in the process of being set for opening night; a variety show with some high-profile performers on the bill. The air had been filled with the thrill of anticipation, mixed with the astringent smell of fresh paint and drying plaster. Leanne had felt privileged to be amongst the first to tread the newly polished boards, to try out the plush velvet seats, and to gaze up at the stage, where spotlights picked up dancing motes of dust. The town was being lulled into a false sense of superiority, not knowing the price it would pay.

Taking a breath of crisp, autumn air, Leanne allowed her mind to fill the auditorium with townspeople, many of whom she would bump shoulders with during her weekly shop. Some she knew better. Some she would never see again. Onstage was a white rabbit.

Leanne placed herself amongst the grumblers who had cursed their misfortune at being evacuated for the sake of a false alarm, but the sense of foreboding was hers alone. Her heart clenched when the lights went out and the world collapsed around her. She was scrambling over chairs in her haste to escape, choking on the dust, fleeing the fire and the smoke that permeated all her senses. She zoned in on Row F, stage right. There was only rubble where Amelia had been.

Would Leanne have gone to investigate? Or would she have doubled her efforts to save her own skin. Would she have pushed against people’s backs, contributing to the crush that forced the last breath out of Lois’s lungs? Would the outcome have been any different if she had been there? Would there be one less death, or one more?

‘Watch yourself there, love, or you’ll end up in the canal,’ a man called to her. He was approaching with his dog, a huge German Shepherd that had its tongue lolling out. The dog licked the air, and tasting Leanne’s fear, released a whine of sympathy.

‘Sorry, I was miles away,’ Leanne said, refocusing her gaze on the path she had been veering off.

‘You don’t want to fall in,’ the man continued as they drew level. ‘It’s colder than it looks.’

‘Yeah, I should know better. Thanks.’

Leanne knew all about the perils of messing about on the water. When she had announced that she would be living on a boat, her mum had sent links to a long list of safety videos on YouTube, and Leanne had watched them all, if only because she knew her mum would test her later. She had made Lois watch them too. They had thought they were prepared for every eventuality, from escaping a capsized boat to cold water shock, but at no time had they considered the dangers of a trip to the theatre.