‘Sorry,’ Dee said. ‘I forgot my bank card and had to go back for it. I’m dropping into the supermarket when we’re finished. There is literally no food at all in my house.’

‘I don’t understand why you don’t do a weekly online shop like most normal people,’ Louise said. ‘I wouldn’t survive without Ocado.’

‘Most normal people are shopping for an entire family,’ Dee said. ‘I’m only shopping for myself, remember. It’s not worth doing a big shop every week.’

They walked down the hill that led to the beach and turned left, without either of them needing to check this was what the other wanted. They’d been taking regular morning walks together for a while now, and had several routes. This one, from Holywell to the pier and back, was one of their favourites.

As they walked, Dee told Louise about her recent trips to London and her realisation that Annie Holden was exactly who she said she was.

‘You can’t be too surprised,’ Louise said. ‘I mean, you didn’t really think she was anyone else, did you?’

‘I suppose not,’ Dee said, ‘although of course there was a part of me that wished – for Emer’s sake – Kitty was still alive.’

‘Does this mean you’re letting the whole thing go?’

‘I guess so,’ Dee said. ‘Although there’s a part of me that’s still wants to know the truth.’

She thought of the conversation she’d had the previous evening with Shay Flaherty, the journalist who’d covered Lucy’s disappearance back in 1997. He’d finally got back to her and they’d spoken on the phone for almost an hour yesterday.

Shay had told Dee he’d never stopped believing Lucy’s disappearance and Kitty’s drowning were connected.

‘But I’ve never been able to prove it,’ he said. ‘Everyone was so convinced Kitty drowned that day. I wanted to look into it in more detail, but my editor told me it was a waste of time.’

‘You think there’s a chance Kitty didn’t drown?’ Dee asked him.

‘Maybe,’ Shay said. ‘But it was never an option anyone properly explored.’

Shay also confirmed that Kitty’s father hadn’t joined his family on holiday because he’d had a last-minute offer of some work. Although he couldn’t now, all these years later, remember who Eamon had been working for. He promised Dee he’d look back over the notes he’d kept from that time and, if he found anything interesting, he would let her know.

‘Isn’t the truth simple?’ Louise said now, dragging Dee’s mind from yesterday’s conversation to this one. ‘Kitty drowned, and that’s all there is to it.’

‘But what about Lucy?’ Dee said. ‘What happened to her?’

‘Maybe no one will ever know,’ Louise said. ‘I know it sounds awful, but sometimes there are no easy answers.’