‘What did you do?’ My words are little more than a whispered slur. Even I hear the way they snake out of my mouth, twisting in the air. I no longer know if I’m asking her what she did to Iona or to me.

Annie’s eyes have darkened. Or maybe it’s the effect of the flickering light. Either way I try hard to focus, to gauge her reactions, because I know well enough it’s the little things that give people away.

Her fingers grip her desk. She takes a deep breath that she isn’t able to let go. Her eyes try to focus on me but she blinks frequently as if searching for the answer she should give.

Her hands shake now as she looks away. ‘I never wanted it to get to this, Stella, but you wouldn’t stop.’ She says it like this is my fault.

I hold my hand over my mouth as nausea soars through me again.

‘You just kept going,’ she says, as if tired by the thought of it. ‘Like your mum always used to. When she got hold of something she wouldn’t let it go. She got herself into a state about Iona, panicking everyone. You know, I could have done something about it if she hadn’t gone and admitted to the girl what we’d all done.’

‘Annie, I really don’t feel right.’ I slide on to a green leather chair that sits beside the desk. She either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care as she ignores the fact I’ve slumped forward.

‘Iona would have had us all sent to prison, but I could have prevented it if your mother hadn’t said anything. I had no choice in the end. She fell off the cliff, it could have been Maria, it could have been your brother, I’ve no idea who did it. The fact is by the time I got to Iona, she was screaming bloody murder. I had to clean up the mess your mother made.’

As hazy as the room is, these words hit me.

‘That’s all I’m ever doing, cleaning up your family’s messes,’ she says, and this time her words fizzle out and darkness hits me.

Evergreen Island

8 September 1993

Maria waited for Annie to speak for what felt like an eternity. ‘Who else knows she’s still on the island?’ Annie asked finally.

‘No one.’

Annie raised her eyes.

‘Only David. He knew she didn’t get on the ferry.’

‘Then we get rid of the body.’

‘What – we can’t – what are we supposed to do with her?’ Maria glanced out to sea where the waves were beginning to whip up. She could feel the air still. It was always this way before a storm and the thought unsettled her even more.

‘Go home,’ Annie told her, ‘before your family comes looking for you. Leave it with me.’