‘And Danny,’ she says, as if suddenly remembering his name. ‘I felt sorry for him. He was a loner and kids can be cruel.’ She stops and I have an unexpected flashback of Freya on the beach the night of the sleep-out while all the other girls were causing a commotion. ‘How’s he doing now?’ she asks.

I don’t want to tell Freya I haven’t seen my brother in eighteen years. That I wish I could have stopped him from going or that I know how cruel those kids were and I never did enough.

‘Danny moved away a while ago,’ I say. ‘We don’t really keep in touch.’

She nods again. ‘So the police been to see you yet?’

‘Why are you asking me all these questions?’ I say. ‘Am I some news story for you?’

‘No. Not at all. Well, not yet anyway,’ she adds and then smiles. ‘Relax, Stella. I’m not grilling you for an article. It’s blatantly obvious you have no more knowledge than I do about the body. Clearly that’s why you’ve come back and it’s what I’m here for too.’

‘So why the interest in me?’

‘I think you could be helpful,’ she says, shifting so that she can get a better look at me. Since the start of our exchange, Freya’s had control, and every piece of her body language tells me she knows that. ‘I guess it depends how much you want to involve yourself with this.’ She waves a hand behind us in the direction of the police tent.

‘I don’t understand what I can do.’

‘You can talk to the people who won’t talk to me. You’d have a better chance than I do.’

‘What makes you think that?’ I ask.

She laughs. ‘Because you know most of them and your family was once liked round here. Many of the islanders are closing their doors in my face. I think they’d be more likely to speak to you. And in return,’ she goes on before I can answer, ‘I can help you with some of the things you want to know.’

‘Like what?’ I ask. ‘You told me yourself you don’t know anything.’

‘I can tell you who the police are most interested in. The ones they’ve been back to see more than once.’

I nod slowly.

‘There’s already a question, isn’t there?’

‘What do you think the police already know? You said they’ll release the details when they’re ready. Do you think they know how long the body’s been there?’

‘A pathologist could have established that very quickly,’ she says. ‘I imagine they already know who the body is.’

‘Oh,’ I gasp. ‘So why aren’t they saying? Why hasn’t it been on the news?’