Eventually I nod as if I’ve accepted what she’s telling me, and for now I change the subject to the body. ‘It must be frightening,’ I say, ‘when no one knows anyone who went missing. You must all be wondering who it is.’

‘Of course we are.’ Her face falls into a frown.

‘But no one has any idea?’

‘You still assume I have all the answers, Stella,’ she says. ‘You’re beginning to sound like Freya Little.’

‘I don’t mean to,’ I say. ‘I just can’t help wondering if we knew her.’

Annie nods slowly but doesn’t answer.

‘I hoped I’d get the chance to see some of my old friends while I’m here, too.’

Annie smiles and reaches out a hand to the table, leaning on it and stretching out her leg. She looks as if she’s in pain and I wish she’d sit down again, because it makes me feel uncomfortable too. ‘Like who?’ she asks.

‘Jill.’

A shadow crosses Annie’s face and for a moment she looks at me with a blank expression. She shakes her head. ‘Oh, my dear.’ She pulls her hand away and clasps both hands together tightly before letting go and reaching out for me. ‘I thought your mother had told you. Honey, Jill’s dead.’

Chapter Eleven

‘Jill died? When? How? I mean, what happened?’ My hands shake as Annie reaches for them, wrapping her own around mine in an effort to still them.

‘Many years ago,’ she says softly. ‘She was nineteen.’

‘But that was – that was ages ago. How come I never knew?’

She continues to look at me, shaking her head.

‘Mum can’t have known, she would have told me something like this.’

For a moment Annie doesn’t reply, then says, ‘She knew. I told her the news myself.’

‘But – but – why didn’t she tell me?’ I stammer, pulling a hand away to wipe the tears.

‘I can’t answer that.’ Annie leans awkwardly again and I want to force her into a chair. ‘Most likely she didn’t want to hurt you.’

‘That’s crazy. Even if she didn’t, she still shouldn’t have kept it from me. God!’ I cry out. ‘I don’t believe it. I came back here hoping to see Jill.’ The tears are flowing down my cheeks now. No amount of wiping will stop them from dampening my skin but my hand brushes them away regardless. ‘What happened?’

‘She got ill quickly.’ Annie lets go of me and picks up a box of tissues from the sideboard, passing it to me. I take one and hold it beneath my eyes. ‘It was too late to do anything.’

‘How was she ill?’ I ask, desperate for more details.

‘She had chest pains and was struggling to breathe. She suffered heart failure in the end. It was all very sudden.’