Anna looked down at her hand, which was still clutching the chair arm, knuckles white as bone.

‘We know Gary told Violet a secret about the Pale Child. We will find out what it is. We’re asking Kirsty as well.’

Anna snorted. ‘Good luck with that. Getting the truth out of Kirsty.’

‘You buried someone in the woods,’ I said.

This was a guess. I was expecting a shocked denial. But instead Anna sighed, leaned back and closed her eyes.

Jai and I sat in silence, waiting.

Anna popped her eyes open.

Jai and I were both still, breathing quietly. It was like approaching a wild animal. One false move, startle the creature, and it would bolt, leaving you with nothing.

‘You think Violet could be alive?’ Anna said. ‘You think this might help find her?’

I nodded.

‘Yes, we do,’ Jai said.

Anna’s whole body sank in the chair, as if she was letting go of the tension she’d been holding for years, decades even. Then she gave a sharp humourless laugh. ‘Gary told Violet,’ she said. ‘What an idiot. A besotted, pathetic idiot. After all these years.’

‘What did he tell her, Anna?’

‘Oh fuck it. I’m so fucking sick of this secret. And of Gritton. Of not letting the others out of my sight. Of everything. Now Gary’s dead anyway, so what’s the point? And Daniel’s gone insane. As for Kirsty … I’m not protecting her. It’s all going to come out anyway when they dig up the woods for that crappy new development.’

I remembered the signs in the village. Don’t Build on Our Burial Grounds! Stop the Development! I nodded, encouraging her to continue.

Anna closed her eyes and slowly opened them again. ‘It happened the night Lucas died.’

I held my breath.

Jai spoke gently. ‘Go on.’

‘It was Bex’s last night before she went home. She’d been here a month, with her dad and Kirsty. I’d become friends with her. We had … quite a good time, but … anyway, we had this barbecue in the woods.’

‘“We” being you, Bex, Kirsty, Daniel, Gary and Lucas?’

Anna nodded. ‘Kirsty was in charge, as usual, the boys doing what she told them. I knew Gary fancied Bex, and Daniel was besotted with her. Bex was being irritating, flirting with them. She got way too drunk, and stoned as well. She wasn’t used to any of that.’

I nodded. This was in line with what we knew.

Anna sighed. ‘Have you been told about that night?’

I put my mug down on the table and sat back. ‘Tell us in your own words.’ I was always annoyed by the TV detectives who put words into people’s mouths. You don’t do that. You wait for them to tell you in their own way. People let things slip out when they choose their own words.