Dan said, “Henry tells me he’s visited a couple of times since and she’s said a few words to him.”

“Well, that’s a relief. Claudia assures me that she talks to her and Jasmine too, but nothing like the way she used to.” Andee sighed deeply. “You can imagine how worried Claudia is, but at least Marcy is still seeing the psychologist, so hopefully he’ll help to rebuild her confidence.”

“And,” Graeme said from the doorway, “she’ll start to believe that no one is going to shun her, or think any the less of her for not looking the same as she did before.”

“Hear, hear to that,” Dan responded, raising his glass. After drinking he said, “Henry’s visits, the psychologist, her friends’ support, all excellent therapy, but Andee, you, and I both know that there’s something more we can do.”

Fairly certain she knew where this was going, Andee waited for him to continue, needing to hear it in case she was wrong.

“What I’m going to suggest,” he said, “is pretty unconventional, in fact definitely not out of the playbook, but Marcy is our friend, we want to help her, and as we have certain skills that could be put to good use I feel that not to use them—or at least try to use them—wouldn’t do much for our self-respect.”

Understanding exactly what he was saying, Andee replied, “So, you’re suggesting we start work on a restorative justice program for her and Archie Colbrook?”

He nodded.

“Just a minute,” Graeme interrupted. “You want to get Marcy together with the arsonist? Is that really wise? I’m not sure I can see her going for it.”

“It wouldn’t happen right away,” Dan assured him, “and it won’t happen at all if she doesn’t want it to, but there might come a time when it could prove beneficial. At this stage it will simply be for me to try to make contact with Colbrook to find out if it’s a process he’d be willing to engage with.”

Graeme said, “And if he is, and she isn’t?”

“Then it would be like any other restorative justice case, it wouldn’t go any further. We can’t approach Marcy first because if he doesn’t want to engage it would make matters worse than they already are, and we definitely don’t want that.”

“It could take weeks, months,” Andee explained to Graeme, “to get Colbrook to the point where everyone feels it might be helpful for Marcy to meet him, and by then Marcy could be in quite a different place to the one she’s in now. Are you going to mention it to Claudia?” she asked Dan.

He shook his head. “It’s important to be certain that Colbrook is on our side before we say anything to anyone, even his mother. Have you seen her recently, by the way?”