‘I still love him. Always have.’ Pamela lets out a snort of rueful laughter. ‘I know I’m an idiot, Anna, you don’t need to look at me like that. Have you ever loved anyone so much that you feel like you’d die if you couldn’t be near them?’

I shake my head. ‘Have you been in contact with Dominic? Does he know you’re here?’

‘Of course, he does, Anna.’ Pamela frowns at me. ‘I was supposed to meet him that night.’

I have to take a moment to catch my breath, feeling as though the floor has given way slightly beneath my feet. No wonder Dominic didn’t want Fran to know where he was the night Laurel went missing. What kind of man promises to take his child to a fireworks display, then scurries off to meet his mistress instead?

‘Hang on . . . wait a minute,’ I say, holding up a hand as a thought strikes me. ‘You said you were supposed to meet him that night? Did he not show up?’

‘No.’ Pamela sighs, twisting the ring on her finger again. I realise this must be the ring Dominic gave her when he asked her to marry him. ‘I waited for him, but he didn’t show. He’d said that he was supposed to meet Fran and Laurel at the Oxbury Primary display, so I thought maybe he went straight there. I waited there too, by the front gate, but I left before the . . . before it happened.’

I remember the police saying there had been a call from a witness saying they’d seen a woman hanging out outside the front gate that night. It must have been Pamela. I look hard at her, at the lines at the corners of her blue eyes, the tiny streak of grey in the front of her blonde hair that you would never notice unless you were looking for it.

‘So, you have been seeing Dominic? Has he been cheating on Fran with you?’ Maybe Fran was right to be suspicious after all.

‘No, not as such.’ Pamela avoids my eyes, dabbing her finger into a pile of spilled sugar. ‘I bumped into him in town a couple of months ago. We had a coffee and he mentioned that things weren’t great between him and Fran. I thought . . . maybe this was my opportunity to have another chance with him. We’ve been in contact over the phone mostly, but we’ve had a drink once or twice. I know that if I simply wait, if I’m patient, then he’ll see sense. He’ll come back to me. I was his first love, Anna, we’re meant to be together.’