‘You had a bit of a falling out with Geraldine this morning?’

Joy’s doughy face flashed with horror at the memory. ‘She was so rude. I was surprised Tom didn’t ask her to leave.’

‘And yet you took a stroll around the garden together this evening?’

‘That wasn’t my idea!’

‘I didn’t say it was.’ Kate tried to keep her tone light. ‘Did she … um … what did you talk about?’

Joy picked at her cuticles, digging at them with her short, stubby nails. ‘Not much. She wanted to apologise.’

‘Good, that’s good. What else did you chat about?’

‘What we’re both hoping to get out of this week.’

Kate waited for her to continue then, as the seconds ticked by and Joy looked at her expectantly, said, ‘You can always talk to me. You know that, don’t you? If anyone at the retreat makes you feel uncomfortable or if you feel pressurised to talk about anything you’re not comfortable sharing.’

‘I’m not sure what you mean.’

Inwardly, Kate sighed. This was the trouble with people with a low IQ; you couldn’t just dangle something in front of them, hoping they’d notice. You had to shove it, full force, into their face. ‘Sometimes people take advantage of trusting people,’ she said. ‘You might assume someone wants to be your friend but their motives might not be as innocent as they appear.’

‘Are you talking about Geri?’ Joy asked.

And then there was no holding in Kate’s sigh. For someone like Joy, who’d been so affronted when Geraldine had interrupted Tom that morning, to be taken in by her faux friendship was disappointing. Not that Joy had anything of interest to share with her. This was her first retreat. She’d been a huge fan of SoulShrink for years, according to her booking form, but had only been able to afford a place after her mother had died and left her a small inheritance.

Now, as Kate places an English breakfast in front of Phoenix, she widens her smile. ‘Everything okay?’

He returns her smile. ‘Wonderful.’

She had a word with the Gozo clients when they first arrived, ensuring they realised how hard she had worked to ensure the retreat could go ahead, and how precarious the situation was regarding future retreats. She didn’t want to worry anyone by suggesting there might be an investigative journalist in the group – the sessions only worked if the attendees trusted each other – but she did stress that any discussions about what had happened in Gozo would be unhelpful and might cause upset. Her chat seemed to have worked. Other than Tom’s brief mention of the sweat lodge deaths in his welcome speech, she hasn’t heard anyone discussing it.