‘Even after finding out about Reverend Farnley.’

‘I know. And I’m aware of what you and the others think of me now. I really didn’t just let him get away with it, though. I promise you. Once Billy was out of the picture I turned my attention to him. Your dad was still here then, so he helped to ensure Farnley moved on.’

‘But other children, Mum – you could’ve prevented him from creating more victims if you’d reported him …’

‘I may not have handed him over to the police, and by then I couldn’t have done that without the whole story I’d weaved collapsing and your dad going to prison, but I did take what action I could to ensure his opportunity to continue any abuse was limited.’

‘How?’

‘I found out the parish he’d moved to, then anonymously tipped them off. I told them just enough information to give my accusation of paedophilia credence. His reputation was in tatters; no real evidence was needed in the end, and then he had a breakdown. The rest you know.’

‘Seems no real evidence is required these days,’ Anna said, shaking her head.

‘In his case, it was deserved.’

‘But not in Billy’s case.’

‘No. No. Although I can’t say I wouldn’t do it again if I had to,’ Muriel said. ‘If it meant protecting my family.’

Silence fell, then, while Anna struggled to take everything in. The layers of lies. So many things niggled at her, and no doubt over the coming days there’d be more. One of the things bothering her right now was how her mother had encouraged little Bella and Jonie to be friends if what she said was true. If they hadn’t been pushed together all the time, none of this would’ve happened.

‘If you thought Jonie was bad news, why did you let me play with her?’

Muriel gave a sigh and shrugged. ‘Because I was best friends with Tina. I wanted you two to be good friends as well.’ Muriel dropped her head. ‘It made life easier; your father and I could spend more time at Tina and Mark’s, or vice versa, if you two played together.’

‘Right,’ Anna said. She had a feeling many answers to her questions would be ‘it made life easier’. She wanted to ask all the questions at some point. Anna was so tired now, her eyelids felt like lead. She wasn’t sure she could wait for her father to return with Billy. And Jonie’s body.

She shivered. ‘It does seem to keep coming back to you, Mum. Not that I can blame you for my actions.’

‘Yes, it does. Don’t worry, I blame me too. I was so shocked when you finally said you’d hurt Jonie, left her lying, not breathing on the grass near the hedge the other side of Billy’s cul-de-sac. When Eric came back, ashen-faced, and told me how he’d found her, we weren’t confident enough that we could get away with saying it was an accident. As awful as it is, I saw it as an opportunity to get Billy – they were right about that. And I’d much rather see him go down for murder than my daughter or husband.’