I was mulling this over, standing by the names of the fallen with my hands in my hoody pockets, when I saw him. A man in a suit and a sensible raincoat, tie loosened. He was handsome, with close-cropped hair and a chiselled face. I thought he was mixed race, perhaps, and a good bit younger than Anna, who had been older than me. Somehow I knew right away it was him.

‘Rachel?’ he said nervously.

‘Yes.’

‘Oh. Hi. Sorry about all the cloak-and-dagger stuff.’

I shrugged. ‘That’s my life now. How did you get my number?’

‘Marilyn from the shelter, she said I should talk to you. I didn’t know who else to ask – Anna mentioned once you worked there.’

So Marilyn hadn’t entirely condemned me. She was still trying to help – that meant something.

‘So – you and Anna were . . .’

‘Um, yeah. The thing is, I’m, well . . .’ He waved his hand awkwardly and I saw the wedding ring.

‘Ohhhh.’ That was why he hadn’t come forward.

‘Yeah. It’s – it wasn’t ideal. But I liked her. I really liked her. It was horrible to find out . . . you know.’

‘I’m sorry.’ I wasn’t sure of the etiquette here. Presumably he wouldn’t have reached out to me if he thought I was guilty. ‘I didn’t do it, you know. I only really met her once.’

‘At the Co-op. Yeah, she told me.’

‘She did?’ A blast of cold air ran through me and I shivered. ‘Shall we walk around a bit?’ There was less chance of being spotted that way. A small town at closing time is a desolate place.

The Costa on the high street was open till half six, and the tired-looking barista made us lattes. Anna’s lover paid for mine, which was kind of him, and when she asked his name for the order (though the place was empty), he darted a furtive glance at me.

‘Um . . . Ciaran.’

‘Is that your real name?’ I asked, as we walked off towards the lake, the hot cup warming me a little.

He grimaced. ‘It is, yeah. I couldn’t think of anything else.’

‘I’m not really Rachel. Do you know about that? Who I am?’

‘Eh – yes.’

I sighed. This was how leaks worked. First one person found out, then it spread, and before you knew it you had to run again, burn your life to the ground and start over. ‘Ciaran, you’d better just tell me everything you know, and I’ll do the same. OK?’

‘OK,’ he said nervously. ‘I’ve never been wrapped up in something like this, you know. A crime.’

‘Well, I have, and let me tell you, it has a way of sticking. So it’s in both our interests to find out who did it.’