‘Well one,’ I say, leaning forward and raising my index finger, ‘I think Elise may have seen you with Jackson. And two, I think she may still be alive and—’

‘Alive?’ She widens her eyes.

‘You need to be careful, Rosamund. She could be dangerous.’

‘Elise? Dangerous?’ She furrows her forehead. ‘Oh, Amelia, why would you even think that?’

‘OK. Right. The first thing is Ruth was wearing your bed jacket when she died. What if Elise thought it was you? And I’m pretty sure I saw her in the wood the night Lark went missing. I didn’t realise at the time – my head so full of ghost stories – but now I’m pretty sure it was Elise hanging up those awful masks ready to scare you – us – when we went in the woods the following day. And now she wants revenge.’

‘A whole year later?’

‘I know. That part doesn’t quite fit. But then she’s bigger now, stronger.’

‘Although the mask bit fits,’ she says, her voice rising, her eyes flashing as though she can suddenly see what I see. ‘She was obsessed with those stupid things, wasn’t she? Maybe she is still alive and she left the mask on my doorstep. Put one in the antique shop for you to find.’

‘Exactly,’ I say. ‘I don’t think you should go back to your house alone, Rosamund.’

‘Oh God,’ she says, covering her face with her hands. ‘No, no you’re right. I can’t go back there.’

There’s a painful silence for some moments, before she removes her hands from her face, and clenches her fists. ‘He ended it with me that night,’ she says.

‘Who? Jackson?’

She nods. ‘He said he felt guilty.’

‘Well, he bloody well should have.’

‘I regret every moment, Amelia,’ she says. ‘Jackson was a terrible flirt – a handsome charmer. He took me to his caravan in Laurel Wood a few times, that’s all. It was a short fling, nothing more. I loved Neil, always will. You have to believe me. It was over the night Lark vanished.’

‘So that’s why you took off, never spoke to my mum again?’ I stare into her eyes, see them shimmering.

She nods. ‘And I’m so, so sorry.’

The kettle boils, and I rise.

‘Can I borrow your loo?’ she says, rising too. She leaves the room, and as I make hot drinks, my mind buzzes. Mum had seen Rosamund and Jackson together. She’d known they were having an affair. Was that what the letter to Neil had said? Had Mum told him she’d seen them?

But no, that can’t be right. Neil is still with Rosamund. So did he forgive her? Had he known all along?

As I put the drinks on the table something niggles at my thoughts, but I can’t quite reach it. Frustrated I sit down; take a long sip of my coffee.