Another week passed without her getting any closer to an answer. She hadn’t tried again to see the boys; she needed to formulate a plan first. Vanessa figured she’d have more of a chance of talking to Justin when he was recovering at home. Joan wouldn’t be with him; she wasn’t that kind of mother. Justin would be on his own soon enough. Just to be sure, she rang the hospital and was told that Justin had been discharged. He was at home, alone – ripe for the picking.

She dressed quickly and slipped out the front door while Maggie was showering. She couldn’t just stroll up to the house to see Justin, and she couldn’t just wander into the bar to see if Joan was there. They lived in a house out the back of the bar at the end of the block. She called Mark. ‘Hey Vanessa, what’s up?’ She could hear him shelling then eating peanuts.

‘Is Joan there?’

‘Yeah, she is in the corner doing payroll, why?’

‘This is going to sound crazy, but I’m going to break into Justin’s house and confront him, but I need your help.’ She held her breath. Would he help her? ‘Mark? Will you help me?’

‘Will this help give you closure?’

‘Yes.’

‘Fine, I’ll help.’

And it was that easy. ‘OK, just text me if Joan gets up and leaves. Then I’ll quickly leave their house, she’ll never catch me there.’

‘Yeah, sure.’

She drove to the bar, parking down the block just in case Joan recognized her car. She walked up the driveway at speed but not quick enough to attract attention. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she tried the front door. It was unlocked. Luck was on her side. She could hear the TV and followed the sound to the lounge. Justin looked up in surprise, then fright when he realized she was there. ‘Mrs Wright,’ he said. ‘What are you doing here? I’m not supposed to talk to you.’

‘Why not?’ she demanded.

‘Dunno, Mom said.’

‘That looks painful,’ she said pointing to a metal contraption along Justin’s leg.

‘It is. Can barely move. I was crushed by the steering column. Concussion, lost some memories.’

Vanessa’s heart sank. ‘Justin, what happened?’ She made it clear that she wasn’t leaving until she had her answers.

‘I don’t really remember, it’s a bit fuzzy.’ Convenient. ‘We were driving round, like we normally do. We drove past the river. Wren was talking about what was going to happen when we graduated school. We were having fun. Then a deer flew out in front of us. I swerved. I hit the tree, Wren didn’t have his seatbelt on.’

‘Justin, why not? And why didn’t the airbag go off?’ That was one question she definitely needed an answer to. He may have lived had it deployed as it was supposed to. She could feel herself getting angry, getting worked up. ‘Justin, why didn’t you brake? Why didn’t you brake? You crossed the other side of the road into a tree and you didn’t brake.’