She clasped her forehead, unsure what to do next, feeling like she was standing on quicksand, being sucked under, and there was nothing she could do about it.

‘I can’t go to the police with no evidence, can I?’ In reality, getting the police involved wasn’t an option, given her theft from the community centre.

He looked thoughtful, his fingers pinching his lips, and it was a moment before he spoke.

‘Do you think Matt still has a copy of this video?’

She sighed. ‘He won’t speak to me.’

‘And he didn’t say where he’d got it from?’

‘No. He just said someone sent it to him and he was mad as hell. I really didn’t have a chance to ask him any questions – he’d already made up his mind about what was going on. I don’t even know if he watched it all.’ Her voice cracked again, her guard crumbling. ‘I don’t understand it. Any of it. But I know what I saw, and it makes me feel sick and humiliated and… filthy.’

She started to cry, covering her face with her hands as her body shuddered.

He grabbed the box of tissues from the desk and handed them to her. ‘Sit down, Sara. Come on. Let me get you a cup of tea. I can see it’s all been a horrible shock.’ He pulled out her chair and gently pushed her into it. ‘I’ll be back in a tick.’

True to his word, he returned with mugs of tea and a packet of chocolate biscuits.

He gave her a tentative smile. ‘Let’s talk this through and see if we can sort out what’s been going on and what we’re going to do about it.’

She gazed at him then, scrutinised his face for clues, little tells that he was being dishonest, but there was nothing untoward, nothing suspicious at all. He said ‘we’. And she felt a tremor of relief. James wasn’t the enemy. He’d never been the enemy. She remembered Hailey’s comment, how she thought he had romantic feelings towards her. I’m very fond of you, that was what he’d just said. And if he was fond of her, he wouldn’t have let other men grope her. She sipped at her tea, the hot sweetness scalding her tongue.