‘So it wouldn’t have bothered you if I’d told you I’d been in prison? That I’d conned people?’

I try to answer honestly. ‘It would have shocked me, yes. But I’d have listened, if you’d explained why and how it changed you – how you’re different now.’

He exhales, closing his eyes as he speaks. ‘Who says I’m different now? My dad was a con man, I’m a con man.’

‘No, Dan. Darryl. Whoever you are. You’re not predestined to behave like your dad did. We all have baggage; take me, for God’s sake. A widow trying to get’ – I stop before I say it – ‘you know. But I muddle along and try to bounce back.’

‘And you deserve happiness, Gemma. But you had good foundations. Your family is normal. But my normal was about cheating and stealing.’

‘You’ve moved on from that. Haven’t you?’

‘Yes, I’m an upstanding taxpayer now. But I had to betray my own dad to get there.’

The bitterness in his voice startles me. ‘What do you mean, betray him?’

He shakes his head. ‘Take no notice of me. It’s in the past, like you said. You should go home, Gemma, look after yourself. I don’t want to hurt you any more than I already have.’

Have I stumbled on a truth that might make sense of the other lies? I’m too stubborn to give up if there’s a chance of understanding what this has all been about. ‘I’m going nowhere. Not till you’ve told me what you mean.’

‘I gave evidence against him, OK? When my father went to jail, it was because I put him there.’ Dan’s eyes are fixed on mine, daring me to judge him.

‘How? You said he was convicted of theft?’

‘He was sent down for charity fraud, but he’d done so many cons, they only charged him with the biggest.’

‘Sorry, I don’t understand what charity fraud means.’

Dan exhales. ‘He pretended I had cancer and needed private treatment in America.’

I stare at him. ‘Bloody hell. Why would he do that?’

‘To raise money. He said it was a victimless crime. The people who did sponsored walks and raffles and the rest felt proud that they were making a difference to a sick kid. And we got to keep the money and have a nice life. Everyone’s a winner.’

‘But you weren’t actually ill?’

‘No. Though the first time my dad tried out the scam, I thought I was. It started when I kept getting dizzy, and then I fainted and they took me into the children’s ward for a night, to have tests done. That’s what gave my dad the idea, I think. The tests must have come back clear, but he told me they’d found something bad and I was sick and I needed specialist treatment that you couldn’t get in England. So for quite a long time I really convinced myself that I was dying.’

Despite the warmth here on the quay, the shock feels like I’ve plunged into the icy harbour. ‘Jesus, Dan! How old were you?’