Anderson laughed; an infectious giggle which reminded Gillard again of how attractive he had found her all those years ago. ‘That’s the $64,000 question isn’t it? I do have a bit of inside information I’m willing to share with you. Crystal had a boyfriend called Ozzy, because she used to discuss him with my mother during her massage and therapy sessions. No mention of course that Ozzy was already married. For several months now, I’ve been working on the assumption that wherever Crystal turns up, you’ll find Ozzy. She has a motor caravan, missing from her driveway, so there are a lot of possibilities. The ANPR traces were not conclusive. Somewhere in the West Country was the best we could come up with.’

‘And that’s why you don’t think he’s dead?’

She stuck the fork into the tarmac between them and leaned on it. ‘You see, Craig, Crystal hasn’t been reported missing by any members of her family. Even her daughter Rowena seems unconcerned. If they were worried about her, you would see very different behaviour. It seems quite likely that she has been in contact with them, somehow. So they’ve gone to ground – the question is why.’

‘I would have thought they would be a bit more worried after the discovery of the body.’

‘Ah, the body, yes.’ Her smile was one of concealed knowledge, and her hazel eyes roamed over his face. ‘You know, Craig, when we met all those years ago, you behaved like a complete shit to me. We had a good friendship and, I thought, more. Until that night. The Craig Gillard seduction machine just kicked in, and in the morning you seemed almost embarrassed to know me. As if you couldn’t get out fast enough.’

Feeling enormously uncomfortable, he said: ‘I can only unreservedly apologise for my younger self. There were reasons—’

‘I discovered that a bit later,’ she said. ‘After the Elizabeth Knight case. I’d already left the force, but I had friends within it. Still do, of course. I made a few enquiries.’

‘I was very hung up on her,’ he conceded.

‘So I heard. And in the meantime, while you waited hopelessly to get her back, the rest of us were just easy meat, isn’t that right? Stop-gaps and bedpost notches.’ She pivoted the fork in her hands, grinding out pieces of tarmac from the footpath between them. She wasn’t letting him off the hook. ‘I was very upset, you know.’

‘Thank you for making that clear… Stella.’ He baulked at referring to her seniority in such a personal conversation.

‘So you’re married now?’ she asked.

‘Yes. Five years. Sam reformed me, or maybe I just grew up.’

Another brief smile. ‘Yes, but too late for me. Much too late.’