I nod. ‘Yeah. I guess. I mean, after a day or two of Will being missing there was never any real doubt that he was dead though so …’ Argh. That doesn’t sound like the kind of thing I should be saying.

‘Do you remember much about the accident? I understand you were skiing with … the deceased … your brother at the time?’

Millie puts down a plate of prettily presented full English breakfast in front of me. There are even baked beans, which I haven’t had for years. It looks delicious.

‘Thank you, that looks wonderful,’ I say. Millie gives a brief nod and goes back into the kitchen. I start to eat.

‘I don’t remember much,’ I lie. ‘The weather was abysmal that day, the visibility awful. I do recall that it was my idea to go out, though, not his, and I’ve never got over that.’

Matt puts his hand on my arm. It makes me feel uncomfortable, but it would be weird to pull it away. ‘I’m sure it wasn’t your fault,’ he says.

I nod, and for a second I’m surprised to feel tears welling. ‘I don’t think it was anyone’s fault. There was an investigation which concluded that no one was at fault, that it was an accident, pure and simple.’ That’s my story and that’s the one I’m sticking to. I take a mouthful of bacon and force it down. ‘Poor Will. It’s only now I’m older I realize quite how young he was when he died.’

‘Yeah. A terrible thing,’ Matt agrees. There is a reflective pause where no one says anything and my chewing sounds extraordinarily loud.

Matt pushes back his chair. ‘Right. Well, I’m going to leave you to finish your breakfast in peace while I go and check a few things with Millie. I’ll come back at ten thirty to take you to your … various appointments. Does that sound OK?’

I nod. ‘Great. And thank you for your kindness and hospitality. You and your colleagues are making a difficult situation as easy as possible.’

‘Not at all,’ says Matt. ‘We’re a small community here, and something like this affects us all. We all want to do what we can to help.’

He gives me another pat on the arm and a sympathetic smile before heading off to the kitchen.

I get back to my breakfast.

Matt comes back on the dot of ten thirty with a man who introduces himself at Didier Delpont, who is apparently head of the tourist office.