“So it was Tom,” I said. “That car followed me home one night.” I saw Martin’s confusion. “Josh’s car, I mean.”

“What? And you think it was Tom?” Then it dawned on him. “Oh no, you thought it might be Josh? He wouldn’t do that. He loves you.”

“I know.” And I did know Josh loved me. I’d always known. “I recognized the car, though, and couldn’t work out why Josh would’ve done that.”

“You must have been terrified.”

“I was so frightened.”

“That bastard,” he said. “Belinda said he was really insistent he had the car; she thought Josh should have taken it for a service himself so that he could find out what was involved.”

There was a moment then when I think Martin realized that the man whom I’d left, the man who’d followed me at night, frightening me, was also the man who’d died when I was in the house. There was a split second where I saw him abandon that idea.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s get this house emptied and you can start again. You deserve that.”

“You won’t say anything to Josh, will you?”

“No. I won’t say anything to anyone. Tom’s dead now. There’s no point raking over the past. Josh loved his dad; let’s just leave him with good memories of him.” He stood up. “Now, what do you want me to do? Josh is taking his dad’s cameras and electronics. What were you going to do with his clothes?”

I shuddered. I couldn’t bear to think of seeing them again.

“Why don’t I take them to a charity shop?” he asked. “I can do that now, if you like. What will you do with everything else?”

“I’ve contacted a women’s refuge and they said they’d take everything I didn’t want. The furniture. All the kitchen stuff. They can sell what they don’t need. They’re sending a couple of guys over first thing tomorrow with a removal van.”

“You’re not keeping anything at all?”

I shook my head. “No. I don’t want any reminders.”

“I don’t blame you,” he said briskly. “And that’s a great idea, to give everything to a refuge. They need all the help they can get. I’ll get those clothes sorted, then.”

I stayed in the kitchen, packing everything into the boxes I’d brought with me. After an hour, Josh came into the room.

“I’m off now,” he said. “Thanks for letting me take those things.”

I found it hard to look at him. I felt ashamed that I’d doubted him. I went over to him and gave him a hug. “Don’t be silly. They’re yours. It’s what your dad would have wanted.”

“And for the money.”

“It’s yours,” I said again.