‘There are some questions you shouldn’t ask.’

‘There are things I can’t leave alone.’ Steph’s temper finally snapped.

‘If you pursue this, if you take the Sinclair family down, it won’t end there. It will be like a pebble being thrown into the water. The ripples will reach wider than you can imagine and touch people you least expect them to.’

‘You’re doing it again! Stop talking in riddles!’ Steph’s voice rose, her temper finally getting the better of her as her words came out unchecked. ‘Are you protecting someone? Oh, God … it’s you. You’re protecting yourself.’

‘Get a bloody grip,’ spat Wendy, her own temper being let off the leash. ‘I’m protecting other people. There are folk in this community who depend on the Sinclairs for their livelihoods. Without the Sinclairs buying in local produce, half the businesses round here would fold. You will do more harm than good.’

‘But what about the truth?’ insisted Steph. ‘As a police officer that’s your duty, first and foremost.’

Wendy broke eye contact and looked down at her shoes, before lifting her head and reconnecting with Steph’s gaze. ‘When Rob told you I was asked to leave, he was telling the truth. I can’t go into detail about why exactly but it was to do with Elizabeth Sinclair’s death – the investigation.’

For the first time Steph could see not so much a chink, but a fault line in her mother’s tough exterior. ‘What did you do?’ she asked, her tone softer.

‘It wasn’t so much what I did, but what I didn’t.’

‘Mum, please … tell me.’

The fault line closed up. ‘Look, all you need to know is that Elizabeth’s death was an accident. It was recorded as such. The verdict was sound. It was what everyone wanted.’

Steph tamped down the urge to scream in frustration at Wendy’s refusal to tell her anything meaningful. ‘You say it’s what everyone wanted, but does that include Sonia Lomas? I don’t think so. She wants the truth, not just some convenient half-truth that’s been created.’ The words came out in a flurry of infuriation which only served to rile Wendy.

‘You’ve got your priorities wrong. You’re more concerned about Sonia Lomas than you are for your own mother.’

‘Sonia Lomas loved her daughter without compromise or condition. She deserves loyalty. She deserves to know the truth.’ Tears stung the back of Steph’s eyes and she blinked furiously. She was not going to cry in front of Wendy, no matter how much the truth in her own words hurt her.

‘And I don’t? Is that what you’re saying?’ demanded Wendy.