‘He paid money into my account, even though I didn’t want him to. He said it was insurance, to make it look like he was paying me. He said he was going to pay it in every now and then, just enough to make it look suspicious if it was ever investigated.’

‘Why didn’t you report it?’

‘We were already in too deep, what with your father and Max. And Dominic has a sadistic streak, like his father. He implied that something might happen to you if I didn’t do what he said.’

‘He knew about me?’ whispered Steph.

‘Yes. He’d seen you out with me one day and then again at your dad’s funeral. And, of course, over the years the Sinclairs had made it their business to know all about us. It’s their way of keeping control.’ Wendy closed her eyes at the memory. She took a moment before continuing. ‘I knew about the drug smuggling but I turned a blind eye.’

‘Oh, God, Mum.’ It was getting worse by the minute and Steph knew there was more to come.

‘When I told you about being asked to shut down the investigation into Elizabeth’s death, I didn’t tell you quite everything.’ Wendy bowed her head, her shame obvious to Steph.

‘What else?’ Steph realised she had always known Wendy was keeping something from her. A little fact that would be the last of the puzzle pieces.

‘I wasn’t just put under pressure from my bosses to hush things up, I was put under pressure by the Sinclairs. When Elizabeth died two days after the incident at the lake, Dominic said I was to make sure the investigation found it to be an accident. He said that I was in no way to implicate anyone in her death. I’d been asking questions and, although I couldn’t prove anything, when he came to me and said that, I knew her death couldn’t have been an accident. I mean, how could it if he was telling me to make sure that was what the investigation concluded?’

‘He knew it was his mum.’ It was a statement rather than a question.

‘He knew all right. Or at the very least, he suspected. So did I, but what could I do? I couldn’t do anything for Elizabeth any more. She was dead, but I had to protect you. He made a barely veiled threat that something nasty could happen to you. I didn’t know whether to believe him or not, but I wasn’t going to call his bluff. I couldn’t let him do anything to harm you. I needed to keep you safe. You were all I had. You are still all I have.’