‘I knew something was wrong in the car on the way back from Mum and Dad’s. When I asked him how the stag night was, he seemed nervous and couldn’t look me in the eye. I knew he was hiding something and confronted him after I’d put Nathan to bed. At first, he said he’d had a lot to drink and felt embarrassed because he was sick on the dance floor and got thrown out of the club. I’ve never known Tony be sick through drink and told him to stop lying to me. I picked up the phone and said I was calling his friend Noel to ask what happened.’

‘What did Noel say?’

‘Tony broke down and confessed before he answered the phone.’

Jane needed to know if Tony had told the truth.

‘Confessed to what?’

‘That he’d met some slut called Laura on the stag do last night while they were at the Empire disco in Leicester Square. He screwed her down a dirty alleyway and even tried to blame her for leading him on.’

Jane wondered if her sister may have misinterpreted some of what Tony told her, due to the heartbreak and rage she must have felt at the time of his confession.

‘He actually admitted having sex in an alleyway?’

‘He said they just kissed and touched each other, but I don’t believe him. If it wasn’t more than that, then why go down the alley in the first place?’

‘I’m not condoning what he’s done, Pam, but he must have felt some remorse to confess—’

Pam looked upset. ‘Whose side are you on, Jane? Tony lied and cheated on me. He only confessed because I forced him into a corner.’

‘I know, but he might have been frightened to say anything at first, for fear of losing you and Nathan. If it was just a kiss and cuddle it’s not the end of the world—’

‘I can’t believe I’m hearing this. Especially from a woman who’s never been married and had a string of disastrous relationships – one of them with a married police officer with children, as I recall.’

‘That’s not fair and you know it. I was a naive young probationer at the time, and if I’d had any idea he was married I would never have had a relationship with him.’

‘As I recall, it only ended because he got killed in an explosion during a bank raid.’

Jane was appalled by Pam’s contemptuous remark, but kept calm.

‘That’s a horrible thing to say. He was a respected police officer who died doing a job he loved.’

‘How do you think his wife would have felt if she knew about your affair?’

‘Why are you being so vicious, Pam?’

‘I’ve been hurt, and you don’t seem to care.’ She sniffed.