‘Marty’s always wanted to believe Peter’s alive. To assuage some of the guilt he feels about what happened that night, I suppose. He wants to believe it so badly he’ll twist the facts into any shape that suits him.’

‘Did you know what they were going down to Nancekuke to do?’

‘Not at the time. Caro and I didn’t trust Peter’s informant.’

‘Tom Noy?’

‘That’s right. We just didn’t think he was reliable. He was so embittered about how the MoD had treated him, you couldn’t believe a word he said. Peter and Alison thought otherwise. We agreed to disagree. They obviously decided it was better not to tell us what they were planning. Marty went along basically because he was so gone on Alison he’d have done anything she suggested. And she was … made of warrior stuff. Handing out leaflets and waving a banner was too tame for her. She wanted … engagement. Marty told us later they’d intended to break into Nancekuke to film stocks of sarin and something even more sinister Noy claimed had been produced there. He didn’t tell the police that and neither did we. We were all scared stiff we’d be arrested as their accessories. It was a terrible time. Alison dead; Peter presumed dead; Marty in full meltdown mode; Miranda blaming us for letting them go down there in the first place; Geoff obsessed with the idea the police would find his drugs stash; and Vinod hardly saying a word. We didn’t go to Alison’s funeral, you know. We couldn’t face her family. It was way up in Lincolnshire, but … I’ve always felt ashamed about that.’

‘The police must have known you were holding out on them.’

‘That depends on how much the MoD told them. They wouldn’t have wanted any information leaking out about what went on at Nancekuke. Or what measures they took against intruders. Maybe they were happy for the police inquiry to go nowhere.’

‘And so were you?’

‘There was nothing we could do to bring Alison or Peter back, so in the end we … tried to put it behind us.’

‘Where it stayed. Until now.’

April sighed. ‘I’m sorry, Nicky. Truly I am.’

‘I know you and Caro thought you were protecting me, April. But it seems to me you were protecting yourselves as well.’

She looked at him without evasiveness. One of April’s most endearing features was her willingness to confront her own failings when she had to. There were tears welling in her eyes as she spoke. ‘It’s true.’

‘And what you said about Martin persuading himself to believe Peter was alive? Didn’t you and Caro persuade yourselves to believe the exact opposite?’

‘I suppose we did.’

‘I had a right to know.’