“I never got what Millie saw in Dudley,” Johnny said after a moment. His face was pale and pinched, his eyes tired. “He dazzled her, I suppose. I mean, even I can see that he is very good-looking. But it wasn’t long before it all went wrong. I don’t know how she put up with it for as long as she did; ten years married to Dudley is a hell of a long time. Anyway,” his shoulders lifted, “we were all glad when she said they were divorcing. She was packing to leave when...” his breath caught “...when it happened.”

“It sounds as though the two of you were very close,” Lizzie said, “if Amelia confided so much in you.” She wondered whether it had been such a good idea for Amelia to expose Johnny to the ugly underbelly of her marriage. It seemed a bit selfish.

Johnny nodded. “Yeah, we were very close. We talked every day. Dudley is,” he corrected himself meticulously, “was the worst thing that ever happened to her. Right from the start he sort of sapped all her self-confidence and her spirit.”

The chocolate maker gurgled to an end and Lizzie poured the drink into two mugs, reaching into the fridge for the whipped cream and lavishly adding marshmallows and chocolate to the top. “Enjoy,” she said, pushing one of the mugs towards Johnny and giving him a long spoon to go with it. “You deserve it.”

“Thanks,” Johnny said. He took an indulgent spoonful of cream and marshmallow and closed his eyes. “Awesome,” he mumbled.

“Thank you,” Lizzie said, feeling ridiculously proud. “Where were we? Oh yes, Dudley... Yeah, I can see you wouldn’t be very fond of him but I hope you don’t think he had anything to do with Amelia’s death. I mean, I know he’s got a lot of faults but I don’t think he’d murder anyone.”

“What? Oh...” Johnny waved a hand around a little self-consciously. “No, of course not, that’s stupid.” He blushed. “In the beginning I blamed Dudley. I was upset.” He shrugged uncomfortably. “I suppose I do feel that he contributed in a way because he made Millie so unhappy, but...I’m sure it was an accident.”

Lizzie wondered if he meant it. There was something in Johnny’s voice that struck a false note, but she didn’t want to press him. If he thought that Amelia might have taken her own life it would be unbearable to make him talk about that unless he wanted to.

“Millie was my best mate,” Johnny said now. “After our mum died—” Lizzie saw a tremor go through him. “Well, Millie understood what I was going through and she was always there for me. It was horrible, Mum dying of cancer so young. We were all totally devastated. Sam—my stepdad—was away a lot. He works for the Antarctic Survey. He’s a great guy but I think taking himself away from things was his way of coping. But without Millie and Arthur...” He stopped; looked at her. “I had depression really badly, and they helped me through the worst times.”