‘He has his hands full. It really doesn’t matter, I just wanted to talk it out with someone. Cheers, this has been helpful.’

‘Any time. Just as long as I know you’re all right.’ Pity was overriding the sympathy in his smile this time.

‘I’m fine.’

‘I know this is eating you up is all, and I don’t like to see it. This has been an obsession for a long time – knowing who was driving that car – but it won’t change anything. Even if you found out.’

‘It might change how I feel.’

‘It won’t bring her back.’

‘I’m not stupid, Glenn. I know that.’ Glenn held his hands up like he was surrendering the point. ‘Let me ask you, if it had been different for your Linda, if it wasn’t an illness that took her, if she was run down by some coward who didn’t stop, who kept going, who burnt out the car so he wouldn’t have to answer for what he had done … and you found him. What would you do?’

‘It wasn’t though, was it? It was an illness and it was a long time ago. So I know it gets easier, not much, just enough that you can keep going.’

‘I’m not trying to upset you, but if that was what happened, if you had the chance to find who did it …’

‘Find them? Where is this going, Richard? You never said anything about finding them.’

‘This guy, he told me he knew who he was but the police weren’t interested because of how he knew. Why else would I need to know a name if it wasn’t to find him?’

‘I suppose you have a point.’

‘So what would you do?’

Glenn shrugged his big shoulders. ‘I dunno. I mean, I would want some answers, I guess. I would want to know what happened. Why he didn’t stop and do the decent thing. People can make mistakes.’

‘He was saving his own arse.’

Glenn shrugged again. ‘I’m sure you’re right. I guess I’m playing devil’s advocate.’

‘You are. You can do that when it’s not your wife. Think again, it’s Linda lying out on a stone-cold pavement, dying because someone came from nowhere and ran her down and they’re not stopping. And she’s never coming home.’

‘Jesus, Rich …’

‘You can’t get justice from the police. Not ever. But you find out who he is.’ Richard held his friend’s stare with an intensity that had been missing since they had both stepped away from the army. Glenn moved to sit straighter. He stared back, never looking to break the gaze, recognising that Richard was reading him.

‘I’m not sure what you want me to say, Rich. Our days of sorting squabbles with a dance outside the pub are long g—’