‘I don’t know!’ That feeling again, that feeling of being old and useless and doddery. Glenn was the last person in the world he wanted to show weakness too. He wasn’t going to admit that he had struggled to even get off that bench this morning, that he had needed to sit for twenty minutes until his heart had settled and his vision was back. He had been so sure at first, so angry that someone would seek him out while he was sitting with Angela, that someone would choose that moment to make false promises. The cruelty. But the more he had gone back over what he had said, the more he was doubting himself and his convictions.

‘Okay,’ Glenn said. ‘I would have got angry too. I don’t see why someone would want to talk to anyone while they were at a graveside. That really isn’t the time—’

‘Missy …’ Richard cut back in. ‘When we went to see the litter, when we picked her out, there were eight dogs. A big litter. They’d wrapped bows round them all. Three pink and five blue. When we walked in I was talking to the breeder, but Angela, she went straight over. The pups were all together, bunched around their mum. But one puppy broke away. It had a little pink bow and it headed straight for Angela. I’ll never forget. Angela went down to her knee and she held out her hand and that little pup bundled right onto it to be picked up. And Angela …’ Richard had to take a moment, the memory as clear as if he was there now. His wife’s face was never more beautiful than when it was filled with a beaming smile. He had known straight away that it was love. ‘Angela held that pup in her hand and she said, “Well, hello there, Missy!” First thing she said. And that was it. The puppy was ours and the name stuck. We never told anyone that.’

‘Missy? Your dog …? You’ve lost me here, mate.’

‘The name, Missy’s name! It was one of those moments you have when you’re a couple. Perfection. An in-joke that lasts the rest of your life. You didn’t know that, did you? My closest friend. Friends of us both.’

‘Know what, Richard?’ Glenn’s frustration was obvious now.

‘Missy! How she got her name. That was it.’

‘Oh, well no. Angela told me that she chose the name but I don’t think you ever told me the full story.’

‘But he knew it! Some random man on a bench almost a year after she … a year later. He knew that and no one else should. Then he said he knew who had been driving that car. What if he was telling the truth?’

‘But the police …? How could he? It was investigated, they arrested people and did what they do. How could this man—’