‘I was stationed in Belize,’ he began. That explained why he’d been in the photo of her parents, at least. Maybe Rosa gave her necklace to Lisa and Frank, and that was why Jasmine had it? ‘We were taking part in three months of covert jungle training at the Batsub base. While we were there, I met a girl from the village near the training ground. She was incredible, warm, loving and we fell in love. She was the world to me.’

‘When was this?’

‘Back in 1998.’

Jasmine felt her mouth go dry; that was when they had gone to Belize for the summer.

‘So, what do you think happened?’ she challenged.

‘She worked in the foodbank in Ladyville. I met her when we were delivering some stuff from the base there; that was one of my duties. We worked with the locals and wanted to help out. It was almost instant between us. That spark. She had grown up in an orphanage and was really dedicated to giving to people who were less fortunate than her,’ he said, a smile on his face she hadn’t seen before, a memory of something cherished but lost. He was obviously very broken; maybe he didn’t even know how broken he was. He had convinced himself of something that just couldn’t be true.

Jasmine stood up. She needed to move around, her pulse racing as she tried to understand what he was saying. He must be out of his mind. But the timing was right and she thought she could remember the food bank. She felt sick as she realised that she had been contemplating what Tim was suggesting, just for a moment.

‘I remember the foodbank,’ she admitted. ‘The charity we went there with got our group to build new shelving in the storage room and we painted it all the colours of the rainbow.’

It was as if Tim hadn’t heard her.

‘One day, near the end of the summer, she went out and never came back. The last time her colleagues spoke to her, she was on her way to the bus stop to go into the city. The police searched for her, but they just thought she had run away. Lots of young women disappear in the city for a myriad reasons. Finding her just wasn’t a priority. But I spoke to as many people as I could, and the last time she was seen, she was talking with an English man who matched the description of your father.’

Jasmine could hear the words he was saying, but she could hardly bear to listen. It was just a misunderstanding. He might think he knew what had happened to his fiancée, but he was wrong. She guessed he might be lying to himself to avoid facing the fact Rosa hadn’t felt the same way about him as he did about her. She’d probably just left.