‘Well, they thought that teacher took Hannah Torrence, but they never found a body and he didn’t confess before committing suicide. I was just never convinced. That teacher got a bit of a raw deal if you ask me. I reckon it’s possible Jason did it. Kind of suspicious how Jason was the last person to see Hannah alive. I never liked him, to be honest.’ Jenny says and Claire nods sagely, as if they have figured something out that no one else has thought of.

‘I saw Jason that night at the fair, I went on a ride with him. She definitely left before him,’ I lie. I am reminded of why we didn’t hang out with these girls at school. Even with a rock-solid alibi Jason has already been convicted in the court of public opinion. I hope he’s in the process of selling everything and moving away from here. I know it was the best thing I ever did. Once you get tagged with a label it becomes very hard to shake.

‘So, are you married to anyone we might know?’

‘No, no one from round here.’ I pull up a photo of Chris on my phone – he always calls himself my trophy husband. Chris is surprisingly good-looking for such a kind man. He has no ego, no agenda, he’s just really nice. It’s one of the things that makes me so paranoid about losing him to another woman. He wouldn’t have a clue if someone was putting the moves on him. He takes people at face value because that’s how he is, no hidden secrets, no mendacious layers under the veneer. He is just a good guy. I smile as I look at his face. I miss him.

‘Very cute,’ Claire says with raised eyebrows. I can see she wants to say something else but she thinks better of it. In my mind I hear her asking what on earth he is doing with someone like me although that’s probably not what she was going to say at all. I look at his face; it’s a picture I took of him at the breakfast table. Nothing special about that day, he was just sitting with a piece of toast in his hand staring out of the window and I took the picture without him knowing. I often look at that picture and wonder what he was thinking. I was this wild crazy person when he met me, like a stray dog that he took in and looked after. My saviour, my protector. So many people in my life turned out to be someone different to who I thought they were, including myself. Not Chris though, never Chris.

I put my phone in my pocket and slip my shoes back on before standing up.