One little lie, one little deception to help a friend. And it had led us all here, shattered by grief, waiting for the police to arrive again.

‘And that’s why you stopped going out running.’ I shook my head. ‘I thought it was because you were saving your energy for an affair. God, I’m such an idiot.’

‘We created fake profiles on Messenger to stay in contact, in case either you or Alistair ever looked at our phones. We were updating each other, I was gathering what I could from you about the police investigation, working out what we should do next if things got dicey. The cyclist was in intensive care, and everyone was hoping he’d pull through.’

Need to talk to you

Does K suspect anything?

She has no idea. But I can’t go on like this

We’ll decide when we’re in France. Figure out what to do

Can’t keep my mind on anything else

‘She was CoralGirl. Those were the messages I saw on your phone.’

‘Apparently Coral Bay Elementary was a school she went to in LA, before the family moved to England. Something like that, anyway.’

‘What about on Tuesday when I unlocked your phone and sent an invitation to her? It was Izzy who turned up.’

He looked at the ground.

‘As soon as you went inside, I checked my phone and saw what you’d done. I managed to send Jennifer another message, calling her off. I was panicking, sure you knew what was going on by that point, so I suggested to her that she send Izzy up instead so she could get started on making tea.’

‘And Izzy did what she was asked.’

His face crumpled, as if he might break down again.

‘She was trying to be helpful.’

‘Sean,’ I said, ‘the cyclist was Alex Bayley, wasn’t it?’

He nodded but said nothing.

Now I remembered the file crossing my desk at work – that was why his name had been familiar. ‘When did he die?’

‘Yesterday. His friends put a tribute page up on Facebook.’

‘And that’s why Jake wanted to get wasted.’ I had a sudden flash of Izzy trying to prop the teenager up as they struggled up the garden. ‘Why he was looking for oblivion.’

‘He’d been holding it together, more or less, while Alex was still alive in hospital and they thought he’d pull through. It was after the water polo yesterday evening that they found out he’d died of his injuries.’

I thought about Jake and Ethan’s phones bleeping every few seconds while they were in the pool, notifications on social media as the news spread across their peer group like a wildfire.

‘It was all over social media, wasn’t it?’

‘It was everywhere. Jake got out of the pool and found out Alex was dead and he just . . . lost it.’

Another piece fell into place.