That morning, Oli woke up at Rusty’s. They both had the weekend off and were planning lazy brunches and maybe a movie. She stumbled into the shower, while he stayed in bed watching sport on his laptop. Eventually he joined her, singing loudly and off key, and she swatted at him with a face washer and got soap in her eye. Wrapped awkwardly in one of his cheap towels, she was looking into the foggy mirror, pulling gently at the corner of her throbbing eye, when the story came on the radio.

‘It is believed that the detective was heading home from a local gym when she was struck down just after six this morning. The driver failed to stop at the scene, and the body of the detective was discovered by a local resident who called for an ambulance.’

Oli knew it was Isabelle. She just knew. She ran into the lounge, clutching at her eye and rifling through the cushions on the couch in a desperate search for the remote. She cried out impatiently as she jabbed at the buttons until she found the 24/7 news channel. They were running footage of a suburban road dotted with witch’s hats. Images of Isabelle flashed onto the screen.

Oli sank to the floor just as Rusty walked in, still singing. His gaze bounced from Oli’s face to the screen. ‘Jesus, what the fuck?’

She didn’t reply. She didn’t even blink, just stared at the TV for what felt like hours. Footage came and went of Isabelle at press conferences, even a photo of her with Dean and the girls. Her name ran along the bottom of the screen, and Oli pictured the crash scene so many times, could see Isabelle’s broken body lying on the road so clearly, that she wondered if it was possible she’d done it in her sleep.

While Rusty fielded calls from shocked colleagues, all Oli could think about was Dean: how he was coping, and whether there was now a chance they could be together. Rusty had no idea about her history with Dean, and she wonders how he felt when he found out she and Dean were together a few months after they eventually split.

‘Oh, you silly thing,’ the older lady exclaims as the little girl steers her trike off the path.