Diana thrusts her hands into the thick mane around the dog’s neck and gives it a vigorous rub, smiling sadly. ‘This is Hugo. He’s old and blind and generally out of sorts these days.’

Diana is younger than her husband, perhaps in her late forties. Fine-boned, her tiny frame swims in a long tartan coat. Her luminous skin spruiks the benefits of sunscreen and expensive treatments. Thin gold chains loop delicately around both wrists, and tiny pearls hang from her ears. She seems upset but determined, reminding Oli of an abuse victim ready to talk.

‘Hi, Hugo.’ Oli digs her fingers into the dog’s fur. ‘Does your husband know you’re here?’

‘No, he doesn’t.’ Diana looks back at the playground, loosens her hair from its clasp. It swings around her face, and Oli smells her perfume.

‘Are you in danger?’ Oli asks quietly.

‘Ha!’ The sound is bitter. ‘Danger? No, I’m not in any danger. I just think I’ve been an idiot all this time.’ She hesitates, glances at Oli. ‘But I guess we are all the sum of the decisions we make.’

‘None of this has to be on the record, Diana. Right now I just want to understand what really happened that night on Paradise Street. Because I think it’s still happening.’ Oli hopes she doesn’t sound crazy; the last thing she wants is to scare Diana away.

The woman nods, her eyes glassy. ‘I think you’re right.’

‘What was Julian really doing there?’

‘We were going to pay her, you know,’ Diana says. ‘That’s how desperate we were.’

Oli doesn’t understand. ‘Pay who?’

‘We couldn’t have children. Well, I couldn’t anyway. We’d tried everything—IVF, natural remedies. Even adoption. But there were so many hoops to jump through, and in the end we decided we wanted a biological link to the child. It was tearing us apart. I was a mess, and Julian was beside himself. My husband is a fixer, you see, but he couldn’t fix this. It is very strange to grieve something you never had, but that’s what I did. I was in mourning.’

‘I understand.’

Diana looks at Oli. ‘Maybe you do. And in a way, maybe it was worse for Julian. The issue was mine, but he felt helpless.’ She adjusts her wedding ring. ‘I could actually hear a giant clock ticking. It followed me around, every waking minute.’ With a laugh, she adds, ‘Probably sounds completely insane.’

‘No, it doesn’t,’ Oli murmurs. ‘Not at all.’