‘I adore it,’ she said, her eyes suddenly brimming with tears. ‘It’s everything to me. Nothing like this has ever happened there before; it’s just so horrible.’ She sniffed hard. ‘I’m sorry. I almost never cry. But I don’t seem to have stopped since … since … it happened. I can’t believe he’s gone.’

To her own ears, the words sounded shallow and insincere. She hoped they didn’t to the two officers.

Gemma put a sympathetic hand on her leg, but Meredith twitched it off. Davis glared at his colleague.

‘Can you tell us about your relationship with Ralph Allerton?’

Meredith panicked for a moment, thinking, Shit, how do they know? Then she realised he just meant a work relationship. Her heart pounded in her ribcage, and she felt sweat break out on her forehead. Stay calm. From the way they were both regarding her, it was clear that they had both noticed her reaction.

‘He was my boss,’ she said flatly. ‘Sorry, I thought you meant were we in a relationship! And obviously, no we weren’t – he’s married to my best friend Paula. Was married to … She’s beside herself.’

‘I’m sure,’ Gemma said. ‘So which came first, Paula becoming your friend, or Ralph becoming your boss?’

‘The latter. He invited me round to dinner a couple of months after he started – about ten years ago? Paula and I hit it off straight away, and we’ve been friends ever since. I’ve been on holidays with them. They … they both made me laugh. I’ll miss that…’

‘I see,’ Davis said. He seemed to have pulled himself together a bit. ‘Can you talk us through the last few days before Ralph went missing? I mean, when did you last see him?’

Meredith stared straight ahead, at a kitsch knitted deer’s head trophy on the wall of the boat. One of Pete’s ex-girlfriends had made it for him. Rhiannon, that was her name. Meredith had liked her. She was earthy and fun and always making stuff: earrings and candles and body lotion. But Rhiannon went the same way as all the others – dumped.