“I explained that we needed time alone to talk.”

She frowns, a bit too theatrically. “What about?”

“I’d like the truth about what happened to Charlie. Deborah spun a good story, but I know it’s not the whole truth. Please tell me exactly what happened that night.”

She looks around the sitting room as though expecting a camera crew to appear from somewhere, or the police. I understand how she feels. It’s hard nowadays not to fear that every move is being captured, ready to be held in future evidence against you.

I try to put her at ease. “It’s just you and me,” I say. “No cameras, no one else listening.”

She gives a little laugh. “It’s nothing like that. It’s just that Nina told me that she’d told Deborah everything.”

“She gave Deborah a PG version. It was entertaining, it had me hooked while I was listening, until I twigged that there has to be an X-rated version that’s being kept from me.”

“For God’s sake, Marie. Charlie fell off a boat. It was an accident. End of. You have a baby on the way. Move on.”

“I can’t. I need to know. I thought my future was with Charlie. I thought that he and I would have children. We talked about it.”

“I’m sorry. For what I did. It was wrong, but you have to let it go. I’m not discussing this anymore. If I’d known you’d planned a confessional session, I’d never have come. I thought you merely wanted a change of scene or a break from the kids.” She stands up. “I’m calling Greg to tell him that you made a mistake. If you don’t want to stay here with us, and really, why would you, I’m happy to give you a lift to the station.”

“What do you know about Greg’s ex?”

“Which one?”

“The one he moved to the village for.”

“Nothing much. I’m not that fussed about who he was with before me. We enjoy each other’s company. It’s early days. Why are you so interested in his exes?”

“Because I think he and Nina had a fling or something.”

She sits back down.

Now, I’ve got her attention.

She dismisses my theory instantly. “Why would he have pursued me so intently if that were the case? Wouldn’t it be a little creepy?”

“Has he ever asked you about your past, anything to do with Nina, the holiday?”

“No...” She stops. “Actually, yes. I have a picture of the three of us on an Ibizan party boat. He asked about where and when it was taken.”

My pulse quickens.

“Anything else?”

“Just...you know, the random stuff you talk about when you first meet someone. I didn’t think anything of it.”

“You didn’t think anything of what?”

“He questioned me about any stupid things I’d regretted, but I thought he was referring to dodgy exes. The holiday with Nina came up because she was, apart from you, our common link. I even told him about my stint in the ridiculous fake champagne glass.”