‘Well, neither did you! You knew as well, Ciara. You knew what he did to you!’

‘I was a child myself!’ Ciara shouts again, crossing the room and pointing her finger directly at Kathleen. Jabbing it towards her, pressing it against her collarbone.

I can see her hand curl into a fist. She is trembling with anger.

‘You! You were the grown-up. You were the person with the power. But instead you cleared off. Lived your life without a thought of what might have been going on here. You could just pretend it had stopped because it was easier for you to do that than to face what your brother had done. You’re disgusting,’ she screams, and there is no other word for it, into her aunt’s face.

I see a fleck of spittle shoot from her mouth, landing on Kathleen’s face. Kathleen looks as if she, too, might throw up. She can’t move. She is pressed back against the sofa and Ciara is looming over her. I want to reach out and take Ciara’s hands, the way she stilled mine earlier.

I’ve seen her lose her temper before, but this? This is a whole new level of anger. I’m not quite sure what she would be capable of but I’m determined that Kathleen will not be coming out of this situation as a victim.

She could never be a victim. What she did – or didn’t do – is unforgivable.

It was bad enough what he did. But to have someone who could’ve stopped it, who chose not to? That was a different level of cruelty. I wonder how many times she’d seen me flinch when he stood too close. How many times she’d heard me crying. I wonder what had crossed her mind all those times she had soothed me, told me I had to be brave. Was she making excuses for him? Had she been as complicit in all of this as he was?

‘Ciara,’ I say gently and she looks at me, and it’s as if she is coming out of her trance. Is aware of her position, her anger. Knows how close she is to losing control.

She steps back and I see Kathleen sag with relief that the immediate threat to her has passed.

Ciara takes a deep breath. ‘You stupid, selfish bitch! You let him get away with it then,’ Ciara says, her tone measured but no less intimidating, ‘and by burning his confession, you’re letting him get away with it now. And you’ve taken away the evidence we need to help Alex!’

‘What on earth has Alex got to do with any of this?’ she asks, blinking at us.

‘Alex had the balls to do what you didn’t,’ Ciara says and I crumple at the mention of his name.

My Alex. My husband. Sitting with the police now.

‘Alex made sure he was punished for it. Alex made sure he was dead,’ Ciara adds.

Kathleen blinks in my direction, taking in the expression on my face. She turns her gaze to Ciara.