I’m annoyed. We were hardly at each other’s throats. Yes, the tension was palpable, but we just did what we had to do while ignoring each other as much as humanly possible. There’d been no screaming, roaring rows.

I’m not sure how to answer. ‘I’m not sure what you mean,’ I stutter.

Kathleen moves awkwardly in her seat. ‘Ciara says you’ve been cold with her, and I’ve seen it myself. Telling us all you couldn’t wait to sell the house? And that was before he even …’ She doesn’t finish the sentence, can’t bring herself to say that he has died. ‘Look, I understand that this is a stressful time but, you know, given everything, it’s not a good look for you.’

‘Given everything? What exactly are you implying?’ I say, feeling heat rise in my face. My heart rate starts to increase.

‘I’m not implying anything,’ she answers.

‘Yes, it’s true there’s been no love lost between us, but that’s not all down to me, Kathleen. You know that. You were there, remember? I tried to be a friend. As a child I tried, but she drew a very straight, very deep line in the sand and she’s never wavered from that. And now? Well, now I’m big enough and ugly enough to choose not to pander to people who clearly don’t give two damns about me.

‘But that doesn’t mean I’ve done anything wrong. I’ve been protecting my feelings. I’ve been protecting my family. I’ve not set out to hurt anyone. Not your precious niece and certainly not Joe. Though, God knows, there’s little love lost there, either. But that doesn’t mean I killed him, for the love of God!’ I whisper the world ‘killed’, afraid to say it out loud.

‘You are a cruel person, Heidi Lewis,’ she says bitterly. ‘I’m not saying he was perfect. I know his flaws, but he did the best he could for you when no one else wanted to. You never showed him any love. Any respect, even. Is it any wonder Ciara thinks you’re responsible for what happened?’

‘She can think what she wants, Kathleen,’ I snap. ‘It doesn’t make it true.’

There’s so much that I want to say. I want to tell her I showed him more love and respect than he ever deserved. That I had hurt myself by not breaking contact with him. That I had kept his sordid secrets because I was too ashamed of myself to admit them to anyone. I know I could shatter her illusions with a sentence or two – but what good would it do now? As far as I could see she had made up her mind, just like Ciara, and anything I could say would only be dismissed as the lies of a bitter woman.

‘There’s no need to get upset,’ Kathleen says.

I look at her incredulously. She’s just confirmed my suspicions that Ciara is pointing the finger of blame at me, and I’m not supposed to get upset?