“Yeah, but why would she suddenly start sending me horrible messages? Yes, she stalked Simone after they split up, but that was a reaction to being dumped. We argued after she sold her story, but she never threatened me. We fell out and drifted apart, nothing more macabre than that.”

“Maybe she’s been holding a grudge because you left her behind on the mountain.”

“To get help!”

“Maybe she sees it differently. Things have escalated since you sent her a message on Facebook. Did she ever reply?”

“No, but …” I shake my head. “It can’t be her. She was my friend.”

Will raises his eyebrows. “So were Leanne and Daisy.”

I turn my head away as my eyes fill with tears. I can’t let myself believe Al is behind this. Whoever ran me off the road could have killed me.

“Jane.” Will touches my hand. “You need to go to the police; you know that, don’t you?”

PC Barnham listens intently as we take our seats in the police station interview room and I tell him everything that’s happened recently, pausing every now and then when he chips in, asking me to confirm certain details so he can write them down in his notepad. I tell him who I really am and why I decided to reinvent myself as Jane Hughes, but I don’t mention what became of Daisy and Isaac. Instead, I feed him the line that Al and I agreed on five years ago: that they mysteriously disappeared. I can’t break the promise I made to her, not until we’ve spoken. After everything that’s happened, that probably sounds naïve, but I owe Al. If it wasn’t for her, Leanne might not have been the only one who died in the fire.

When I get to the end of my story and reach for the glass of water another policeman has brought for me, PC Barnham sits back in his chair and looks at me thoughtfully. He can’t be much older than twenty-seven, twenty-eight, but his hairline is receding. It looks incongruous against the pitted acne scars on his cheeks. I don’t think he’s the same policeman I spoke to immediately after my accident, but I was feeling so groggy when I first came round that I barely remember who I saw.