‘I know. I’m just trying to get a picture of him, to work out why anyone would want to hurt him. If there was a side to his character I didn’t know, it might help track down whoever has done this to him. I don’t know where he is. My boyfriend has disappeared, possibly murdered, and no one has a clue where he is or what’s happened to him.’ She pressed her fingers to her eyes, forcing back her tears.

Jade got up to fetch her a tissue. ‘Look, please don’t upset yourself,’ she said, and then, as if she’d suddenly come to a decision, she went on: ‘The fact is, Luke cheated on me. We were very young, and you know what it’s like at uni, all the parties, everyone drunk most of the time. Luke and I got together in our first term and it was great for a while. But halfway through our second year I found out he’d slept with someone else.’

Clara looked at her in surprise. ‘Who with?’

‘A friend of a friend. I didn’t believe it, not at first. I went to find the girl myself. And as soon as I confronted her, I knew it was true.’

‘I’m so sorry.’ She remembered how she’d felt when she’d found out about Sadie, and she winced in sympathy.

Jade stared down at her cup. ‘It wasn’t just that he’d cheated on me,’ she said very quietly. ‘The girl was telling everyone that he’d pressured her into it, that they’d kissed but then she’d changed her mind and he’d pestered and pestered her until she gave in. And afterwards, Luke started harassing her …’

‘Harassing her?’

‘She said he turned up the next night, and when she said no and showed him the door, he began bombarding her with texts, turning up at her place, trying it on with her. She said he was a nightmare, and in the end she reported him to the university. God, I felt so ashamed – you can imagine the gossip.’

Clara’s eyes widened in astonishment. ‘Did you talk to him about it?’

‘Of course. He was very upset, burst into tears in fact, admitted that he’d got hammered at a party and kissed the girl, but denied everything else. Said she was lying, insane, that she’d come on to him, had wanted to take things further, then made it all up about him harassing her because he’d turned her down.’

‘Jesus. And did you believe him?’

She paused. ‘I didn’t know what to believe.’

‘But … didn’t this girl show you the text messages she said he’d been sending her? The missed calls and so on. I mean, did she have the evidence?’