‘So what?’ Simon scowled. ‘They’d already got divorced when the crash happened. Unfortunately for Bella. If she’d still been married to him, she’d have been entitled to some money. Instead, she didn’t get a penny. You ask me, it’s a bloody disgrace. She suffered just as much as any of the rest of them.’

Rachel thought of a woman she’d spoken to in the weeks following the crash whose twin teenage daughters had been killed. It seemed remarkably insensitive to suggest Bella’s loss was as bad as that.

‘She isn’t even entitled to help from the foundation,’ Simon said. ‘All the rest of them, they get free counselling and holidays and a legal team that’s still fighting to get them more compensation. Not my Bella, though.’

‘As a registered charity,’ Ade said, ‘they probably have to make sure everything meets the requirements of the Charity Commission. My sister tried to set up a charity a couple of years ago. She had to go through so much red tape she gave up in the end.’

‘Whatever.’ Simon shrugged. There was a can of beer on the table. While he lifted it and took a drink, Rachel looked around the kitchen. The units were outdated and scuffed but someone had made an effort to make the place look homely. The surfaces were spotlessly clean and there was a vase of fresh flowers on the windowsill over the sink.

‘How are you doing?’ Ade said, when Simon put the can back down.

‘How do you think? He was my only brother. I’m trying to support my parents, who are understandably devastated. They already came close to losing him once. To have to go through this now is unbearable.’

‘Simon.’ Rachel put her elbows on the table. ‘Do you have any idea why Nick was killed?’

‘Of course not.’ He slumped down in his chair, as if the effort of sitting upright was too much. ‘Nick could be a right wanker sometimes, but you don’t kill someone just because they’re a wanker. He was well out of order on Saturday night, stirring up any sort of shit he could with anyone who was stupid enough to give him the time of day. I knew what he could be like, so once I realised how drunk he was, I steered well clear. Some of the others weren’t so lucky.’

‘Anyone in particular?’

‘Adam, I guess. But I’m sure he wasn’t the only one.’

‘It can’t have been easy for you,’ Ade said, ‘knowing he could get like that.’

‘I learned to get used to it,’ Simon said. ‘It was a lot worse when we were younger. By the time of the crash, we’d more or less stopped speaking to each other.’

‘So what changed?’ Ade asked gently.