Mandy’s reply was instant. ‘He was furious, because the developers gave him a deadline and time was running out. Then a calm settled over him. I asked if he’d made a deal and he said no, but everything was going to be OK. I couldn’t see how, with the amount of debt he’d told me we were in. It was over half a million pounds.’

‘I don’t understand why this wasn’t taken into account by the police.’

‘Because some mystery investor cleared his debt before your parents died. There goes his motivation. John never said anything, but I think it was Eric Irving.’

Sarah nodded at the revelation. Eric Irving was Simon Irving’s father. Three times as rich and doubly ruthless, from what she’d heard. ‘So the investor could have known about what John planned to do.’

‘I honestly believe he did. But Eric Irving was very influential. He had a lot of power over this town. He donated money to the schools, churches, even gave a chunk of money towards refurbishing the police station. He had fingers in lots of pies.’

Like father like son, Sarah thought with disgust as Mandy relayed a long-buried truth.

‘I remember John being agitated on Halloween night. He said he was going to have it out with his father, make one last effort to change his mind. He said if he could get your dad on side, then they could persuade their father to let Blackhall Manor go and everything would be alright.’

Sarah sighed. How different things could have been.

‘That night he came home, he said he’d done everything he could. Again, he was calm. I thought maybe he was turning a corner. It was only later, when I heard about his debts being paid off, that I realised for him there was no turning back. The men he owed money to weren’t going to be understanding.’

‘My mother called my father’s name that night,’ Sarah said, moving on the narrative. She didn’t want to hear about John’s motivations because nothing could excuse what he did. ‘At first, I thought she was shouting at my dad. But it was only when I went back there that I realised she was calling for him, not to him.’ Sarah paused for breath. ‘“Not my little girl,” she said.’ An ache rose in her chest as she recalled that night. ‘When Mum said, “He’s got a gun,” she was talking about Uncle John. Then later, when I was in the wardrobe, I presumed Dad was calling my name. His voice sounded different, but I was so panicked, I couldn’t think straight.’

Mandy cleared her throat. ‘He’s a monster. To do such a thing. I had been afraid of him for a long time by that point, but to kill innocent children in cold blood …’ Her words faded as she caught her breath.