The sudden clarity hit her. ‘Yes, for me too.’ The reason she’d been plagued by the images and visions from the beer garden were alarmingly clear to her now – that repressed memory too, now forcing itself to the forefront of her mind. As soon as she’d seen Melissa on the night of her party, she’d realised who she must be.

Louisa looked away, not wanting Melissa to see the guilt in her eyes.

‘I know. The look on your face when you saw me – like you’d seen a ghost.’

Louisa’s breathing shallowed. God, this was it. Melissa knew what she’d done.

Louisa had killed Melissa’s sister.

‘I can’t begin to explain. I have no excuses, Melissa. I’m so very sorry. I was young, I freaked out. I didn’t even know what I’d done until Oliver told me – I know it’ll sound like a cop-out to you, but I’ve suffered dissociative amnesia since it happened. I started getting flashbacks after the party – after seeing you. But even that I didn’t remember – I only had fleeting memories of the evening.’

‘But now you remember.’

‘Most of it, yes. I … I can see …’ The words caught in her throat; tears burned at her eyes. She shook her head, a part of her now wanting to displace the images that were so easily appearing. She shouldn’t be telling Melissa this. It would be too much for her to cope with.

‘What? What can you see, Louisa? Tell me exactly what you think happened.’

Louisa hesitated, stumbling on her words. ‘I can see … your sister; I can see Helen, on the ground in front of my car. I can hear the engine idling, the music from my radio cassette blaring out of the speakers: the words from that song, which has been in my head recently; I can feel the bile rising, my whole body shaking as I slowly get out of my car to see what I’ve done. I feel the sheer panic when I see she’s completely still. I realise I can’t drive past her. There’s no room in the narrow lane. I—’ Louisa retched, her upper body folding over her thighs. ‘Oh my God,’ she gagged. ‘I got hold of her arms, and pulled her to the side of the lane under the trees. Then I somehow drove home and rang Oliver. I was in such a state. He helped out, came over then drove the route I’d taken. He told me she was dead. That I’d killed her.’

‘Oh, Louisa.’ Melissa’s brow creased, her expression a mixture of anger and sadness. ‘Oliver did a good job on you, too, then.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘You did hit my sister, knocked her down. She was badly injured. But she was alive when you left her. You did not kill her. Oliver did.’