Louisa froze. The uncomfortable feeling that Melissa had unfinished business lay heavily in her gut. But she needed Louisa now, needed her to get rid of Oliver’s body so they could try and escape going to prison for the rest of their lives. Unless she didn’t care. It could be that she wanted to exact her revenge on them all, and to hell with the consequences for her personally. Life in prison may well be worth it in Melissa’s mind.

Louisa had to play this carefully.

‘If I’d had any idea, any whatsoever, that Helen was still alive, I’d have called an ambulance. The police. I promise. Oliver said she was gone. That I’d killed her. Everything from there was a blur for twenty-two years, Melissa. I’m so very sorry for the part I played.’

‘I know you are. I don’t blame you anymore, I told you. It’s Oliver who needed to be held to account for everything.’

‘Okay, okay.’ Louisa paced, her nerves on edge. ‘Look, it must be getting really late.’ She took her mobile from Melissa and checked the time. It was nearly midnight. She hadn’t realised they’d been at the quarry for so long. The adrenaline had kept everything going, but now it’d dipped, Louisa was feeling tired and cold. ‘We have to think about how we’re going to move him, and where we’re going to take him. I’m guessing you didn’t bring anything like plastic sheeting, blankets, or anything?’

‘No. Nothing.’ Melissa raked her fingers through her hair. ‘Like I said, I honestly only brought the knife for protection. I wasn’t planning on killing him.’

‘Great.’

‘Oh, hang on. The car I’ve got. There might be something we can use in there.’

‘Whose car is it?’

‘Mine. Sort of. I did a cash deal with this dodgy guy before he was going to crush it – it’s not exactly legal, but I wasn’t planning on using it much; it was to follow you, really. I’ve been careful not to go anywhere where there are cameras. I think, anyway. Don’t worry, once I’m done with it, I’ll set it on fire.’

Louisa screwed her eyes up. This was sounding more and more bizarre and less like they could possibly get away with it with every passing minute. But now wasn’t the time to question Melissa’s thinking.

‘And where is it now?’

‘I parked about five minutes from here and walked. Didn’t want to be seen. I could drive it as close to the entrance as possible.’

‘How the hell are the two of us going to get a dead-weight body back down the path to the entrance though? It took me a few minutes to get here on my own; it’s a bit of a climb.’