They met the dirt road to the house in much the same way, kicking up the dry dust to envelop them. As they crested the hill, she could see the lights of Beanach blazing out like a lighthouse in the darkness.

Drawing up with a slam of the brakes, he told her to get out.

Joanne did as ordered, as he deposited her case alongside her. There was, she realized, no way Greg would not be aware of her arrival, so any thought she may have had of walking back down to Kath’s was now out of the question.

Finn’s last call before he slammed the car door was to emphasize that she should never see nor speak to his sister again. Ever.

‘Or,’ he said ominously, ‘it will be the worse for you. Do you fucking hear me?’

Joanne indicated that she did.

‘And tell him to stay away from her too,’ he said before roaring away.

Greg

He stood at the open door, waiting to see what she might say or do. His main worry was that she was afraid of him and that’s why she’d left. He felt sick at the thought.

‘Do you want to come inside or would you rather I drove you to Kath’s or the hotel?’ he eventually said.

His offer, he noted, seemed to lessen her anxiety a little, and she said, ‘I’d like to come in, if that’s all right with you.’

He came to fetch her suitcase and, standing to one side, let her walk in first. Everything, he knew, would hinge on what was now said between them. What she asked, and how he responded.

He motioned to the kettle. ‘Can I make you tea or would you like something . . .’ He was about to say ‘stronger’ but swapped it for ‘something else’.

The look she gave him at that point seemed to come from her soul.

‘You know,’ she said. ‘How?’

‘I knocked over the waste bin getting out of the shower. The Amazon package fell out.’ Honesty, he’d decided, had to be the best policy from now on.

Apparently reading his expression, she said, ‘It’s not your concern. I will deal with it.’

He gave a little nod, knowing now was not the time to say anything to the contrary. Filling the kettle, he put it on the hot plate of the range and set about fetching mugs, milk and sugar.

She sat in silence while he did this, as though marshalling her thoughts. Eventually she said, ‘Caroline was here earlier. She was very upset. She told me she’d gone to Inverness to give you an alibi. Then the police told her . . .’

He halted her there because he couldn’t bear the word rape to come out of her mouth.