Caroline did not look once in his direction while he did this. Yet he would have given anything to have her do that.

When it came her time to be questioned, she’d sat rigidly upright, her eyes staring as though into the past. As she began her story, she appeared to relax a little, letting the words flow as if grateful to at last say it all out loud.

‘I was pregnant with Greg’s baby. He’d promised he wouldn’t see Ailsa again. He avoided meeting her that night after the ceilidh and went straight back to Beanach. I followed him a little later.

‘When I arrived, Ailsa was inside. They were having sex. Afterwards they began arguing. Greg told her that would be the last time it ever happened. That he didn’t want to see her again. That he was going to become a father.

‘She was really angry when he said that. Greg told her to leave. I thought she would go back home to Forrigan. When she didn’t, I decided to follow her. She entered the woods by the green loch and I realized she was going to the campsite, where her Glasgow friends were staying.’

Caroline fell silent at that point, staring ahead, her face white and drawn.

‘I waited because I wanted to talk to her, explain properly about the baby. How we knew it was a boy and we were going to call him Mac. When she reappeared, I asked her not to break us up, because of the baby. She said she didn’t care about that shit. That Greg liked to fuck her, not me.’

She’d halted there for a moment, her face a mask of pain, before drawing breath to continue.

‘She pushed me out of the way and I shoved her back. She grabbed my hair and yanked it. I remember screaming. She told me to “shut the fuck up” and scratched at my face. When I managed to break free, she stumbled, missed her footing and fell backwards. I expected her to get up, but she didn’t.

‘I thought of going to Greg’s place but I didn’t want him to know I’d seen them together. So I called my young brother, Finn. By the time he arrived I was out of my mind, because I couldn’t find a pulse.

‘I didn’t think anyone would believe me that it was an accident. And I was pregnant. I wanted the baby desperately. I wanted to be with Greg. It was my fault we hid her body. Finn didn’t want to do that, but I begged him. I thought folk would think she’d run away again. She’d done it before in Glasgow. I’m sorry I did that. Sorry that her parents had to go through that. I’m sorry I got Finn involved. It was all my fault.’