‘I did get a call,’ Joanne said to change the topic. ‘From a number I didn’t recognize. I didn’t answer.’

‘And you think it could have been . . . him?’ Lucy instantly said.

‘I don’t see how.’ Joanne attempted nonchalance. ‘Only you and Greg are aware of this number. It was more than likely a spam call,’ she added to convince herself and hopefully Lucy.

Silence followed, before Lucy, obviously trying to be cheery, came back with, ‘So how is your gamekeeper? Or should I just call him Mellors?’

Despite her fear about the phone call, Joanne found herself smiling.

‘As long as you don’t refer to him as John Thomas.’

‘Okay, Lady Jane.’

They both laughed.

‘That English degree has stood us in good stead,’ Joanne said. ‘Especially the banned books part.’

‘So all is well between you and Greg?’ Lucy tried again.

Joanne wasn’t sure. What she had learned was that Greg had a temper, bubbling away under the apparently calm surface. It had become apparent again this evening when she’d jibed him about telling Caroline that he thought the body was Ailsa’s. Becoming even more obvious when she’d revealed her visit to Forrigan. He’d definitely had difficulty controlling it then.

Why had he been so angry at her for going there? Had there been something between him and the missing girl? When she’d asked him about Ailsa, he’d brushed it off. Said she was much younger than him. Since when did men care if a woman was younger than them?

Lucy’s voice interrupted her colliding thoughts. ‘Come on. There’s definitely something you’re not telling me,’ she scolded.

True, but what to say exactly? Lucy was a dear friend who’d always been there for her through her good and ill choices.

‘Something bad has happened on the estate,’ she finally said. ‘Greg’s having to deal with it.’

‘What exactly?’

She took a deep breath. Maybe the story would never reach the metropolis. But assuming it did . . . ‘They discovered the body of a girl near the main estate house. She went missing from the village five years ago.’

‘My God!’

‘The police are here, preparing to interview everyone who lived on the estate back then. Including Greg.’

‘He knew her?’

‘Everyone knows everyone else here, so yes. According to Greg, it was a terrible time back then and it’s shaping up to be the same again.’

‘You could come back and stay with me?’ Lucy offered.

‘I’m safer here,’ Joanne said. ‘Plus it’s a big story and I’m right at the heart of it.’

‘You’re going to write about it?’ Lucy asked in a hushed voice. ‘Is that wise?’