‘Yes, that’s what happened. What exactly is it that you want to know, Emily? Do you really need to bring all this up again?’

‘She was wearing a red, ruffled designer gown, heels and a pair of diamond earrings, is that right?’

‘Yes,’ Amanda sighs, ‘but I don’t really see why you need to know all of this. And if Sadie has already told you this, why aren’t you asking her to confirm it all? I have to get ready for work in a little while.’

‘I know, I’m sorry, I promise I’ll be quick,’ I say, crossing my fingers, ‘I would have called Sadie only we had a little bit of a… set-to yesterday.’

‘Oh?’ Amanda sounds interested now.

‘I’ll tell you when I see you,’ I say hastily, not wanting to be distracted from the difficult questions that I need to ask. ‘Listen, it’s about Caro’s earrings. Was she wearing the ones that Rupert gave her as a wedding gift?’

‘Yes, that’s right. Diamond studs. Big ones,’ Amanda sighs enviously, ‘from Tiffany. I remember Sadie wanted to borrow them that night, but Caro wouldn’t let her.’

‘Did she have any other pairs? Of diamond earrings, I mean.’ My heart stutters in my chest as I ask the question.

‘No,’ Amanda says after a pause, ‘no, I don’t think she did. She had plenty of earrings, don’t get me wrong, tons of jewellery, but that was her only pair of diamond earrings. That’s why she was a bit precious about them.’

The wedding photo pops into my mind, Caro’s face smiling out at me, the earrings catching the light as they sit in her ear lobes, her hair twisted up. ‘And after she and Rupert argued, Caro just stormed out of the house, leaving all her guests there?’ I have to get all of this straight in my head before I can let myself form the thought that is buzzing at the base of my brain.

‘Yes,’ Amanda says, and it sounds as though she is going to cry. ‘I wish now more than anything that I had gone after her. We all just stood around, not really knowing what to do. It wasn’t an uncommon thing, Caro storming out, so we sort of just finished our drinks, and then Rupert made an excuse and basically told everyone to leave.’

‘Did Caro come back to the house?’