Marnie pictured Alice’s small bones laid out on a table somewhere, her skeleton roughly recreated and people in white coats picking up those bones, looking at them, measuring them, searching for the nicks and dents that might determine how the young woman had died. She tipped back her head and let the raindrops fall on her face to chase away the grief.

* * *

The atmosphere among those in the queue for the agility arena was tense. Most people were anxious until they had the first run of the day over and done with, and agility was the most demanding of the competitive disciplines.

Marnie should have been strategising, mentally going over the course one more time, making certain that she knew her way round and that she was confident of the signals she would give to Tessy when they ran, but her mind kept drifting. She tried to pin down memories but it was like trying to find her way back to a place she’d visited as a child without a map or signposts.

A detail came into her mind: something she’d forgotten before.

‘Something amazing is going to happen tonight,’ Alice had said, that last day, and she’d been smiling and her eyes were bright. It was just after she’d said: ‘See you later,’ to Guy. They were outside the launderette. Guy had walked away and Alice had watched him go and Marnie had sensed that whatever it was that Alice was looking forward to was somehow connected to Guy. Alice’s mood had been like Tessy’s was now: excited but also apprehensive, as if she was about to take a risk. But she’d definitely been happy. The sun behind her was shining brightly, making a halo, catching the frayed edges of the ribbon that was holding back her hair.

That day had been blisteringly hot, like the one before it and the one after. The holiday park was packed. Marnie’s head was throbbing with the funfair noises, the music that blared out from the dodgems, the chiming and piping of the carousel organ. Alice was leaning against the wall outside the laundry room, and the flowers behind her were bright spots of colour that dazzled Marnie’s eyes. The paving was spotted – somebody had been by to water the hanging baskets and containers: Will or Marnie’s father, or perhaps even Mr deVillars himself.

‘What amazing thing is going to happen?’ Marnie had asked.

‘I’ll tell you about it after.’

‘Tell me now!’

‘I can’t, Marnie.’

Marnie must have looked dejected.

‘It’s to do with the Big House,’ Alice said. ‘That’s all I’m going to tell you. Tomorrow you’ll find out.’

And it was then that her expression had softened. ‘You don’t look very well. You need to get out of the sun.’