Then Stephanie shocks me. ‘The thing is …’ Breaking off, she’s tense as she looks at me. ‘Please don’t tell anyone this, will you? It isn’t just Hollie – though that’s terrible enough.’ Swallowing, she shakes her head. ‘I think there’s something else going on. It might sound paranoid, but I’m sure James is hiding something.’

Thinking of the day I saw him in the woods, my ears prick up. ‘To do with Hollie, you mean?’

Her eyes widen, then she tries to backtrack. ‘Oh no … Nothing like that. I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m probably just on edge. We both are.’

I think about telling her that I saw James while I was running, but I don’t want to add to her burden when I don’t know what the exchange I saw was about. There’s no question Stephanie suspects something – and I know from experience that there are gut instincts you can’t ignore. ‘What makes you think that?’

‘Oh, I don’t know.’ She looks evasive. ‘Why does anyone suspect someone’s keeping something from them? Private phone calls, hiding what he’s looking at on his laptop … he’s drinking far more than he used to, too. But this all started a long time before Hollie disappeared.’

A chill comes over me. ‘Have you asked him about it?’

‘I’ve tried …’ Her voice wavers. ‘He pushes me away. Tells me more lies.’ She shakes her head sadly. ‘James and I used to be so close. But that’s gone. And now poor Hollie …’ She pauses. ‘I’ve tried so hard to make up for Hollie losing her mother. To be a rock for James. For a while, I even thought the three of us were happy, but nothing ever stays the same.’

I think back to something Stephanie said the last time I was in the salon. We become expert at hiding things. Maybe even then she was alluding to what James is keeping from her.

As for being happy … I try to remember when my life was happy – when Andrew was faithful, when there wasn’t anything to hide. Before Niamh was born? Days after, I’d discovered Andrew was having an affair – his second, as far as I know. Having forgiven him for the first, it had cast a shadow over the joy of Niamh’s birth. Thinking back further, I stop myself, because for as long as I can remember, life’s been dominated by Andrew’s bullying and infidelity.