It didn’t help that Liam looked fresh as a daisy, his blue eyes alert, no dark smudges or bags in sight and a healthy colour in his cheeks. Even his hair, which she would ordinarily describe as a bit of a scruffy mess, seemed to be more tamed today.

‘Look, I get why you don’t like me, and yes, I guess I can understand a little how you jumped to conclusions over the flowers. I didn’t send them though. You’ll just have to take my word on that. I’m not going to keep arguing with you. It’s not why I came here.’

‘It’s not?’ Hannah was immediately wary. She narrowed her eyes. ‘Why are you here?’

‘To try to make amends.’

What? She hadn’t expected that.

‘You were right about the beach. It was my fault… okay, well Tank’s fault, that you fell over. Same thing though. He’s my dog, my responsibility. And I didn’t really think about how you twisting your ankle would affect you doing your job.’

This was a turn-up for the books. Was he actually apologising? ‘Go on.’

‘So I’ll do your dog walks for you.’

‘Sorry?’ That wasn’t what Hannah had been expecting either and she wondered for a moment if she had misheard him.

‘I’m in town for a bit, so I’ll take care of it until you’re back on your feet.’

‘No, you can’t do that.’

‘Why can’t I? Don’t you trust me?’

It wasn’t a trust thing, though, to be fair, Liam had already proven he wasn’t great at walking dogs. She didn’t point that out, suspecting it would just cause another argument.

‘You can’t do it because I’ve already reassigned the walks for the rest of the week. I’m friendly with another dog walker and we cover each other’s shifts now and again. She’s taking the bulk of them and the ones she can’t do, I’ve already cancelled.’

Liam considered that, nodding. ‘Okay, so what else can I do to try to make things right?’

You could leave, Hannah was tempted to suggest, but she suspected he had no intention of going anywhere. Besides, she had another idea.

‘You really want to make amends?’

‘I do.’

‘Tell me why you’re writing this book.’

He looked frustrated. ‘I’m a true crime writer, Hannah. It’s my job.’

‘But why Eileen Wickham? Why this story?’

‘Why not this story? I remembered the case from when I was a kid and it resonated. It could have been any of us, right?’

His answer sounded a little rehearsed. Was it really that simple?

‘So there’s no other reason?’

He shook his head, held eye contact. ‘Why would there be?’

‘She’s been out, what? Six weeks? Do you know where she is? Is she back in Suffolk?’