Reverend Humphries watched as Joanne completed her usual mental headcount. Her lips moved silently as she worked out the numbers. Only one person was missing – Dawn. He swallowed the tightness in his throat, wishing Dawn had listened to his warnings instead of taking things into her own hands.

Joanne’s eyes were alight as she shared the news of her perceived betrayal. ‘I’m sure you’re all aware, Dawn has turned informer. She’s with the police now, telling them everything.’

Her gaze lingered on Mike Humphries as he stood at the front of the room, teacup in hand.

‘We need to come together on this. Make sure we have the same cover story. It’s what Lloyd would have wanted.’ Joanne nodded sadly to herself, her grief evident. ‘As Lloyd used to say, you’re either with us or against us. And anyone who’s not on board may as well pack up their bags and leave.’ Her expression tightened as she glared at the villagers, her eyes glittering with distrust.

A mumble of discontent spread throughout the room. They all knew what had happened to Petunia and her husband Charlie. Then there was the Ward family, who had almost been shot. Lloyd had been willing to kill to keep their secret sealed. Lloyd’s old partner, PC Bambridge, was nowhere to be seen, but it seemed Joanne was ready to step into Lloyd’s shoes.

The vicar’s teacup rattled as he rested it on the table and took his place beside Joanne.

‘Joanne does not speak for this village,’ he said, mustering up his courage as he stood tall. ‘It’s time we relieved ourselves of the burden of this terrible truth.’ He glanced around the room, to every member of his community. His flock. Not Lloyd’s. ‘“Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbour, for we are members one of another.”’

But Joanne seemed unimpressed by his Bible quote. ‘We can’t tell the truth. We’ll end up in jail! Is that what you want?’

‘Better to speak the truth and face the consequences than to be at the mercy of a tyrant for the rest of our days.’

‘So I’m a tyrant now?’ Joanne didn’t look at Reverend Humphries as she spoke, but rather, addressed each of her neighbours. ‘All these years, Lloyd has protected us from the threat of jail. If you want to get into name-calling, I have one for you . . .’ She turned to face him as she shrieked the word. ‘Traitor!’