They take me to a different room this time, a gray room with a table and two hard chairs. They ask me if I want a lawyer present and I shake my head. I haven’t done anything—I won’t let any of them scare me. I don’t need a lawyer; I just need them to believe me. Bella takes the seat next to me, solemn-eyed and quiet.

“Okay, Tess—you’re not under arrest and you can leave at any time,” Detective Levinson says after setting up the tape recorder. “This is a voluntary interview but you are under caution—you do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defense if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” Despite my determination not to be scared, my voice is wobbly.

“Tell me about your relationship with Greg Lewis.”

“I told you before—we didn’t have a relationship. I helped out in his garden. We met all of them when they moved to the village.”

“So the relationship was never sexual?”

I flinch; can’t help it. Of course, they notice. “I was fourteen when I met him—no, it wasn’t sexual.”

“But you were sixteen when he disappeared.”

“And he was forty.”

“We have witnesses who claim he had several relationships with girls under eighteen.”

I clear my throat. “Well, I wasn’t one of them.”

“Helena Rees has told us she believes he was in a relationship with Nicole Wallace, and Nicole’s father has confirmed she had a boyfriend at the time of her disappearance.”

“He knew she was with Greg? No. That can’t be right…when she went missing—he’d have told you if he knew. It was Jack she was going out with.”

“Unfortunately, he was unaware of the identity of the boyfriend. Our initial lines of inquiry at the time were that she ran away with someone. Jack Lewis had an alibi.” He pauses. “And no one came forward to suggest Greg Lewis even knew her.”

The criticism is implicit. What—does he think we all closed ranks to protect…who? Nicole or Greg? Or…I go cold. Does he think ranks closed to protect me?

“Helena also told us about a couple of incidents with her and with your sister. Inappropriate behavior.”

I clench my teeth but don’t say anything.

“Let’s talk about Rebecca Martin.”

“What? What on earth does Rebecca Martin have to do with anything?”

“We know about the recent assault, but your head teacher has also told us you have a history with Rebecca.”

I shake my head. “No, there was a misunderstanding, that’s all. I tried to help her.”