I was on the verge of putting the phone down until she added, ‘I’ve always felt guilty about that night. It’s haunted me for years.’

I’d cleared my throat. ‘What night?’

‘The night Flora disappeared.’

I’d frozen, mobile clamped against my ear. What did she know about that night?

Her voice was heavy with unshed tears. ‘I was with Leo that night. We were having it off in the bushes near the lane that led to your house. He had a girlfriend but he couldn’t keep away from me. We heard you and Flora having an argument and you stomping off home. We saw a car pull up and Flora get into it.’

‘You saw Flora getting into Clive’s car?’

‘Yes. But we hadn’t known it was Clive. Not then. Not until all this came out.’

‘And did you tell the police any of this, that you saw her getting into a car?’ I shot back, already knowing the answer. If they’d told the police they could have run a trace on the car. They could have saved Flora years of torment and abuse.

‘I’m so sorry. I wanted to when it became obvious that something awful had happened to Flora. But Leo, he said we’d get into trouble and he’d end up in prison. I wasn’t yet sixteen you see. I wasn’t sixteen until the thirty-first of August. Leo was in his late thirties. It would have looked wrong, ruined his reputation.’

‘It was bloody wrong,’ I hissed, feeling sick. I terminated the call, not wanting to hear any more of her excuses, and instantly called Leo.

He acted all cheerful to hear from me until I asked him if Deborah’s story was true.

His silence said it all.

No wonder he’d left Tilby. He always maintained it was because everyone secretly thought he’d hurt Flora. But I think it was because the guilt of what he’d done was too much. He’d kept quiet all these years to save his own skin.

I’ll never forgive him. And neither will Mum. As soon as I told her what he’d done she went straight to Gary Ruthgow about it. I’m hoping Leo will get his comeuppance.

I do feel bad for lying: to the hospital, to my mum, to Jess, to the police. But of course I remember that fateful day. I’ve always been able to remember.