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‘Not at all,’ Mary said. ‘It’s wonderful news. It’s just’ – she paused – ‘I may have made a terrible mistake.’

Gray frowned. ‘Is there something I should know?’

‘It doesn’t really matter for you,’ she said, a weight in her stomach. ‘I accused Ben Cox of posting the photos. I’ll have to deal with it. You are sure, though?’

‘One hundred percent. Dylan is bicyclefreak, and he posted that photo.’

‘You went to see him?’ Ryan said. ‘Did he confess?’

‘I did go to see him, but he wasn’t there. I talked to his roommate, who’s an equally unappealing character. He said Dylan was at school.’ He paused. ‘I checked and he isn’t. My guess is he saw me arrive and disappeared. And with good reason. There was a hoodie on the floor by the front door. His roommate confirmed it was Dylan’s. And there was something in the front pocket which confirmed it all.’

‘Which was?’ Mary said.

‘Dog treats. My guess is that’s how he kept Wally from biting him.’

‘What next?’ Mary said.

‘We’ll track him down,’ Gray replied. ‘And put him where he should have been all along. In a cell.’

Mary’s head was spinning. She closed her eyes. Her daughter’s ex-boyfriend had come into their house and killed their dog. Sally would be distraught; she’d blame herself. And then there was Ben Cox. She was going to have some damage limitation to do with him.

‘What a lowlife,’ she said. ‘Why would he do this?’

‘Revenge? That’s what these scumbags are like.’ Gray shook his head. ‘I had my suspicions. It was the location of the note near the bandstand. Dylan and his gang think they own that part of the town. My guess is he knew you didn’t like him, so he came up with a plan to spook you. Then, when you broke Sally and him up, he ramped it up. He’s going to regret it, that’s all I can say.’

‘So that’s it?’ Ryan said. ‘It’s Dylan. Did you talk to Carl?’

Gray nodded. ‘I went to his house last night. I outlined some of the things that have happened and asked him if he knew anything about them.’

‘And?’ Ryan said.

‘He said he had no idea these things had happened, and he was not involved in any way, which seems reasonable enough now.’

Gray got to his feet.

‘We have people out looking for Dylan now. As soon as I have any news I’ll be in touch.’

After Gray left, Ryan held her in a tight embrace.

‘Thank God,’ he said. ‘Thank God that’s over, finally.’

Mary let herself sink into the hug. It was only now it had lifted that she realized how heavy the weight she had been carrying around had been.

‘There’ll be all kinds of legal things we have to do,’ she said. ‘Once they find him.’

‘Are you going to go after him?’ Ryan said. ‘For the photos?’

‘I am. And for Sally.’ She let go of him and shook her head. ‘I’m going to make sure they throw the book at him.’

‘I agree.’

Mary looked out of the window. She could see the corner of the neighbours’ house. It turned out Trent was no more than an oddball, Carl was who he had always been, Ben Cox was simply an ambitious lawyer and Rona and Byron – because she had wondered, briefly, about them – were slightly obnoxious, over-invested parents, but nothing more sinister than that.

Above all, she was glad it was all done with. In some ways this was a good thing. It had forced her to examine her life, to consider who she could really trust and who there were questions about. And now she needed to reset and take stock.

Ryan looked at her.

‘Let’s get away,’ he said. ‘Let’s get out of town for a day or two, just you, me and the kids.’