She needed to find Declan. If the fire was as big a catastrophe as she feared, this was her last opportunity to speak to him before he was placed under the media spotlight. She wouldn’t be able to get near him afterwards, not without risking the discovery of their affair, but the biggest risk was Declan himself. He might be good at keeping secrets, but he was under the misapprehension that their secret was ready to be brought into the light. Over her dead body.

Ahead of Claudia, a group of stragglers came out from the stalls and she expected to see Declan amongst them. He ought to be coming out by now, but as she passed a deserted stairway, she realised why he hadn’t. Before disappearing into the theatre, Declan had turned to look back. He had heard the boy crying for his dance teacher. The idiot had gone upstairs to find Hilary.

Declan Gallagher’s overriding need as he raced towards the theatre had been to make sure Karin was safe, but as he drew closer, the true scale of the horror had dawned on him. He wanted to make sure everyone was safe and he couldn’t ignore the little boy’s pleas. Hilary Clarke was a legend and if she was trapped, he wouldn’t abandon her.

As he reached the top of the stairs and entered the circle, he had his first glimpse of the dense cloud of smoke above his head. It flared briefly and his heart filled with dread. It seemed like only seconds ago that he had been lying in bed imagining a future for him and Claudia. He had wanted her to realise he wasn’t afraid of commitment and responsibility. What would she think of him now? What did he think of himself?

Choking on the acrid air, Declan circled the site of the collapse. Despite the gloom, he could see where the front of the circle had been partly destroyed. He clambered over debris to get nearer the edge. He needed to look over onto the stalls even though he was terrified of what he might see.

Finding a section to the right of the collapse that looked relatively secure, he gripped the brass handrail and leant forward. Where once there had been neat rows of red velvet seats, there was devastation and chaos. Worst of all, there were people still down there.

‘Karin!’ he screamed. ‘Karin, are you there?’