Anya nodded. ‘I’m worried that Abdul has too much – too much Islam, if you see what I mean. My family is very moderate, which is traditional for the part of India we come from. My parents, that is. We believe, of course, and we go to the mosque – my parents, anyway – and we keep the festivals, Eid and such things. But we are not extreme, not in any way. We drink’– she smiled as she raised her glass – ‘and we live basically a Western life. As you can see from me. Though I am the least observant of all my family, much less than Akela. And even she is not extreme, not at all, just conservative. But Abdul – Daniel – he is . . . he has left our mosque and started going to another, a small mosque with a big reputation. Not a good reputation. I don’t even know where it is but I have heard about it. He is becoming more devout than any of us and I am worried that he is being influenced by extremists. He spends a lot of time looking at websites, Akela tells me, and now he has forbidden music in their house. He says it is un-Islamic, which is nonsense but it’s what some extremists say. He threw out all their CDs and he wants Akela to wear the burka but she won’t, not while she’s working, anyway. Excuse me.’

She broke off to blow her nose, then sipped more of her wine and helped herself to a single small cheese biscuit. ‘One is never enough,’ said Charles, pushing the bowl towards her.

She took another. ‘And now he has done something else, I hear from Akela. He went out and bought some knives, big ones with long blades like carving knives.’

‘Do vegetarians use carving knives?’ asked Sarah. ‘Perhaps they do. But definitely a domestic knife rather than a hunting knife or commando knife or whatever they’re called?’

‘I think so, yes. Akela is very worried because of all these knife attacks by extremists. She doesn’t believe Abdul is an extremist but she knows he looks at all those websites and he is becoming more and more strict with her, even since their marriage. She hasn’t told my parents any of this. They just think Abdul’s enthusiasm is the normal enthusiasm of the convert and that he will moderate in time.’

‘Could it be that he thought they simply needed some knives?’ asked Sarah.

‘Of course but Akela didn’t think so and hadn’t said so to him.’

‘Has she asked him why he got them?’

‘No. She doesn’t like to. I think she’s frightened.’ She looked at Charles. ‘As I said, I don’t want to get them into trouble, to get Abdul arrested or anything. It may all be quite innocent. Please God it is. Can you do anything?’