It was true that Gareth had long had a reputation for what was jocularly referred to as playing away from home. Charles, like others, had accepted it with a mental shrug; so long as it didn’t impinge on the job it was Gareth’s business. Tough on Suzanne, of course, lovely woman like that, hard to see why he’d want to hang up his cap elsewhere but there you are, needs must. Not the only chap who can’t keep his flies done up, has to follow where the compass needle points. Such had been the attitude of most of Gareth’s male colleagues, Charles included when he bothered to think about it, which was rarely. Listening to Suzanne now and wondering again whether morality might be indivisible after all, he was reminded of his own complacency. But there was no time for introspection and to tell her about the Brussels mistress, identified via the call-data on Timber Wolf’s phone, would technically be a crime. He opted for the lie by omission. ‘He’s never confided anything about his personal life to me, nor anything about your marriage. What I’m thinking we might have to do if he doesn’t turn up very soon is to ask MI5 to investigate him. What he carries in his head would constitute a major security breach if it all came out – virtually all our significant operations. I have a responsibility to report to MI5 anything that falls within their national security remit, as this plainly does. The advantage from your point of view is that with the technical resources at their disposal they’re more likely to find out pretty quickly where he is than anyone else.’

‘You don’t think I should report him to the police as a missing person?’

‘You could but it’s early days and it may take a while to interest them. If you have a joint account, though, it would be worth checking it for unusual withdrawals. And let me know.’

‘Good idea, yes, I’ll do that.’ She paused. When she spoke again her voice had lost its crispness. ‘It’s just been such a . . . I don’t really know how to describe it, it’s such a shock and yet I’m not surprised. It’s as if I’ve been half-expecting it. And you’ve been a good friend to Gareth over the years – and now Sarah as well, of course – you must feel let down just as I am. Not to mention the boys, who don’t know anything about it yet. I can’t think what I’m going to say to them. And then there’s our other friends, people like the Ruttes – they’re a Dutch couple we were friendly with in Geneva. Gareth’s seen a bit of Eddie again recently and there’s talk of a family holiday together. I don’t know how I’m going to break it to them.’