‘I can’t, can I?’ Jo said, pulling a tissue out of her pocket. ‘The new tenants are moving in first thing.’

‘Well, your room’s there if you want it,’ Frank said, a wave of sadness washing over him when he remembered all the crying Irena had done in that room. ‘I’ll get Carmel to move her stuff into Evan’s room, ’cos I’m sure you won’t want to sleep where . . . you know.’

‘I thought you said she was leaving today?’ Jo sniffed.

‘She was going to, but I told her she could stay a bit longer,’ Frank said. Then, shrugging when Jo gazed up at him, he said, ‘Yvonne’s not got long, love, and Carmel hasn’t seen her for years, so what was I supposed to do? The cottage still stinks of dead cat and pig, and it needs fumigating, so she can’t stay there. And I’d hate to send her packing when her aunt could go anytime.’

‘Poor Yvonne,’ Jo sighed. ‘I wish I’d been here to—’

‘Don’t, love.’ Frank pulled her closer. ‘There was nothing you could have done to stop it. Evan tried, and look what happened to him.’

‘Oh, God. I can’t believe he’s gone, Dad.’

‘Me, neither,’ Frank said guiltily. ‘I’ll never forgive myself.’

‘Don’t you dare blame yourself,’ Jo chided, peering tearfully up into his eyes. ‘This was all Irena’s doing, not yours.’

‘No, it wasn’t,’ Frank said wearily. ‘She only did what they forced her to do. She had no choice in the matter, love.’

Nodding her acceptance, Jo sighed, and said, ‘Well, at least she managed to take one of them out before the others got arrested. Shame she didn’t get them all, though, eh?’

‘Nick was the one who killed Evan and then drove him to that quarry in the boot of his own car,’ Frank said bitterly. ‘And the sick bastard even wore his jacket, and got himself spotted on CCTV to make everyone think Evan had driven himself there to commit suicide. So, yeah, I’m not sorry Irena shot him. But, like I told the police, it wasn’t deliberate, because she didn’t actually pull the trigger; the gun went off when the other man charged in and knocked her over.’

‘I told you that gun was dangerous,’ Jo said. ‘That’s why I went mad when you told me you still had it.’

‘I know.’ Frank sighed. ‘But it’s gone now, so you won’t have to worry about it again.’

‘Good.’ Jo gave him a sad smile. ‘But you still need to sell up and get out of there. Sam’s friend looked into it, and he reckons a place like yours, with all that land, would sell for over a million now, so why don’t you get rid and find a nice place near me and Sam?’