Peter waited in the living room. Across the internal courtyard he could see a shadowy figure in a room with a stained-glass window, Andi presumably. What was she doing? Sitting on the floor? Her whole body was drooping, poor thing.

He heard voices and turned round as the others came in.

Jez went to sit with Sophie, smiling at her so warmly she blushed. Kevin’s face was expressionless and he sat with arms folded, giving nothing away. Donna was alert, as always, her eyes going from one person to the other as if assessing their feelings.

‘Is this private or can anyone join in?’

Everyone turned round.

Andi raised her chin defiantly.

‘You’re welcome to join us, darling. Come and sit down.’ Sophie gestured to the couch, but Andi walked across to a chair standing on its own and took that.

Peter summed up his research and then went on to talk about Jez’s intruder. ‘Did it ever occur to you that the attack on you might have been a set-up?’

Kevin leaned forward, as if to hear better.

‘It felt real enough with a knife held at my throat and my face slashed,’ Jez said, shuddering. ‘I still have nightmares about it.’

‘Why do you say that, Shane?’ Kevin asked.

‘I’ve read and reread all the newspaper reports of the incident, and the press statements your people put out. What I can’t find out is what made the intruder stop and leave. I mean, he had the upper hand, wasn’t doing it for gain. Do you know, Jez?’

He frowned, then slowly shook his head. ‘No, I don’t. One minute he was there, threatening to kill me, the next I was sprawled on the floor, the door was open and I heard footsteps running away.’

‘Did you try to go after him?’

‘No way. I locked myself in my bathroom, held a towel to my face and called the police on my mobile.’

‘Did they find any clue as to who he was?’

‘No. But he said he’d be back one day to finish what he’d started.’ Jez shuddered and Sophie reached out without thinking to take his hand. Across the room, Andi was staring at him sympathetically.

Kevin cleared his throat. ‘What’s your point, Shane?’

‘I’m wondering whether Talbin isn’t creating his own news stories. There are a couple of others in the past year or two that he’s been the one to scoop and no one else has had even a sniff of.’

‘Have you discussed this with the police?’

‘Not yet. I’ve nothing to go on, really, just gut instinct. But I’ve been a journo for over twenty years, and I’ve learned to trust my instincts. How did he find out about Andi, come to that?’

There was silence in the room, then she asked, ‘Do you think he set up my attack?’

‘Shouldn’t think he’d take that risk for someone he didn’t know or care about. But he might have known you were working as a hostess and hoped to get some mileage out of that. He could have paid someone at the club to let him know if anything interesting happened to you. If so, who knew enough to do that?’