‘I was pretty focused on that knife and I closed my eyes a couple of times. You do when you’re terrified.’

‘That could explain why the man suddenly left,’ Peter said. ‘Talbin had got the photos he wanted. It’s crazy. He couldn’t use them, so why did he do it?’

‘Perhaps the photos gave him a sense of power,’ Craig said. ‘Or perhaps he just hates you.’

‘I’d go for that,’ Peter agreed. ‘He loves getting back at people. I’ve got photos for my exposé of his face when he’s making some poor sod squirm. It’s one of the reasons I detest him.’

Again no one spoke then Peter said slowly, as if thinking aloud, ‘People have wondered how Talbin gets some of his scoops. Usually a whisper goes round if something’s happening. I’ve been tracking a group of paparazzi for some time now for my article, and a rumour usually comes from several directions. But Talbin is notorious for his uncanny knack of being the only one to find out about some of the prime stories. Legendary, in fact. What if he … ? No, he couldn’t have … Surely, no one would …’ He looked from one to the other.

‘He must have set up the attack on me,’ Jez said, his voice sounding harsh in his own ears. ‘All these months since my face was slashed I’ve been having panic attacks during the night. I’ve had to have my security with me wherever I go. All these months!’

Craig looked at him sympathetically. ‘We guessed you weren’t sleeping properly. Some mornings your face was – ravaged.’

‘I thought I’d kept that to myself.’ Anger churned his stomach into a pool of acid.

‘We’ll have to take this to the police,’ Peter said. ‘Much as I’d like to scoop the news, this is too serious.’

‘How do we explain how we got hold of the photos?’ Craig asked.

‘We tell the truth,’ Jez said grimly. ‘We’ll check with my lawyers, but I doubt the police will do more than reprimand us. I can say I was upset and wanted to delete the photo he’d taken of my scars.’ Strange, he realised suddenly. He’d stopped thinking about the scars lately, except when he shaved. Why?

The answer was easy. Sophie. She didn’t care whether he was scarred or not, so they’d become unimportant.

‘Get Kev on to it,’ Craig said. ‘He’s got friends in the force still. He’ll know who to contact. We can leave Talbin to the police.’

Jez nodded. The relief he was feeling made him almost light-headed. It was over. Over.

Then there was the sound of a car and the buzzer went.

Craig peered out. ‘It’s the police.’ He pressed the enter button.

As the gates beeped their way open and the car drove into the courtyard, the three men hurried out to see why the police were there. A second police car came slowly inside.

Tom and Andi emerged from the rear of the first car, each carrying a child.