“Hang on,” Sophie protested mildly. “At least give me a chance to phone room service for a bottle of bubbly.”

“Feel free,” Lindsay said, dragging her shirt over her head. “But I’ve got to get out of these clothes. They stink of sweat and smoke and drink and police cells.”

Sophie giggled. “And there was me thinking you were desperate for my body.”

“Oh, I am, I am. So get the fizz on ice while I wash away the night.”

“Yes boss,” Sophie said, snapping to mock attention and waving a vague salute at her partner.

As Lindsay towelled her hair dry, she heard the blissful sound of the champagne cork easing out of the bottle with a soft pop. “Have I told you lately that I love you?” she inquired as she emerged into the bedroom.

Sophie, by now naked too, handed her a glass and said, “Actions speak louder . . .” She held out her arms and Lindsay stepped into her embrace.

After the love came the tears. Lindsay sobbed and rocked in the safe circle of Sophie’s arms.

“I don’t know, I let you out of my sight for two days, and you end up embroiled in another murder,” Sophie said gently, trying to lighten the atmosphere. “I’m beginning to wonder if I need danger money to live with you.”

Even Sophie’s embrace and the surge of desire that accompanied it couldn’t stop the shadow that passed through Lindsay’s mind. “Tell me about it,” she murmured. “Sometimes I feel like the bloody angel of death.” She sighed, and stroked the smooth, cool skin in the small of Sophie’s back. “I was so bloody scared,” she gulped. “And I couldn’t show anyone how scared I was in case they thought I’d done it. Oh, Sophie, you’ll never know how pleased I was to see you when I walked through that office door. It was like the light coming on.”

Gradually, Lindsay grew calm, and they lay quietly together sipping champagne. “How did you find out about it?” she asked.

“You know Helen,” Sophie said. “The world would end if she didn’t wake up to Radio 4. I was spark out in the spare room, sleeping like the dead after a night on the jungle juice with her and Ros when the whirling dervish bounced in.”

“Oh God,” Lindsay groaned. “What a start to the day! You know, I sometimes wonder how you managed to live with her for so long without caving her head in one morning.”