‘I’m really sorry, I just need to rest.’ She put down her tea.

He leapt to his feet. ‘Of course,’ he said. ‘Of course. I understand.’

He showed her through to his bedroom next door, which had a small en-suite bathroom with a loo and shower. There were more photographs of the family on a bookshelf, and by the bed there was one of Kate alone, taken only a few years ago in the Italian Dolomites. Kate didn’t know what to say. This was not how she had imagined him living here. ‘Do you mind if I take a shower?’ she asked.

‘Of course. I’ll leave you to it . . . Anything else you want, just shout.’

‘If you need to go to work or—’

‘I don’t have a job to go to. I’ll be reading a book next door. I’ll leave you to sleep for as long as you want.’

He retreated. Kate undressed, stepped into the shower and tried to shake off the sense of guilt she felt as she washed away the legacy of another man with her husband’s favourite mint shower gel and Australian shampoo.

She dried herself and cleaned her teeth with his brush. She took the top off the Acqua di Parma aftershave and sniffed it. She’d given him his first bottle in a Christmas stocking almost a decade before and he’d stuck to it religiously ever since. That was Stuart, loyal to a fault. Except, as it turned out, in the one way that really mattered. Kate dried herself, put on a clean pair of knickers and a T-shirt, and sat on his bed. She took half a dose of zopiclone this time, since she wasn’t sure how long she should sleep.

She pulled back the curtain and checked the street outside once more. The BMW was parked there, still, but the men inside did not appear to have been joined by anyone else. Who in hell were they?

She lay down and tried to ignore the light streaming in through the thin yellow curtains and the sight of her own cheery face gazing down at her from the table beside the bed. Was it conceivable Stuart had put these pictures out after her phone call or did he really have this beside his bed all the time?

Her thoughts led inexorably back to Sergei. She could think of no reason why they would kill him and let her live. What had he planned to tell her? What would she have found out? She thought of his final few words: If you pursue this, it may cost you more than your career. You must know that.