Gould said, “Good. Claudia’s most likely still in shock, but try talking to her if you can. There’s a chance she might be able to give us some names or information that’ll help move things along.”

CLAUDIA WAS IN the room she and Jasmine were sharing at a Premier Inn, close to the hospital. They’d checked in just after five this morning, and a while later Leanne had turned up with clothes and toiletries so they’d been able to shower and change. The phone chargers had been a thoughtful addition.

Leanne had taken Jasmine across the road for a bite to eat a few minutes ago, but Claudia, unable to face even the thought of food, had stayed here. All that mattered was getting her mother through this.

Marcy would survive, the surgeon had sounded confident about that when he’d spoken to them earlier. The tests on her vital organs had revealed no irreparable damage and the extent of the burns, though severe, wasn’t considered life-threatening. However, they were almost certainly going to be life-changing, not only physically, but mentally, given the damage inflicted on her face. It was far too early to say exactly how disfiguring the injuries would be, but Claudia had seen enough burns victims on TV and in newspapers to know how they looked months, even years into the future.

Apparently skin grafts were due to begin on Marcy as soon as sometime in the next few days. At this moment she was undergoing further surgery for more of the charred and dead skin to be cut away, and merely thinking of it made Claudia ball a fist to her mouth to stop herself from screaming.

The only way to distract herself from the panic, and the guilt, was to focus on the certainty that this had been no accident. The fact that someone had been asking around about her a few days ago was enough to confirm that she’d been found, and the fire had been a message from Marcus letting her know that she hadn’t escaped him, and never would. She had no idea how he had tracked her down; it hardly mattered, although his sister would have had a hand in it, and presumably they’d paid someone to carry out the crime. She wondered if Marcus had meant for her to be inside the house and the arsonist had got the wrong person. More likely the instruction was for the house and everything in it—most particularly the attaché case—to go up in flames.