Seraphine sat back in her seat and raised her eyebrows at Bloom. ‘Brains and brawn. Why haven’t you taken him for yourself, Augusta? Are you scared he might not go for your ageing-spinster vibe? You could be quite pretty, you know? If you made an effort.’ Seraphine gave a little laugh and looked away. ‘I think I may have touched a nerve.’ Seraphine winked at Jameson. ‘The truth is, Marcus, I was interested to know how strong your feelings were. You could say I’m quite fascinated with the love thing. I find it—’

‘Fascinated?’ said Jameson, repulsed.

‘What’s the word? Compelling. I find love compelling.’ She spoke to Bloom. ‘Like you say, we are more similar than we are different. And, like everybody else, we want the things we cannot have.’

Bloom met her gaze. ‘Which includes me, by the way. Because the answer is no. You know that, don’t you?’

‘What do you want with Augusta anyway?’ said Jameson. ‘What can she give you that you can’t take for yourself?’ Anger dripped from every word.

Seraphine lifted her eyes to the cracked windows above Jameson’s head. ‘Augusta knew exactly what I was within just two meetings. No other psychiatrist or psychologist has ever worked it out and I’ve tested plenty. And I don’t mean that it took them longer. They never suspected it at all. Because I’m really very good at hiding it.’ She looked over at Bloom. ‘She’s the only person who ever worked it out, and I’ve had fifteen years to think about why that might be.’

‘Because she’s bloody good at what she does,’ said Jameson.

‘Maybe. Or maybe …’ Seraphine narrowed her eyes. ‘Once she’d made it clear to me what I was and that I wasn’t going to grow out of it, I knew the only way to keep it secret was to start over. Over the years I made it my business to meet every expert on psychopaths that I could find. I even wrote a research paper with the world’s leading authority and the man had no idea he was working with one. I came to two conclusions. That I am particularly talented. And that Dr Augusta Bloom must have had some extra insight.’

‘What kind of extra insight?’ said Jameson.

Seraphine folded her arms. ‘Now, Augusta, what kind of insight could I possibly be talking about? Do you want to enlighten him or should I?’

‘I don’t know what on earth you’re talking about,’ said Bloom. ‘And anyway, if all this is about me, why is Marcus here?’

‘You know why Marcus is here.’

‘Do I?’

‘Of course you do, Augusta. Since your poor mother lost her grip on reality, you have had no one and nothing of meaning in your life … apart from him.’ Seraphine looked at Jameson. ‘I actually feel weirdly sad about this, but he’s nothing more than leverage.’