‘I’ve always hated him.’ She got to her feet and walked to the window. ‘I was fourteen when he married Bella and from the day she brought him back to live with us, my life became a sort of nightmare.’ She turned suddenly. ‘No, that isn’t quite true. It’s just that whenever I turned, he seemed to be there watching me. When I was dressing or undressing. I’d find him in the doorway, that smile on his face.’

She shuddered visibly and Nick’s throat went dry. ‘Go on.’

‘There isn’t anything else. Not what you mean, anyway. He was too clever for that. But there were other things.’ She stared into the past. ‘He was so damned strong. When he put those great hands of his on me there was nothing I could do – nothing.’

‘Didn’t you ever try speaking to Bella?’

‘I threatened to do just that, but he only laughed. Said she wouldn’t have believed a word and he was right.’

Nick got to his feet and took her in his arms gently. When he pulled her close, she started to tremble. ‘That was a long time ago. Long gone. Ben Garvald will never trouble you again, I promise you that.’

She stared up into his face and then her hands slid around his neck, pulling down his head, her mouth opening beneath his. As the blood surged in his temples, Nick slid his hands over her buttocks, holding her fiercely against him.

Through the turbulence he was aware that she was repeating his name over and over again and he closed his eyes and hung on, waiting for the roaring to diminish. After a while, he opened them again and smiled down at her.

‘I wonder what the Sunday supplements would make of this? I can see the headlines now. Case of the Amorous Detective.’

She smiled up at him, her eyes bright. ‘To hell with the Sunday supplements.’

‘I know,’ he said. ‘But I’ve still got to go.’

She sighed deeply and pushed herself away from him. ‘Any chance of your coming back?’

‘I’m afraid not. I’ll give you a ring tomorrow. Maybe we could have dinner.’

‘I’d better give you my number.’

‘Isn’t it in the book?’

‘Only the school office, not the flat.’ She smiled. ‘A trick of the trade. If it was, I’d have half a dozen parents phoning through every evening. I’d never know a moment’s peace.’

She rummaged in a drawer, found a folded piece of notepaper, and quickly scribbled her name and telephone number on it. She folded it again, slipped it into his inside pocket and smiled up at him.

‘No excuses now.’

‘None at all.’

‘Especially if you have this.’ She took a Yale key on a ring from her pocket and held it up. ‘If you can get back before breakfast, let yourself in.’

‘Won’t you be in bed?’