‘You could have told me that Zac assaulted Jane.’ I pulled a bottle of water from my bag. Gulped half of it. ‘It happened shortly before she left him, didn’t it?’

‘She disappeared a week after their return from Ireland.’

‘What aren’t you telling me, Maxine? What’s the real reason you’re so interested in her? And Zac.’

She didn’t reply.

Finally, I had to say it. The words fell out of my mouth as if I were being sick. I couldn’t keep them in. ‘He’s getting dangerous. He was violent towards me in London, in our hotel room. As he was to Jane.’

‘Did he hit you?’

‘He held me down. He – I don’t know how to say it. He forced me to sit, took me by the arm, loomed over me. He was so angry. I can’t get a minute alone. There’s barely a second when he isn’t watching me or tracking me. Have you thought how much harder it makes it for me to search the house? For me to find things?’

‘I have. I’m impressed – we all are.’ It was rare to catch her looking, but her eyes skimmed over my bump. At nearly six months, it finally looked like a distinct ball instead of a misshapen lump.

‘I was so tired, that night in London. The most tired I can ever remember being. I was sick, when he came back to our room. I wondered if he’d given me something to make me sleep, to try to keep me out of it, and I had some kind of reaction. Then again, I can’t bring myself to believe that of him. He’s a doctor. He cares so much about the baby. It’s more likely I had food poisoning, or that the trip and the pressure of it all proved too much.’

‘I agree he wouldn’t be likely to drug you, but I’m uneasy about the rest of it.’

‘You have a duty of care towards me.’

‘Yes. And we’ll make sure you’re somewhere safe. But we can’t move you straightaway so please keep your eyes open for a while longer, for your sake and Jane’s. I can see you care about whatever has happened to her.’

‘I do, yes. But I don’t want it to happen to me too.’ The baby punched my bladder with an elbow or foot, and I had to stop myself from crying out. What was she trying to tell me? ‘If you won’t help me now, then probably the best thing is for me to go to a refuge. Maybe he can be prosecuted for coercive control.’ My voice caught. ‘He won’t let me get away easily.’