‘Did you know all along she was alive? Even when you first asked me to spy on Zac?’

‘It seemed probable. We needed to find her.’

‘All that concern about her disappearance, about my being in danger. That was all fake.’

‘The concern for you was real.’

‘I don’t believe you. It never made sense that the Security Service would be so interested in a missing woman. You don’t care about an individual case of domestic abuse. Tell me why you’re so interested in her. I’ve asked you this a million times – you never tell me the truth.’

‘I could see Zac was hurting you. And I do believe he’s dangerous. That’s why I got you out. That’s why I wanted you to see what happened to Jane.’

‘No.’ I hold up a hand, as if to ward her off. ‘That’s why you put me in.’

‘You put yourself in.’ I notice she hasn’t bothered to take off the wedding ring.

‘If I’d left sooner . . .’ My voice chokes. Two years later, and it still chokes. ‘You made me wait.’

‘It wasn’t—’ She stops herself. ‘It’s possible it would have been different. No use pretending otherwise.’ She puts a hand on my arm. Almost no physical contact since we first met six years ago, and now she’s tried it twice in a week. ‘I wish it had been.’

I jerk away. I think of Eliza’s real fear when Zac came home early. ‘Zac may be doing the same thing to his new wife that he did to me.’

‘And this matters why?’

‘Are you going to protect her?’

‘Why would we? She’ll be safe from him soon. He isn’t likely to be free much longer.’

‘What about the little girl? She’s the same age – their birthdays are a few days apart. She can’t be mine, can she? Can Zac have somehow got my baby away?’

‘This is your real reason for coming here today.’

I don’t respond.

‘Holly.’ Maxine’s voice is so gentle for a minute I think it isn’t her. ‘That isn’t possible. You know, deep down, that the whole world didn’t conspire with Zac to steal your child. Think about it. If it were true, he’d be hiding from you. Putting as many miles between you and that child as he could. He wouldn’t be placing missing persons ads and combing newspapers to find you. He wouldn’t be chasing you to Bath. He’d have happily believed you were dead.’

I stare at my feet.

‘Holly,’ Maxine says again in that un-Maxine voice. ‘Alice has a mother. She isn’t you.’

‘She brought Alice to the hospital where I work. Was Zac behind that?’