Duke is one side of her, at her shoulder, and Magda the other. It’s intimidating, and he can see that Katerina is cacking her pants at being confronted by them. Magda looks at Duke as if thinking the same thing and then says, quietly but firmly, ‘Let’s just take a breath, everyone.’

Evie steps back, not taking her eyes off Katerina for a second.

‘Speak,’ she instructs, harshly.

Katerina squeaks, like a mouse in a chokehold. Then a tear escapes.

‘For God’s sake,’ Magda says, under her breath, and it’s not totally unkind. Duke is struck by a sense of defeat, understands how pathetic Katerina must feel, because he’s been there. He’s had that realisation himself, confronting an unpalatable truth about how he’s behaved. We all screw up, he thinks, and Katerina knows this is her turn.

‘I needed the money,’ she says. ‘For my dad. For his care home.’

Magda and Duke automatically look to Evie.

‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’ Evie says, her mouth falling open. She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. ‘Seriously?’

‘Yeah.’ Katerina nods. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to … those first photos, they were so innocent, I didn’t even think they’d be worth anything. And then it just … snowballed.’

‘I’m aware,’ Evie says, and she’s severe with it, despite her shoulders having softened.

Katerina finally looks up. Evie stares straight back.

‘What’s wrong with your dad?’ she asks, and then she adds, realising she’s being just the wrong side of abrasive, even though Duke thinks she’s every right to be. ‘If I can ask.’

‘Parkinson’s,’ she says, wiping away another tear. ‘I’ve really screwed up. I know I have. But I can’t stop. The home,’ she pleads. ‘It’s just so expensive.’

Evie sighs deeply. ‘Tell me about it,’ she says, drily.

Duke tips his head at Katerina, a signal to go. She looks at him gratefully, and then he has a second thought.

‘The photos,’ he says. ‘Delete them.’

Katerina pulls out her phone and scrolls through the images she just took, the three of them – Duke, Evie, and Magda – watching her.

‘And then from your trash,’ Magda says, and they watch her do that too.

Katerina slinks off into a lift that opens its doors to reveal Daphne. On spotting Duke she waves him over, her iPhone in her hand.

‘I’ve got Independent on the line,’ she says, with a grimace. ‘They’ve got some suggestions for an edit they’ve seen? Apparently it can’t wait.’

Duke sighs, and despite what Magda has said, addresses Evie directly.

‘We need to talk,’ he says. ‘I’ll find you. I have things to say, Evie, and I need you to hear them.’

She issues a shifty glance, side to side.

‘Okay,’ she says, and Duke takes Daphne’s phone off speaker to get on with his work.

39

Duke