He paused again. I heard him working it through – what it would mean, how he should answer. Outside, two people were screaming at each other. Just another of the daily disputes we seemed to have these days. Then Nick spoke. ‘No. No, I don’t think so.’

‘You don’t?’

‘No, I think it would be best to wait.’

‘All right,’ I said, my body collapsing a little. And I saw her again, under the water, her eyes as bright as coral. ‘I’ll just give it to you.’

‘Yes. That’s probably best.’

‘You will test it, won’t you?’ Even then I felt a flicker of hope that maybe I was wrong.

He hesitated. ‘I can’t do it myself, but I know a toxicologist,’ he replied slowly.

‘And there’s her hairbrush,’ I said. ‘She used it while she was in the bath. Lots of women do that because hair straightens if it’s brushed while it’s wet. There are hairs still in it – hairs soak up chemicals, don’t they?’

‘Some. I don’t know which. It’s not my field.’

‘So that’s also proof that she was drugged.’

He was being cagey now, instead of angry. ‘Yes. Perhaps.’

‘Good. Then meet me here at twelve thirty.’

‘All right. Have you told anyone else?’

‘No. I wanted to keep it between us for now.’

‘Good. Yes, that’s best. I don’t want NatSec grabbing either of us again,’ he said. No, I was sure he didn’t. ‘What first gave you the idea?’

‘It just seemed so strange that someone would break into her house, kill her and run away without taking anything.’

‘Yes, that’s true,’ he said.

And what was he thinking now? I wondered. Was he regretting the weeks that had passed? Perhaps he too was picturing her with the locks of her hair drifting out like threads in a stream. We were on each end of a line, trying to fathom what was in the mind of the other. ‘Did she have anything worth killing her for? I mean, did she have anything stored from before the War or anything like that? Jewellery?’

‘I don’t think so. But she kept so much hidden from me it was impossible ever to tell what Lorelei was doing. So it’s not out of the question.’

‘No. Well, I’ll see you here?’

‘I’ll be there.’

‘I love you,’ I said. There was a pit in my chest where those words sounded but didn’t resonate.

‘I love you too.’