Patrick climbed out to help her with her overnight rucksack, which had gone with her to a service station and then back without being opened. And then he gave her a brief hug and told her to get as much rest as she could. It was only as he’d backed away again that he said in a low and surprisingly uncertain voice, ‘You know, I felt tempted to say earlier, but … I never liked Dina. At all. I was very glad … when you and Niall got together. I would very much like to think there was still a chance for you two.’

She couldn’t find any response, but she nodded at him, and he smiled before getting back into his car. She felt a trace of sadness after he left. Niall’s best friend had turned out to be a great deal more loyal to her than she’d had any right to expect.

She let herself into the house, and wondered, suddenly, whether she would continue to live here. Whether she might find herself in jail, or whether she and Niall would sell the place in order to go their separate ways. And all those uncertainties were far too much now, so she dumped the backpack and let herself into the music room, where her harp was waiting for her.

She sat, and leaned it against her shoulder, and felt its comforting weight for a moment. And then she started to make music, a flow of unwritten melodies that seemed to pour out of her without thought.

It was still hard for Hanson to feel safe in her home, but it unquestionably felt better than it had. Sharing all of it with Ben had given her more comfort than she could have expected.

She glanced up at the mock CCTV camera over the door, with its big, bulky black box and its cable that actually didn’t go anywhere. She’d tucked it back in on itself within the box before she’d mounted the thing. There was another one on the first floor, too, looking out towards the road.

Hanson went through her usual routine of locking up, though less quickly, and decided that a glass of wine and catching the end of Last of the Mohicans was in order. And then sleep. Hopefully good sleep.

She dozed off quickly, keeping thoughts of Damian firmly away and thinking instead about the work she would do tomorrow. How she would go on tracing other women who had been victims of Alex’s need for revenge. How she would also re-engage with drug dealing in a pub on the Highfield estate on O’Malley’s behalf. There was a lot of catch-up to do on their other casework.