Harry lay staring at the ceiling. Karene approached and took his hand. ‘Hey, you,’ she said, her voice soft.

His eyes moved slowly towards hers.

‘You’re OK, Harry,’ she said. ‘You’re going to be OK.’ Karene smiled nervously. ‘Harry? It’s me. It’s Karene.’

Harry stared at Karene and then at Bloom. ‘Caroline?’ he said.

Karene’s smile faltered. ‘Caroline’s not—’

‘Where am I?’ he asked.

‘You’re in Exeter Hospital, Mr Peterson,’ said the nurse. ‘As Mr Lyle explained.’

‘Captain Peterson,’ corrected Karene and the nurse’s jaw twitched.

‘What happened?’ He pulled his hand free of Karene’s and she swallowed hard as she slid it off the bed and on to her lap.

‘There was an explosion at the ball you attended on Saturday night,’ Bloom said when it was clear that Karene wasn’t able to answer.

‘An explosion?’

‘A bomb. A man blew himself up in the reception of the building.’

‘How many?’ Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Bloom glanced at Karene who was looking similarly queasy.

‘We can talk about that later,’ Karene said eventually. ‘Concentrate on getting better first.’

‘Do either of you know where Caroline is, please?’

‘He doesn’t want to see her.’ Karene slumped into a chair in the corridor.

‘He asked for her,’ said Bloom.

‘He just asked if she was here, where she was. Like the consultant said, he’s disorientated.’

‘Karene?’

‘He looked OK, didn’t he? He was alert and he was speaking clearly. That has to be a good sign.’ Karene’s resilience training was kicking in.

‘It could certainly have been worse, yes.’

The nurse approached them. ‘He’s asking for Caroline.’

‘Caroline’s his ex-wife,’ said Karene. ‘They’re divorced. I’m his current partner.’

‘Oh, I see. I’m sorry. Have they been divorced a while?’ A troubled expression crossed the nurse’s face.

Karene shook her head. ‘A year or so, but separated for longer.’

Bloom took her friend’s hand. ‘If he’s disorientated, Karene, it might be wise to simply respond to his requests. Would she come, do you think?’

Karene’s expression went blank. ‘I’ll call her.’

16

Jameson chose a table in the far corner of the cafeteria. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected when he’d agreed to work with Bloom again, but he should have predicted that she’d carry on as if none of it had happened. It was classic Augusta. He knew she was the focused professional when it came to work but he couldn’t help feeling irritated by her complete lack of remorse. He picked at his ham and cheese panini. He’d told her not to mention Seraphine Walker, but that didn’t mean he wanted her to pretend it never happened. He had hoped her behaviour towards him would be conciliatory at the very least.

‘Do you ever stop eating?’ She sat down in the seat opposite him.