‘Do you ever stop pretending everything’s normal?’

‘What does that even mean?’

He took a bite of his sandwich and said nothing. This was typical. She was deflecting his question to avoid accessing her emotions.

‘I don’t think Harry recognized Karene,’ she said.

‘What?’ Jameson felt for the woman. He remembered what it had felt like when his mother’s Alzheimer’s had set in and he’d seen blankness in her eyes when he had walked in.

‘I know. It’s worrying.’

‘I thought they were soulmates.’

‘He’s asked for Caroline.’

‘Ouch. How did she take that?’

‘Not well. She’s calling her now. We just spoke to the consultant again. They think it’s some sort of amnesia.’

‘You’re quite similar, aren’t you?’

‘Karene and I? Not really. I mean, we’re both psychologists—’

‘Throwing yourself into work instead of facing up to the truth.’

Bloom sighed. ‘Which is?’

Jameson finished his sandwich and sat back. ‘You know I’m not back for good, don’t you?’

‘What were you planning to do instead?’

‘I have a few irons in the fire.’ This was an outright lie. He’d done nothing to find other work. He had a good pension so he could live without any further income but working with Bloom had been fun. It had kept him alert, staved off the boredom, given him a purpose. But he couldn’t work with someone who had shown the cool disregard for his life that she had in that dank room under the dark arches of Leeds only a few months earlier. She was supposed to be different. She was supposed to be better than the men and women he’d worked with in his past life.

‘Well, I should make the most of you while I have you then.’ Bloom’s smile was a little sad. It was the first sign of upset that she’d shown and it made Jameson feel good. ‘So,’ she said. ‘Do you think this was a genuine terrorist attack that someone took advantage of, or was the whole thing about Harry?’

‘If I had to put money on it, I’d say it hinges on Bashir Forrest. Either someone got wind of his plans and piggy-backed them or they groomed him to do their bidding.’

‘The low number of casualties really strikes you as significant, doesn’t it?’

‘It makes me think it’s a military operation; get in and get out with as little collateral damage as possible. They ensured that Harry was close enough to the explosion to need an ambulance but far enough away to survive. How did they do that?’

Bloom looked out of the window and tried to imagine the scene. ‘They put someone in there with him.’

‘They must have planned it all: where the bomber needed to be, where Harry needed to be, that their fake ambulance would reach him first. It’s impressive.’