Harry had lost the last four years of his memory, it said, permanently. Which meant she was permanently gone. How would she cope alone? He had always told her she was stronger than anyone else he knew, but that was when she had him to guide and protect her. The men who had come to check on her since could never replace him. She could see in their eyes that she was just the latest job. They had said that her new identity was part of a witness protection scheme. She was finally safe, finally anonymous.

Which meant that Harry would never be able to find her again.

30

‘How do you cope without a television?’ Jameson said as they drove to collect Karene from the rented London apartment she had remained in so she could be close to Bloom.

Bloom said, ‘You don’t know that I don’t. You only went into my kitchen.’

‘I walked past the lounge door and saw in the mirror on the back wall that there wasn’t one. Only a small sofa that looks unused and a comfy chair angled away from the window because the house is south-facing, which was confirmed by the faded pattern on the armrest nearest the window. The cushions on the chair are indented because that is where you sit to read and probably always in the same position.’

‘You noticed all that?’ Bloom sounded shocked.

Jameson enjoyed showing her she was not always the most observant in their partnership. ‘I also noticed the floral tea set on your kitchen dresser that is not your style at all, so I assume you’ve taken it from your parents’ house as a keepsake which tells me you’ve either sold the family home or are in the process of doing so. You have three separate locks on your front door, the only door into the property, two locks on each window and a high-spec intruder alarm which tells me that you don’t feel safe in your own home.’

‘Or that I want to feel as safe as I can.’

Jameson’s mouth twitched. ‘Same difference. There were some unexpected things too. Like the large painting of those little sheep in snow and Banksy’s Girl with Balloon print in the kitchen. I wouldn’t have thought those were your style.’

He chose not to mention the other picture of a girl: the photograph carefully placed beside the reading chair in the lounge. Something told him he shouldn’t. He also didn’t let on that he’d seen her turn her notebook over when she thought he wasn’t looking.

‘All right, Mr Spy. That’s all very impressive but you can stop now,’ said Bloom.

The two-and-a-half-hour drive from London to Loughborough was tense with long periods of silence. Karene sat in the back staring out of the window.