‘That’s not how safe houses work,’ Levy replied. She had taken a chair across the table. The two women were alone. Hale had already left for Manchester. Michael was still upstairs. ‘We’ll take you back to Scotland Yard with us. Once there we’ll connect you with the Close Protection Unit. Tom Chadwick has briefed them and they’ve already got Anne Flaherty under their care. They’ll take custody of you and Michael, too, and it’ll be Close Protection who take you to the safe house. No one from my team will know where that is. Not even me.’

‘Why not?’

‘Chinese walls. It’s just safer that way. It means that no one who can be directly linked to your case is capable of finding you. It avoids corruption and coercion, which further guarantees safety.’

Sarah nodded her understanding. The precautions made perfect sense. The fact she now needed them did not.

The two women sat in silence. Both lost in thought. Sarah fingered the glass she had replenished with a further splash of Bushmills. Levy had resorted to water. As comfortable as they had once been, Sarah knew that Michael’s confession had changed everything. Any friendship that had been building had to be set aside.

‘Do you really think Hirst will come after us, Joelle?’ Sarah hesitated as she spoke. Not sure she wanted to hear the honest answer. ‘I mean, now that his name is going to be out there and an entire police force is going to be hunting him? Do you really think he’ll risk it?’

Levy looked at Sarah without speaking, and Sarah could see that she wanted to reassure her. That she wanted to say ‘no’. But lies helped no one in these situations.

Levy reached out and placed her hand onto Sarah’s.

‘I think he will absolutely risk it, yes.’ Levy’s tone was sympathetic but certain. ‘He will come for Michael, for what Michael did to him. The same reason he’ll go after Tina Barker if he can.’

Sarah nodded. It was the answer she had expected but not the one she had hoped for. There was little more she could say.

‘You sure you don’t want one of these?’

Sarah indicated to the pack of cigarettes she had picked up from the table. An uncontroversial effort to break the silence.

‘I’m sure,’ Levy replied as Sarah lit her own. ‘Took me too long to quit last time.’

‘I hear you on that.’

Sarah inhaled deeply. The hit of the nicotine was not enough to calm her completely. But it helped. She exhaled a plume of blue smoke before speaking again.

‘Tell me truthfully: do you really think you can keep us safe?’

‘I was one hundred per cent honest with you a moment ago, Sarah. I knew you wanted to hear something else, but I told you the truth. So please know that what I’m telling you now is also what I believe to be the truth.’

‘I know that.’

‘Good. Because the answer’s yes. I do think we can keep you and your family safe. It’s just a matter of time until we find Hirst. He’s got nowhere to run from here. By tomorrow morning his face will be on the front page of every national newspaper. On every news website in Europe. It won’t take us long to catch him, and once we do then this is over for you. In the meantime you’ll be under the protection of one of the best security teams on the planet, in a location Hirst can’t possibly find. You’re safe. You, Michael and Anne.’