“You’ll make the right decision,” said Guy. “You always do.”

She nodded but didn’t answer, and Guy began to walk away.

He stopped on the mat and turned. “I know it doesn’t mean much now, but I am sorry. Not my usual bullshit sorry. This one’s real. I’ll prove it to you.”

“Camille needs it more than I do.”

Guy nodded. “She’s top of my list.”

He opened the door and pulled his collar up against the cold, and soon he was lost in the mass of Christmas shoppers.

Andrew came back into the shop bearing mugs of hot tea.

“Who was that?” he asked, glancing at the folder on the desk.

“Guy,” said Nory absently.

Andrew sucked in a breath. “What did he want?”

“To give me his investigation into Heba.”

“Why did he give it to you?”

“He says it’s my choice whether I pass it on to Isaac or not.”

Andrew looked at the folder as though it contained explosives. “Which way are you leaning?”

“I don’t know.”

Nory was on the sofa, Mugwort half off her lap, as though to let her know that he could take her or leave her. He had sulked for the last nine days, though she wasn’t sure if he was punishing her because she had gone away or because she had returned and taken him away from his beloved Matilda.

The tastefully decorated artificial Christmas tree managed to look huge in Nory’s apartment even though it was only four feet tall. Each year she liked to meander around Fortnum & Mason and take inspiration from their decorations. This year she had splashed out on a gold stag to sit on the mantel above the skinny Victorian fireplace. Of course, the fireplace itself was long since defunct, but it made a lovely feature . . .

The plain-looking manila folder that was the cause of so much internal conflict sat on the coffee table, next to a tin foil tray of Pepe’s spaghetti puttanesca, a side of garlic bread with mozzarella and parmesan, and a tiramisu; Nory was not one of those people who forgot to eat when they were heartsick.

Her initial thought was that maybe she should catch the train down to Hartmead and present Isaac with the folder face-to-face. But given their last encounter, she felt that her presence might make him dismiss the contents out of hand without giving it a fair look.