‘Indirectly he did, by leaving the door open.’

She shook her head. ‘What if he deliberately killed the wretched thing? He could have broken the cat’s neck, and no one would be the wiser.’

‘But why would he do that? For what purpose?’

‘To teach Willow a lesson.’

‘Sorry, you’ve lost me now.’

Repositioning the seat belt that lay across her abdomen, she said, ‘Look, this might sound a bit far-fetched, but hear me out. The day the cat went missing, I’d asked Willow to come and see me. I wanted to talk to her about you and Mum.’

Ellis smiled. ‘To discuss how to get rid of me?’

She had the grace to smile back at him. ‘Not exactly, but the thing is, I distinctly remember Willow saying that Rick hadn’t wanted her to come. He’d wanted her to go to the gym with him.’

‘What, so you think he killed the cat because he couldn’t get his own way? You’re right, it is far-fetched.’

‘But you agreed with me that there’s definitely something creepy about him.’

‘Yes, but what you’re describing sounds more like a psychopath and I’d hate to think that the father of Willow’s child is as dangerous as that; it doesn’t bear thinking about.’

‘Hear me out some more. You know about gaslighting, don’t you?’

‘Sorry? What’s Victorian gas lamps got to do with anything?’

‘It’s when your partner makes you doubt yourself in order to control you. It makes you feel you’re going crazy.’

As though a light had been switched on, Ellis saw exactly where Martha was going with this. ‘That’s a hell of a leap you’re making.’

‘I was reading up on the subject this morning while I was waiting for you. Rick fits the profile to a T. He’s possessive, he spoils Willow with expensive presents and bit by bit he’s distancing her from her family.’

‘I haven’t seen any sign of the latter.’

‘I have. He’s accused me of bullying Willow, of patronising her and basically of not being a very nice sister. It’s a classic case of divide and conquer.’

‘When did he accuse you of all that?’

‘A few months ago.’

‘Have you spoken to Willow about it? Or your mother?’

‘No. I was embarrassed by the accusations because I know at times I do come across as the bossy big sister. I only recently told Tom what Rick had said.’

‘What did he say?’

‘He wanted to have a word with Rick to tell him he was out of order, but I asked him not to. I didn’t want there to be any more trouble than I felt there already was.’

‘And too often words said in the heat of a moment are not the wisest,’ Ellis said.

‘I know what you’re probably thinking,’ Martha then said. ‘That I’m determined to think the worst about Rick because of what he said to me.’

‘That would be petty, and I don’t believe you would waste any thought or energy on something so trivial. But if you’re right about Rick and what he’s doing to Willow, where does that leave us? What’s his ultimate aim?’