Nothing came. Nadia carried on reading. ‘All those people living in terror because of me,’ she said. ‘They’re more likely to die in a car wreck than—’

‘Read that again,’ Wynne said.

‘They’re more likely to die in a car wreck—’

‘Would you say that?’ Wynne said. ‘A car wreck?’

DS Alexander paused. ‘No,’ she said. ‘I’d say car crash.’

‘Right,’ Wynne said. ‘Car wreck sounds American.’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘Or Australian.’

DS Alexander nodded slowly. ‘You’ve got a point.’

‘I need to make some phone calls,’ Wynne said. ‘To our Australian colleagues.’

Tom

Tom lay on the bed. His eyes were closed but he was far from asleep. He was concentrating on each breath, forcing his chest to expand and take in air, then slowly expelling it.

It wasn’t easy. His chest was banded with iron and every instinct urged him to hyperventilate, but he had to fight the feeling. His heart was thumping in his chest, the surges of blood pounding in his ears. He was scared there was something wrong, that his heart was going to explode.

He told himself to calm down, that everything was going to be OK, that he could somehow secure the house even though whoever this was could apparently pick the locks he’d added with ease, that the police were nearby, but none it made any difference. His body was out of control, its mechanisms rebelling against him.

He opened his eyes and the room started to spin. He was overcome with nausea, and he curled himself into a ball.

‘Tom.’

He squinted at the door. Alice was there, silhouetted against the light.

‘Tom. Are you OK?’

‘I feel like I’m having a heart attack.’ It was an effort to get the words out. ‘I can’t think. I can’t get my breath.’

She sat next to him and put her hand on his forehead. He shrugged it away. He didn’t want to be touched. It was too much stimulation. What he needed was total calm, total stillness.

‘What can I do?’ she said. ‘Can I help?’

‘Nothing. I’ll be OK. I need to be alone.’

‘OK.’ She stood up and he heard her leave the room. He let out a low groan. This was torture, and it felt like it would never end.

It had to. He couldn’t bear much more.

Right now, he thought, right this second, if I could press a button and end it all I would.

He buried his face under a pillow, and sank into the darkness.

Alice

‘Well,’ Kay said. ‘What happened? Where’s Tom?’

‘He’s upstairs,’ Alice said. ‘He’s having a hard time.’

‘In what way?’

‘He’s been having panic attacks. This is a bad one.’ She passed her phone to Kay. ‘Read this.’

Kay scrolled down the letter. When she had finished reading it she looked up from the screen, her eyes wide.