A letter that had come to their house.

So they were in danger. All it took was for someone capable of crimes of this magnitude to know you existed for you to be in danger. For them to be interested in you, however tangentially, was, as far as he was concerned, about as bad as it got.

And he blamed Alice for choosing to do it. She could have walked away, but the story was more important to her. To him it was hard to believe that anything could be more important than the safety of her family, but it seemed it was, and he hated that.

He understood why, he saw the appeal of the story, but he hated it.

His phone rang. It was Scott.

‘Hi,’ he said.

‘Busy?’ Scott said. ‘Where are you?’

‘At the reservoir.’

‘At the what?’

‘The reservoir.’

‘What are you doing there?’

‘Having a smoke.’

‘Mate,’ Scott said. ‘Are you OK?’

‘A bit preoccupied, actually.’

‘Is that all?’

‘Yes and no. You free tonight? I could do with a beer.’

Scott paused. ‘Sounds good. I have to drop something off at home after work. Six p.m. at the London Bridge?’

‘Six is perfect.’

‘See you then. And enjoy the ciggies.’

Tom ended the call and sent a message to Alice.

Home a bit late. Going to the pub after work. Does that work?

She replied immediately.

I arranged to meet Kay this evening. Could you go tomorrow?

She’d arranged to see Kay? Then why hadn’t she told him? He dialled her number.

‘Hi,’ she said. ‘Did you get my message? Sorry about that.’

‘Why didn’t you mention it?’ he said. ‘I made a plan with Scott.’

‘I was going to.’

‘Great. That’s really helpful.’

‘Tom,’ she said. ‘I made a plan to see a friend.’

‘When?’

‘Tonight.’

‘Not when are you going to see her, when did you make the plan?’

‘Kay called this morning.’

‘And you didn’t think to tell me?’

‘I haven’t seen you!’

‘You could have called! Or sent a message!’ He took a deep breath to try to fight the mounting anger. ‘Then I wouldn’t have made plans.’

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t know I had to inform you of every movement I make.’

‘You may not have noticed, Alice, but we share a life. We have a child. It’s not about informing me of what you’re doing for the hell of it – it’s about managing our shared responsibilities.’

‘I think you need to calm down,’ Alice said. ‘This is a bit of an overreaction.’

‘Is it? Or is it a perfectly natural reaction to someone who does whatever the fuck she likes, despite the consequences for her family? Provoke a serial killer to help her journalistic career? Why not?’

‘Is that what this is about? Because we discussed this, and agreed the risk is minimal.’