In the end, she went to a big, national removal firm and asked to speak to a woman manager. It might be sexist but she felt more comfortable telling another woman about her problems.

She was frank about her dilemma and was able to refer the woman to the police officer who had dealt with her for confirmation that she wasn’t making this up.

‘I’m sorry, but we have to be sure this isn’t a burglary or one spouse cheating the other by taking all the household goods. You’d be amazed at some of the scams that have been tried. I’ll just go and give the police a call.’

The woman returned a few minutes later. ‘I was lucky. Your contact in the police was there and has corroborated your story.’

‘Oh, thank goodness!’

‘Don’t worry, Ms Walsh. We’ve had other cases similar to yours. What we do is bring your possessions here, leave them in our storage area for a few days, then deliver them to you on an agreed date. We move them into another truck, and believe me, there are enough vehicles coming in and out of our depot to make sure your ex can’t tell which one contains your goods – even if he could keep watch every working hour, which isn’t likely.’

Stacy closed her eyes for a few seconds in sheer relief. ‘You’ll ask the removal men not to tell anyone where I go?’

‘Of course. We’ll put Stan and Bill in charge of your delivery. They’re older men and Stan has a daughter about your age, so he gets angry at the thought of young women being stalked. They’ve done this before and know how to keep their mouths shut, I promise you.’

Stalked! she thought as she drove away. She kept avoiding the word, but there was no doubt that’s what Darren was doing. Who could ever have believed that the charming guy she’d married could turn into this cunning monster?

Stacy saw her possessions taken away from her house and did a bit of checking, driving past Darren’s workplace to make sure his car was in its usual parking place.

After that she drove north up the motorway to stay with her parents for a few days. Even now, she stopped in a services to check that he wasn’t following her. She waited half an hour, sitting in a table by the window, from which she could see all the vehicles driving into the car park. No sign of Darren’s car.

He wouldn’t know their new address, though he could no doubt find out. But she’d have moved on by then.

It felt as if she’d left a heavy load behind her.

When she got there, she burst into tears and told her mum and dad what had been happening. They were horrified.

The next day her father had a long talk to her about security, and since he’d been in charge of that area in his old company, he knew a few things worth listening to.