‘Do you know what they think of me?’ asked Will. ‘They think I had some silly spat with my boyfriend and that you ran off with the collection as a way of getting back at me. Either that, or they thought I set the whole thing up as a way of getting money out of Isabelle. So either I’m a hysterical queen, or I’ve got the fashion equivalent of Munchausen syndrome, kidnapping my own collection.’

Joel laughed, but stifled it quickly.

‘It’s not funny.’

‘It is.’

‘It won’t be, when I get done for wasting police time.’

‘Seriously?’

‘Seriously.’

They lay together for a while, sharing body heat.

‘Then we’d better tell them it was a row. A misunderstanding.’

‘Okay. I’m prepared to do that. I must be bloody mad, but if it keeps you out of trouble . . .’

‘I’ll make it up to you.’

‘Damn right you will.’ Joel started caressing him again. ‘Stop that. We can lie to the police, but on one condition. You tell me what really happened.’

‘Fair enough. Where do I start?’

‘How did you meet Rivelli?’

‘I went to see him.’

‘Why?’

‘I’d heard a lot about him.’

‘Who from?’

‘You. People. He’s famous.’

‘And you thought you’d just swan in and . . . what, exactly?’

‘I thought he might give me a job.’

‘Right. Just like that.’

‘Why not? I didn’t want you to think I was just sponging off you. I thought he might be able to . . . use me in some way.’

‘And did he?’

Joel grinned. ‘No way. Not like that. He’s not . . . you know.’

‘He’s straight. Like you, right?’

‘Anyway, he gave me a bit of courier work. Delivering stuff.’

‘You never mentioned it.’

‘It was cash in hand. He told me to keep it quiet.’

‘And then – what? He just sprung the big one on you? “Hey, Joel, steal the entire Cissé collection for me, there’s a good lad, here’s twenty quid”.’

‘Something like that, yeah.’

‘And you didn’t think that was a bit odd.’

‘He said it was like . . . a joke.’

‘Did you notice me laughing?’

‘No. But he told me he was going to give it back. It was just a business thing, he said.’

Just how thick is he?

‘Do you swear to me, Joel, that you really did not know that he was trying to put us out of business? That you honestly believed this was some kind of elaborate business strategy?’

‘I swear.’

‘And that when you realised things were not as they seemed . . .’

‘I told you, didn’t I? I confessed. I took you to where the clothes were.’

‘You did.’

‘See? I did the right thing.’ He sounded as if he really believed he had.

‘So what are we going to do now, Joel? What am I going to tell the police?’

‘You can’t tell them about me and Rivelli.’

‘Then he gets away with it.’