‘That’s what Will always said.’

‘I’m really glad that he’s on the mend.’

‘Me too. My God. I just realised. I’m in Japan!’

They watched Tokyo approaching, a huge gleaming sculpture of steel and glass.

‘So, what’s first?’

‘Get you to the hotel, get some food inside you, then get you to the Elle Japon shoot.’

‘Oh my God. Is that really going ahead? I look bloody awful.’

‘They’ll have stylists.’

‘You’re supposed to say “No, Isabelle, you look perfect.” ’

‘Sorry,’ said Dan, blushing. ‘Not very good at that stuff.’

She took his hand. ‘That’s why I like you, stupid.’ Then she caught sight of a giant animatronic Hello Kitty, and further conversation was impossible.

Victoria was flatsitting in Hackney for a few months, as a favour to a friend of a friend who was working in New York for a while; it was rent free, and while it didn’t exactly measure up to the Kensington penthouse, it was clean and comfortable and secure. There was a security guard in the entrance hall, locked doors on every landing, and bolts on every window frame. Once you were inside, you were alone – and that suited Victoria fine. It was a place to rest and to nest. By the time the friend of a friend came back, the baby would be six months old. Plenty of time then to consider her next move.

The flat didn’t have a phone, and if she kept her mobile switched off Victoria didn’t need to talk to anyone. Not to Adele, who had driven her away with her constant, smothering concern. Not to her parents, who, she thought, were quite capable of phoning just to send a frosty silence down the line. Not to Ben, nor to his mother, who were circling around the unborn child, ready to claim it as their own. Nobody else would want to find her. She’d told the police everything she knew, and until such time as they found Rivelli – if ever – they were finished with her. The press, who had shown some interest in her as lesbian Leanne’s pregnant mystery blonde, had moved on to other, juicier stories. Victoria was alone.

And so, when the stomach cramps that had been niggling away in recent weeks suddenly got very much worse in the middle of the night and felt very much like contractions, and her waters suddenly broke, soaking the mattress, Victoria had nobody to help her except the security guard and the paramedics who came to take her into the maternity unit at Homerton Hospital.