Pages and pages had been written about them on the web. Marty’s solicitor had managed to get a few removed after legal letters citing defamation. One website had been particularly vicious but it had no traceable owner. For the first six months, they’d tried to track it down, then they’d given up, made a decision to ignore it. Hoped that friends, colleagues and patients didn’t come across it online. The police said it could be anyone—one of Nurse Natalie’s acolytes, a random stranger in America who took a perverted interest in the case, a former patient with a grudge, an annoyed colleague even.

It was one of the reasons they’d changed their surname.

He didn’t want to talk about this in front of Bella. Nor Lexie. At one stage, his wife had been obsessed, checking the websites every day, trying to understand who would write such things. And the hateful words clung to her. Lexie would repeat them to him at night, desperate to make sense of it.

Victoria hadn’t responded to his question about the weekend and Marty tried to get his brain into gear, to move the conversation on, but Bella interrupted his thoughts.

‘What’s hate page?’ Bella was poking at the lemon cake on her plate. ‘You can’t hate a page.’

‘No, Bells, you’re right.’ Victoria sighed, suddenly world weary.

Marty felt Lexie grip his hand.

‘Victoria,’ she said, ‘you’re not being targeted online, are you?’

‘Me?’ Victoria’s sculpted eyebrows lifted in surprise. ‘No, no. Just wondering if the police ever worked out who it was.’

He couldn’t really believe she was sitting in his house. After all the times she’d pulled out, sometimes just hours before. Always with a good excuse. ‘I’ve just been invited to a sixteenth birthday party.’ ‘I haven’t finished my history assignment.’ ‘My netball team is short on players this weekend.’ Marty never checked with his ex-wife to see if Victoria was telling the truth. He’d tried his hardest over the past four years and he wasn’t going to chase her now, not if she didn’t want to spend time with him.

And finally here she was, dragging along a friend as a bodyguard and a hard-as-nails attitude. Whatever mistakes he’d made with Victoria, he sure as hell wouldn’t repeat them with Bella.

In the police car, Marty leant against the headrest and closed his eyes. Lexie would be expecting news.

‘Have you had any threats?’ the policewoman asked. ‘Anything from unhappy patients at the hospital, for instance?’

‘My patients are children.’

‘Well, their parents then?’

He’d been through all of this already with the police. Did this woman think that he’d suddenly remember something at five in the morning?

‘No, not really.’ Marty opened his eyes to look at the police officer and explain. The world spun briefly and then his eyes adjusted.