‘The last time I saw that man, he told Donald he’d kill him if he didn’t leave his father alone, and now look. You do the detective work!’ she spat, and walked away.

Kelly was left in the middle of the corridor, with three nurses going about their business having heard the exchange. She stood in the hallway, with her bag and coat discarded on the floor, wondering what it all meant. If she’d heard Elaine correctly, then Fabian had lied to her about many things. One of the nurses looked at her with sympathy. She gathered her things off the floor and stood up to see Abigail still loitering.

‘What happened?’ Kelly asked her.

‘He just appeared,’ she said.

‘You know one another?’ Kelly asked. ‘It was quite obvious that you do.’

Abigail looked down.

‘You won’t find the answer down there; you either do or don’t,’ Kelly reminded her.

‘Yes, we were close. After he threatened my dad, we stopped seeing each other.’

The girl was timid and, Kelly thought, sad about the fact. There was affection there. She turned to a nurse.

‘I had come to check on Lord Reilly, how is he?’ she asked.

‘He’s scoring well on the Glasgow scale, and he’s breathing on his own, which is fantastic, but he’s too tired to talk, if that’s what you want,’ she added.

Kelly nodded and passed the nurse a card. ‘Call me the minute he starts speaking,’ she said. The nurse nodded.

‘And please let the next shift know,’ she added. She turned around to speak to Abigail, but she’d disappeared.

She left and went to the lifts. By the time she got out of the hospital and called Fabian’s phone, he was already in his limousine heading to his hotel in Glenridding, and telling her that he’d forgotten about his promise to introduce her to George.

‘Just give me his current phone number and I’ll call him myself. He’s not using the same phone as the one your father used,’ she said. ‘I’ve tried, it’s off.’

‘Of course, let me get back to you,’ he said.

She had to leave it; there was nothing she could do. ‘What was that all about with Elaine Reilly?’ she asked.

‘I told you, our families fell out. Elaine hates my mother and the feeling is reciprocal. I heard Donald was awake and I wanted to speak to him. I assume that’s why you turned up?’ he asked.

‘Yes, but how did you find out?’ she asked.

‘Abigail called me, we keep in touch,’ he said.

‘You two are close? I could tell.’

‘We’re just two people who have bothersome parents, detective,’ he said.

‘Why did your mothers really fall out, Fabian?’