“Mmm.” Her face was hidden behind her hair. “Why did you do it?”

“Why does anyone do the job they do? I was good at it and I got paid. It wasn’t all I was. I was other things too. I had a wife and a child and a house and a car and I went to parents’ evenings and took my family on holiday. It was a job, that was all. It just wasn’t the sort of job you could tell your daughter about.”

“But why tell her you were a police officer?”

“It was a stupid joke my old boss used to make. He always said I had a copper’s soul. Besides, white-collar workers don’t usually come home beaten up. It was as good a story as any.”

“I see.”

“Are you shocked?”

He couldn’t be sure, but he thought she was smiling. “And am I the only one who knows?”

“Alicia.” Donald’s voice cracked. “She knows now.”

“Is that what happened? Is that why she… ”

“She found all the stuff I had hidden away. Stuff I kept for insurance in case anyone ever came after me, to make sure they’d leave me alone.”

“Who’s they?”

“Everyone. The police. The men I worked with. The men I worked against. I had enough to take them all down with me if I had to. I put it together for my wife. I always thought I’d go first, you see. And then Alicia went through my stuff and she found it. She only did it because I read her diary.”

“Yes, you said. And what did you find?”

He held out his battered hands. “I found a man I thought I could trust.”

“You couldn’t have known.”

“Course I should have known. Men are pigs, all of us. God knows I brought in enough girls and put them to work.”

“Is that what you did? Trafficking women?”

“Among other things.” He stood up and threw the door open.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m checking to see if the tide’s turned yet. I know it hasn’t, don’t laugh at me, I just can’t stand the waiting.” Through his shame, a new thought occurred to him. “Where’s Finn?”

He could hear the tears in her voice, the tears that his brutal blow had failed to spill. “I don’t know. But I think – I’m afraid… ”

Another red burst of horror. “I saw him earlier.”

“Where? Where was he?”

“Why are you so worried? Did you have an argument?”

“No, of course not. We never argue. It’s just we don’t have much time left – it’s hard for him.” She glanced at the maps on the wall, and an ugly sob convulsed her face. “Oh God, I don’t want to leave. I don’t. I can’t. How is he ever going to be all right without me? He’ll be all on his own.”

It was shameful to take advantage of her vulnerability but he couldn’t seem to stop it. Before he could tell himself no he was on the floor beside her.