‘Join the club.’ The detective realised that he seemed to have acquired a full-on stalker; one who knew his date and place of birth, a lot about his personal history, and exact details about Sam’s pregnancy.

‘Promise me one thing,’ Sam said, her breath coming in shudders.

‘Anything,’ he said.

‘Never see that woman without someone else there.’

‘Okay.’

Gillard took a deep breath to calm himself, then rang the estate agent. He resisted the urge to blow up at her, instead asking her in detail about how this woman came to be on her lists. The answer he got was a straightforward one. Mrs Tripathi had been looking for a three-bedroom house in the area to buy for cash, and found it on the Rightmove.

‘There is nothing mysterious about it,’ the estate agent said.

‘We’re not selling to her and that’s flat.’

She sighed. ‘That’s a shame, because she’s the only person who said she might put in an offer. A cash offer, and no chain. I wouldn’t dismiss her lightly.’

Gillard gave a curt goodbye, and slammed down the phone, cursing estate agents.

‘It’s not the first time I’ve seen her car here,’ Sam said.

‘What! When?’

‘A few days ago. She parks it any old how, right across the street.’

‘Was she sitting in it? Because if you saw her spying on us, we can get her for it.’

‘Craig, she’ll just say she was house-hunting. Anyway I didn’t see her in the car.’

Gillard stalked across to the lounge window, and stared out at Trish’s bungalow.

‘Ah, now I understand,’ he said. ‘I’ll be back in a minute.’

‘Craig, honestly, I didn’t know her from Adam,’ Trish replied to Gillard, who was standing like an unpaid bailiff in her doorway. ‘She turned up on my doorstep a week or so ago, saying she was a journalist. She’d read about my case and had contacted my barrister saying she wanted to do a sympathetic piece about me. After checking with me, the barrister had given her my address. We had a couple of very nice afternoons together. Do you want to come in for tea?’ Trish opened the door to him.

He shook his head. ‘This woman is a stalker, Trish, and you mustn’t speak to her again.’

‘Well, she’s not stalking me. I shall speak to whom I like. It’s nice to have company. I mean it’s not as if my own nephew, right across the road, ever gives me the time of day, despite my deteriorating health and loneliness. You will be old one day, you’ll see what it’s like.’

‘Did you tell her about Sam’s pregnancy?’

Trish’s face tightened. ‘Oh no, dear, I shouldn’t think so. Though she did seem to want to know a bit about you. She already had a big thick file of cuttings about your cases, right back years.’

‘I think it’s your case that gave her the details she needed, and the link to me.’

Trish shrugged. ‘She’s obviously a very thorough researcher.’