Now, unbidden, a vision swam into her mind. A field of fresh snow, a dead body and spatters of blood among the whirling snowflakes. This was the image that she had been trying to banish, but which slipped back into her mind a hundred times a day. In the shower, on the loo, waiting for the bus.

‘Go away,’ she muttered, folding her hands behind her head, and beginning a fast series of sit-ups to drive away the memory. Twenty straight crunches, followed by another twenty left elbow to right knee, and then twenty right elbow to left knee. She carried on working up a sweat for another half an hour, until the muscle burn and breathlessness forced her to stop.

Kirsty’s phone rang just as she was getting out of the shower. With a large fluffy bath sheet wrapped around her, and a blue hand towel turbaned on her hair, she scampered into the bedroom to find her mobile. She was taken aback by the voice at the other end. All the warmth of the hot water and the relaxation turned to ice.

‘How are you, Kirsty? Are you enjoying life?’

‘I hadn’t expected to hear from you.’ She unconsciously pulled the towel a little more closely around her body, and nestled on the bed closer to the heater.

‘I was just reading that it was you who witnessed that awful attack on Mrs Roy. That’s quite a coincidence that you should be there, don’t you think?’

‘I was just going for a run, that’s all.’

‘From what I read, you did terribly well.’

‘Look, I’ve just got out of the shower and I need—’

‘Well, well. What an enticing image that presents.’ He laughed softly. ‘Quite inflammatory, I would say.’

‘I don’t know why you called after all this time,’ she said. ‘Unless it was to apologise.’

There was a long pause. ‘I was hoping the passage of time may have softened you a little, but it seems not. I was going to offer to take you to dinner, somewhere a bit special.’

‘My boyfriend wouldn’t approve.’

There was soft laughter on the end of the phone. ‘Kirsty, dear Kirsty. That same old mythical boyfriend, who you’ve been seeing for goodness knows how many years.’

‘I’m going to hang up now,’ Kirsty said.

‘Wait. You did such a good job for me, and now you’re in a position to give me even more of the information that I would like.’

‘You’re bloody joking, if you think—’

‘There’s money, Kirsty,’ he said softly. ‘You know how you like money.’

‘Look, I only took the money because—’

‘You don’t have to tell me. We don’t have to go into that again, we have an agreement, and that’s an end to it. We have each kept our side of the bargain.’

‘I don’t want to hear from you again.’

‘Dear Kirsty, don’t be shy. We both know the truth. You know you need money. When you have processed that thought, ring me. I’ll be expecting your call.’ The line clicked dead.