She held her breath now as he opened the door and entered the living room.

‘Hi, hon,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t get away any sooner.’

Annie was struck by how rough he looked. His eyes were glassy with exhaustion and his dark hair was greasy and dishevelled.

‘Just tell me what happened?’ she said.

James crossed the room and sat down beside her on the sofa.

‘It’s bad news, I’m afraid, Annie,’ he said. ‘The bastard has been released.’

Annie closed her eyes. It felt like her heart had stopped beating. James put an arm around her and pulled her close. It made her feel better, but only slightly. It was going to take much more than a hug to repel the nagging sense of dread that was growing inside her.

‘This is a bloody nightmare,’ she said. ‘I thought the bastard was tucked safely away for at least ten years.’

James shook his head. ‘It’s hard to believe he’s got away with it. The trouble is, we haven’t been able to disprove what the other guy is saying.’

‘So that’s it then? He’s free again and able to do whatever he wants to.’

‘That’s right,’ James said. ‘But you have to try not to worry.’

‘That’s not going to happen and you know it.’

James switched his gaze from his wife to the half-empty bottle of red wine on the coffee table in front of her.

‘I need some of that after the day I’ve had,’ he said. ‘Let me grab a glass and we can talk this through.’

‘Has the news broken yet?’ Annie asked him.

He nodded as he stood. ‘Of course. I’m sure the media’s all over it.’

‘Then can you switch the telly on?’

He did as she asked and used the remote to go straight to the BBC news channel. The story was being aired right then, and the newsreader’s words sent a chill through Annie’s veins.

‘Fifty-eight-year-old Andrew Sullivan has served thirteen months of a life sentence for murder. Though he’s always denied killing nightclub owner Brendon Fox, he was convicted by a jury even though Mr Fox’s body had still not been found by the time the case went to trial.

‘Three days ago, however, Mr Fox’s body was found, the location revealed to police by a man who has confessed to the murder. As a result, a judge has ruled that Mr Sullivan, who was described during his trial as the head of an organised crime gang in London, should be released, and earlier this afternoon he walked out of Belmarsh Prison a free man. Scotland Yard has confirmed that another man in his fifties has been formally charged with Mr Fox’s murder. His identity has not yet been disclosed.’

Andrew Sullivan was one of the main reasons Annie had been so desperate to move out of London. When he was sent down it was like a huge weight being lifted from her shoulders.

The newsreader moved on to talking about Sullivan’s chequered past, his photograph displayed over the reporter’s shoulder. He looked every inch the archetypal villain, a bald, hard-faced individual with a long scar down his right cheek.