‘And what about the fertility fraud?’ Theo still doesn’t have all the pieces of the puzzle, just what they’ve managed to fit together from the evidence Saffy found.

‘Yes, that looks likely too. Although it’s more of a grey area. Thanks to all the press interest, a number of women have come forward to the CPS. He’s been doing it for years.’

Theo feels sick. Those women’s photos he’d found in his dad’s study had been a catalogue. A way for him to remember exactly whom he’d artificially inseminated with his own sperm. The other women, the ones in the folder Saffy found . . . He can’t bear to think about that.

Ralph must mistake Theo’s silence for concern because he says, ‘I’m sorry, it doesn’t look good for your father. I’ve advised manslaughter when it comes to Caroline as he says he didn’t mean to kill her, that it was an accident. That they’d argued, she was going to leave him, and he’d pushed her in anger. She’d stumbled and fallen down the stairs. If he pleads guilty, there’ll be no trial, but you know what your father’s like.’ Theo feels a lump in his throat at the sound of his mother’s name. It hadn’t taken his father long to admit his crime. It had surprised Theo. He’d believed his dad would go to his grave protesting his innocence. But it seems that the evidence had been too much for him to deny: Glen Davies’s testimony of a confession, his alibi not holding up to more scrutiny and a neighbour remembering talking to his father that morning, later than the time he said he’d left for work.

‘What about Rose’s murder?’

‘Police are still combing through the evidence on that one. In the letter that Saffron Cutler handed in, Rose writes that she was scared Victor had found her, that she saw him in the garden on Bonfire Night. But the letter ends after that. We can assume, of course, that he did find her and that was why she’d never had the chance to finish the letter. But obviously that might not be enough for the court. However, a witness, a Melissa Brown, has said that a man fitting Victor’s description had been looking for Rose in the days before she disappeared. We’ll keep you updated.’

‘And what about Cynthia Parsons?’

‘Not enough evidence to suggest her death wasn’t suicide,’ he says.

At least he’s admitted to causing Mum’s death, thinks Theo. If only he’d admit to killing Rose, Lorna and Saffy would have peace of mind.

‘He’s asked me if you’d like to visit him,’ says Ralph, his voice suddenly tentative.