Gosh, she wished she had her camera now to take a picture of the look on Wendy’s face. It was somewhere between horror and anger, with a touch of disbelief thrown in, but it was fleeting and in a matter of seconds Wendy had regained her composure.

‘I don’t know what you’re up to, Steph, but you’re playing with fire,’ she said.

‘Don’t be so dramatic. If there’s something I should know, something that you’re worried about, then you should tell me.’

Wendy looked undecided – not a common expression her mother wore, but she definitely looked to be in some sort of internal dilemma. ‘There are things I can’t tell you, Steph,’ she said at last. ‘I may be retired from the force but I’m still bound by the Official Secrets Act.’

‘Sorry, but that’s not good enough. I need something more concrete than that.’

‘You’re just going to have to take my word for it.’

Steph huffed in frustration. Aargh! She felt like throttling her mother. She was so bloody stubborn at times. She decided to try a different tack.

‘Why did you retire?’

Wendy’s shoulders and body tensed. She looked at Steph. ‘Because I wanted to still be able to enjoy life. I didn’t want to retire and be stuck in an old folks’ home straight away.’

‘So why haven’t you done anything since you retired?’

‘What do you mean?’ Wendy’s eyebrows darted together.

‘You’ve just stayed at home, doing nothing, as far as I can tell. Are you going to follow Rob’s example and do something exciting, like travelling?’

‘I don’t know. I might.’ Wendy’s shoulders relaxed but her eyes were still fixed on Steph.

‘Don’t you miss the force?’ Steph knew she was being pushy but she was cross with her mum and didn’t know when she’d feel brave enough to ask her about the police again. As it was, she knew she was approaching it in a roundabout way. She should be direct. Just ask the question.

‘Mum … did you leave the force because you wanted to?’ Steph asked the question as delicately as she could, her soft tone implying she knew more.

Wendy opened her mouth to speak and then closed it again. She put her cup on the table and placed her hands on her knees. ‘Rob’s a gossip,’ she said at last. ‘He shouldn’t have told you.’

‘He didn’t mean to tell me. I kind of forced him.’

‘Nonsense. He’s come up against tougher interrogators than you.’

‘Maybe he thought I should know for some reason.’

‘A good idea would die of loneliness in his head sometimes,’ said Wendy.

‘So, what really did happen? Did you have to leave the force?’ Steph pushed on.