Unwittingly she realised she was now in the exact same position she imagined Elizabeth had been in, except unlike Elizabeth, who was driven by greed, Steph was driven by the truth and by justice for Elizabeth and peace for Sonia Lomas.

Conmere, Friday, 17 May, 2.05 p.m.

Steph had managed to keep well out of the way that morning, preparing the lodges on the far side of the resort.

She closed the door on the final lodge and made her way over to the small laundry room nearby to store away the cleaning products and deposit the used bed linen, which would later be collected by someone with the laundry cart. It saved the housekeeping staff having to lug cleaning products and bedding around the resort with them. She locked the door and, using the pushbike provided for staff, she cycled back to the main house.

‘All done?’ asked Heidi as Steph handed back the keys. ‘Looks like you timed it right for the weather.’ Heidi nodded towards the window, through which they saw that a black cloud had settled in the sky.

‘It was quite cold cycling back,’ admitted Steph. ‘I wished I’d brought my coat. Anyway, what do you want me to do now?’

Heidi checked her watch. ‘Why don’t you take your lunch break? This afternoon I want you on the pool house team. We want to give both wet and dry side a good clean today, ready for the weekend.’

‘OK. I’ll see you later,’ said Steph. She left the housekeeping office and decided rather than spend an hour in the staff kitchen having lunch, she’d sooner be by herself and avoid any possibility of Harry coming to look for her. She still hadn’t made up her mind what to do about the recordings Elizabeth hade made. Part of her wanted to speak to Harry so he could tell her how he wasn’t involved at all, but another part of her was more cautious, telling her she should play her cards close to her chest.

As she crossed the main hall, Pru Sinclair came out of her private living room. She was dressed in casual trousers, a T-shirt and fleece. ‘Oh, Steph, just the person,’ she said, smiling at her. ‘I need some help down at the lake. A couple of the rowing boats have gone adrift. I saw them this morning when I was out with the girls. I would have rowed out and got them in myself, but I couldn’t leave the dogs on their own. You wouldn’t mind coming out with me now to get them?’

‘Er, yeah, of course,’ said Steph, not sure it was a great idea.

Pru didn’t miss her hesitancy. ‘I would ask one of the boys but Dominic and Owen are both tied up over at the stables this morning, and Harry … well … let’s just say, Harry isn’t in the best of moods today.’