He smiled ruefully. ‘Sorry, but codswallop like that gets my goat. Oh, and I hope you love me all of the time, not just when I’m angry?’

‘That goes without saying, but you are especially lovable when you are outraged.’

‘I don’t think some of the villains we put away would agree with that, but those days are gone, so I suppose I’ll just have to get used to being lovable.’

Matt looked at the picture of the terrified child and turned it face down. He’d had enough of all that for one night.

‘So, what happens now, Matt? With Kate?’ Liz sipped her drink.

‘Well, I guess Will has taken a big step by actually meeting Sam face to face, but he wants one more chance to salvage the situation. Sam made it abundantly clear that he’s walking a dangerous road by not getting her the help she needs, but,’ he shrugged, ‘we can’t force the issue, so all we can do is be there to support him. At least Sam gave him his card, so he can contact him immediately if things do go tits up.’

‘So hopefully a little less pressure on you, darling. I’m not being unkind, but you are shouldering rather a lot of someone else’s emotional baggage, and it’s draining you.’

He knew she was right. He did feel drained, but even so . . . ‘I can’t abandon him, Liz. He’s our friend.’

‘And I wouldn’t want you to, Matt. I love them both dearly, but you can’t help people who don’t want it, and Kate certainly doesn’t, not from anyone. She doesn’t even want us anywhere near her precious Holland House.’ Liz frowned. ‘She’s changed beyond recognition. Let’s just pray Sam can convince Will to get her to a specialist. Otherwise he’s going to lose her.’

‘Sam said as much. I do believe that one more serious episode will force Will to give in.’

‘I just pray he doesn’t leave it too late.’ Liz placed her glass on the table. ‘But on a different subject: I’ve been thinking about the night you were attacked at Emilia’s cottage. Remember you mentioned that the arsonist’s petrol can and some petrol-soaked material were found by the coal-shed door?’

Matt nodded.

‘If you wanted to burn the place down, wouldn’t you post a rag through the letterbox, or throw a petrol bomb through a window? Why light your fire by the coal-shed door?’

Matt considered this. ‘Yeah, and the coal shed is a good way away from the cottage itself. That is odd. I hadn’t actually thought of it before.’

‘To me, that says they didn’t want to damage the house at all, just give the illusion of intending to burn it down.’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘Which takes us back to the premise that someone wants Little Anchor itself for some reason.’