There was a small pathway leading to the water itself, and a freshwater shower. Following the pathway, Alan slipped into the sea, letting the cold water envelop him and cleanse him of the sights and sounds of the day. He wanted it to wash away the feeling of dirtiness Stephen had left upon him.

He closed his eyes tightly as he pictured the small body of the little girl. He tried to blot out the picture, and the unwanted memories it evoked. They didn’t even know her name.

He swam for ten minutes then came out of the water. As he walked up the pathway he saw Donna on the verandah in a thin wrapper, fresh from the shower, the outline of her body revealed against the lights.

As he reached her she sat down on one of the padded chairs and picked up her glass of scotch.

Alan rubbed himself dry then settled beside her. ‘How are you feeling now, love?’ he asked tenderly.

Donna shook her glistening wet hair. ‘I don’t know. It’s all been too much to take in, I think.’

‘It’s the little girl that’s the horror, eh?’ He grasped Donna’s hand as he spoke and she was grateful to him. She nodded her head, eyes shimmering with tears.

‘She was so small, Alan, so vulnerable. Like a little doll. I wish we could go to the authorities.’

He wagged her hand up and down as he spoke.

‘Listen, Donna, we went through all that earlier. They would bang us all up, you included, and believe me when I say a lesbian wing on Holloway would be preferable to being banged up here. Let Joey sort it out.’

Donna took a deep breath and watched the moon.

‘We always seem to be letting other people sort things out, don’t we? Shall I tell you something, Alan? When I first met Jonnie H. and Nick and all the others, I was terrified inside. I had to pretend that I was in control, you see. For Georgio. If you knew how frightened I was! Even when I met you. I didn’t like you very much, a convicted murderer.

‘No matter what I found out about Georgio, I never cared. Nothing could be that bad, see, because I loved him so very much. I was grateful to him, because until I met Georgio I was little Orphan Annie, Donna Fenland, nobody. He made me into somebody. He gave me a family, and a life. As the years went on, I was grateful if he made love to me. Really grateful. Pathetically grateful, in fact, because I knew he was seeing other women. Yet that was preferable to not having him. I needed him desperately.