‘Did you see them two run? I’d have thought my Davey would have had more sense than to fall for that one. There’s always Old Bill round there. It’s a shithole of a place.’

Donna smirked. ‘I loved seeing that Paddy shitting himself though. I hate him now. To think I was going to give him a percentage of the building for all his help! God, I must have been so naive, so stupid!’ Her voice trailed off.

Carol, placing a hand over hers on the steering wheel, said lightly: ‘We’re all stupid where blokes are concerned. It just takes us a while to suss that out.’

Then she laughed.

‘What are we going to do with all that dosh, eh? What I couldn’t do with a few grand of that now I ain’t got Davey hanging round my neck!’

Donna looked at Carol seriously and said, ‘Are you really finished with him, Carol? Really, truly finished with him?’

Carol nodded. ‘Oh, yes. I put up with a lot from him over the years. Well, you already know that. But those books . . . they killed anything I felt for him. I could never look at him again without seeing those kids.’

‘You should have seen them in Sri Lanka. It made me feel sick to think that they were there, being abused and used, and I was living off the proceeds.’

Carol bit on her lip. ‘We all were, darlin’,’ she said. ‘Not just you. I should have guessed something like that was going on, but you don’t, do you? You trust people, and you trust them completely. I knew my Davey ducked and dived, I just didn’t think he ducked and dived like that. Makes you wonder what else the fuckers were up to.’

Donna turned off the A13 towards her house.

‘I should have known, too. Look at Talkto. Stephen was in over his head there.’

‘Is he really dead, Donna?’

She nodded vigorously.

‘Oh yes, he’s dead all right, or should be by now - and do you know something, Carol? I don’t really care. I know that sounds terrible but it’s the truth. He didn’t deserve to live, none of them do really. Georgio included. Once he’s back in nick, me and Alan Cox will be hounded. I might use my half of that money to go somewhere. What will you do with yours?’

Carol’s face was a picture of shock and astonishment.

‘Are you serious?’

‘Of course I am. That wasn’t Georgio’s to take anyway. And let’s face it, we can’t give it back, can we? So you might as well have half and I’ll use mine to get away from here. From everything.’

‘How much is there?’

‘Nearly three-quarters of a million pounds.’

‘Jesus wept! Are you sure about this?’

Donna smiled grimly. ‘Sure as I’ve ever been. Take it, start up another business, Carol. The notes are untraceable - that’s why Georgio wanted it. You can spend it where the hell you like, love.’