Turning on his heel, Dan marched from the room. Flowers sat down and sighed.

He could just see himself ringing up Patrick Kelly and telling him to lay off Kate Burrows. Flowers and Kelly were hand in glove. They had been for a number of years.

He was surprised at Kate Burrows though, he admitted that to himself. She was a good officer, one of the best. He had not thought she would ever have got involved with Kelly. Well, that was female logic, he supposed.

But he could fully understand Kate Burrows wanting to get rid of that big handsome husband of hers. The man was a bully boy.

Getting up, he smoothed out the creases in his trousers. Home, that’s where he wanted to be now. He walked from his office and closed the door, making a mental note to tell his secretary that Daniel Burrows was not to be given appointments to see him, no matter how urgent they sounded.

One set-to with him was quite enough.

Kate drove home, ate a hurried meal, bathed, changed and left the house in record time. She told her mother not to wait up for her, at which she got one of Evelyn’s knowing smiles.

She drove up Patrick’s drive at just before nine o’clock. Willy opened the door for her before she knocked and showed her into the lounge.

‘Mr Kelly will be down shortly. Can I get you a drink?’

‘I’ll wait for Patrick if you don’t mind.’

Willy smiled at her in his friendliest manner. He bowed and walked from the room.

Kate sat on the sofa and smiled to herself. She relaxed back into the comfort of the chair. Like everything in the house it was beautiful and practical. She was so glad that Lizzy was feeling better. It was as if a lead weight had been lifted from her. The psychiatrist had said a lot of youngsters went through what Lizzy was going through; it was part and parcel of growing up in the modern world. It was he who had suggested that a change of environment might do her good. He said that her drug taking was not habitual, she was not psychologically hooked but used drugs as a means of escape. He also remarked that Lizzy’s over-active sex life was not abnormal these days. Many young girls had had eight or nine sexual partners before they were twenty. It was a real sign of the times. He was more interested in whether she had used a condom.

We live and learn, thought Kate.

Patrick walked into the room. He was wearing a deep blue dressing gown.

‘Were you having a bath?’

‘No, I was building a bonfire!’

Kate laughed. He came to her and kissed her. She felt his lips touch hers gently and once more sensed his animal strength. He was like a drug, dangerously addictive.