They talked till the early hours about Mandy and Lizzy, both exorcising their own particular ghosts. They had so much in common for two people who were, in outsiders’ eyes, so different. He agreed with her about sending Lizzy to Australia. He said that he would have done the same with Mandy. Lizzy was a girl who felt things deeply - too deeply, he said - and Kate loved him for his understanding of her situation. He seemed to have guessed that Kate felt responsible for her daughter’s troubles and tried, in his own way, to allay her fears. Finally, they fell asleep together, entwined, and stayed that way till the morning.

It was over breakfast that he told her his news.

‘I sold the massage parlours, Kate. All of them. I sign the contracts in five days’ time, and then they are nothing to do with me any more.’

Kate’s eyes widened. ‘You’re joking?’

‘No, I’m not. Since that girl was . . . What with my Mandy and everything, I don’t want anything to do with it anymore.’

Kate put her hand on his and squeezed it gently. ‘I’m glad, Pat.’

‘It came home to me that the man who murdered my girl was like the man who murdered young Gillian Enderby - a pervert of some kind. Except my Mandy was dragged off the street and Gillian was like a baited trap, waiting to be sprung. I ain’t silly enough to think that by selling the shops it won’t happen again, there’ll always be a demand for that type of thing, but at least now I know that I have no part in it.’

‘I think Renée would have been pleased.’

Patrick smiled.

‘Yeah. She would have. In a lot of ways you two are alike. Renée was small and blonde while you’re tall and dark, but in your personalities you’re similar. She had a brain, old Renée. She had more savvy than people gave her credit for.’

‘You still miss her, don’t you?’

He nodded. ‘But not like before. The physical pain has gone now. When she died, I felt as if someone had chopped off one of my arms or legs. I feel like that now about Mandy. But with Renée I can remember her now without pain. It’s a bitter-sweet memory.’

‘I understand.’

‘But I’ve got you now as well, and that helps me. It helps me a lot. If Renée could see me now I know she’d approve. She’d have liked you, Kate. You’d have liked her.’

Kate was not too sure about that but she kept her own counsel. Instead she poured him another coffee and smiled.