With his free hand he reached into the inside pocket of his jacket, slung across the back of his chair, and took out a folded sheet of paper.

‘I have a copy of one of your drawings.’

Without turning his head he was aware of Sally’s sudden anxiety. She had remained quiet since the meal, but now her presence beside him was very powerful. He stole a glance at her and saw the doubt in her eyes. He was not sure himself. A fine perspiration moistened his palms as he let go of Tania’s hand to unfold the paper and smooth it out on the table. The child looked at it and nodded slowly. Her face was blank.

‘Do you remember this?’ Nothing. He waited a long time before asking, ‘Do you know who it is?’ Again nothing.

Sally put a hand on his arm. ‘Don’t,’ she said.

But still he persisted. ‘Look at me, Tania. It’s important that I know.’ Her eyes seemed to look straight through him. ‘This is the man that killed your dad, isn’t it? And the other man.’

In the hush that fell across the room he could hardly bring himself to breathe. The bedside clock ticked solemnly in the silence. Tania nodded suddenly and turned her head away.

‘All right, all right,’ Bannerman said, and he took her hand again, squeezing it tightly. It felt limp and small. ‘Just one more thing. Just one. Would you . . . would you know him if you saw him again?’

He felt her hand tighten around his and saw fear in her eyes. And he misunderstood.

‘It’s okay, little one,’ he said. ‘He can’t harm you now.’

But still her fingers pressed into his hand, nails digging into flesh, and she shook her head in savage frustration. How could she tell him? I have seen him, I have. She pulled her hand free and stabbed her finger several times at the drawing he had spread on the table. Then nodded. Two, three, four times and felt something like despair as she saw Bannerman’s confusion.

It was Sally who realized. ‘Oh my God, she has! She has seen him again.’

Bannerman glanced at her, and then back at the child, and he saw that it was true. He took Tania by the shoulders – ‘When? How?’ – before it dawned on him, and he felt a sense of horror pricking his skin. ‘At the hospital.’ Where else could she have seen him? ‘Is that why you ran away?’ Her lips parted as though she were about to speak.

The telephone rang in the living room and startled them all. Not one of them moved, but all three hearts were pounding. The spell was broken.

Bannerman stood up, infuriated by the interruption, and strode through to the living room.