When Suzie had asked for more details, or the identity of the man who’d be arriving in the canoe, Judith had refused point-blank to say any more. All she’d said was that Suzie and Becks should do as they were told or she’d go through with her plan without them. No amount of arguing could get Judith to change her mind.

Which was how Suzie ended up putting on her oilskin coat and taking her Dobermann Emma for a walk on the Marlow side of the Thames in the middle of a storm, and then hiding in a weeping willow with views back across the river towards Judith’s house.

The whole thing seemed risky as hell to Suzie’s mind, but Judith had explained that it would take the canoeist time to manoeuvre to shore, extricate himself from his boat, secure it, and then make his way up to her house. And once there, it would also take him time to work out how best to get into her house.

But Judith had been wrong.

The dim shape of a man had indeed appeared out of the rain on the river, but he’d powered along in his canoe at an incredible speed, his paddle a windmill as he churned through the water.

As soon as he’d passed Suzie’s hiding place, she’d stepped out and flashed her torch twice for Judith’s benefit. She’d then seen Judith in her downstairs sitting room stretch and yawn, which was her way of acknowledging that she’d received the message, and then Suzie had stepped back into the safety of the weeping willow to phone Becks.

But while she waited for the call to connect, Suzie had seen the canoeist paddle up to the riverbank at the end of Judith’s garden and jump out of the boat before pulling it up after himself in one easy motion. He’d then run to her house almost without breaking step.

Judith had predicted that the whole process would take the man at least ten minutes.

It had taken him less than two.

Inside the house, Danny took a step towards Judith and lifted the Luger pistol.

‘You’ve wanted Liz dead a long time,’ Judith said, trying to connect with the man in front of her. ‘Haven’t you?’

With his other hand, Danny wiped the excess water from his eyes and face. He looked entirely unhinged.

‘I wonder when the resentment started?’ Judith continued. Keep talking, she told herself. Keep talking, buy yourself time. ‘I imagine almost from the off. From the days when you were a promising rower, and you hooked up with another promising rower in Liz. But she wasn’t just promising, was she? She was the real deal. And went on to represent GB at the Olympics. Where she won a silver medal. Unlike you. Your rowing career never quite took off, did it?’

Danny’s jaw tightened.