‘And you couldn’t bear to be married to a woman who was more successful than you. You felt undermined. A failure. But then Liz did something I think you couldn’t possibly forgive. At the height of her success, another two or three Olympics ahead of her, she gave it all up. In her mid-twenties.’

Judith saw Danny frown at the memory. Yes, she thought to herself, that’s it, keep him engaged.

‘And let’s remember, you can make a lot of money if you’re a successful rower. And while it would have been a bitter pill for you to swallow, being the consort to your wife, at least she’d have been famous. But Liz wasn’t like you. She was never driven by fame. Or money. She simply wanted to be the best rower she could be, and once she’d done that and got her medal, she was happy with it. Which I think cut you to the quick. Because there you were, so graciously prepared to play second fiddle to your more talented wife, and she’d walked away from her talents. Instead, she decided she wanted to throw herself into the family business. The Marlow Rowing Centre.’

Where was Tanika? Where was Becks?

‘But the rowing centre wasn’t a good idea,’ Judith continued, trying to keep her voice calm. ‘I mean, it’s possible it made financial sense back when Liz’s dad founded it. But the climate’s tipped over since then, hasn’t it? And the centre keeps flooding. Every winter, or so it must seem to you. And now Liz makes her next mistake as far as you’re concerned. She doesn’t walk away. Even though the business is failing. Even though it has burned through all of your savings.

‘At every step of the way, I think you felt that life had let you down. First you’d failed to triumph as a rower yourself. Then you’d not been allowed to do it as the “plus one” to a famous rower. And now you weren’t even able to do it as the successful owner of a local business. The business wasn’t successful.’

As Judith had been speaking, she’d not taken her eyes off Danny, but in her peripheral vision she’d seen that his gun hand had started to waver and lower.

Judith dared to feel the first flutterings of hope. Was her plan going to work? Was she going to be able to keep Danny talking until Becks and the police arrived?

‘One minute away!’ Becks called out to Tanika as she gripped the passenger-side handle with all her strength while also checking her mobile phone’s maps app. ‘We’re going to make it!’