‘As for why you did this,’ she said, trying to keep the conversation going, ‘my friend Suzie put her finger on it the first time she visited this house and pointed out how valuable it must be. But my river frontage is as nothing compared to what you’ve got down at the rowing centre. The land it’s built on is worth millions. Possibly tens of millions. So why should you have to scrimp and save, and work so hard to stop the whole thing being washed away, when you could just sell it to a developer and retire on the proceeds?

‘In fact, I can’t help wondering if you didn’t marry Liz with the express plan of waiting until her father died so you could then get her to sell the land. But when she inherited, you discovered that Liz would never sell. Not even as you scrimped and saved to get by. You were stuck. Although there was one way out for you, wasn’t there? If your wife died, you’d inherit the land from her, and then you’d finally be free to sell to the highest bidder and make the millions of pounds you felt you deserved. But how to kill your wife, that was the question.’

Judith saw the moment.

Danny seemed to come out of his reverie and look at her as though for the first time.

‘Shut up, bitch,’ he said.

He then raised the Luger, pointed it across the room at Judith’s head and pulled the trigger.

On the other side of the river, Suzie heard the gunshot and saw the window to Judith’s downstairs drawing room blow outwards, glass flying everywhere.

‘Oh Christ!’ she said before looking at Emma. ‘Go and save Judith. You’ve got to save Judith!’

But Emma didn’t move, she was wet through, cold and miserable, and Suzie knew there was no way of communicating to a dog that her friend Judith on the other side of the river needed saving.

What could she do?

Suzie’s phone started ringing. She grabbed at it, saw who it was and answered.

‘It’s me,’ Becks said on the other end of the line.

‘Where the hell are you?’ Suzie asked. ‘You were supposed to be here ages ago! Are you even with Tanika?’

‘We’re together, but Ferry Lane’s blocked,’ Becks said on the other end of the line. ‘A tree’s fallen across it. And Tanika’s car is hanging over the river.’

‘I think he shot Judith!’ Suzie said, interrupting.

‘What?’

‘I think Judith’s been shot!’ Suzie shouted against a clap of thunder that rolled through the sky.

‘Jesus, then you have to get to her. We can’t.’

‘I’m on the wrong side of the river.’

‘Cross it!’

‘I can’t.’

‘You have to.’

‘I can’t.’

‘You’ve got to.’

‘I can’t swim.’