Danny raised his gun again and pointed it at Judith’s head.

‘You’re going to shut up right now.’

‘You don’t want another death on your hands.’

‘That’s where you’re wrong. That’s exactly what I want.’

Seeing the madness in Danny’s eyes, Judith realised that he no longer cared for the consequences of his actions. She wouldn’t be able to talk him down. Or appeal to his rational side. He just wanted her dead. Dead at any price.

And finally Judith knew the truth: her plan had failed.

She was on her own with Danny Curtis, and there was nothing she could do to stop him from killing her.

For Suzie’s part, she was still standing panic-stricken under the weeping willow, feeling more and more miserable and getting more and more wet. What was going on inside Judith’s house? There must be something she could do to help, but what could it be? She was on the wrong side of the river and had no means of crossing it.

Suzie stepped out from the weeping willow and approached the river. She looked at the mass of the water as it swept past. There was no way she could cross the river at the best of times. She couldn’t swim. Let alone get across with the river running this fast, and at night, and in the middle of a storm.

And Emma was still no bloody use, as she shivered at Suzie’s side.

But there was something else Suzie realised as she stood in the driving rain. Becks and the police simply weren’t coming. And that meant that she was Judith’s last and only hope. This helped make the decision for her. Perhaps, at some deep level, Suzie had known all along what she would do next.

‘We’re going to save Judith,’ she shouted at Emma over the howling wind. ‘We’re going to save Judith, you and me together.’

Suzie bent down, undid the laces on her boots and kicked them off. Next she took off her wide-brimmed hat and raincoat and dropped them to the floor.

She then strode into the river, Emma excitedly at her side, wanting to join in with whatever it was Suzie was doing.

Suzie was almost immediately swept off her feet, even as she struck out with her arms and legs.

She tried to splash her way across the river, but the current was too strong. Panicking wildly and swallowing lungfuls of water, Suzie tried to make headway, but she was being carried too fast downstream from Judith’s house, and there was no way to get back, even if she managed to get out of the water. Which, with a sudden realisation, Suzie realised she never would.