‘Let me take your bag,’ says the woman but I snatch it away before she can touch it. The sudden movement makes my legs give way. I grab at the handrail but I’m falling too quickly and I land heavily, smacking the base of my spine against the sharp line of the top step.

‘Don’t move,’ the man says as he crouches beside me. ‘You might have injured yourself.’

‘It’s okay.’ I ease myself up into a sitting position and rub at my lower back. It spasms with pain.

‘Listen … um …’ The man pauses. ‘Sorry, what’s your name? I’m Malcolm and this is Mandy.’

He looks at me expectantly, waiting for me to say my name.

I try to pull myself up but my legs are too wobbly to hold my weight. ‘I just need to get home. I think I might have a car here, somewhere.’ I glance back towards the door that leads to the car park but I have no idea where my car is, or even if it’s here at all. I could have walked, taken a taxi or got a lift with someone. It’s a blank.

‘You need to wait for the ambulance,’ the woman says from behind us. ‘You might have hit your head when you fell over in the toilet. Concussion can be very serious. My cousin Sarah fell down the stairs a few years ago and—’

‘Mandy!’ Malcolm shakes his head. ‘Not now.’

‘But she might—’

‘You still haven’t told us your name.’ He looks back at me.

I clutch my bag to my chest. The knife may be wrapped in swathes of tissue paper and hidden beneath a fold of leather but I feel as though it’s a flashing beacon. If the police turn up with the ambulance they’re going to start asking questions I can’t answer. Whose blood is on the knife? Who was stabbed? Where did the knife come from?

‘My name is Kate,’ I say. ‘Kate Sawyer.’

‘Great.’ The man smiles. ‘I shouldn’t imagine the ambulance is going to be much longer Kate. We’re happy to wait with you until it gets here.’

‘No. No ambulance. Please, I just need to get home. Thank you for all your help.’ I force myself onto my feet and, clinging on to the handrail, descend one step at a time.

‘Wait!’ Malcolm calls. ‘At least let us give you a lift. Mandy can cancel the ambulance.’

‘I’ll get a taxi.’

‘Let us walk you to the rank. I’m sure your family are very worried about you. Please, just let us do that.’

I’m too tired to say no again.

Chapter 36

‘You’re back!’ Jake rushes into the kitchen as I stumble in through the front door. ‘Oh my God. You look awful! You’re limping. Why are you limping?’