Thank goodness for Sam. And thanks to Jackman for engineering his visit. As it was, she had no appointments until the afternoon, both booked to take place in her consulting room here, but she wasn’t going to tell Shields that.

‘Before I ring off,’ Sam said. ‘Some good news. I’ve heard from my contact in the prison service who says that Ashcroft’s transfer went off like clockwork. He’s now safely ensconced in HMP Gartree in Leicestershire.’

‘That’s a big relief, Sam. But I must say I was hoping it would be HMP Frankland.’

‘Gartree is well equipped to deal with high-profile prisoners, believe me. It doesn’t have the reputation that Monster Mansion does, but if they can handle killers like Fred West and Ian Brady, they can certainly manage Ashcroft. The only thing that worries me — and that would be the case in either prison — is if he gets into a PIPE unit. But enough of that for now. I’ll get a move on and be with you as soon as.’

Laura gave it another five minutes, then reluctantly rang Shields. ‘If you can get here in an hour, Mr Shields, we’ll see you then.’

‘We?’

‘Professor Page will be here. I told you last time we spoke. He’s an eminent psychologist and has the highest connections with specialists in your specific disorder. You are in good hands, Mr Shields.’

‘I need to be, as long as it’s not already too late.’ He swallowed loudly. ‘I’ll be there in an hour.’

‘I’d suggest you take a cab. You really don’t sound as if you should be driving,’ Laura said.

‘Maybe. I’ll see. Thank you so much. You’re a lifesaver.’ The line went dead.

Laura stared at the receiver. Why, oh why, did this man disturb her so much? And what did he mean by it being too late? In her time she had been in some pretty frightening situations, but Freddie Shields seemed to upset her on another level completely.

She went and made herself a strong coffee, still trying to analyse her reactions to this perplexing young man. On the surface, he was a rather ordinary person. He cared for his mother and was sufficiently concerned for his partner’s safety to send her away for a while. He was clean, well dressed and articulate. He was obviously educated, though not academic, and he was scared of his condition and what it could mean. So, what on earth was it about him that caused such confusion in her mind?

She was still pondering her reaction to Freddie Shields when Sam arrived half an hour later.

‘I can’t forget that odd look on his face when he left here last time. It looked like, well, triumph.’ She shrugged. ‘It’s hard to describe, Sam, but it didn’t seem appropriate to what we had been talking about.’