‘This is the serious crime unit,’ the officer explained.

Elliot nodded and waited while the man knocked on the door to an office. He could see Harriet Kealty through blinds that hung on the other side of a glass partition.

She nodded, then the officer came out and led Elliot into Harri’s office.

A window took up most of the exterior wall and offered a view of the rain-soaked city. Two chairs faced a desk, behind which sat Harriet Kealty, now Detective Chief Inspector Kealty, according to the plaque in front of her.

‘Thanks, Mason,’ Harri said, and the officer withdrew and closed the door. ‘Have a seat,’ she suggested. ‘It’s been a long time, Elliot.’

He took one of the chairs by her desk.

‘How have you been?’ she asked.

She hadn’t changed much. Ben used to talk about her and how beautiful she was, and time had done little to dim her looks. Elliot could understand the attraction and, despite their age difference, felt himself drawn to her. He remembered feeling nothing but hostility towards her because Ben had told him she would eventually split them up, but over the years he’d realized she was just trying to bring an evil man to justice and she’d put herself in harm’s way to do so. She was brave and selfless.

He cringed at the memory of the last time he’d seen Harriet Kealty outside the courtroom, the day Ben had been sentenced. He’d been horrible to her.

‘I’ve been well, thanks,’ he replied.

‘And Mrs Hughes?’ Harri asked.

He frowned. ‘She passed away a couple of years ago.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that.’

‘Thank you. She was a good woman, and very kind to me,’ Elliot remarked. ‘I miss her.’ And he did, but not like he missed his parents. Their loss was a festering wound that would never heal.

They sat quietly for a moment, listening to the muted sounds of the detectives beyond the partition.

‘Did you know Ben Elmys has been released?’ Elliot asked.

‘No,’ Harri replied. He sensed her sudden concern. ‘Has it been . . . it can’t . . . where has all the time gone?’

‘He sent me letters from prison every week. I never read them. Some went straight in the bin, others were gathered for a ceremonial burning,’ Elliot revealed. ‘He came to Oxford yesterday. Hand delivered one.’

He produced the envelope and gave it to her.

‘ “If you’d read my letters, you’d know it’s time. The past has caught up with you. Your future is fated,” ’ he recited as Harri read the letter. ‘I haven’t seen him for eleven years, but I know him and I know he’s planning something.’

‘I can have a word with Thames Valley Police, have them check on you,’ Harri suggested.

‘I’m not worried about me,’ Elliot said. ‘I’m worried about you. I look back on my childhood, and my memories of my parents are marred by Ben Elmys. He was always hanging around. He’s an obsessive. Those months I lived with him, he wouldn’t stop talking about you. He wrote poems for you. Said it helped him cope with things. He said you would betray him, but that he would forgive you. He said he’d complete you, heal you, and he dreamed you and he would spend eternity together. It was your destiny to leave this world, that’s what he’d say.’