‘What? Who has told you all this?’ I say, panic rising in my voice.

‘The truth is you’re not satisfied with what you’ve got,’ says Bains. ‘You think you deserve better, is that right?’

‘No, that couldn’t be further from the truth,’ I say, trying desperately to see what is written on that piece of paper.

‘I think it’s a lot closer to the truth than you will admit,’ says Bains, a sick smirk spreading across his face. ‘That’s what all this is about – the fake names, the fantasy world, the inability to stick at a job – it’s because you feel superior to others, don’t you? So superior you think you can fool everyone with your lies. In fact, I’ve been told that you have admitted to people that you enjoy creating different characters to suit different situations.’

I flinch as I recall saying that to Connor when we first met. But I had been talking about work, about using make-up for different occasions, not actually becoming different people.

‘Look, I know what this is about,’ I say, my chest burning with anger. ‘You’ve been talking to my ex-boyfriend. He has an axe to grind because I ended the relationship. He wants to get back at me and he’s made all this nonsense up to frame me. This is bullshit.’ I spit the last word out.

Bains’s mouth turns down. I’ve walked right into his trap, losing it like that. I need to calm down.

‘Geoffrey Rivers had what you didn’t,’ he says, his voice laced with contempt. ‘Financial security, a big house, a successful career. All the things you’ve observed in your little trips across the country, viewing spectacular properties, seeing how perfect life can be. But on those trips you had an estate agent with you so your anger had to be curbed. No matter how furious you were that the Georgian pile in Surrey or the eco mansion with the sea view could never be yours, that anger had to be held in, didn’t it? Yet that afternoon at Holly Maze House something changed. You’d had enough. You couldn’t deal with being inadequate any more. So, when you met Mr Rivers, you – what, threatened him? Got into an argument? What happened, Vanessa?’

As he speaks I’m back there in the house. Geoffrey is telling me something then stops mid-sentence. ‘I’m awfully sorry but will you excuse me?’ I remember watching him as he walked out of the room. And then … My skin prickles at the memory but I can’t let Bains see that I’m cracking.