Once they had coffee in hand, Fanshawe explained what was happening in the investigation. ‘We spoke to Ms Lovell yesterday. She appeared shocked on hearing about your accident.’ He held a hand up when he saw Molly was going to interrupt. ‘Yes, I’m aware she could have been putting on an act, but I’m a very good detective. We’ve found no link between her and our friend Pleasant.’ Fanshawe gave her a sympathetic look. ‘It might be because there isn’t one there, Mrs Chatwell.’

Molly looked at him for a moment without speaking. ‘Maybe,’ she said, trying to make sense of the ideas swirling around her head, ‘maybe they were partners, and when he didn’t succeed with his blackmail attempt on me, she killed him and then, full of remorse, she tried to kill me as a kind of revenge.’

Colour rushed over her cheeks when she heard Carstairs chuckle. She threw him an angry look before concentrating on the inspector. ‘It could have happened like that, couldn’t it?’

Ignoring the repeated chuckle from the other side of the room, Fanshawe said, ‘It is hard for you to remain objective; you’ve been through a lot the last few days. Remember, we’ll be looking into every aspect.’

‘So what happens now?’

‘The investigation continues. We’ll keep digging and hopefully come up with a connection between you and Pleasant that makes sense. Until then, stay inside, safe.’ He stood. ‘As soon as we have anything concrete, we’ll be in touch.’

There was no point in telling him she was planning to go out the next day, to the very area where she’d been knocked down. He’d think she was crazy. Irresponsible. And he’d be right on both accounts. But she was worried about Jack. She had considered sending Stuart a message and asking him to come to Elystan Street. There was a time when she wouldn’t have thought twice about it but that was before Lucien Pleasant. Her judgement had been called into question; she wasn’t taking any more chances.

She insisted on getting up to show them out. ‘It’s good to keep moving around. Thank you for keeping me updated.’ Ignoring Carstairs, she held her hand out to Fanshawe. When he shook it briefly, she added a smile. ‘And thanks for listening to me.’

‘Part of my job,’ he said. ‘Stay safe.’

She watched them walk up the street before shutting the door and returning to the living room. She’d been pleasantly surprised about how forthcoming they were with information. Her previous experience with the police was courtesy of TV shows, where victims were normally kept in the dark.

No doubt there were things they weren’t telling her, just as she hadn’t told them she was going to Casper’s the next day.