Charlie screwed his mouth up. ‘He was desperate, Molly. After he left the hotel, he didn’t know where else to turn. He knew he could trust me.’

‘He could have come home!’

‘He couldn’t face you, not yet. Guilt is tearing him apart. I was afraid to leave him for a while, to be honest, I was afraid he might do something stupid. He’s a bit calmer now, but he wouldn’t settle until I came over to make sure you were all right.’

‘You make him sound like a child. I think it’s best if I go back with you and talk to him.’

Charlie smiled and shook his head. ‘Go out in that rain? Have you looked in a mirror recently, Molly, you look like death. And you’re flinching when you move. Sit, for goodness sake, before you fall down.’ He stood abruptly. ‘Jack was right, he said you wouldn’t be taking your painkillers.’ He held a hand up. ‘Don’t worry, he told me exactly where you keep them, I’ll go up and get a couple for you. Sit. I’ll be down in a second.’

She was thrown by his audacity and stared after him as he left the room. Swaying from fatigue as much as the mental exhaustion, she sat on the sofa as she heard his heavy step head up the stairs, the dull sound of doors shutting and his noisy descent. Then he was standing in front of her, two capsules on the palm of his hand.

‘Jack said I was to make sure you took them,’ he said.

She was going to argue that she didn’t like taking them, that they made her feel worse, not better, and looked up at him with the words ready. But there was something unsettling about his sympathetic smile, something worrying about the rigid determination of the hand held only inches away so, instead, she said, ‘I’ll need a drink.’

He filled a glass of water, handed it to her and tipped the two capsules onto her hand.

She looked at them warily, then tossed both into her mouth, drinking half the water to wash them down. ‘Thank you.’

He sat opposite, his eyes fixed on her. ‘You’ll feel much better soon. Then I can go back and reassure Jack. He’s going to look for help for his gambling, I think he has come to his senses.’

Molly felt weary. It wasn’t going to be that easy. She closed her eyes briefly, hoping Charlie would get the hint and leave. When she heard nothing, she opened her eyes to see him staring at her with a strange expression. It vanished when he saw her eyes open.

‘You feeling a bit sleepy?’ he asked.