I acted weakly and unwisely. I burnt the letter and tried to forget I’d ever seen it. It was hopeless, of course. Ten days later, she wrote again. This time there was a threat. She said she had to see me and if I didn’t come she had found someone who would tell the world how I had rejected her. I still don’t know what the proper response would have been. Probably to tell my wife, even to inform the police. But could I make them believe the truth about my relationship with Lucy or with Shirley? I decided that the best plan, at least at first, would be to see her and to try to reason her out of her delusions. She had told me to meet her at a parking place by the side of the road near the Cheverell Stones at midnight. She even sent a little map, carefully drawn. The letter ended, ‘It’s so wonderful to have found you. We must never let each other go again.’ ”

Dalgliesh asked, “Have you got the letter?”

“No. Again I acted stupidly. I took it with me on the journey, and when I got to the parking space I used the car lighter to burn it. I suppose I was in denial from the moment her first letter arrived.”

“And did you meet her?”

“Yes, we met, and at the stones, as she had arranged. I didn’t touch her even to shake hands, nor did she seem to expect that. She repelled me. I suggested we return to the car, where we would be more comfortable, and we sat side by side. She said that even when I had been infatuated with Lucy—that was the word she used—she had loved me. She had killed Lucy because she was jealous, but now she had served her sentence. That meant she was free to love me. She wanted to marry me and have my children. It was all said very calmly, almost without emotion, but with a terrible will. She stared ahead and I don’t think she even looked at me as she spoke. I explained as gently as I could that I was married, that I had a child, and that there could never be anything between us. I didn’t offer her even friendship; how could I? My only wish was never to see her again. It was bizarre, a horror. When I told her I was married she said that needn’t stop us from being together. I could get a divorce. We would have children together and she would look after the son I had.”

He had been looking down as he spoke, his hands clasped on the table. Now he lifted his face to Dalgliesh, and he and Kate could see the horror and desperation in his eyes.