They both laughed and Alice poured two glasses of champagne. As she handed one to Rosa, she said, ‘How are you feeling now? Is your shoulder still painful?’

Rosa shook her head. ‘I’m almost as good as new and that’s thanks to what you did to me with your fingers last night.’

‘Well, I was glad to be of service,’ Alice said. ‘Now come into the lounge. I’ve got a surprise for you.’

Rosa took a sip of champagne and it felt good. She was breaking her own rule about never drinking alcohol on an assignment, but what the hell? She put it down to the Alice Green effect and it raised a smile.

The first thing Rosa noticed when she entered the lounge was that the TV was on and showing a photo of the man she had murdered just under three hours ago.

She felt her body stiffen and a rush of heat burned in her chest.

‘I bought you a little gift,’ Alice said. ‘I saw it in Harrods and I just couldn’t resist it.’

Rosa wrenched her eyes away from the screen to where Alice stood next to the coffee table. She’d picked up a small blue box with a red ribbon around it.

She held it towards Rosa and said, ‘I hope you like it.’

Rosa was taken aback. No one other than her parents had ever given her a present.

‘You shouldn’t have,’ she said as she stepped forward.

Alice shrugged. ‘Why ever not? I’m the happiest I’ve been in years and that’s thanks to you.’

Rosa took the box and gently removed the ribbon. She already knew that what was inside would have been expensive. From what she’d heard nothing sold in Harrods was cheap.

She gasped involuntarily when she saw what Alice had bought her. It was an exquisite chain friendship bracelet with a silver bar studded with tiny diamonds and chains twisted to create the illusion of rope.

‘It’s by Monica Vinader,’ Alice said. ‘She’s my all-time favourite jewellery designer.’

Rosa was speechless, but her heart was pounding. Once again Alice had surprised her with a wonderful gesture of affection and generosity.

‘This is so lovely,’ she said, finding her voice. ‘It must have cost a small fortune.’

‘Not nearly as much as you might think,’ Alice said. ‘But what I paid for it isn’t important. I just hope that when you wear it you’ll think of me.’

Rosa felt a wave of emotion that almost reduced her to tears. She gave the bracelet to Alice and asked her to put it on her wrist.

‘I’m going to wear it every second of every day from now on,’ she said. ‘So that means I’ll always be thinking about you.’