It was Rosa’s turn then and the lies came naturally. She was twenty-three and worked for the Mexican government’s tourism department. She was in London to promote her country at various travel seminars.

‘And while I’m here I thought I’d find out if it’s true that English women are among the world’s best lovers.’

It was all so easy, Rosa thought. But since they were both after the same thing there was no reason for it not to be.

The rest of the evening went spectacularly well. They retreated to a booth where the banter continued and Alice turned out to be one of the most flirty and tactile women she had met in a long time.

Desire was already thick in Rosa’s veins before they kissed for the first time. Alice’s lips were warm and salty and her mouth tasted pleasantly of vodka with a dash of mint.

Rosa stuck with the tonic and enjoyed watching Alice getting slowly drunk.

They had a couple of dances and at one point Rosa slipped her hand under Alice’s blouse and felt her nipples harden. She knew then that this was all leading up to the perfect end to a perfect day.

At 11pm Alice invited Rosa back to her apartment.

‘It’s a short cab ride from here,’ she said. ‘And from the bedroom there’s a fantastic view of Hyde Park.’

Rosa’s luck just kept getting better. She was relieved that she didn’t have to take Alice back to the hotel, and not only because it was a shithole. There was always a risk that she would see something that she shouldn’t. It had happened once before in Miami Beach when a girl who spent the night in her suite opened a drawer and found a machine pistol and a photo of the man Rosa had gone there to assassinate.

Rosa had been forced to kill the girl by slitting her throat, which was a shame. But there was no risk of that happening to beautiful Alice in her own apartment.

23

Laura

Needless to say I did not intend to go home to bed. There was no way I’d be able to sleep anyway.

By the time I left the crime scene in Battersea, I was completely shell-shocked. I’d almost broken down while talking to Karen Prentiss. The poor woman had been in a terrible state and had barely been able to speak to us. She just kept repeating her husband’s name and saying she couldn’t believe what had happened. And all the time she’d clung onto her baby for dear life and he’d cried along with her.

On the way back to the Yard I called Aidan who’d been desperately trying to contact me. He’d seen the story on the news and had assumed it was connected to the death threat.