Suddenly uneasy, I shake my head. ‘It was a passing comment. I assumed it was because he’d lost Hollie. Stephanie didn’t confide in me, Andrew. I don’t know her that well.’ Pausing, I change the subject, because I want to know something. ‘Why were you meeting James tonight?’

‘No reason.’ He looks away. ‘I thought that, after the funeral, he might appreciate the company. I was … how did you put it? Being neighbourly?’

‘How caring of you, Andrew.’ I can’t keep the sarcasm out of my voice, knowing he isn’t capable of unselfish acts, that there always has to be something in it for Andrew. He’s lying. ‘You’re not even friends with James. In fact, the last time I caught him looking at you, I’d say he seemed positively hostile.’

‘You have no idea what you’re talking about,’ Andrew says smoothly.

He’s trying to stifle me, my instincts telling me that I’ve touched on something he doesn’t want me to know.

But I’m wary of pushing him too far. ‘Do you know which ward Stephanie’s in? I want to see her.’

Andrew takes another swig from his glass. ‘She was taken to Accident and Emergency, then admitted to Russet Ward.’

Getting up, I go to find my phone.

‘What are you doing?’ Andrew sounds annoyed.

‘Calling the hospital. I want to know how she is.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ His tone is scathing. ‘You’re no friend of Stephanie’s.’

‘Unlike you, Andrew, I’m sympathetic.’ And unlike him, I’m being honest. But he snatches my phone away.

‘Call them in the morning, Elise, if you must. Right now, you’ll be wasting their valuable time when they should be saving lives. It’s not as though they’ll be able to tell you anything. It’s too soon.’

‘What about James?’

For a moment, Andrew loses his bluster. ‘When I left, the police were with him.’

After what I told them earlier, if the police are with James, the chances are they’ll be questioning him.

*

The next day, I get up early for a flight to Rome. Apart from a couple of men who’ve drunk far too much beer for breakfast in the departure lounge, the outbound passengers are quiet. As we touch down, then taxi towards the terminal building, I find I’m suddenly thinking of Stephanie, wishing that she was getting on a flight intending to disappear somewhere like here, in a city rich in history and culture, another world where she could start again. But instead, she’s unconscious in a hospital bed.